MarkG52

But I was! Glad we left the boat at home! Was a little sad we didn't have it for the window of decent albeit windy weather Saturday afternoon, but yesterday made me real glad. I was a drowned rat just getting the truck loaded from checking out of our room. So I'll take all of Vernon's blame!

We fished out of Rocky Branch Saturday. I got one good keeper and one short LM, and my buddy got one short LM. Both of mine came on a SPRO 130 wakebait. Missed a couple more. All were relating to wood of some sort, be it outside edge of buckbrush or a log. Buddy got his one on a red lizard. By the time I had decided we needed to be bouncing Ned's/jigs/etc. off the bottom the wind came up a little and he was gonna have to get home, so we cut our day short. WT around 64, pretty clear to nice green color. Lots of debris but manageable. I heard debris was terrible around Hickory.

My wife and I have a place rented on Indian Point this weekend. I'm about to make the decision to not bring the boat. Right now weather looks to be a warsh(I'm a hick) Saturday and Sunday. Don't want to haul it up, rent a slip, then watch it rain all weekend. I don't mind fishing in the rain, but this weekend is about quality time with the boss lady, and she ain't gonna fish in the rain. On the bright side, if I do cancel out on bringing the boat, it'll be the most beautiful weekend ever, and fish will literally being jumping in everyone else's boat! 20 pound bags for everyone!

Nice job!

Been several weeks since I've posted a Beaver report. Gotta be on the lake to be able to report. Went out after church Sunday(18th) and got one dink on a jerkbait. Wind was terrible so didn't stay out very long. That brings us to this past Saturday(24th). Waited until we thought the rain was about over and headed out. Got on the water around 8:15-8:30 and the rain was far for over. Idled up to a flat near the ramp dropped TM and on maybe the third cast got a goodun on a Storm Jointed Thunderstick in Bone color. Had made a parallel to the bank bomb cast and fish was probably in a foot or less of water. Bone head move was after releasing I thought, why didn't I weigh that fish and check gender?! Anyway set the bar real high for the day, and of course never achieved that bar again. My fishing partner and myself landed around 30 or so and most all were shorts, LM and K's. We both missed quite a few fish short strikin on the top. I caught fish on the top slowly waking the Thunderstick, on 110+1, and on a stupid tube. My buddy's fish all came on top or jerk. We never got dialed in on a particular area or depth. A few in skinny water/flats, a few on points, a few around timber, etc, etc. The stupid tube fish were dropping tube down the sides of bluff banks(did lose another goodun doing this). Did a little bit of bed hunting, found 3 or 4 and all were empty except one that had a little buck on it. No sign of fry. Had some schoolies chasing shad out in the gut of a creek or two. Lot's of fishermen out but almost zero pleasure boaters, one benefit to the dreary start of the day! We fished water that was really clear to lightly stained. Water temps were 59-60. Wind varied from not bad to we gotta get out of this wind. All in all it was a great day on the water for me. Size wise could've been way better, weather was yuck, but, company was good and stayed out till we were ready to come in. Can't wait for this Saturday! It's probably gonna be a zoo on any of our lakes this coming weekend.

Launched the Vexus around 6:30 and pulled out around 4:00. Water temps from mid to upper 50's. Mudline around Horseshoe. Saw visibilities from less than a foot to 3-4 feet. LOTS of debris in the muddy areas. Wind got up pretty good as the day progressed. Once again MB110+1 was the ticket for me. Threw a spinnerbait, RK, Thunder Cricket, and flipped a little bit with no bites on those. My back of the boat partner got the big LM of the day, (eye ball guess around 3#), on a short billed Frittside(or something similar) in shallow water coming out of the back of a creek. Very few keeper size Saturday. Good mix of short LM and K's. BOTBer got a small white and I stuck two wally's. One was 16.75" the other was keeper at 20-21"(didn't measure, easily over 18). Cleaner water was also crucial for us. Only fish from the mud was the biggest walleye. Structure also seemed pretty key too. Points, standing timber, docks, chunk rock, regardless of depth, was important, for us anyway. Tons of pleasure boaters out and even a couple of jet skis!

I just realized that my report should be from the 20th, not the 6th! Already did a 6th report. I'm a moron and can publicly admit it!

Officiated Hogs football scrimmage Saturday and didn't get on the water until around 3:00. Motored out to where a buddy was fishing to start. Jerkbait bite was still going strong for me. My friend had been on the water since daybreak and had done well on Jerk and RK's. I hit the wall around 6:00 and had caught 15 LM and K's. Mostly on the short side. Lost a keeper LM and a nice K that came unpinned on the rail flip. My buddy that had been on the water all day had caught in the mid 20's numbers wise. His were also a mix of mostly short LM and K's. He did get his first top water fish of the year on a PopR late in the afternoon. Water temps were mid 50's. Clarity ranged from stained 2' viz, to super clear in the areas we fished. One area we were fishing some fellers were doing real well catching whites right from the bank. Getting close to time to grab the fly rod, tie on a Clouser, and head to Twin Bridges area!

Fished Beaver from 2:00pm till around 6:00pm Saturday the 13th. Water temps pretty much upper 40's where we were. I totaled 16 K's and LM and my back of the boat buddy landed 3. Several short fish and even a couple of dinks. My buddy did get a 26", 6.34# walleye though! My fish came on MB110+1, Shadow Rap Shad, and Rock Crawler. Partner got his on MB110's. Caught em on main lake points, 3-4 fow pockets, and creek bluff walls in 20+ fow. Wind was blowing pretty stiff, air temp was mid 60's, mostly cloudy skies with a few peeks of sunshine. All in all a great afternoon with the bonus kicker wally.

