Sam

Good luck with them, fellers - you'll find 'em. Just hang around in 50 ft. of water, watch for "boils", listen for the "waterfall", and try to get there and get some casts in before they go back down. In between "boils" we'd just troll the same lures in the same area, and we picked up a few that way too. One bit of info that'll save you some time, they're feeding on little-bitty shad minnows no more than an inch long. I tried several lures that I thought I could throw farther and would run a little deeper - a Rogue, a Rapala, a Rattletrap, and a small chrome spoon. Nope, they wouldn't go for those, they wanted a 1/6 oz. white Roostertail retrieved fast. I didn't get around to trying it, but I bet a small white Swimmin' Minnow on a 1/8 or 1/4 oz. jighead would do the trick too. I'm gonna try that on one rig next trip. It'd be nice to have a single hook to unhook instead of fooling around with pliers on fish that have swallowed all three points of a treble while while other fish are "boiling" all around the boat.

I just got back from that late afternoon trip to K Dock I was thinking about. Yep, from 7 p.m. until dark white bass are bustin' on top in the deep channels all over the lake. That may not be considered serious fishing, but it's FUN - "chasing the boils" and throwing a 1/6 oz. white roostertail at 'em. A fellow went with me, and we got two easy limits. I've got an 11 y.o. granddaughter who loves to fish, and I've been looking for a good trip to take her on before she starts school again. I think I just found it, and we'll be down there again in the late afternoon in a day or two.

I went out of K Dock about 6:30 a.m. yesterday (Friday). I couldn't find any crappie this time, but caught a bunch of short bass, perch, and one small walleye trolling the edges of the flats. Most fun were the white bass. They were busting on the top in deep water about halfway between K Dock and Mincy. It wasn't real fast catching and I couldn't get a limit, but chasing those "boils" is a lot of fun. I didn't get onto that until mid-day on a sunny day, but they were coming up some even then. I think it's about time for an afternoon trip, because if white bass are doing that in the middle of the day in the sunshine I bet they're really doing it about 7 p.m.

Theft of something of less than a certain value (it used to be $600 'way back when I was a working cop - probably a whole lot more now) is only a misdemeanor. An arrest can only be made for a misdemeanor if it was committed in the presence of an officer or of a citizen making a citizen's arrest. A misdemeanor isn't a "probable cause" crime - meaning that evidence other than an eyewitness account isn't enough to arrest or convict. The way to get around that is to charge Possession of Stolen Property or Receiving Stolen Property, both of which are felonies with no minimum value and no eyewitness to the theft needed. So they charged him right. That's California law, but it'd be similar here. All the legalities aside, I hope they lock the so-and-so up and throw away the key.

Well, yeah - that makes sense. Wouldn't want to make the problem worse instead of better. Headlights would be great for seeing trees, bridges, etc. - but they could blind another boater and make him hit something. I guess the Water Patrol's got this figured out.

That light's just what I'm talking about - that's what's needed. I think a light like that oughta be required to be on anytime a boat's running with the main motor after dark. When we first moved to Ozark, our next door neighbor was a widow who was having to raise three little boys on her own. This was about 20 years ago, and her husband had run under a bridge at night on Tablerock when the water was high and he got killed when his head hit a bridge support. Those boys had a real hard time growing up without him. The youngest boy's in jail now, and I've gotta wonder if he'd have turned out better if his dad had been around. Over the years, I think requiring such lights would save a lot of lives. Let us know where to get one of those - if I can afford it, I'll buy one.

I've owned a bass boat, of sorts, since 1990. Am I wrong in thinking these things are missing something important for running at night? I wouldn't drive a car without headlights on a dark country road at even 20 mph - I'd hit something or end up in a ditch if I tried it. So WHY do we run boats at night like that? I do it, but it makes me pretty uncomfortable - and I don't run at night anywhere near as fast as some do. Whenever I can I line up with a light on the bank so I can follow the reflection strip on the water, at least I can kind of see the water in front of me that way. Running lights are great to let other boats see us - but it's even harder to see where you're going when they're on. These boats all have good 12 volt electrical systems, and I think they need a strong headlight for running at night.

