Sam

I haven't used the Fish N Fool knot on other lines. I only fish with PowerPro braid or monofilament, and with mono I use the improved clinch knot. As someone here said, I can tie that one in my sleep. The reason I tie the Palomar and now Fish N Fool with superbraid lines like FireLine and PowerPro is that those lines will cut themselves off with an improved clinch knot.

I poured a bunch of 1/16 jigs a couple of nights ago, and I know it was under 40 degrees in my garage. No problem. The only thing I can think of - I've got multi-cavity molds. In the 1/16 size I'm pouring 8 jigheads at a time, so that keeps the mold pretty warm. If your mold's not like that and you're only pouring 1 or 2 jigheads at a time, then the mold might not stay hot enough in a cold room. Maybe that's the difference?

These are all good suggestions, but I think maybe we're making it too complicated. First off, I've been pouring good jigs and sinkers for years, and I use dirty wheel weights for my lead. Why? 'Cause my cousin owns a tire shop and I get 'em for free. Sure, pure clean lead would be better - but you can't beat free. I just melt the wheel weights and skim off the metal clips and junk that comes to the top, and they work fine. Then it's all about temperature. Some of my molds have additional cavities to cast big slugs of lead - that's for heating the mold. If your molds have those, cast some slugs and dump them until the mold is hot enough to cast true. If not, fill and dump the mold cavities WITHOUT HOOKS and keep it up until you're getting nice round jigheads that are smooth and shiny. Then start pouring onto hooks. I don't think the temperature of the room makes a bit of difference. When you start pouring jigheads with a cold mold, there's a progression. First, you'll get partially-filled cavities like you describe - and that can also be caused by pouring too slow. As the mold begins to heat, then you'll get jigheads that fill the mold but have wrinkles on the outside - still no good. Then as the mold heats a little more and if you're pouring fast enough, you'll get what you want - perfect jigheads that are smooth and shiny. You'll be able to keep that going - but eventually the mold will get a little too hot and the jigheads will be frosty instead of shiny. If you keep going after that, the frosty jigheads will be a little soft and easily deformed as they come out of the mold. So - when the jigheads start coming out frosty instead of shiny, slow down and let the mold cool a little. That's all I know about it - just my $.02 worth.

I've used the Fish-N-Fool knot for a year now, and I like it a lot. It's easy to tie and I've had no problems with breakage. I use PowerPro braided line, mostly. For me, the big advantage of the Fish-N-Fool is that you don't have to pass the lure through a loop like with the Palomar knot. Tying the Palomar knot is OK with a single hook, but boy, if a lure has a couple of treble hooks ........

You might just be pouring too slow. You've got to get the lead right in there while it's still liquid, and every winter when I pour jigheads I have to get the "feel" of it all over again. Until I do, I get partially-filled molds where the lead didn't make it to the bottom.

I don't have any storage clips on the bottom side of my compartment lids - but after seeing this, I'm going to add some. That's a great idea! I only have a Tracker TX-17, but it suits me. In my boat model year, they wasted almost all the space under the front deck. So, a few years back I built, carpeted, and added three new storage compartments under there. Two of the new compartments are made to exactly fit two carrier boxes, each of which holds four standard plastic tackle boxes. I have the boxes all organized and each one is marked on the front with "Big Worms", "Little Worms", "Crappie", "White Bass", "Plugs", etc. To the new little compartment up front, I even added a small swing-up yellow light with a switch (trailer clearance light) for re-tying while night fishing. Since I added these new compartments and got things organized, it sure helps.

That's good information about the ramps - more than I ever knew about it. The only deal that I didn't think was right was at Kimberling City. I've got a light boat that's easy to launch, and I used to put in between the docks there right at the Marina. That was real handy - a perfect slope, the docks sheltered the launch area from waves, and there were plenty of parking places where you just pulled straight forward after launching. There was even a restroom right by the parking places. Then about two years ago they strung a cable across so you can't launch there. They improved the ramp around on the other side of the point and put in an automated gate that takes credit cards - $5 to launch. OK, I know they're running a business but it didn't seem right to block off a perfectly good launching place just so people would have to pay. They've lost a little money from me on that deal, 'cause I used to stop in the Marina store for snacks, drinks, and bait - but I haven't been there since they blocked it off. Their decision.