I picked up a pair Gamakatsu micro split ring pliers at Hook, Line, and Sinker in Rogers a while back. A million times better than my others.

Had an unbelievable day on Beaver Saturday! 28 degrees and foggy when we launched around 6:00am. Water temp of 43. Partner got one fish on a spinnerbait early, then from about 7:00 to 8:45 I was on them like crazy and partner was doing well. He stuck a 4.9 pounder from the back of the boat! Things slowed down for a bit and we got to moving around. Had another flurry starting around 11:00 for an hour or so. Moved around a little more with no success. Around 12:30ish pulled up on the last stretch we would fish. I got on em like crazy again. My partner was unhooking a short walter when this bigun pictured hit. Weighed in at 5.75 pounds. Got the Beaver slam on this stretch too! Ain't no telling how many fish we caught, it was a whole bunch, with very few short fish. I don't ever remember having a day numbers wise like Saturday, and mostly keeper size to boot. Predominately caught largemouth, several spots, one brown bass(pictured), and one walleye. Day ended up around 60 degrees and water temp pushing 47. Blue bird skies and light winds. Except for my buddy's one spinnerbait fish, all the rest were caught on jerkbait. Here's a few pictures. First is my 5.75, then smallie, my buddy's 4.9, and lastly one of the first early fish.

We went Saturday morning and everything was ice free. The fog on the other hand was brutal. White River arm was super clear water too, temps from 39 to 40.

What are the latest ice reports on Beaver and Table Rock? Last Saturday it looked like dam area of Beaver was all ice free. Monday a buddy checked Prairie Creek and Rocky Branch, all iced up. He wound up launching at Hwy 12 bridge access. Trying to plan where to go for this Saturday. Thanks, Mark

I went fly fishing below Beaver Dam last Saturday. Went Indian Creek Road to Dam Site Road just to run the ridge with views of the lake. It was beautiful with all the snow, and no visible ice on that end of the lake.

My and a buddy are planning to launch out of Big M Saturday morning, if ice is gone. Maybe we can meet up? My boat is white Vexus. If we take his truck it'll be a white Ford diesel crew cab, if in mine, Orange Tundra crew cab(can't miss it!).

Excellent!

Cool drone video on PC's Facebook page. Hickory Creek's FB page had some pictures of ice there posted.

I had my left knee replaced in 1994 at the ripe old age of 33 and had the plastic parts replaced in 2007. Playing football was not so good to my knees. All that said, I just completed my 29th season of officiating football. I'm no speed demon and move at more of a fast jog than run, but there are occasions that require a full on sprint. The football field is the only place I run though. I prep for football season by walking, elliptical machine, or stationary bike. I also continued snow skiing until just a few years ago, and that was more because my right knee is about worn out now. I've done a lot of things I wasn't supposed to do with no ill affects. I'm not advocating that TKR's go out running and skiing, just that in my case I was able to do these things. My current ortho doc is the son of the ortho that did my original TKR. He's told me TKR surgery is now light years beyond when his dad did my original. He tells me to give him a month notice and he'll have me back on the football field. I had a scope scheduled for back in December(he thinks one more clean out before replacing), but I canceled out due to the uptick in COVID then, and a little paranoia too. I had my left knee scoped in December of '93 and it literally blew apart inside April of '94. I think the bone spurs they shaved off was about the only solid thing left in that knee. I can say that my TKR knee has never been pain free but as y'all can see, I ain't slowed down much. I hope that with all the advancements the right knee replacement will be much easier/painless/quicker recovery. Another thing, I'm hoping that original TKR doesn't need a total revision before I get around to have right knee fixed!

We had one for my wife and she loved it. Sold it this fall after we got the new bass boat. I never even sat in it let alone took it for a paddle. She just wanted one that had a seat like my Jackson Mayfly. Traded her previous Perception in on the Pescador Pro 10 at OMTC in Garfield. Sold the Pro 10 on Facebook Marketplace in a matter of minutes.

We fished Sunday from Prairie down to Hickory and zeroed. Talking with guys at PC ramp after a 53 boat tourney and 6 for 17# won it and 10# got a check. Over half of the boats zeroed.

My wife and I went to the visitation last night and the funeral was at 10:00 this morning. Private, pretty much family only. Ted was a really good dude and well respected. Great turnout at our church for visitation. Just an awful tragedy. His wife had to tell the the other children that Ted and John would not be coming home from their fishing trip but instead they were going to Heaven to see Jesus. Tears filled my eyes as I was typing this but so thankful that Trish had that assurance. I think that is the only thing keeping her from totally losing it right now. Please if you don't mind, keep this family in your prayers for a little while.

Greta fish! Can you imagine the criticism the dude would have gotten if he just let it float off belly up?

Picked up our new Vexus AVX1880 at Branson West Marine last Friday. Spent Friday afternoon and Saturday morning breaking her in on TR. Got caught out in the storm that blew up Saturday morning. Found refuge in Kanakuk's dock. The boat handled the waves like a champ while we were running trying to beat the storm. Didn't really fish, too busy breaking in motor and playing with graphs and the Ultrex TM. This first picture is loading up Saturday afternoon to head back to NWA, 2nd BWMPS had her on the showroom floor for our walk-through Friday, and the 3rd is our sales girl Rachael, my wife, and me. Lovin the boat and got some fish stink on it Monday evening at Elmdale Lake.

I've got a Jackson Mayfly. Super stable with plenty of dry storage and an open deck. They are pretty pricey though. I had a Wilderness Ride 115X I traded in. It's also a tad on the heavy side for loading/unloading and dragging to the water. That's where the C-Tug comes in handy!

If you are looking for a tin boat be sure and give Vexus a good look. I have a Vexus AVX1880 on order. Supposed to start the build on it next week. Can't hardly wait!