Yep, we had a real nice trip there last Thursday. The info you posted got me fired up to go - so thanks for that. We had meals of crappie and white bass filets along with my fresh garden stuff a couple of times over the weekend - that's real good eatin', and nothing came from the store. The white bass we found around K Dock were all about 10"-11", and that's just right for the dinner plate. Bigger W.B. may be more fun to catch, but you can hardly tell those little filets from crappie. Thanks again!

"Met with substantial resistance" - I like that. NICE bass!

Must have been a step-kid. Was he red-headed?

I bet it is. I've got a friend here in town who was going walleye fishing yesterday out of Buck Creek. I'll see him today and get a report - and I bet they did a lot better there. Seems to me when it comes to walleyes, the areas around Horseshoe Bend and on down can be a lot better. Still, one the guys we had breakfast with yesterday is staying on his houseboat there at K Dock Marina. He'd caught a 22" and a 24" walleye, and some shorts, the evening before casting off the back deck of his houseboat. (Sounds like the new Marina owners are a lot more liberal about such things.) Another of the guys at breakfast lives on Hogan cove, and he's been catching walleyes regularly off the flats there. I think it was the thunder and lightning show that really hurt our fishing yesterday. Walleyes always scope good for me, and we could see lots of good-size fish right on the bottom in 22'-24' on the edges of all those flats - while we ran 20'-22' running plugs right through 'em. Oh well, next time.

No, we didn't sleep in. Since there hasn't been much on here lately about upper B.S., I'll post a complete report. I took a chance on the ramp, and we launched at K Dock about 5:45 a.m. The low road is completely underwater and from the launch area you wouldn't even know it existed. There's enough of the parking lot still above water to park maybe 8 rigs. The courtesy dock has been moved to match the water level, and launching out of the parking lot is fine - no problem at all, though having 4WD made me feel a lot better about it. Someone really got to spinning in the rocks when the water level was higher, leaving a couple of 2' deep trenches right in the middle of what remains of the parking lot, so you've gotta work around those. We headed straight for Mincy Flat and trolled with deep running plugs for less than 5 minutes. I had a good fish on that sure felt like a walleye, and it got off. A real impressive wall cloud was coming up fast from the west, and we figured we'd better run for it. We ran at top speed (a blistering 30 mph) all the way back to K Dock Marina, and fellas, I was getting seriously worried. Somehow we beat the rain, but toward the end of the run the sky had turned that purple/green color, the wind had come up, we were busting through serious waves, and the lightning was continuous. The Marina had ONE empty stall and we ran right into it and tied the boat off. (Lucky Sam.) The next hour was real exciting and we were sure glad we'd gone back to the Marina instead of trying to find shelter in some private dock. Without shelter, that storm would have sunk us - it was as bad as any storm I've been through, ever. I've never been on a dock that big, moving that much - it's kinda interesting watching gas pumps go up-and-down three feet while you're doing the same thing. I think we're lucky that lightning didn't hit that metal dock and get us anyway, but it worked out OK. Inside the dock we took shelter from the blowing rain behind a big cruiser that was up on a lift, so I finally found a use for one of those things. By 7:30 it had started to slack off and a lady who works at K Dock Marina and her teenage daughter arrived to open up. There were a couple of guys who live locally there by that time also, and I've got to give a BIG plug to that business. The couple who own the Marina were out of town, but I've never been treated better, anywhere. They've got a real nice tackle shop and restaurant, the slips are full, the docks are in great shape, and it's obvious they're running a great business. They were GLAD we'd been able to find shelter from the storm there - and I'd probably have had to fight the ol' boy who used to run that place if I'd pulled into one of his slips. The cooking is good, and the prices are reasonable. It was still raining, so we had breakfast - and I had two eggs, two sausage patties, a big plate of hashbrowns, two pieces of toast, and coffee for $4.95. From now on when I go to K Dock, I'm gonna launch the boat and pull into the Marina for breakfast - a good business like that deserves some support. Back to fishing - we got disappointed. All the reports we heard from the local guys were good, the weather and the cloudy day were perfect, the fish were on the scope, and we couldn't get them to bite. We trolled on and around a bunch of flats all the way down to Mincy Creek and back, we crappie fished my usual summertime banks, we threw swimming minnows to flooded trees and brush, and we didn't do much. We caught a whole bunch of short bass (11"), the smallest walleye I've ever seen (11"), one barely-legal crappie, and all the bank perch we wanted including a few that were big enough to keep. The sun came out and it started to get real hot about 2:30, so we threw the few fish we had in the livewell back and called it a day. Still, we had a real good time - and we even survived, which is a plus. The only thing I can figure, that bad storm terrorized the fish and they quit biting. I've known that to happen before, and I don't know that I've ever had good fishing after real bad lightning and thunder. So that's all I know, and guys, if you get a chance give the K Dock Marina some business. As we left, they even told us to be careful and be sure and start early to run back in there if another storm came up during the day - and that's sure different from the way things used to be.

