Phil Lilley

They are very spotty for us... at least for me. I'm in Branson.

Still have 2 left.

Not really. But may be. Really didn't notice. But we may have caught the blacks early and they were deep off the banks. I know some of the bigger crappie came late and they were on the banks and most of the bigger crappie are white. BUT I think they were on the bank cause it was late and getting dark.

Biggest crappie was 16 inches.

If it is TR - I would make sure he can build a dock- period. The Corp on TR are extremely tight with their permits. He may say he is trying to get a dock but I wouldn't put money on it.

Got an email from a friend in Fayetteville - I took Coltons PE teacher and his son, Got to the spot at about 4 PM.on Tues. My son in law Morris (Colton's step dad) had been there about 2 hrs. He gave me 6 whites up to 2 lbs and 2 Hybrids to 6 lbs. He had to leave. WE stayed till dark. NO more hybrids, But we fileted a total of 22 whites and 13 good crappie. And then came Wednesday. JD went out at 2:30 PM. He picked me up at Walkers bluff at 4 PM. He had a 5 lb Hyb 3 whites. We went back to the spot. Same hole as Tues. A small front passed thru and the sky cleared. We moved up to a little deeper water. Immediately caught 2 five lb Hybs and several medium whites. JD had to leave ahout a 6PM. I took him to Walkers bluff. Just down stream we stopped at a crappie spot. 1 Crappie. I turned around the opposite way and caught a good white. JD turned and caught a Hyb approx 7 to 8 lbs. I filleted 26 whites, 3 hybs and 4 big crappie. We got a lot of rain to the south and east last night. May mess the water for the week end.

I own several G-3's and have had good luck with them. I also have a Landau- as much as I've beat that boat up, it doesn't leak- amazing. Landau is built in Lebanon, MO just up the road and there are dealers in NW Ark. If you're going to live in NW Ark, stay with a dealer in that area if you can. Better service if you buy it from a local dealer I believe. I'm sure there's some OAF people from that area who will chime in.

Are you talking about Table Rock?

Bill Babler and I got a wild hair... needed to get out of the house. He's been cleaning out his garage and me doing taxes. So at 4:30 pm I called him and we planned to meet at Bridgeport. We put in about 6 pm and went under the bridge to the right and started at the bluff bank there- fished to the flat. We caught a couple keepers off some trees and a couple of short fish- no real pattern. We headed upstream into Flat Creek and fished another bluff and caught a couple more- again no pattern. We'd catch one close to the bank and then one out 25 feet from the bank and 12 feet deep. We were swimming swimming minnows with 1/8th oz heads. Went back to the first place and caught a couple more. In the mean time, a small storm system pasted and we got little rain and wind- not bad at all. Jst before it started really getting dark, we wanted to try another spot. We headed down past the bridge and around to the right. Didn't like what we saw and turned around. I pointed out the bluff bank, ramp side of the lake just down from the ramp. I noticed the bluff turned into chunk rock and then back to ledge rock- 3 times over. So we pulled in and started- and they were there. We caught 8 keepers in short order and they were right on the bank. Got too dark to see so we called it an evening. 14 keepers including one I haven't measured yet but I bet it goes 16 inches. Pic to follow- may be tomorrow before I clean them. Thanks Bill for the boat ride and the fellowship. Oh by the way- 2 cars at the ramp when we put in. Rain must have scared eveyone off.

You're talkin' 5.5 to 6 hours from KC to the dam or Rim Shoals.

Never done a bass tournament... not sure where to start. Might think about something in May or June. May is stuffed for me with graduations and weddings.

I heard a College of the Ozark's student won the draw boat. Anyone know?

We hope so too. If you fish RR, we have some great anglers who frequent the park and share their knowledge readily. Welcome!

1/100th oz jig under a float - excellent. Find their depth and area and drop a jig on them. We caught dozens last spring when they were on the banks.

Just sunk a bunch of brush just to the right of the camera view today. I've never attempted attracting fish with brush under the dock because they always ran water, thinking it would blow it out. But since they are not running water, and we are seeing more and more blue gill and bass around the dock, we'll see if they start hanging around the cam.

I think it's an excellent idea.

Sent by a friend.

I'd imagine you have a lot of wanna-bes in the crowd, bobber. This time of year it's hard to figure out where to go, if you have an open window of opportunity. I'm sure a float on the Kings will be gorgous and fishing great. Look forward to hearing about it.

It was asked on a couple of other forums and wanted to ask it here... Thanks in advance.

Ryan Walker used to not fish it with an indicator. He'd straight line it close to the bank, spot fishing. He'd set it on the bottom where he could see it and when a trout swam by, he'd pick it up off the bottom. Or if there was alittle current, he'd again drift it on the bottom and when it came close to a fish, he'd lift the line and the fly. If using an indicator, fish it as deep as the water I'd say. May be closer to the surface if that's where the trout are holding.

Nice pics. With the forecast full of wind the next 2-3 days, that flat water will look pretty nice. Wind beats me up worse than anything. Thanks for the report, sir.

Who dreams this up!!?? P, B & G... or Sweet Beans. MoCarp- you're getting my curiosity up on carp. I'll have to try it this summer.

You live on the wrong side of Tulsa!! I have a friend from Kingfisher who may take you up on it... but I'll have to take him at least once to get him hooked. He's a fairly new fly fisher and hasn't handled a big fish on fly tackle yet. Once he does, it'll be hard to keep him away from the Ark River. We'll keep in touch. Thanks for registering and posting.

Some nice trout being caught above Fall Creek - peppy scuds and mink scuds #14 under an indicator fishing the drop of the channel below Lookout 4-5 feet deep. Steff & Jean Steffen are here enjoying the great spring weather - Jean caught an 18.5 inch rainbow today. Lots of trout, mostly small though. Rolan and Ed Duffield are here too- Rolan is Mr. Peppy. They are fishing the same area- Rolan said he caught a fat 16 inch brown that would have gone 3 pounds. Both said there "stuff" on the water. It's normal for this time of year for the fungis on the bottom to float up. Usually the water runs and keeps it from building up but not this spring. The wind keeps it blown to the side most of the time.

I fried some fish for the family the other night... and it turned out very nice so I thought I'd share it. I took a glass cassirole pan and put some poppy seed dressing in the bottom. Smeared a filet in it and sprinkled Jiffy Mix on both sides. Then I sprinkled a blackened seasoning, lemon pepper, season salt and a little bay leaf- fried in a skillet with olive oil. Blackened the crust. Served with alittle wild rice. I had 12 filet for Marsha, Greg and I - thought I'd have leftovers for the next day's lunch... college kids showed up and they were GONE! Gotta go fishin' again.