holleybob

I resized the pics of the 21 inch Smallie and 23 inch LM. Lousy picture of the LM but I was anxiuos to get it back into the water. I really need to do better with fish pics. Both show the Scrounger head fluke that really seemed to be the ticket.

Great advise, but what do you do with one that is less than legal size ? Seems like the ethical thing to do but not sure the Game and Fish guy is gonna buy it.

Launched at 7:30 am. Spent the first hour fishing Ned and Shaky head in 5-15 FOW pea gravel with only a bluegill and two truly tiny bass. Decided to find some new water and ended up in an area with steep banks and standing timber in 30-45 FOW about 8:30. I found an area about 2 acres large that was full of bass busting shad. I first threw the Ned at them because that's what I had tied on and when bass are chasing shad I cannot stop myself to tie on something else. Well surprise surprise the Ned is also a pretty good threadfin imitation. I probably caught 6 or 7 on it before I changed to a smoke grub, then a scrounger head fluke. I think they would have hit anything that resembled a shad at that time. I spent the next hour and a half in that area and ended up with about 25 fish, LM, fat K's and a couple smallies. All were keepers and all were spitting shad. Some fish had bloody tails and some did not. Seemed like all types and phases of fish were present at the shad feast! Lost 2 really good fish on the same cast (hook was bent at the point ). One pulled off and another grabbed it! Two best fish were a 21 inch Smallie and a 23 inch Largemouth that went 4 lbs. Every one I caught was being followed by at least 2 more of equal size. By 10:00 the wind kicked in and it was over but boy what a time it was. Caught a few more on spinnerbait and called it quits by noon. Apparently the pics of the 2 largest fish are too large to upload. Bummer!

Saturday 3 of the 5 K's I caught swallowed the barb. If those percentages hold up I cannot afford to fish anymore. Cutting the line and releasing the fish with my $1.25 jig head in his gullet is going to get expensive quick but that's what I did. As mentioned above the mortality rate cannot be good for a fish in this situation either. I thought to cut the line and place in the livewell until I could figure a way to retrieve the hook and spare the fish but the fish were less than legal size so that was not an option. What are you guys doing with guthooked fish that are less than legal size ? Also I was told by someone with much more experience than me yesterday that on windy days the K's are more likely to swallow a bait since they cannot see it as well. Anyone experience this ? It certainly was winday Saturday. For now I'm going to pich the barbs. Sounds like the easiest solution of all.

Jim I am coming around to the barbless idea. I dont fish competetively anymore, just for fun. Plus the fact that I left about $9.00 worth of Ned heads in the lake on Saturday. These fish are becoming expensive! I think I'm going to try that next time out. Someone told me yesterday that if the wind blows hard the K's will tend to swallow the bait more. I dont know if that has any merit or not but it did hold true for me on Saturday.

My first trip of the year to TR was Saturday. Launched from Cape Fair. Had a fair day. Wind was brutal on my little aluminum rig! Fished Wooley creek area from 7:30 till noon. 10 K's, 2 LM. Caught 4 K's from the same area in consecutive cast. Back corner of a dock, secondary point, 8-10 FOW. Like an idiot I moved and when the wind kicked in later I just could not fish it effectively. Fished a shaky head with Zoom finesse worm in brown and ned in PBJ and Dirt with equal success. Only 3 keeps. K's were in 8-15, LM were 5-8 feet deep. I did not see any bedded fish although I was not targeting them. One thing that stood out was whan the K's ate the Ned they ATE the Ned. I had to cut two off and send them back to the lake with a hook in their gullet. I hate doing that but they were not keepers and I'm no surgeon when it comes to removing gullet hooks. Water was a light green stain typical of that area. Pardon the fish pic. Noone but the dog in the boat with me and I was anxious to get him back in the water.

Great advise and very helpful. I appreaciate it. I may just have to put this one on the calendar!

What time of year do you usually float it ? It's on my bucket list and I have time off at the end of May.

Yeah and where are they gonna get ammo for their .22 anyway !! I used to ride my bike down the road to go quail hunting with my Remington 870 across the handle bars. Bet you'd make the news doing that today. Oh well, the quail have gone the way of the .22 cartridges anyway. It would be nice to see our communities spend some money on small public fishing lakes (ponds). Probably more unrealistic that I realize though.

