RSBreth

I was going to say G3 is pretty good, IF you want a Yamaha outboard, because they are owned by Yamaha, and thats what you get, period. Not that a Yammie outboard is bad, just if you want a choice, you don't have one. I have a Lowe 170w (2003) that I really like, these are made in Lebanon, Mo. Much better fit and finish than a Tracker. I had a small problem with getting clear title because of the previous owner and had to track the boats I.D. # back to the dealer that sold it in Arkansas, and the customer service guy at Lowe helped alot, even though I am not the original owner. If money isn't a problem look at Xpress, Triton, and War Eagle. All have some nice looking boats. For best value I'll say G3 and Lowe.

After the insanity of an almost 200 boat bass tournament Saturday, I had a chance to go and have some real fun Sunday afternoon on the Finley. Crappie are moving into wherever you find the warmest water, near brush. Backwaters, slow pools and anything timber or brush in slow or no current. Caught about 20, all 10" or so on float and 16th oz. stubby butt in albino suspended about halfway down whatever depth I was at: If it was 6 ft. deep I would put it about 3 ft. down. Nice fun day canoeing!

It was out of Kimberling, and was 190 boats, not 184 as I said earlier. I think half went towards the dam area including the big Skeeter I was in. I'm sure it did sound like the Indy 500! I think the Aunts Creek Asscn. Tourney was also the same day, so who knows how many big boats were running Saturday.

I pre-fished Wed.-Thurs. around Kimberling area-Mill, Schooner, etc. I went up the James a little too. Caught a real nice 5 lb. green fish up there. The fish I found were about halfway back of coves on secondary points. Find one of these with some timber in 10-20 ft. and the rogue bite was on. Then I got paired up with someone who was going to the dam area. Ah, well. My partner was going for the smallie bite on chunk rock to pea gravel banks, and it just never happened I fished almost exclusively with a Rogue and wished I had never put it down. Lost a good largemouth or spot(all I saw was green 3-4 lb.) right at the hook set in Indian, when my partner looked back to see what I was cussing about I lied and said it was a little one because he didn't have one in the boat, and I had already caught two shorts, and what would turn out to be my only keeper, a football 4-10 spot. I am cursed with catching 14" spots! The ones I caught pre-fishing all weighed right at 2 lbs. with my little digital scale. Still seems a shame you can't weigh these fish in!

No one replied but I will be able to answer my own question. This tournament was pretty good, a couple of things were a little off, like the boat check way at the back of the docks instead of right as you come in and out. But all in all not bad for 184 boats. I finished 18th on the co-angler(amatuer)side.(Three way tie.) Caught the dreaded 14 1/2 inch spot as I always do all day. If you only could weigh in 12" or bigger spots! My boater had his places never turn on for him, and seemed to take it pretty bad. But, hey, it happens. He wasn't alone, I think 60+ boaters brought in a blank also.

Not an april fool's joke, but I am thinking about entering this one and wondered if anyone on the forum has experience with the BFL?

The new In-Fisherman issue has a great article about our own Al. Check it out if you get a chance.

You guys have it about right. Put in at 125 ( don't leave your truck there)and float to Ozark city park. Skip shallow water and concentrate on deep slow pools, even small ones. Both hard jerkbaits(X- raps, rogues, etc.) and soft jerks (flukes, jerk shads,etc.)work well if you work them near wood over deep water. You will catch more Largemouths than you would expect.

I fished one of my winter "holes" on the lower James yesterday. I expected to get bit pretty good on hard jerkbaits but didn't get a nip. Switched to soft jerks on a weighted hook and started getting smallies right where I had struck out before. Such picky fish some days. Nothing big, just half a dozen 2 pounders, which is about all this spot usually produces. Lets say I was further down than Hootentown, but not past Gelena. Sure wish I was back out today, rain or no rain.

Hey everyone, I have a guy from my day job who has a lightly used bass boat for sale: 2001 Javelin 17' single console w/ 2001 115 Johnson DI outboard. 3 bank charger, trolling motor , etc, etc. He is asking 8 grand obo. Direct all other questions to Chris at: reynmo@yahoo.co I have fished out of this boat and it would make a great first tourney rig, It'll run about 55 mph with me and the owner in and we are both 200+ pounders. He bought it new and didn't get into bass fishing as much as he thought he would.

Fished two winter "holes" this saturday, and had a good day with suspending jerkbaits. No huge fish but a good mixed bag of 2 and 3 lb. smallies and largemouths. The key was letting the bait just sit 30 seconds or so after I worked it up to cover. Every hit came after I twitched it slighly after one of these long pauses. The jerkbait is one of the "bassmaster" baits marketed by bass pro, the smaller 4"size in green shiner. I picked them up at the outlet store for about 2 dollars, I wouldn't want to spend the 7 bucks or so they were at full retail. Strange thing about the upper Finley is that there is a good number of largemouths. I think the park in Ozark is where the largemouths can pull off a better spawn than if they are in a stretch of river without such a large slack water area.

I don't know what Buster uses, but I use jerkbaits, slashbaits, minnowbaits, whatever you call them quite a bit. I like a 7' medium spinning rod and a bigger reel than most use. My current rig is gonna sound like an ad for Bass Pro, but it is the 7' medium bionic blade spinning rod and the 4000 pro quailifier reel spooled with 6/14 fireline with 8 to 10 ft. orvis 1x (14.5 lb.) mirage tippet as a leader. (The leader is attached to the main line with back to back uni knots.) I can cast an XRap 50 yards with this setup. The same rig is what I like to use for soft jerks too.

I will just say I am somewhere on the the Finley above Ozark. And yes, it is really low this winter. I hope to get a good report on the lower James this next weekend, see if the same rig is working there, also.

Fished for a few hours both days this weekend on a favorite "hole" on the Finley. Tried suspending jerkbaits and caught one 2 lb. smallie, but did better on slip float and jigs and soft jerks on a small jig head suspended at about 4-6 ft deep out of the current. One largemouth was about 4, but all the rest were smaller, 7 "green fish" and 5 smallies for winter isn't too bad.

Hey eveyone, I didn't introduce myself when I registered, but since the topic of the Finley popped up I'll get on the board. I'm Randy Breth and I live in Ozark right by the town square about 3 blocks from where Mr. Farmer used to live. Don't know where he is these days, I think he moved down near Theodosa, but not really sure. Anyway, I fish the Finley so much that it probably is the water I know the most about these days. I sure don't see that many folks repeatedly, with the exception of a few kayakers, who of course don't fish. The Finley park here in Ozark does have a good number of "keeper" largemouth's due to it being like a large pond, with limited shore access. The upper Finley is great for numbers of smallies all the way to the other small lake at Linden. From Linden dam to Ozark is a decent day float that I do 6 or 8 times each year. Tip: Don't leave a vehicle you care about at Linden as it is a notorious "party" spot. You know what I mean. I do fish the lower James some for smallies, along with Beaver, Swan, Bull, Bryant and North Fork. I guess I will have to start posting as the fishing starts getting good in spring.