nhornback

So far it sounds very much up my alley. Shallower fish, good spinnerbait lake, less people... and not a ton of docks and condos interrupting the banks and scenery. can't wait for Sunday so I can go explore it a little!

Power fishing is more up my alley this far into my fishing life, although I'm forcing myself to slow down and try things I'm not confident in this year when conditions call for it. Love throwing a crank and spinner though.... By "change things up a bit" do you mean how I work those baits, where I throw them, colors, etc? Thanks, Nick

Had planned on launching from mutton sunday - see the forecast calls for breezy, and you guys got me all paranoid! Jk, I'm sure it'll be fine as I'm not stupid about operating my boat in rough conditions, or even calm conditions... Ketchup, I have a 17'6 nitro fiberglass... so not the biggest or greatest vessel for taking on title waves...

For the most part I like the wind as long as it isnt too crazy out. I struggle on TR when it slicks off (which seems like it has been slick every outing ive made to TR this year). What about water clarity and stain? I know "bass will be bass" on any lake and follow channel swings and points as they migrate pre and post spawn, but are there any quirks since it looks like there's less chunk rock and more mud banks than TR? Definitely not asking for anyone's honey holes, as I want to find my own just love the game plan part of fishing (when the plan works!) And a little local knowledge goes a long ways. Thanks, Nick

I've only been into bass fishing for a couple years now, and I've spent most of my time on table rock thus far. I've decided I'm going to turn my focus to Stockton and see what its all about, and was hopeful some of you seasoned vets of the local fishing scene could give me a run down on similarities and differences between TR and stockton? Sunday will be the first "serious" day of bass fishing on stockton for me, and I'll start reporting my findings (or lack thereof) on here after that first day... Thanks, Nick

Think the first wave of fish are spawning or did the temperature drop late last week/weekend back them off for now?

Saw a johnny morris carbonlite 6'6" ML at BPS outlet store for $50, almost pulled the trigger but went with thr 7ft medium instead. Does anyone use a ML casting rod a lot in their arsenal, and for what applications/presentations? I was thinking of picking one up and use it for finesse flipping and maybe even the ned... thoughts?

After feeling several rods in the $100 range I went with a 7' medium fast carbonlite. Felt more balanced than some of the others and a smidge lighter... hope that means more feel on shaky heads etc. Cant wait to use it

This forum is a wealth of knowledge... almost too much info enough to make a guys head spin... but I think I have a good starting point on my search, which will probably start this afternoon if the boss is up for shopping, which she usually is when my money is involved you guys are great, thanks again!

I've realized I need to slowly start investing in better equipment if I'm going to learn to effectively fish techniques like shaky heads, finesse jigs etc (power fisherman by nature early in my fishing life) What discourages me the most about slowing down is losing the feel of the bait and I think it's low quality, hand-me-down rods that are taking away even more feel. Hoping to get suggestions on the most sensitive medium action rods on the market, and an idea of their price point so I know what to expect. Thanks as always for everyone's input. Nick

Thanks for the info guys. Figure I will hit south facing main and 2nd points and channel swings for awhile, but if that doesn't pan out maybe I'll throw on a marabou jig and hit some docks for crappie. If anything I do works out I'll make sure and post a report. Thanks again, NH

Hmm not sure. Bridge on 54 north toward jeff city... ? (North from camdenton)

Never been on lake of the ozarks but will be coming up to fish it this weekend. Will be staying and fishing around the 54 bridge. Was hoping somebody could fill me in on water conditions (water temp, clarity) and what kind of bass bite is going on? Thanks in advance NH

Own kayaks now so wife and I will be doing much more floating and want to try new stretches of river. Can anyone tell me the river miles between shelvin rock access and the hootentown bridge? Never floated that stretch, looks like a solid day float... Thanks Nhorn

Awesome

I've only ever seen one brand of topo lake map, and they're the waterproof ones you can pick up at walmart, basspro, etc. Anyone know of other versions that might be of more detail, or are those the only option? Thanks! NH

Quite a 180 in talking points relative to talking about the ned rig... How about prespawn transition talk? My 2016 game plan to try and further my understanding of how fish move relative to the seasons is to pick a small area of the lake from main lake to creek arms and fish that small area as often as I can, which for me is probably once or twice a month. My thought is that if I can find them out deep in the next few weeks I can use those main lake/ deep spots as starting points to find them as they move toward spawning areas. I've read differing things on transition, maybe they're both true. I've heard that some bass won't travel in more than a couple hundred yard radius their whole lives, and also heard just the opposite. Anyone have any thoughts on that? Thanks as always

Thanks, champ I'm by no means looking for a free ride to success as a fisherman, but some fingers pointing in the right direction will definitely help get me going and I'm thankful for the info you all are willing to share.

You make it sound as if there's something wrong with asking questions? Hope I'm not offending people by asking questions/wanting to absorb knowledge from those who have been around fishing much longer than I have.

What environmental factors might clue you in to whether they're feeding up or down? Wind and clouds vs sunny and slick? Time of day?

I fish to my strengths to a fault, mainly because I've yet to develop confidence in slowing down and thoroughly searching an area. Seems that every time I locate a fish via a reaction bait I.e. cranks or spinnerbait, I slow down with a jig or worm and strike out for awhile before I move on. All this info has been awesome, thanks everyone for the responses. I'm going to commit to a finesse approach this year when the conditions call for them, so you can bet I'll be coming back with more questions as the year goes on.

Sounds like its a very slow presentation... with a presentation that slow, how long do you typically sit at one spot without a bite before you move on? Seems like a single cast could take several minutes at that pace...?

Great info guys thanks, If you were going out right now under current water conditions how would you fish the ned rig? Boat position, how would you work the bait, etc?

How do you identify channel swing banks while out on the water?

And unfortunately I work on Tuesday nights. Do you guys know if I can access the chat transcript anywhere later on?