Last year I struggled to find info on how to purchase an annual US Army Corps of Engineers lake pass. Marimac 1944 posted this info last year and has been helpful to me last year and this year. Thought I would bump it up to this year for those looking for info on how to make the purchase: Stockton corp # (417) 276-3113. Accepts credit cards, sends pas thru mail in day or two

Just curious, what kind of kayak were you in ? I have 2 Ascend fs 10's that my kids use. They seem stable for a kayak but thinking of one of my boys in the situation you described scares the hell out of me.

Got to start them out early. I make it a point to take kids..any kids fishing every Spring when it's more catching than fishing.

The first thing is to realize that you have a problem. I think this is a good first step.

Trantham's bait & tackle 3118 w chestnut expressway. 869-2248

I never tried it on craw worms. I know I did lizards though. Don't remember having any troubles with the twist tails. I used the term boil but really its just very hot water in a pot on the stovetop. Some required more time in the water than others but not very long at all. Maybe a minute or two. It's been a very long time since I've done it so I would suggest experimenting a bit with some cheapo baits. Also, if you choose to use your wifes best stainless pot just dont giver her my name... just sayin

Does anyone boil their plastics anymore ? Kinda like a mouthpiece.. stick em in the hot water for a minute or two and they turn butter soft. I used to back when finesse fishing caught fire out West (I'm dating myself). I just buy em soft now but surely if you had some stiff baits it should do the trick.

According to the family member that I spoke to their business never came back after the events of 911. It was said that their business was about 30% less this past year than it was the year before 911. That was 14 years ago! This was mentioned also by one of their guides that had been with them for many years. That coupled with the collapse of their dock and loss of boats in the 20 inch snowfall that came on Christmas a couple years ago. Their insurance coverd about 1/3 of the loss. It was also speculated that the place would sell for approx 1/2 the actual value and that the bank would write off the rest as a loss. This of course is just speculation.

For those that are not aware of the situation at Lindsey's resort on the Little Red, the bank owns the property as of today. My brother and I meet at Lindseys twice yearly on or around our birthdays to fish. We've done this for years and have always stayed at Lindsey's. While in the office Friday reminiscing it was revealed that their last day as owners would be Sunday. I had no idea they were having financial issues. After checkout yesterday we decided to float from JFK to the resort before heading home. Once we had pulled out and loaded the kayaks and said our goodbye's I found myself lingering, not wanting to go, not wanting it to end. Uncertain if I would be able to stand in this spot again. I watched as guides emptied their dock lockers and family members loaded personal belongings from the office into their vehicles. It was truly sad. If you pray, say a prayer for the Lindsey family as they are entering a future full of uncertainty. They seem to be a family of great faith. Surely they will endure. Hopefully new owners will step in and keep the resort as is, but noone knows for sure. I found a story this morning that foretold the events now happening: http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2014/nov/16/lindseys-resort-nears-half-century-mark-uncertaint/

Awe.. they are just hiding from the bowfishermen

If the water is up to or better yet on top of the pads fish the frog. On the solid body frogs with a single hook use a trailer hook with surgical rubber on the eye to keep it from flopping around. That should fix your short strikes. Fluke or floating worm can work also. If the water drops and leaves the pads above water your best bet is a plastic worm, craw or creature bait, 3/0 or 4/0 hook and a 1/2 oz sinker.. pegged. Ribbontail worms stick to the pads. paddletail or strait worms dont. I like a 10 or even 11 in paddletail in dark colors. Pitch dont cast... Punch through..., wiggle..wait...repitch. I miss fishing pads.

I have a 14 year old and am in the same situation. We have a window of opportunity before girls and cars take over. We need to make the most of it. In March I became a boat owner for the first time since he was born. He is the sole reason I bought it and he does not even know it. Rod choice: The rod should be about as tall as he is and the rell should simply be easy to cast. Larry Nixon once told me he felt like a rod for a beginner should be about as tall as the person using it give or take a couple inches. They can get adequate distance out of it and more control which builds confidence. More control = accuracy and less lures in tree brances = less frustration on all parties involved. Being without the funds to have custom 5' 6" rods made I went to Bass Pro's outlet store where a 6' rod that has had it's tip broken off and repaired is often a 5' 6" rod. We bought 2 and 2 Browining baitcast reels for about $100.00. Practice: I put a 5 gallon bucket in the yard and placed a five dollar bill in it. When he put the casting plug in the bucket he could have the money. This brought out the competitive side of him and made practicing fun and rewarding. Make it fun: Learn to know when he's ready to quit. This was hard for me because I don't quit easily. I have to continually remind myself that it's not about me. It's all about him and having fun. Bring a friend: Peer pressure is huge at this age. If his buddy's want to play football, he wants to play football. If you get one (or more) of his friends hooked on fishing and they think it's cool, they will all think its cool and before you know it they'll be telling you what the latest fishing trend is. Lastly don't pressure him to love fishing the way you do. I have 2 older brothers. When we were young all vacations were fishing vacations. It's just what Dad liked to do. My two brothers grew out of fishing about 16 years old. I never did. The neat thing is though they both came back to it as adults. They both love fishing now. Dad planted the seed. 2 of the 3 seeds lay dormant for 20 years but all sprouted. Sometimes it's hard to be patient. Good luck to you.