Ha. A few years back I was working the deeper side bank up Bull Creek, throwing a spinnerbait for bass and catching a few. Just below that marshy island where the creek takes a turn, I noticed fish making circles on the water behind me - out in the middle. They were good size fish from the commotion and the size of the circles, so I figured they had to be bass. I made a few casts out there with the spinnerbait - nothing. Well, that was strange. If not bass, what could be working on top like that? Big bluegills, maybe? I tied on a jighead with a swimming minnow, and bang - big fish on. It was a rainbow trout - about 19" or 20"! I didn't expect that, but I caught three more, all big ones, before they quit. I never buy a trout license, so back they went. That was kinda fun.

I've launched at such places a few times, but I don't do it anymore because I know they're private and I got told about it one time. That was at the campground at Kimberling City - I like that ramp and didn't know you have to be camping there to use it, but I got told otherwise. I started putting in at Mill Creek after that. I put in once from the ramp on the north side of the bridge at Bridgeport because the whole parking lot at the regular ramp was underwater. I'm sure I wasn't supposed to, but no one said anything. Same thing at Willow Springs (I think the subdivision is called) upstream on James at Asher Cane Bottom, I got away with it a couple of times a few years back. But in thinking about it I've decided not to do that anymore. I guess a homeowner's association or whoever could get ticked off and get my truck and trailer towed off while I'm out fishing, and that'd sure cause a lot of trouble and expense.

There's a class of people, unfortunately, for whom poaching is a way of life. They're the ones gigging your sport fish illegally. I own 160 acres of woods, 'way out in the Ozarks boondocks, for deer and turkey hunting. I get along with my two main neighbors and they're good working people. Other neighbors around there I know by occasional contact and reputation and I just leave them alone. It seems like the farther you get from towns in the Ozarks, the rougher some of the people are. Or, maybe the rough ones just make up a bigger percent of the population. You know what I mean. Drunks, meth labs, in and out of jail, always fighting with their neighbors about something, and - poaching. I go down there for bowhunting season and it sounds like a war going on - seems like there's more rifle hunting then than during gun season. Anytime there's a buck around with a good rack, he gets spotlighted and poached. If I ever actually see violations going on I'll turn them in, but I bet that'll get my hunting cabin burned down. Some of these guys, when they're not running deer with dogs and spotlighting, go gigging. I've heard of from the neighbors (but not seen) some hellacious big fish frys of ALL species after gigging trips on North Fork and Bryant Creek. That's the problem, and they're aren't gigging bass accidentally. Just like when the same people break the alcohol and drug laws, the only way to control it is through citizens reporting it to law enforcement and law enforcement (hopefully) following up on it. That's tough to do when most of these violations happen when no one is watching.

I'm not hardly a bass fisherman, and the only time it gets good enough for me to switch over and c/r some "hawgs" is in the last half of May. Those big post-spawn fish with their wore-down tails hang around stick-ups near gravel spawning areas then, and I take a break from crappie fishing and go after the big 'uns for a few trips. Last spring I caught/released quite a few bass over 18", and the one I was proudest of was a 22" smallmouth. Those are some fun trips every year, then I go back to putting crappie and white bass filets in the freezer.

Not trying to pick a fight here - just an honest question. Isn't there an overall speed limit on the lake? I've heard some discussion about a nighttime speed limit, but isn't there one during the day? Seems to me that going 100+ on public water that folks are using for all kinds of recreation is pretty irresponsible, and dangerous. Just sayin'. I'm real glad the crooks got caught, though.

I just can't afford side imaging now. Being retired, we've found the only way to get along is to not buy anything on credit - payments will kill ya. Electronics always start out expensive when they're new, then the price goes 'way down in a few years - and that's what I'm waiting for with side imaging. In the meantime I need to upgrade my 'scope, and I do like Humminbird. I need one with GPS included, and I'd like a color screen. Right now I'm looking at the 700 series, specifically the 788 CI or 797 CI in the $550. to $600. range. What do you guys think of those rigs?

