Ozark Flyer

It’s been a minute since I’ve got a report out.  We had a lot going on the month of July outside of fishing.  Basically family time and just wanted to take a break.  
Since my previous trip I’ve been wanting to fish a different area and get a look at something new.  Decided to go fish the other river since it’s been like April that I’ve dumped my boat in it there.  
Got started about 6am.  Figure just pick the first flat, put out, and start searching.  Caught one right off the bat in 13 fow.  Kept searching the 20-15 fow and started narrowing the depth range down as the morning progressed to 15-12 fow with baits down about 9 feet.   Most of all the fish I seen were above 10 feet in the water column.  The bite for me continues to be how it’s been all summer.  Tons of shorts with a keeper mixed in about every 5 to 8 shorts you catch.  It’s fun because you’re catching a lot though.  It’s still you’ll either get just under or just over a limit trolling this year.   It’s a good mess for a few meals.
Lake level 1118.5.  Which is much lower than it’s been this time of year in a long time.  The CORP really pulled the plug and got it way down this year.  If it keeps going like this, we’ll be fishing really shallow this winter.  Fingers crossed!  Water clarity was a little stained and WT was 85-87.  
Setup was minnow rigging BnM 16ft PST’s with 1oz rigs I tie up using Pico Lures/Vanguard Terminal Tackle.
Felt good to get out and mentally reset.  Nothing like it and look forward to the next one.  Got a starting point.
Pictures below are from trips towards the end of June and my last one a couple days ago 
Good Fishing 
Lance Hughey Crappie Guide Service 
 

Some tough days for the Ozark Flyer lately.  Working HC north and War Eagle.  Been pulling both cranks for Crappie and dragging perch on bottom for Cats.  No great success with either.  Seeing fish on graph 10-15 ft deep in 20 fow.  The edge of mud flats for cats.  No significant bite.  No bueno!  Looks like cooler weather next week.  I’ll hit it again.  A little nudge in the right direction would be appreciated.

Been reading and learning what I could lately about striper fishing.   Took off Sunday (Jan. 3rd) with a friend, 4 rods, 2 planer boards and way too many brood minnows on my first outing.  Put in at Prairie Creek about noon, (no clouds) as I had heard good things recently.  Immediately realized I was in trouble not having a line counter bait casting reel knowing I wasn't sure how deep I was actually dragging my minnows with my 3/4 oz- 1 oz weights.  I was trying to hit the 35' depth.   Some how screwed up and caught this nice striper.  Absolutely could not believe the strength of this fish.  Had to turn the trolling motor in his direction to gain on him, as I didn't have the proper rod/reel.  So here is my question:  Suggestions on a line counter bait casting reel under $100.  My main fishing is for local creek fishing for smallies with a trip or 2 up north after the same.   Anytime someone asked me about a GOOD, INEXPENSIVE SPINNING REEL, I always feel confident in recommending a pflueger president.  For $40-$60 I don't feel there is a better reel out there.  Hoping someone can suggest a line counter bait caster under $100 that may serve me well.   Thxs

District 1 Biologists worked with Beaver Watershed Alliance to draft a proposal for a large habitat project on Beaver Lake and the project was funded by the National Fish Habitat Partnership! The project is a large cooperative endeavor, with partners from Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Beaver Watershed Alliance, Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, Hobbs State Park, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Beaver Lake Office, Bear Creek Bass Club, Northwest Arkansas Bassmasters, Quail Forever, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Northwest Arkansas Master Naturalists, Beaver Lake Crappie Association, Hook, Line and Sinker Tackle Shop, and landowners. The project will begin after funding is received, possibly in summer of 2021. The 130 new fish habitat sites will be a great place to catch some fish. More updates about the project will be provided as they development. The goals the habitat project can be found below.   Goals for the project:   Implement source water protection best management practices to improve water quality in Beaver Lake by reducing nutrients and sediments in the watershed Restore 300 linear feet of eroded streambanks to reduce sediment and nutrients into Clifty Creek, a tributary to War Eagle Creek and Beaver Lake.  Enhance 6 acres of riparian with native vegetation along 1,383 linear feet on Big Clifty Creek. Provide education and outreach to over 20,000 landowners on Fish Habitat Enhancement in the Beaver Lake watershed. Add 130 new fish habitat sites to Beaver Lake to improve fish usage, angler satisfaction and success Add 30 of the 130 fish habitat sites close to shoreline fishing areas to improve bank angler success Evaluate catch rates of sportfish on brush piles vs. no brush piles and among different configurations of cedar tree fish habitat Evaluate angler use and preferences of habitat sites with creel survey

