Ken Drish

I'm in!

I'm in!

I got really lucky. They must have gotten spooked. All of my rods were on the boat deck along with the bow-mounted graph. Fortunately they didn't cut any cables and "nicely" removed the graph. Again, they left everything... must've ran out of time. I thank Butch for tecting me about the situation. I'm usually out every weekend, but stayed home this year for New Years. Took a ride out there that evening just for peace of mind. That's when I alerted RPS... they clearly knew what they were after. I'm going to petition the marina to install cameras.

I too ended up buying a few at Cabela's! Threw them last weekend. Really disappointed. They do not seem to swim well, constantly rolling over in the water. They float, which is a near feature, but drag at anything but a really slow pace and they roll over. Not a single fish - not even a blow up. That however, could be circumstantial, as almost all of my top water fish came on a Yellow Magic popper - they do not seem to be chasing like they were earlier in the summer. Seems like they want to ambush instead.

water temp 82

Had an absolutely phenomenal weekend of bass fishing. Spent 90% of my time in the Roaring River arm - fishing each day from dawn until about 11 and then again from 7pm - dark. It was a top water bonanza... baits used were a combination of a Lucky Craft Gunfish Blue Herring, a Whopper Plopper 130 (the new silent one... not sure it would have made a difference), Yellow Magic popper, Snag Proof Frog (evening only), pink Fluke (weightless) and then a handful of others - swim bait, Spro crankbait, underspin. But 95% of the fish came from topwater. It was really fun - each day was between 40-50 fish - mostly non-keepers, but did get a couple of really nice LM. One went close to 6#'s on the Gunfish. Here's the crazy part.......... a lot, and I mean a lot of the fish came in bright sunlight that were busting shad - all the way up to about 10am. The 6# came way up in the Roaring Arm in about 3 ft of water. Had a few doubles as well... you know there is a lot of action when a fish gets hooked and another to steal it from their mouth! During the evening fishing, it was mostly shoreline structure with the frog and popper. Far fewer fish but better quality. Would love to see it last forever like this, but I think the heat later this week will kill off some of this bite and drive them deeper. Good luck out there!

There is not a day that goes by, except in the deep of winter (December - February) when I do not throw a topwater. I've had some of my best luck in the evenings... mostly with a Yellow Magic (pop-r style bait). The key is to look for shaded cover/sharelines... usually starting round 6 PM. I've also got them on the WP, Spook and buzz baits, but for some reason I've had the most success with the Yellow Magic in the evenings. Agree totally that the topwater bite is better in the morning, but that too, for me, is driven by shade... I've caught them on top, on shaded shorelines, up to 11am some days.

Fished from Thursday through Sunday - from Leatherwood to Roaring River. My thing is topwater, and I had a hard time putting it down. They hit the Whopper Plopper, Yellow Magic, Gunfish, and even a frog. All but the frog got what I assume were roaming fish. I'd through the frog next to laydowns and big rocks and would get a reaction strike off of the beds. Water temps started about 58 in the AM and would go to 62-63 by days' end. Love this time of year - I think the topwater bit is only going to get better. Looks like the pros got most of their fish on Beaver flipping bushes with a jig - I got a bunch that way too, but just love the topwater bite better.

Thanks to Quill and others who organized! Great time!

Steady retrieve just like I'm throwing a Wart or a RK Crawler - the best action was when it was retrieved slow enough to deflect off of rocks/wood. . And yes, it's a lipless crankbait.

They're hungry! Had a great weekend with them really hammering the RK Crawler and a Red Eye Shad in a crawfish pattern - the best came on the Red Eye. Best 5 yesterday probably went close to 15#. All of them came in shallow water - no more than 7-8' and most came after the bait smacked/deflected off of rock or wood.

I was out this past weekend and noticed a bunch of them schooling just outside of Holiday Island. I threw an A-Rig into them and caught 5 K's in 5 minutes. I moved to another school and caught about 6 Whites on a Gunfish and Whopper Plopper... unreal!

Heading up this weekend. Looking for any insight... is the Holiday Island Marina accessible? How's the water color? What's the bite like? Was thinking jerkbait, A-rig? Any feedback.... much appreciated!

Does anyone know the impact of the flooding at Holiday Island? The Marina, etc.? Thanks!

Did more fishing this week of Christmas than ever before... what great weather! Still haven't figured out how to fish deep, but cleaned-up on A-Rig, Jerk Baits, Wiggle Warts. The biggest was 5.18 - ate an orange Wiggle Wart. Hope you all have had a Merry Christmas!

That's funny....

Ok- Need some help folks. I've got 4 s-wavers. Two 168's and 2 200's. I'm throwing them on a Lews Wide Bail reel with a Diawa tournament rod - med/heavy. Throwing Suffix 20# flouro. Can't catch S*&T! It's driving me nuts... could it be where I'm throwing them? Where should I be? Bluff walls, points? Parallel to the bank? Any suggestions would be great! Thanks!

Finally heading back this weekend after a two week break? Can I still get anything shallow or even on top with this warm weather?

I'm in! Looking forward to it.

Fished in the rain this past Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Tough to stay dry and warm, but I think I had most of the lake to myself! Water temp hovered in the low-mid 50's and despite all of the rain, seemed to stay pretty clear. Didn't catch a lot, but got some nice quality fish on the Whopper Plopper and RK Crawler. I think that may have been the last weekend I can get them on topwater for a while.

Happy Thanksgiving. Thanks to all who post on this site. Really helpful. I'm heading out tomorrow to try and get some... sounds like I'm going to get wet!

Great discussion last night. I really enjoyed it and learned some things!

Got out Friday - Sunday this past weekend. A little chilly and rainy, but great fishing. Fish were schooling and gorging themselves on shad on most points/flats that I fished. Many would surprise me with a gift of regurgitated shad as I was bringing them on the boat The majority of the fish were spots - caught 27 on Sunday in all - only about 4 keepers and 3 LM. It's a great time to fish the lake! Almost all fish came on a Gunfish. Nice scenery as well!

I'm in! Thanks for setting this up!

Got out this weekend and did really well in the mornings on schooling fish with a Gunfish and Spook. Common areas of large flats 2-4' with shad all over them. They would bust the surface and I'd just cast to them and was on. Probably got 20 fish - a few keepers, but tons of fun. Went back out Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. Found them way in the backs of creeks. Could hardly believe what I saw in one of the creek backs - shad so think I think you could almost stand on them. Have never seen such large schools. Again, just waited for them to bust and then cast to them. Got a few on a Yellow Magic that way too. Key to note... no love for the Whopper Plopper this weekend... odd.... must have been in the wrong places. Even the busting fish wouldn't take it. Love fishing these schools!