M_Taylor

This reminded me to be watchful for debris. Thank you!

Thanks Critter. I will definitely post a report anytime I come up to fish. LOZ is where the in-laws live. So most of the visits have to be on the weekend, and come summer I'm not too keen on the crowd. So I'll hope for bad weather each weekend I come up so I can get out.

Hey guys, new to posting on the LOZ site because all my fishing has been on Beaver Lake until now. Yesterday was the first time I'd been out on the lake in my boat. Fished in Lake of the Ozarks State Park area for a total of 8 hrs. Water temp was around 69 all day and visibility was at least five feet in most areas. The weather was a perfect misty rain and overcast sky. Caught a total of 34 bass. The best five included one over 4.5 lbs and 3.5 lbs. plus a couple 2 pounders. All fish were caught in less than 10 feet of water. The biggest bites came on topwater. Both a white buzzbait and white Zara spook. Other baits that produced: Green pumpkin shaky head 1/8oz, white Keitech Swimbait, storm popper. Locations were both secondary points and the backs of coves, and a few on main lake points. I did still see some bed fish but I never was targeting them. Hope this helps someone have a good day on the lake.

http://www.nwahomepage.com/fulltext-news/d/story/arkansas-game-fish-confirms-piranha-found-in-lake/20906/N02DfR7_BUmfiv6OPwqgXA#.VUaqqmbNtGQ.twitter So of course this is a unique situation, but still pretty interesting. Maybe we can share this article with the pleasure boaters on Beaver and see a little less traffic. just kidding, they have just as much right to the lake as me.

Nice catching. Gets me motivated to get back out there. Due to overseas travel it's been two weeks since I've been out! Darn tournament this weekend kinda put a damper on my hopes this weekend.

Might try around Prairie Creek too. I like to throw Rogues and swimbaits for them. I recommend a high vis flag on your kayak!

Awesome photo there of the amphitheatre. I like picturing the lake without water when I'm out there. Probably not look much different than any other valley along Hwy 12.

One more suggestion, depending on your boat you could put the buckets alongside up by the bow. That way if you need to throw it in reverse, you can't chop up your buckets or the line.

Yeah i wanted other people that may be even newer to the lake than me to be mindful of the hazards out there. Some that aren't marked, like boulders and of course the standing timber. One reason I was doing what I was doing is to learn the lake. I don't fish spots at night that I don't know. When I guided in AK we'd spend a week straight, 8 hours a day, running the narrows of the river we guided on. Back and forth and every possible way so that no matter the conditions we knew how to get back safe. It was fun getting paid to do that and not paying the $8/gallon!

I fished for stripers last night mid lake. I found them on Keitechs and Rogues but couldn't find any big ones. Been the story for a whole week now. Still fun on light gear. Water temps were 62-64. I also saw some topwater action well after sunset but couldn't connect with them. While fishing for stripers I managed a nice walleye on the Rogue. All were caught in less than 25FOW. The Rogues I'm using get down about 8-10ft. Something I wanted to remind people of that really hit home to me was to be cautious of underwater structure that is off the main land or islands. I took a boat ride towards the clear water just for fun yesterday before fishing. I'm still learning my boat and the electronics,and of course the lake. The wind really picked up for awhile and was white capping good. I got on the trolling motor to check out an island and immediately decided it was too rough to be fishing comfortably but threw a few times anyway. I was going around to get out of the wind when straight in front of me was a giant boulder just under the surface. Now I was off the shoreline a good 20-30 yards. Thanks to polarized glasses and a strong trolling motor it didn't cause me any trouble. But with that wind at my back, it could have been a serious issue if I hadn't been paying attention. It reminded me that even if your aren't running full speed on your main engine, you need to be aware of what could be under the surface. If that had been at night, which is when I often fish, I'd hate to think what would have had happened.

When I guided in AK for salmon we didn't have trolling motors on some of the bigger boats. We'd use buckets with holes drilled in them and tie it off on a cleat. A cheap way to slow down your speed. Used two sometimes depending on the currents. Just don't forget them when you go to run.

Fished from Sunrise to mid afternoon. Fished specifically for stripers in the first few hours. Only caught small ones, but at least we caught some. Caught in Keitech and jerk baits. Switched to bass fishing and caught a mixed bag. Found all three types of bass, one decent catfish and a big drum. The bass fishing was fair for me, with jerk baits and warts working best. The best fish was a smallie and it came from a shakey head. The wind picked up around the time I had to lead and the bite did too as would be expected. Water temp was 57 in the morning and warmed up to almost 60 by the afternoon.

This is great info. Always learn something on this forum. If only this discovery would have made itself clear literally hours beforehand I wouldn't have spoiled up those reels! Ugh.

Well I guess that's the last $20 I'll be putting towards that. I blamed everything but the line itself, but it's apparent there's something there to blame.

What's the difference between the yellow box and red box seaguar floro? I'm having a heck of a time with the red box stuff twisting. And this is fresh line doing it. Tried once having the machine out it on at HL&S and did it myself and both times fhe line started to twist in no time.

Hard to say exactly but maybe the drag is set too right or the reel itself doesn't have a smooth enough drag. Or a nick in the leader can weaken it quite a bit. Braid won't stretch either, therefore putting more pressure on your line. It's all an opinion of course, but I don't think it's because the line isn't strong enough. I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that I have caught and seen stripers caught on 8-10lb floro quite consistently. Up to 35 pounds in my boat. Not sure of that's a good answer but it's my two cents. Glad to hear you are hooking up on them. 90% of the challenge for me right there.

Wow thanks for sharing. I can't imagine. Hope there is some relief now.

I knew a guy who had a very bad/racist name for white bass. His loss for sure! Most fish in the water, salt or fresh, if prepared correctly is perfectly fine. I've heard smoked carp is hard to beat actually.

Snagged an old trot line in a small lake once. Pulled up the line to find a very smelly decomposing duck on the end of it. Sad and gross.

Nice. It was a beautiful day out there. I got five stripers after 6pm but couldn't find the nice ones like you did. Actually did better than I thought I would on bass too. Fishing real slow and methodical. Something I didn't see much of out of the 70mph crowd that almost ran me over.

Good info. Appreciate the suggestions.

Looking for a decent scale to weigh something up to 50 lbs. i have had experience with a boga grip and liked them but would like something that doesn't cost more than $50. I'm not looking for certifying world records on, just something dependable and fairly accurate. Any suggestions are appreciated, other than saving money and buying a boga grip. i know that one already.

Thanks for the report. Sounds like there is plenty to keep a person busy, and not working.

Thanks. Great to know people who know much more than me.

You are right J-Doc, it's a 70. I'm mostly concerned at finding the right rpm so that I'm confident I'm running fairly efficient without excessive wear on the engine. I think the 15 will be the ticket. On a side note, the Ranger handled the windy chop beautifully for being aluminum and 17'8".