Ken, I appreciate that you're still working and helping to finance my retirement. I got that $250 guvment bonus in May, and I've been feeling real "stimulated" ever since. Thanks! Martin, who lives on Cow Creek, tipped me off that Cabela's was having a sale on "Walleye Runners" last month and I ordered a dozen of them. They're real good looking holographic plugs, and the small size trolls at 20' and the big one at 28' - that's what I'm gonna try tomorrow. Marty says the biggest walleye he ever caught bit on the big one. I read somewhere recently that B.S. has a thermocline now at 22 feet with no fish below that. BUT - a friend of mine here in town has been catching short walleyes on the 20' flats and big ones just off the flats as deep as 40', so I think I'll go with that info. If I get down there and can't scope any fish deeper than 22', well, that's different. Yep, I've already got my chocolate milk for breakfast, and buttermilk for lunch so I'm all set. I figure we're gonna get real wet tomorrow - there's a 50% chance of thunderstorms all day, and that generally turns into 100% when I'm out in a boat and far from the truck.

Good, maybe I'll see you. I'm gonna be clear down around Tucker Hollow and Horseshoe Bend real early, trolling for walleyes - and that's a long ways from Beaver Creek. Anyway, I sure don't like to launch at Beaver when the water is high. When it gets up above the ramp that parking lot is almost flat - so your truck is 20 or 30 feet out in the water before the trailer hits the ramp and there's enough water to float the boat. That's not a big deal for two guys, but if I'm launching by myself it is.

I don't know, but I'm hoping someone who does know will answer this before I go on Thursday. The lake's about 10 feet above normal, and that might be tough. At 20 feet above, I can launch easily in that dip where the low and high roads split. But at 10 feet above, I think most all the low road would be underwater, yet too shallow to launch on the road. The high road has to hit the water somewhere, but would the whole parking lot be underwater? If it is, it'd be real tough to get turned around on the high road. Maybe somebody here knows, I hope. I think I'll probably put in at Yocum Creek anyway because that's closer to where I'm fishing and I know launching there won't be a problem. It's a lot longer drive, though.

Ranger, how big was it? My "personal" record for a white bass out of Tablerock is 19 3/4". I'm not saying that's as big as they get, but it's probably pretty close to it. A white bass that size sure gets your attention - they hit like a ton of bricks. If your fish was much longer than that, and if it looked like a white bass - then it had to be a striper, or at least a hybrid if there's any hybrids in there.