I know Bull Creek produces a bunch of bass - in fact, the most bass I've ever seen at one time were there. On a couple of different trips scouting for suckers in the spring, I've seen BUNCHES of short bass up Bull Creek. I mean, like a thousand at a time. They were in 2' of clear water and they were spooky - I tried throwing a Roostertail to them, and they'd just scoot. The ones I saw were all about 13" long, but if the creek arm produces big bunches of bass like that there have to be a lot of them in the lake. So far as catching larger bass, I've done good at times throwing a spinnerbait around the mouth of Bull Creek, especially around logs laying on shallow flats.

tightline, thanks for posting that. It's the first good report on white bass/crappie I've seen for a long time. Those are some pretty nice white crappie, for that area. I know several spots upstream from Cape Fair, so I think I know where to look. Now if I can just get a day when the weather's not too bad and I can stand to be out there - Wednesday looks like a possibility.

I haven't gone fishing yet this year because of cold weather, then cold water and poor reports. Last January, a year ago, Phil Lilley and Bill Babler reported that slab crappie were biting in the K Dock area. They were - I made 4 or 5 trips where I limited out, and the fish were in bushes where flats dropped off into channels in about 20' depth. So far as I've heard, that isn't happening this January. I think the difference is that the surface water temp on those trips a year ago was about 48, as we hadn't had a real cold spell. I don't know what the water temp is now, but I bet it's colder than that. Since the water got cooled off so much during the early January cold spell, I think it's going to have to warm up to the mid-40's or so before much good happens. There's not much chance of that happening now, until maybe March.

I agree completely. I've tried painting some of my lure bodies (weights), but to me they look better unpainted. If I ever got to selling these I might paint the bodies "to catch fishermen". I've done a lot of reading about how fish see because that interests me. Here's a shocker - very few species of fish (and none of the ones we fish for) can see the color red. Red probably looks gray to them, just like unpainted lead. We know that red is a good lure color in combination with other colors - but I think it's the contrast that matters. A red-and-white lure is probably a gray-and-white lure to a fish, and that's a good combination. But our sport fish can see ultraviolet light, which we can't. We get a little of that on a dark cloudy day when white, chartreuse, electric blue, and hunter orange seem to stand out and "glow". That's ultraviolet being reflected by those colors and bent into colors we can see. Since fish have ultraviolet cones in their eyes that we lack, they can see ultraviolet directly all the time. Ultraviolet light has such a short wavelength, it penetrates clouds and water - even murky water. Fish can see a lot better in low-light conditions than we can. I think lure action, presentation, shape, and size are all more important than color - but fish get real picky about color sometimes. This is interesting stuff, to me.

"With the weights where they are, I'd think they action would be more to swim rather than jig. I mean with the weight all the way at the head like a normal jig, the head/jig would drop faster than your jig, yours wouldn't tilt down and drop." ------------------------------- Thanks, Phil. Yes, that's the main idea, and it's one of 3 things different about these lures. When a jig is moved through the water by slow-trolling or retrieving, the weight wants to go to the bottom but it's being held UP at each end. The tension of your line holds the front up, and the water resistance of the tail holds the back up. The jig runs level as long as there's tension on the line and it's being pulled through the water. When you relax the tension on the line ("twitch" the lure along on the retrieve) a regular lead-head jig goes nose-down. The jigs I'm making stay more horizontal as they drop an inch or two (because the weight's back on the hook shaft) - and I think that's a lot more natural action for a minnow. When they're jigged straight up-and-down the action is the same as a lead-head. When your line goes completely slack, the only thing holding the jig up is the water resistance of the tail - and they drop nose-down. Another thing: When you hold these jigs between yourself and a light source, the clear crystal bead catches and bends light and shines it out the other side. If the jig passes between a fish that's below it and the light coming from the lake surface, the fish is going to see a bright dot of light coming from the jig head. A good thing, I think. And the last thing: Unlike feathers, the frayed-out nylon twine I'm using for tail material absorbs water like a wet mop. You have to squeeze the water out of the tail before putting one of these back in your tackle box - the tail holds 1/16 oz. of water. That means you can cast a 1/16 oz. jig as far as a normal 1/8 oz. jig, and that's temporary casting weight that disappears as soon as the jig hits the surface of the lake. That helps. This isn't a sales talk. I'm having a lot of fun inventing and making these jigs, but I've about decided there'd be no money in selling them.

The Purple Beetle - boy, I've had a lot of fun with those. I always got them at Fin & Feather, as has been mentioned, but I'd caution against getting 1000 of them at once. I stocked up big several years ago, then I found that the purple color fades as they get older. The ones left in my tacklebox now are all light pink - not at all what I want. Has anybody else noticed that the best color during the spring white bass run seems to change during the course of the run? Seems to me that white is often best at first, then chartreuse during the middle of the run, then purple towards the end. Maybe it's just me, but that's the way it seems. I've been playing with making some James River white bass jigs with glass beads, various weight sinkers, and dyed nylon twine. I bet this one will work during the "purple" phase of the run.

