Royal Blue

Are you tying the braid directly to the jig head?

Bill, I've run into Mike several times with my kids and he's always so gracious and such a great guy. Awesome that you get to spend that time with him. What speed reel is he throwing that crawler on, and I assume it's on a M action Cara?

Do you like the keeper on them? I usually feel like I have to use glue with that kind of keeper. Maybe I should be using it all of the time anyway.

I believe that. On the upper end they'll stay in the brush all year long sometimes.

They're just two really different animals as far as the fishing pressure goes. With Bull as high as it's been all year, I haven't fished it hardly at all. Normal years I'd be there 1-2 times a week and to me, the size of my average fish is a lot bigger. I think it's because they're just flat out not getting fished for as hard. Table Rock for me has fished much more difficultly this year than in years past. I think it's been hammered. I have plenty of luck catching keepers, but I'd say the biggest I've had all year on TR was 4 1/2 lbs and it was in March. Don't let it get you down and cover a ton of water when it's tough. You'll have more success.

What part of the lake are you fishing?

Yeah, we lost the wind and it just got really tough. We couldn't adjust and really just never got bit other than the little ones after 11. Last week when I was out I had nothing early and everything once it clouded up and we got a little breeze. I can't get a keeper on a jig right now to save my life.

I can tell you that yesterday with the high pressure and bluebird sky that we never had a keeper after about 11. We had a bunch by 9:30 and it got really tough. That could've been the barometer though. Post frontal and all, but my schedule is what it is. There was a very strong reaction bait bite early though.

Weird. I talked with a buddy earlier that said that they smoked them in that area in the rain on Sunday. All pretty shallow and some on a buzzbait.

I'm guessing you're too deep right now honestly. I've been hearing that the fish are very shallow on Bull right now. I know that all of my keepers on TR last week came in under 8 feet of water and all on moving baits. I'll probably hit Bull tomorrow and will report back if I make it down there.

We fished way back into Flat Creek on Wednesday and saw quite a few snakes. 3 that we could definitely say were cottonmouths. There was no mistaking what they were. I can honestly say that this year I've seen way more snakes on Table Rock than I ever have in 22 years of living in this area. Not sure what that's all about, but I'm not swimming there anytime soon.

Punching does work. I also rip a chatterbait through the grass on Taney with very good success. There's a ton of grass on that lake this year, and if I were to hit it again before the grass dies off I'd probably throw a frog a whole lot along with punching gear and a chatterbait.

I'm not sure on that. I know that there are guys doing on the water training right now, but it's for Humminbird specifically. Doesn't help me with my Garmin stuff!

What brand?

I'll be back down for the 25th for sure.

My schedule is so messed up lately that I haven't been able to fish that for quite awhile. How many boats were there and what'd it take to win?

Those mid lake creeks are money with a spinnerbait after dark too. When you went in that first night was probably when you should've been getting started. That big jewel jolt spinnerbait with the big colorado blade can be deadly there after dark. Also, I'd think that big wobbler of Bo's or a dark chatterbait with a big trailer would hammer them. This summer we've caught them pretty good right on the bank late at night like that in the KC area.

Yeah. I use a jerk bait a whole lot differently after going with him a few times.

If the water gets to normal pool and it's late fall/winter. Buster. End of story.

I think if I were to book a guide on the Rock right now, I'd want to learn a lot more about drop shotting and deep flutter spoon stuff. I really have no desire to pay to dunk crawlers, but I also might be different if I had the kids with me. I always expect to catch fish, so that wouldn't really change much. I'd expect an early morning and would have no problem with that. As far as spending money on a guide right now, I think I'd almost rather pay to fish Taneycomo than risk spending hard earned money on a hot summer crap shoot and fighting the wake boats on Table Rock.

I was out yesterday around Cape Fair, and the etiquette was horrible. We were repeatedly cut off on short stretches of bank. It was nuts. I finally called a guy out, and was not at all nice. I fired up the boat and hammered it out of there. To his credit, he stopped when he saw us putting the boat on the trailer and apologized, but I struggled before letting it go. Between that and the pontoon boats with tubers doing donuts within 50-60 feet of us several times had me questioning why I left the house yesterday.

Check out the new Strike Ring Rage ned stuff too. They look legit.

If you're throwing a ned or jig, GREEN PUMPKIN is the deal especially right now. Bill will tell you the same thing and also having some orange on it will help. Any jig trailer you have on needs to have orange on the tips of the claws.

Would you say that you were grinding the bait on the bottom, or just kinda touching the bottom?

Good to know. That bite has been really hit or miss so far this year.