Well it reversed this week.   Wednesday was good and Saturday was a bust.  Wednesday went back to where I caught them Saturday.  Worked a pocket for awhile and only picked up a few.  The way they’ve been moving water earlier in the week I just guessed they moved out to the flat.   Because that’s where they were.  Got on the flat in 18-17 fow and 10-12 feet down.  Steadily picked them off but once moving up on a point the bite got better.  They were stacked around it.   Straight minnows and moon jigs tipped with a minnow worked the best.  
Saturday they were still there in that 18-17 fow range just couldn’t get many to bite.  Had 6 that I tossed back.  Guess the weather I don’t know.  This time of year is the hardest to dial in for me.   Ready for December 
Be back at it Wednesday I think.  
Water temp still hovering around 79-83 depending on if the sun is shining.  
Enjoying the day’s off either way.  God bless and good fishing Lance 
 

I’m not an expert by any measure but my experience has been that it’s work any way you cut it.  Pulling cranks can be a busy day if your really working it.  Staying on your contour, watching your speed, planning your turns, fixing tangles and snags, landing and measuring, changing colors, watching your sonar,...etc., etc., etc..  It’s not the set em out and crack a beer that a lot of folks think.  I am figuring out that success is all about observing and managing the details...what works, and what doesn’t.  And I get my fair share of time observing what doesn’t work..

I’m not an expert by any measure but my experience has been that it’s work any way you cut it.  Pulling cranks can be a busy day if your really working it.  Staying on your contour, watching your speed, planning your turns, fixing tangles and snags, landing and measuring, changing colors, watching your sonar,...etc., etc., etc..  It’s not the set em out and crack a beer that a lot of folks think.  I am figuring out that success is all about observing and managing the details...what works, and what doesn’t.  And I get my fair share of time observing what doesn’t work..

Thanks Greg. I went out this morning and didn't do a whole lot of good. Mostly scouting new areas up North Big Clifty.
I saw some good banks that you described, I'll give em a shot tomorrow.

Mountain home is by far the best area for fishing in our state as far as trout and bull shoals/Norfolk for bass and stripers.  Trout fishing on the white cannot compare to beaver tail waters.  The white is a world class fishery, beaver tailwaters cannot hold a candle to it (although it’s close and has decent fishing).  You can also Spey cast and fish the white, not very possible at beaver tailwater.  The northwest arkansas area is nicer than mountain home and has more to do but as far as fishing, it has nw Arkansas beat.  Both good areas and both have pro’s and con’s.

Got going about 6 Saturday morning...  They’ve been finicky here for awhile.  Took a break from Beaver and hit other lakes the first part of August.  Boat crowd was getting old
Last week they were mad and it didn’t matter what size the bait was.  This week it started off like that and then once the sun got up it was back to finicky...  Like they just come up and nip at it but not commit to it.  Buddy of mine fishing with livescope would say they just come up and look, then swim away...  That would drive me nuts.
They were hammering it on a 18 foot contour at about 15 to 13 feet down.  Minnows and a Crappie Magnet split tail jig in a color called Sho-nuff...  Looks like Monkey Milk...  Most came off a jig than meat.  Crazy how that is.  They haven’t wanted jigs all summer and now they do...  I guess because it’s a small profile and not much of any action.  Just a little vibration that triggers that horizontal line just enough I guess.   Had 8 on my first past in about 45 minutes.  Flipped around and picked up two more.  Then gave it a rest.  Went searching for roamers on a big flat but couldn’t keep bass, gar, and cats off my line.   Picked up a few shorts but no keepers.  So made my way back into that pocket and went to the same contour.  Picked up two more but the bite was nothing like at first light.   
I quit around noon about the time it turns into an ocean.  
Really gained a lot of personal confidence sticking with Beaver throughout the summer.  I struggle the most in the summer.  Just had to keep dragging my boat out there and plug away at it.
God bless and good fishing Lance 

Normally I wouldn’t even put a report up for a quick trip out.  Not sure how much information I have to help anyone else out BUT:  we finally found a little Topwater action!  Been few and far between this spring/summer for me.

