Browning Guy

Unfortunately, Cape Fair is adding a very large number of bigger slips this summer. Spoke with an employee back in April who said the addition will be "huge". We have noticed a very large volume of tuna rigs going up and down the mid James. I suspect many are making a day trip from Kimberling to Cape and vice versa. The Kimberling to Campbell has to be bone breaking rough. I still think a "shoreline protection tax" should be proposed for boats over a certain length along with the wake board boats. Drivers licenses for boaters? Wonder if that could some how be implemented on-line that would include a section "don't be a jacka$$ on the water"?

Maybe the Waterpatrol and COE should get their collective heads together and propose and pass a length limit on boats and charge a "shoreline management tax" for the wakeboard boats and tuna rigs as a means to "protect the shoreline aesthetics". Oh and for safety of course. Anytime you need anything over 32' or a special boat to make massive waves for pleasure on a lake like Tablerock...........you finish the sentence.

$$$Blunt, $$$McCaskill and $$Long. Had a friend fishing the mid James this past weekend and he said the boats were out of control. The next thing we'll see is removal of the buoys by the Waterpatrol. With that the LOZ south transformation will be complete. Sad to see what was once a bit of solitude and sanctuary will now give way to party coves, drunk boaters, foolish/dangerous boating and destruction of shoreline and docks. Nice work $$$Blunt, $$$McCaskill and $$Long.

Interestingly, just a week after the flood, with muddy, high water and debris (LOTS OF!), I saw two boats running up the lake your way at around 9:00 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. just down from Piney. Woke the next morning to see a dock that had broke loose and free floating, HUGE trees in the main channel and massive log/debris floating. Not sure who was out running, but they have much better vision than I. It was flat dark. I've fished in some questionable conditions, but never hated the fish that bad.

"pre-spawn". So true. A month ago the dock talk was the spawn was "70% complete". I fished seven days straight two weeks ago, each weekend since and a few days in between and yet to catch fish with bloody tails and we caught a lot. This past weekend we caught some good fish that had huge bellies and didn't appear to have spawn. Caught a few that were skinny as heck. Hopefully the fish that haven't spawned (30%???), can get in and take care of business before they drop the lake out from under their nests. If nothing else, the last 4 - 100 year floods we've had has provided plenty of cover for the fry of all species. Another benefit of the high water is that the a lot of tournaments were cut off during a portion of the spawn and the sight fishing was slowed. Now sight fishing is nearly non-existent????

As the water level drops, there is a TON of trees/debris left on the bank near the cove my father lives at. In the past, the Corp allowed homeowners to pile up the brush and burn as long as conditions were safe. The last 100 year we had dad and his neighbor used their front end loaders and piled trees/debris into large piles and burned them. I would suggest checking with the Corp again this year, but suspect they will allow folks to clear again. I will try to take some photos of the Mid James this week and post.

Just a heads up and reminder of things to come. Fished the mid James and there's debris floating EVERYWHERE! Generally, when the Corp is pulling water hard the debris seems to move to channels and stay there as it makes its way downstream. I noticed the debris was scattered all over the lake and then realized there wasn't as much current as the week previous. Checked the Corp website and sure enough, not as much water being pulled. Enough stuff floating we decided not to move around a lot. Water is 62° with 1"-2" of visibility. Did see some tuna rigs and ocean going vessels and yes, two jet skiers. All running hard through the gauntlet of floaters, semi-floating and other items of interest, maybe a certain amount of liquid courage involved, not sure. As a reminder....... as the weekend homeowners get down more and more......They will be clearing their docks and yards of debris. This means a lot more big trees and limbs forthcoming for the early summer and summer as many will push a lot of this stuff into the lake. Nothing against them doing it as we did a bit of that for my dad this past week, but the lake will have a fair amount of debris everywhere for a fair amount of the summer. Just a reminder.

How much is a yearly pass to the "unnamed cove"? Is the pass good for other coves as well? If I purchase a yearly cove and cannot use my pass do you offer a partial refund for the remainder of the year. Most importantly, do you have a food plan that goes with the yearly pass?

I cant' help but think of what could have happened if the lake would have been left at 912' or so during the winter as has been the past few years. The lake started going up about a month ago from 906'. Thankfully, this winter the lake was drawn down some.

I thought ALL tournament regatta permits were pulled for this past weekend and Cops for Kids tournament tomorrow, but the Shell Knob Shrine tournament was played. Anyone know how that happened?

One way to cut down on all the ocean going/tuna rigs and wake board boats. Unfortunately, this will affect businesses bottom line for a portion of the summer.

The minnows/shad had no idea how good they had it back then. Sure beats getting a hook stuck thru your back.

Looks like a pretty significant cold front as the temps are supposed to get down in the low 40's. Combine that with quickly rising lake level and patterns may change significantly until stable again. Should be interesting.

Hey Guys, Just received word that the Take a Kid Fishing Tournament has been cancelled due to the potential flooding/heavy rain and cold that is coming our way. Hopefully, they will be able to reschedule as it is a lot of fun for the kids. Hopefully, this post will save a few folks some time Saturday. Looks like the lake is going to fill up fast.