Like so many other great and beautiful lakes and rivers in this country Table Rock is being "loved to death". Pickwick, Dale Hollow, Percy Preist, Sardis, Beaver....the list goes on and on.

I grew up in the Memphis Tn. area and my weekend entertainment almost always revolved around fishing. My father would drive me and usually a friend out to an area lake in the predawn hours and drop us off. We would be picked up at dusk by another parent usually volunteered by the friend that went along with me. For $2.50 we could rent a flat bottom boat for the day. Randy Mitchell had a Minn Kota 35 and my father had purchased a 73 Johnson 9.9. Randy and I made a great pair. A cooler packed with a couple Cokes, a block of cheese, and some crackers and we were good to go for the day. One Saturday Randy and I fished a lake on the Tennessee, Mississippi border called North Lake. North lake was a shallow, timber filled lake known for it’s gar, moccasins and largemouth bass. The timber was about half cypress and half flooded hardwood trees that had long since died. Most of the dead timber was standing but a good many of them had fallen over. We fished mainly buzzbaits in the morning and when the day turned hot we would tie on a Mann’s jelly worm in either black or purple. By 11 am we had done pretty well with a good many short fish and a couple keepers each. Randy had one on a buzzbait that went about 4 lbs. We decided to tie up to a cypress tree and eat lunch. It was about that time that I noticed a small diameter tree that had lost it’s grip with the shoreline and fallen with the tree top and most of the trunk submerged in the murky water. It’s not the tree that caught my eye but an acorn that was on the trees trunk. The acorn was sitting on that tree trunk an inch or so from where the trunk entered the water. It lay there as if placed there in a perfect upright position resting on it’s cap. I didn’t say anything to Randy as he was really into his cheese and crackers at the time. He had the front of the boat and his back was turned toward the shore. Well there I am just staring at this acorn perched perfectly atop the tree trunk when movement catches my eye just behind the root wad of the fallen tree. A squirrel has apparently seen the same acorn as me and he was as hungry as the two boys in the boat. The squirrel carefully edges his way onto the trunk and starts toward the acorn. As he gets closer to the acorn and thus further from the shore he seems to get real edgy and uncomfortable looking behind him more often than a squirrel would normally do. He’s definitely out of his comfort zone. I take another swig off my Coke and take in the scene. Randy is making a mess of the crackers but I hardly notice. The squirrel still moving closer to his prize suddenly seems less edgy and takes the last few steps to the acorn resting inches from the depths of North Lake. Just as he arrives at the acorn he sets on his haunches and grabs the acorn with his front paws. Just then I hear a WHOOSH and see a truly monstrous bass overcome the squirrel, acorn and all. Randy whirls around to see what the heck is going on spilling his Coke without notice. I sat there with my mouth wide open not quite believing what I just saw. No one said a word. Both of us sat there in bewilderment just staring at the log as the lake went quiet. Several minutes later and a few “what the ??”s later the lake began to take on a different feel. Actually with each passing minute it seemed to take on and ever growing eerie feel to it. It was quiet. Too quiet. There was an impending feel to it as though we were in the eye of a storm and were awaiting the next round. It was truly surreal. Just then another huge WHOOSH by the tree and I truly cannot believe my eyes…. Again! There on that tree trunk inches from the water, the exact same spot where a squirrel drew his last breath sat an acorn placed in a perfect upright position resting on it’s cap.

Yep, that did it. I should have been able to figure that out ! Looks like they go for 90-100.00 on ebay. I knew someone on this site would know !! Thanks again.

I've been away from fishing for some time now but with the interest of my kids I'm slowly getting back on board. Anyway, I was going through some older equipment the other day and came across a Shimano Calcutta with a 2.51 marking on the side. I can't find anything on the net about it which seems strange. I am planning on selling it or trading it in at the Outdoor Experience store in Springfield but I can't figure the value of it. Any ideas ? I'll apologize in advance if I'm in the wrong forum section.. just figured you Tablerock guys would know. Oh, It's a left handed reel that was used for flippin/ pitching.