 After some engine trouble got our day off to a late start (and we were limited to staying close to the ramp) we pulled up on a well known main lake point.  I was just praying for some kind of action since I had my 13 yr old daughter with me and it had been a rough start to the morning.  As luck would have it- for the first time all summer I found some Topwater fish.  Nothing big and they would only bite when they were boiling up on top- but every 10 min or so they were coming to the top and we could get a chance at them.  With the clouds before the rain today (predicting weather must be hard) they stayed active until 8:45 or so.  We were off of main lake point on a narrow stretch of deep (40-50ft) water.  These were my first Topwater fish in what feels like forever.
 
Side note-  today was my daughter’s 13th birthday and she wanted to go fishing with her Dad to start the day!  Catching your first ever Topwater fish isn’t a bad way to start your teenage years.  Let’s see if she will still get in a boat with me in about 5 years...

No just crammed it in a cooler

I've got a milk run set up, several locations that I've found stripers at fairly consistently this spring.  I start out close to Indian creek and work my way up lake to point 5 if I can't find them at Indian.  Made it to point 5 today as there weren't very many near Indian.  There weren't a lot of blow ups today, but I was fortunate to catch them on the few bites I got, caught 2 on top and one on a Keitech.  Still getting 5 lbers on average, but I think the Keitech fish may have been pushing 7.  
Caught a few black bass too on top and on the Keitech, didn't get any good ones to the boat but had a couple that were decent keeper sized that jumped and tossed the Keitech.
Bite pretty much died about 8 AM.  
WT 71.

 

 

 

Got started about 6:30 yesterday morning.   Minnow rigging 1oz rigs in 30-35 fow and about 11 to 13 feet down.  Pretty much the same pattern I’ve been on the past several weeks but just adjusting the depth to where they are getting on up higher in the water column.   They bite really good first thing until the the sun gets up higher and then it slows or just plane stops.  Guess I’ll need to get startEx at like 5am.  Those last 5 fish took some effort.  
Vertical bluff lines in the shade. Along docks and brush piles finished the deal.  
More I think about it and after chatting with a buddy.  It had a lot to do with how I approached those areas and how they are facing from the sun.  Go one way nothing and then flip it around and get bit.  Gonna have to work on that and pay more attention to that as the summer progresses. 
Good fishing and God Bless Lance

Got started yesterday about 11:30...  WT got up to 51 and clarity was pea green...  Wanted to fish a new areas that I know holds fish that just haven’t been bothered...  But when the wind and boat waves keep bouncing my tin can around it can get frustrating...  So pulled out and trailed elsewhere...
Launched again at 2 and got started back at it at 2:30...  Found them right off the bat but they weren’t ready to eat yet...  Said to myself I’ll come back to them at 4:30...  So moved to go find other fish...  Found them deeper at like 19 fow about 15-16 feet down but they were just little keepers and shorts...  Stayed at it with them until 4:30 then went back to those earlier fish marked...  Put myself in 10-12 fow and 8-10 and bam the madness started and it got better and better as it darker...  
Fished until I couldn’t see my rod tips anymore...   They were hitting still as I pulled up...  Just kept 10 slabs...  
God bless and good fishing Lance

That’s how you do it!  