I've heard the same and asked someone who I consider "in the know". He said that it's a rumor and that Mr. Wood has no interest in starting another company as he is perfectly happy making money from his cattle operation and other ventures. Mr. Hopper is most likely doing just fine without starting another company. Through the "grapevine" it was said that Mr. Wood has bought several large warehouses around Flippin and Mt. Home. Who knows for sure, but it would be slap in the face of big corporate boat making if it happens and is successful. IF it does come to fruition, it would be interesting to see what kind of quality the "new Ranger" could offer over current and how would they get around the stringer/pull truded system being a closely guarded patent? I for one would love to see a "new Ranger" and hope that if it happens, employees, quality and innovation would be the focus. The early to mid history of Ranger Boats is an amazing story. Later history...... just big corporate building boats. Still like the 521C (an aircraft carrier that isn't the fastest, but a dream to fish from). l will have one built when I retire (246 working days, but who's counting?).

We were fishing wacky worms in the "lava rock" in a pocket and I suspect this could be the culprit. I don't have a lot of experience with braid, but changed over to it while crappie fishing vertically to avoid line twist and it was working great (not fishing in the rocks). Hoped the braid would play well in the rocks, but......... Thank you!

My next stop was to go to a swivel for him. I have some Mustad #12's that hold up to 40# and thought the same. Getting used to a swivel on the line will be an adjustment, but probably the best solution. Thanks for the help.

I've been saving my pennies for a new 521C and concerned when Morris took over Ranger. Have been to the factory twice in the last 8 months and spoke to 5 line employees and I asked them if any changes have been made in Ranger quality and all said...... no, not at all. Building the same as they have been (so far). Spoke with a Ranger rep a month ago and he said that Ranger is well aware of the perception and belief that Morris may change things for more profit, thus affecting the brand and he was adamant that Ranger has no plans to change. I found it interesting that the rep said they were aware of the perception. Time will tell. Saving my pennies "one penny at a time".

My 11 year old is having trouble with his fluro twisting while fishing wacky worms, flukes, grubs, underspins, etc on his spinning rods. He closes the bail by hand as required, but the P-line and Seaguar fluro twists like crazy after an hour of fishing. Spooling it on correctly. Went to braid with a 3' - 4' fluro leader, tying the.... loop the braid/wrap 4 times/wrap four times back through the loop and cinch down knot. Wetting the lines and cinching down well. The knots look great. The problem - when he's casting and on some hook sets the line is breaking at the knot (I think). All that comes back is a frayed end on the braid. Using St. Croix spinning rods with ceramic guides. I put 10 # and 15 # aqua green Power Pro on his spinning reels so he can see the line easier for the lighter bites. What am I doing wrong? Bad spots in the braid? or is it the knot? Danged if we do danged if we don't. Thanks guys!

Hi Mr. Morris, I have an unusual catfish you might be interested in putting in one of your aquariums....... for nominal fee of course.

Nice work and a great day. Congrats. Exactly what a buddy told me about the dam area. The shad were moving heavy into the pockets and creeks down there and the fishing had picked up considerably. He put in at State Park this a.m. and already sent me pix of a 3+ smallie and a super fat Kentucky. He said the water is pretty clear and mentioned the slime. Another buddy told me the James was slow for him yesterday. Amazing how one area is good and another poor, but that's TR. Congrats again.

Half the fun of spraying. Congrats on the crappie.

Congrats! Nice fish. Fun surprise to get two at a time. Had a friend who fished the dam area to Cow for 3 days last week and he found a lot of shad working heavily and quickly to the center of the pockets in that area. He did very well. May explain why Mike McClelland did so well around State Park and the dam in the BASS tournament. Will be down this weekend anticipating the recent and future rains may push the shad to the backs of those same pockets around the dam. I fished mid James from Hideaway to Wooley and it was just bad fishing all the way around for us last Friday and Saturday. I bet the spoonbillers are thick from Bridgeport on up. I will give a "dam" report early next week. Congrats again Spoon.

than she did. She's hooked. Had several this size and yes, she caught a bunch of them. I'm sworn to secrecy once again as we talked about not telling where we caught them, but I can tell you it was a very "Long Creek" in 8' - 12' of water that we fished. Same bait as always.... baby shad in any color you wanted as long as it was chartreuse. Hopefully I didn't give away too much info here. Wouldn't want her to not go with me next time. Waiting to get her and the 11 year old into whites. If any of you have some knowledge on the whereabouts of where the whites are, please share or send me a PM. The spoonbillers will be up the James this weekend (I think). Not sure I want to compete on the James right now.

I don't need any more. I bought enough at $1.99 each 15 years ago that earned me a costly trip to the dog house for a week. I ended up getting the last laugh as I made enough $ to keep 350 - 375 of the little buggers for free. On another note, still owe you the coordinates on the brush piles. Thankfully, I went back and used the Hummingbird the next day to make sure I had them. I promise at some point, to sit down and pull them for you. Depends on how the fishing is .