Royal Blue

Are you trolling 6XDs or Flickers?

It's good to go. I rarely use my 4wd putting in the boat anywhere unless it's freezing out.

I wonder if it's because he was a high pick for Chesapeake and no one has changed their lineups yet? He's a local near Chesapeake I think.

I'll put that to the test on Sunday morning!

Almost all of my jig success has been on some kind of brown, pb&j, or Buckeye makes a color called contusion. I may follow your lead on the big jig/lobster combo from Bo. I had kicked around dragging a Rage Lobster on a carolina rig too.

Swimming that jig was 100% luck. I'm more of a drag and hop kind of guy, but it was eye opening when I looked down and two toads were rushing it. I was using a chompers twin tail 5inch grub for my trailer and I usually use paca chunks or Rage Tail craws so not sure if that mattered.

Anyone with a carp or gar phobia might be in trouble this year. They're everywhere!

Not the best pic because it was literally 98 degrees and I had both of my kids with me. I snapped this pic, measured her at 21 1/2 inches, weighed her at 5lb 3oz and got her in the water all in about a 5 minute time period. Then I just sat there pumped and feeling awesome.

Bill you're right about the jig fish being there, but they're fewer and further inbetween what they were even 2-3 weeks ago. I've been on Bull 2-3 times a week for the past month or so and can attest to declining numbers over there as well. Mostly due to the shad being everywhere is my belief. I see very little evidence of a thermocline from Bear creek all the way to Powersite. Every single fish that I've caught but a handful have come on a jig in the last month. They've also gone from thumping the jig to pretty much just loading up on it and much deeper than even a week ago. For almost 3 weeks I could practically sight fish for them in pockets (weird in July.) There are still some up shallow, but the sheer numbers are very scattered at this point. We've gone from catching 10-20 keepers to 4-5 in a trip. I did have 2 4lb largemouth yesterday, but I equate that more to luck than anything. I was just reeling in my jig when I looked down and saw two big girls in hot pursuit in the clear water. I killed it and the one in the lead crushed it 10 feet below the boat! Having said that, I caught an absolute giant of a Smallmouth this past weekend between KDock and Beaver. I'd never seen a 5lb smallie on an Ozarks lake, and consequently I practically got buck fever when I swung her into the boat! I feel like the slower trips in the last week are karma for having such a good summer over there.

Ozark is 8/16.

No excuse. Went Sunday, Wednesday, and Sunday. Caught a 5lb smallie on Bull yesterday for my efforts!

That may be what I need to do. Loosen up that drag a little more.

I broke off a big one at the boat on a jig this Wednesday. That's happened to me 4-5 times this summer. I moved up to 17lb Sunline Assassin and only had one break off this time, but it was a toad walleye. There are several of you guys out in the red Trackers. I'm usually in a blue and silver G3 Sportsman 17. Give us a shout some time if you see us around there.

I've caught a few in the last month or so with the tail issue too. They were all caught pretty shallow. Not sure what it was from.

How far is Beaver from there? I've not fished above Beaver enough to really know.

Any kind of small point in a pocket seems to hold fish right now. It's weird too, if you try one pocket and don't get bit, go on to the next one and they'll be in there. They're spitting up crawdad claws and really chasing small bluegills. I'd say that a gill colored squarebill or shallow scatter rap would work too. I almost tried that yesterday.

You wouldn't believe me without seeing it. I start on main lake points and have been catching them both deep (20-25ft) and shallow enough in the pockets that you can see some of them. They're relating to rock and bushes like crazy early in the mornings still. I can't make myself not flip a bush or a stickup in the water. Every crankbait fish is on a point though.

I've been on them pretty good down there for a few weeks. Went again yesterday for only about 3 1/2 hours and had 16. About half were keepers. I've not seen hardly any topwater action happening all year. Everything busting are super small whites, gar, or carp. I've been catching them all on jigs, a jackhammer chatterbait, and yesterday caught 2 on a 6XD. That jig bite has been pretty good for a month or so and it's hard to speed up and cover more water when they're eating it.

Am I going to the wrong place when I tried to go to Shadowrock? Is the ramp just one lane and steep with no dock? I tried to go there last Wednesday, but that was all I found and I only had a 7 year old with me. No way I was trying that by myself. Off to KDock we went!

The smallmouth transplant program seems to be going well.

It's the same over on the pond to the east. I've been 4 times in the last 12 days and never more than 4 rigs in the little lot at KDock. My daughter and I fished from 6:30-Noon yesterday and saw 2 boats. I've been going a little further back into some of the cuts over there than I should this time of year. It's crazy though...every time I do, I see multiple keeper sized largemouths blowing small gills up out of the water and onto the bank. I toss a jig in the area and it's instantly choked. There are always 2-3 with them and they're all in the 16-17 inch range. This happened twice yesterday. Most fish are crammed with crawdads over there too though.

My understanding is that they're almost on the bottom at first and when they move, that they suspend at the same depth but deeper water. I could be wrong though. I've basically just been cranking points and dragging a jig all summer. It's been working though and I've only caught 1 Kentucky in that time. Almost all LM with a few brownies mixed in.

Bull Shoals is the same way right now. They're just thumping a jig or a chatterbait. I found several in the vary back of a cut on Sunday morning blowing little bluegills up onto the bank in 2-3 feet of water. They'd catch the jig on the fall being super aggressive.

Have you started throwing some big baits yet?

I spent a little time trying to troll a 6XD on Wednesday. Broke two cranks off and got frustrated. Went back to dragging a jig on the bank and catching bass.