Got started about 9:30ish Friday.  I didn’t really know what to expect with all the water being released.  I just went on a idea knowing crappie don’t like current and if they want to get out of it they would find shelter from it.  Like a channel bend laying on the side of the channel where they are protected from it.  Or rises off the bottom and laying on the side that gets a break from the current.   So that’s what I did.  Looked at the contour map and positioned the boat on the protected side of rises.  Moved at a snails pace and just picked them off all along it.  Stuck 10 in the first pass and flipped it back around punched it back to the starting mark.  Put the bow back into the wind and stuck the last 5 shortly after.
WT was 43-45.  In about 18-19 fow about 16-15 feet down.  Moving about .2mph.  
Got em quick and shut it down about noon.  
God Bless and Good Fishing Lance

Got out this morning for a few hours and Fished mid lake area.  Water temp was 45-46.  The bite continues to be red hot..... I was heading south from them ramp when I cam across a pack of birds drive bombing the water. I killed the main engine plenty far enough as to not spook anything that might be feed under them and proceeded to get closer with my trolling motor. I got about 100-150 from where the birds were working when my graph lit up like a Christmas tree!  I drop lines down and was hooked up immediately with a nice 12-15 pound striper. I fished the area for about for another 3 hours before I headed home.  Ended up with 4 striper and half a dozen whites.  I threw back all the striper but kept the whites for fish tacos for later this week. Big fish went 22 pounds and just shy of 40 inches. Here’s a few piics. Stay aware out there for them birds. Good luck out there fellas, and stay safe. 

Geez...   Beaver hasn’t changed since leaving it in late July...  Lot of water out there...  Hopefully it’ll get right at some point...
Haven’t crappie fished on Beaver in about 4 or so months...  It’s become routine through the past few years to go to other lakes until December... Suckers live shallow on these lakes and just addicted to catching them that way...  It’s a grind every time but its worth the work for the quality. 
Yesterday got started about 12pm and fish till dark.  Just going on past experience of where to go and just see what happens...  Wasn’t expecting much, just wanted to locate crappie.  After getting set up, made one pass and caught four keepers.  They were just squeakers on the legal size.  Gave em back..  Other than those it was just catching dinks...  Flipped the boat around and said let’s go on shallower to find bigger fish...  More of a water level I’m usually catching them in this time of year...  Usually in the past it’s 6-7 feet but that’s in the bushes right now...  Went from fishing in 20-22 feet to about 14-12 and about 6-8 feet down and started slowly getting into them then...  Took home seven good ones that’ll make good tacos come Tuesday...
Somewhat successful trip...  Never fished this lake this high this time of year.  Having to adjust and find that right water...  Anyway got something to go on for next time and It’ll get better...
God bless, God Fishing
Second to last pic below is of yesterday catch and then the past few months...  Sorry pic overload..  Trying fit 4 months of fishing 














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There is something about posting on the internet that makes people think they are smarter than they really are.  This post is proof of that.

Another one tryin to drag in facts, we don't need no stinkin facts;  this is the internet!!!
 
 
I'm sure that somewhere there is a directive stating how every predictable circumstance is to be handled, probably dating to the initial planing stages of each lake, and that directive may have been changed through the years as the reality of some of those scenarios  came to be and the actions of the plan  either was successful or wanted improvement. In any of these "flood control" impoundments the key to management is at the end of the flow, I guess that means in this case the Mississippi River Delta and every body upstream from that end goal just has to adjust.
I have noticed over many years that  most people don't think about how stupid the engineers are when they are speeding down an engineered freeway in an engineered vehicle or talking on an engineered cell phone. I reckon this forum wouldn't exist without the work of hundreds of engineers.

I realize your venting but it seems like the TRL guys are complaining all the time too about high water. Cracks me up.
I wish they would just get rid of the dams and show everyone what real flooding looks like. 
 
 

Thanks for keeping up your posts...

Got hall pass after church Sunday....
WT 65-68 dingy/mud mix and look like a slalom skier running up...  Trash scattered...  
End with 10 before daddy duties called...  Too many shorts to count 
16 FOW 6-7 feet down rigging straight meat
All the fish I’m cleaning most of their eggs look this the past two weeks....  Brown...  
Think they are  transitioning to the main channel now...  
God Bless and Good fishing Lance 

Nice!  Picked up a few from the bank behind my house this AM.  Full of eggs....