Phil Lilley

Nice to meet @Bassin4fun yesterday

We fished the both structure and the flats yesterday. We found fish almost everywhere, I like mostly crappie but I am still trying to figure out what fish are what on the livescope. Structure - leaving the bridge ramp we headed south to the first bluff and found some neat trees in 20-25 ft of water and fish on them. Caught shorts mainly, and yes they were skiddish. Moved around the point and headed in the cove. Lots of standing trees towards the north bank and in the middle in 20-25 ft of water and fish on some. Really wasted time there because we couldn't get them to cooperate. Headed up to point 15 and the flats above the point. About 6 boats working the area with some success. We didn't do that well. Headed back down lake and fished the bluff from peach orchard cove south. Found a lot more fish in 20-30 feet of water and a ton of trees. Alot of trees laying on the bottom, not standing, and these were the most productive. Ended up with 12 keepers and probably 25 shorts. Caught the best on a minnow/jig head but caught some on the Garland crappie baits and swimming minnows. Saw schools on fish, I think whites, on the last spot. They wouldn't bite. Crappie were spooky- if they were on the tops of trees, had to stand off about 20 feet or they'd bust. If they were on the bottom in 20+ we could sit on top of them.

Just watch one cast. If I write one, I'll be writing basically what we say every day. That's why I don't write many reports... If you have questions, comment on the videos.

Thanks for the report!!!

After jig fishing the last couple of days, I can honestly say they've really turned on to jigs. At least the smaller rainbows. I've caught a few nice 19 inch rainbows but mostly 11-13 inch fish.

How many times have I heard about a great fishing report at the end of a day, then head to the lake and do the same thing that caught fish the day before and got skunked - a bunch! Yep- lots of wisdom in that post.

I'm going to try tying in a colored section of line, just to see if I can "see" the bite better. I would think adding floatant wouldn't be a bad idea in that case.

If I could ask a question on his video, which I can't because the comments are turned off, I'd ask if he's putting floatant on his butt section because he said he's letting the jig sink till the "sighter" section is vertical. But your butt section will sink to unless it floats, and 15 lb mono doesn't float. When is a jig a streamer? A "streamer" is a jig when it has a lead head. A jig is a streamer when the material is left long? Interesting.

I didn't follow them... one right decision at least. I have a lot to learn!

These were moving too fast to get anything to them. By the time my jig sung to the depth, they moved on.

Crappie?

Put in at River Run about noon. Headed down and hit Barker and the flats below there. Saw a few schools of what I think were crappie but no takers. Saw more fish on the bottom in 18 to 22 feet of water - again no takers. Jigs and soft plastics. About 12 boats out, mostly trolling real slow. I didn't see any action. Nice to to be out! Water temp 46.

That's Duane Doty's design.

I try to force feed fish when I go to other waters, including Florida's backwater. Most times they work but not all the time. ALOT of people are putting marabou jigs out there, even in this area. PJ's, Zig Jig, D2 Jigs to name a few. Our nitch was to guarantee the quality and try to keep them tied right by local tyers. We've honestly been too busy to expand the product but we should. We're making a micro jig which mimics the Turner but that hasn't really taken off although I think we got it real close to the original. I think we will make heavier jigs, as well as breaking into or colorful, brighter colors in the coming months. I think brighter colors will do better on crappies. We're open to ideas.....

Back by popular response, we're hosting another art class by Duane Hada of Cotter, Arkansas. The flyer has all the details. Duane Hada Art Class 2023.pdf

It was as strong as the one the fall before. Better if nothing else.

Again, all I have to offer is a comparison to Taney. Here's another thought. We thought Taney had somehow lost a lot of our big trout a year ago. Starting in November, fishing was slow. This continued through March. We convinced our biologist to do a shock survey. Even before they actually did it, the fish came alive and we started catching them again. The spring, summer and fall season proved to be even better than the year before, which was a record, according to our c/r records.. I still don't know what happened for those 4 months of slow fishing.

One other thing I just thought of. Wouldn't the increase in the walleye population affect bass growth? They certainly compete with bass for the same food. More fish, less food.

I'm not a bass anglers, nor do I fish TR enough to have any intel. But I have a couple of thoughts. Old fish are smart. They get caught multiple times in their lives and I'd think become wise to a lot of baits. When the Alabama rig came out, lots of big bass were being caught all of a sudden. It was so good tournaments banned it. We're seeing the same thing on Taney with big trout. To a point, they're getting wise to our lures - stick baits and jigs. Some flies. It's getting harder to catch them and the guides seem to come out with new stuff to catch them every season. The other thing that has turned Taney around is less fish and more food. They're stocking a lot less trout so there's more food -- that's the theory. Seems like it's working. Not sure how you address that on TR - that would mean keeping more bass and that's not a popular subject.

I googled that and didn't see anything. Do you have any news articles you can share links? Sounds interesting.

I know this has been discussed in the past but there’s allot of new products out lately. I’m in the market for both. Screen mount- I think I want something that elevates the screen up front on the bow. Right now I have the transducer pole mounted separately, not on the trolling motor but I’m thinking about changing. What I’ve found is if you’re fishing for open water crappie, the trolling motor route is best. If you’re fishing structure, you want the pole. Thoughts?

I need it heavy. I’m shipping one of my G3’s to Naknek in Alaska this spring. It will sit outside stored in the winter so it has to be tough. Thanks for the suggestions!!

Does anyone have suggestions where I should get a cover made?

Nice- thanks!!