Why would you want to "run" all those miles at 53 mph, on a narrow lake that's basically a river, making a big wake and bouncing the docks and other fishermen's boats around the whole way? It's not like the trout fishing's any better where you're going than in all the water you're "running", either. And if you want to fish for bass around Rockaway, why don't you use the free ramp at Rockaway? Just sayin'.

Like a lot of people, I was born and raised here in Missouri, worked in California, then retired and moved back home. I did a lot of fishing during those years in Southern California. With no running rivers it's all lake fishing there, in reservoirs just a few miles long. As population and fishing pressure increases, I think Missouri will eventually have the kind of regulations they have out there. If a fisherman moved here from California, he wouldn't hardly believe the stuff that's allowed here in Missouri and Arkansas. In Southern California: Gigging, grabbing, and spearfishing - illegal. Fishing with live bait - illegal. Fishing after dark - illegal most places. Limb lines, trotlines, and jug lines - illegal. Fishing with more than 2 poles - illegal. I'm not sticking up for California, it's a messed-up state with 'way too many people. But those fishing laws have made their small lakes a lot more productive, per acre of water, than the lakes around here. Eventually, I think that's the way it'll have to be here.

Sure thing. Springtime sucker grabbing is one of my favorite things. You need about a 5' rod, the real stiff kind (broomstick) made for catching big catfish, a casting reel, and 30 lb. test monofilament. Lots of people tie on special grabbing hooks that are available at tackle stores - they're made of a big single hook welded onto an old-fashioned bottle opener. Instead of that, I like to use a big treble hook - I don't know the size, but about 2 1/2" diameter between the points. Whichever kind of hook you use, tie a little piece of white or flourescent orange cloth around your line at the top of the hook. That's so you can see where your hook is against the gravel creek bottom. The season starts March 15, but it's usually April before suckers start coming up the creeks. Polarized sunglasses are a must, so you can see past the glare on the water surface. Look for suckers - they come in big bunches with their heads pointed upstream. When you find some, don't let them see you, cast past them and guide your hook so it rests on the bottom among them. Watch your hook, and when a sucker swims right between you and the hook - YANK. This is when fishing is more like hunting. It seems like I've spent half my life waiting for a fish to bite - but they don't have to bite when you're grabbin'. The limit is 20 suckers, and they're great eating. Scale them before fileting, then leave the skin on the filets. Take a sharp knife and score the meat about every 1/4" down to the skin, bread the filets, and deep fry 'em. Have fun!

Surface temps in the mid-40's? That's not bad considering the cold spell we had. My depthfinder reads the temp only a few inches down, and I've wondered how much water temperature changes down where the fish are - say, 20-25 feet or more. I'm sure it's a lot more stable there, summer and winter. Does anybody know? It looks like the arctic blast is over, and I'm going to hit Bull Shoals on Sunday. First trip of the new year - I've been needing that!

No, but I'm thinking about going soon too, and I'd like to know how the ramp is. If you get to K Dock ramp and it doesn't look good, there's a new ramp at the end of MM. That's a couple miles north of K Hwy., turn east at the corner the convenience store is on and go to the end. I've only seen the new ramp from the water and someone said the approach is paved with loose rock that requires 4WD. I'd try it though, if the K Dock ramp isn't good. Good luck fishing tomorrow - give us a report.

A few winters back a friend who lives near the lake called and said he was onto slab crappie, big time. It was a real cold spell like we've just been through, but the next morning I bundled up and went with him. Sure enough, he had a brushpile located that was full of big crappie and they were biting on jigs. We both limited out, catching a crappie most every cast and throwing them in his live well. Trouble was, his livewell pump was frozen, the livewell was dry, and it was made of aluminum. We got back to his place and we couldn't get the fish out - they were frozen solid to the livewell. I tried prying some fish loose with a tire iron but that was tearing them up. He had to put the boat in his garage and use an electric heater on it overnight to get the fish loose. We must be dedicated fishermen, 'cause I'd do that again, anytime, for good crappie fishing. Next time, I'd just throw the fish on the carpet, though.