nomolites

You gents are entitled to your beliefs, please by all means carry on in pursuit of those green fish. You might, however, just consider the next time you happen to notice the number of boats rigged with kickers, rod holders, etc. on the lake these days - just what in the world are those fellows are fishing for??? I'm pretty sure I know. Mike

I normally might be offended by the "nobody can catch them" but this WAS an exceptionally bad year for me in the catching walleye department. LOTS of zeros in that column, but enough other takers that are quite tasty "seconds" or "thirds" to keep me at it. There ARE fisherman out there catching them regularly and not advertising that fact or there would be 20,000 glitter sleds competing for them the next day - best to keep those rigs focused on green fish that we don't want anyway. Yep, this year I truly could not catch the walleye to save my life, but next time out my luck may turn. Mike

That's a good one; you'll soon be throwing rocks at the stripes you keep catching walleye like that... Mike

BTW, sorry to hear about the ticker Warrior - do what you don't want to do and you'll be as good as new. I was 2 pack a day guys for years; been 13 years since I had one. BEST thing I ever did for ME - hang in there! Mike

In the coldest water I do, but mostly for crappie and get a lot of white bass takers. The shad will pile up in some of the basins at 30-50 FOW and if you can stay on them you can catch fish in the crappiest winter weather. I use heavier baits like a 3/4 jigging rap or spoon on 10# braid as it is invariably breezy when I get the chance to fish. Don't need to worry about boat traffic. Mike

All mine caught from LOZ; did not hit a school of LARGE fish this year but I have in past where every fish caught was 8-15#. Most caught spooning or trolling cranks but some top water(Rattlin' Chug Bug in shad). Main reason is likely I did not spend enough time on the water due to other commitments. I know, I need to get my priorities straight. Mike

Truman has a healthy population of large hybrids; this time of year I've heard they can be caught on top water and jerkbaits in the flooded timber with wind. Trolling cranks or spooning the edges of the gravel flats around the islands is always a good bet. Mike

Hybrids, what hybrids?x

Bomber Mudbug, yep.

I do still occasionally catch a true striper when fishing for hybrids in the summer months. The first striper I caught at LOZ was @ 1974 near the old Redwoods Resort in the Gravois on a jig - used to be boats out all night trolling Gibson directly across the lake from that spot back in the day. Mike

There are quite a few in the lake but they move A LOT and tend to shy away in clearer water and stay deep until late in the day. Probably why Wrench doesn't see many in the Gravi nowadays. Fall with a good wind is a great time to catch them shallow; they were stacked up pretty good on the north shore of horseshoe bend by the "new" bridge over Thanksgiving. The water was colored up there and they were right on the banks with the whites. In clear water you have to go deep or wait until the sun dips for them to get shallow and then they will come all the way up with the shad. Good luck! Mike

..and it's not going to be pretty.

The smash shad is an excellent bait; displaces a bit more water than a flicker shad and happily runs down to 15-18 feet at 80 to 130 back on 10/2 braid. I have had best success with them before water temps top 60 and run them along with thunder cranks in March and April - in warmer water I prefer a flicker shad's tighter action for more bites. Mike

Right on! Some nice fish there Dan; way to get after 'em! Mike

I usually look for wind blown chunk rock on or near the main lake. Mike

It's one of those things that gets much easier once you get the hang of it; hard to beat live shad for stripes. Nicely done. Mike

But all the local sticks were not shut out; the jig fisherman were. Very unusual to be sure. I say the stickbait was a key for #2 regardless of reporting.... Mike

On rough water, like LOZ where I fish, the OA boards perform better due to keel weighting and at slow or no speed they will not flop over on their side and submarine like the YBs. Rough water is also where the flags make a difference but they are not a must, just a huge convenience. A word of caution on sliding boards, I have lost a few good fish when a board worked down the line into the hook and dislodged it before the fish was in the net or when the board hung on the net preventing a clean pick up and that is why I use the swivel. When crappie or walleye fishing I usually rig dual release clip and line wrap to keep the board in place. Boards are a great way to cover more water and some days a fish will not take a bait directly behind the boat, especially when they are feeding shallow but they DO take a bit of work to fish effectively and can be frustrating at first. Like any tackle we get what we pay for though and a good set of boards properly rigged is expensive; if you won't use them much high end tackle may not be worth the money. If money is an issues start with a cheap set and if you think they are for you after using, upgrade them later - that is what I did. If you don't want the hassle after trying you are not out much. With that said, the only time my YBs w/o flags hit the water any more is when I am running multiple sets of boards and don't have any more OAs w/tattle flags..... Mike

I would recommend tattle flags if you fish crank baits as it can be difficult to tell if you are dragging a crappie or small bass in any kind of chop. I have Offshores and Yellow Birds; prefer the Offshores but they are more costly. Boards can either be rigged to slip on the line after the strike(when chasing large fish like striper) or stay on until they are cranked to the boat and removed before landing the fish - this helps prevent tangling when running multiple lines but there is not much sport to it. When rigging boards to slide on the line I tie a large swivel 6-10 feet above the bait to keep the board from sliding all the way down when landing fish. The mini boards are mainly for crappie or panfish where you are running small baits at lower speeds; not really what you want for striper rigging or larger crank baits. Mike

A great tactic is bounce a spoon or blade bait off the bottom in the evening on the pea gravel flats. Ideal is a flat on an inside turn with current(i.e., main lake) and deep water bordering at least one side. Depth can vary from 10-30 ft deep. There are some decent hybrids being caught using this approach as well as trolling cranks in the same areas. Mike

Try a suspending jerk or shad bait shallow in the evening for walleye. If you find one there are more.... Mike

Musta picked em up in that skinny water you like to hang around in; I have never seen any of those but if they are on the hull the IO/inboard guys may have need for concern. Mike

Toad. Nice. Go Cards!

plug has a good sense of humor for a guy whose dick AND boat have seen better days....

Having current in a spot doesn't guarantee fish, and not all shallow water docks will hold fish either. I'll take a good current break in open water over a shallow dock any day, but I don't generally bass fish. Mike