Bass Pro has them. I use the Kahle circle hooks in #2 and #4 size. I haven't figured out how to use them any way except for "wacky" rigging a worm. That is, running a hook right through the middle of the worm then burying the hook point back in the worm making it completely weedless. The hooks aren't shaped right for Texas or Carolina rigging worms, dropshotting, etc. The way I fish a Senko worm, letting it drop on a semi-slack line without a weight, a bass will get gut-hooked or gill-hooked most every time because they'll swallow it. I wouldn't do that - but a circle hook gives you a good solid hookset through the lip every time in that situation. You just gotta remember to set the hook with a long sweeping motion instead of the usual "crossing their eyes" kind.

I'm no bass fisherman, and I'm not qualified to give you bass guys tips - but I figured something out a long time ago. When there's a topwater bite that's fun - but more often than not it's the 14-inchers bustin' the surface. The big old lazy bass lay down below and scoop up the shad killed by the young 'uns getting rowdy on top. I keep a medium weight spinning rod rigged with a Senko worm, green pumpkin color, wacky-rigged with a Kahle circle hook. When I see a topwater boil, I throw right where it was, keep a semi-slack line, and make the worm twitch as it sinks naturally. When you see that line jump give it a 3-count then set the hook with a big sweeping sidearm pull. The Kahle hook will hook 'em clean in the lip every time, even though the bass may have swallowed the worm. Just sayin'.

Hey, I respect everybody posting here and I don't have any axes to grind - so to cool things down a bit I'll tell about a time I made a complete fool of myself on the lake. Maybe it'll keep someone who reads it from making the same mistake. I hadn't had my boat too long, and I was running from one fishing "hotspot" to another with my fishing seats UP on both the front and back decks. It happens that on my boat when the front seat is up on the pedestal it blocks a lot of the view to the front when you're sitting in the driver's seat, and this was in the daytime. I was running at my blistering top speed of 30 mph (hey, it seems fast to me) and peeking around that front seat both on the right and left. I knew where the channel was, and I thought I had nothing but clear water in front of me. Suddenly a boat appeared, sitting still and REAL close, from right behind that seat. The fishing seat had completely blocked my view, and I'd run right up on it. The guys on the boat were standing up waving their arms at me - no wonder, they'd watched me coming right at them for a half mile. I threw my boat into a hard turn and killed the throttle, and I missed them - but it was 'way too close. I apologized to them, and I got a cussin' back, and I don't blame them a bit. Since then, I always take the front fishing seat down off the pedestal before I run anywhere at any speed. Sometimes even when you think you're being careful something bad can happen, and it can happen awful fast.

My boat's not fast anyway, but I don't think it's safe to go over 30 mph at night, ever. These things don't have headlights or brakes, and many's the time I've seen things floating out in the middle of the lake that would throw you out of the boat if you ran over them. You've seen them too sometimes after rains - whole tree trunks floating just below the water, and even big round hay bales. There's a guy who lives on a bluff above Mincy on Bull Shoals, and I've often thought I ought to help him out with his electric bill. His yard light throws a reflection on the water for about a 2-mile stretch, and I've followed that reflection stripe on the water to get back in lots of times. I can see the water in front of me when I've got a light to follow. One trip my partner and I were fishing flooded trees on the outside of the bend above Mincy flat, and the lake was low enough that the inside corner was only about a foot deep 'way out from the bank. There was a night tournament out of K Dock, and apparently those guys weren't local. One big bass boat after another would come barreling down the lake at top speed, and they'd cut that corner too short. EEEEEE-OOOOOMPH, and they'd hit the mud. There'd be 10 minutes of cussin' and thumpin' while they got the motor up and got off the flat. Then a little later my partner would say "watch, here comes another one", and it'd happen all over again. From what we could see and hear I'm pretty sure one guy got thrown out over the bow when the boat stopped short. Anyway, a lot of props and lower ends got damaged that night because those guys were being hotshots. It was pretty amusing from our side of the lake.

You guys are making me feel bad. With my rig (17' Tracker, 50 hp 4-stroke), 30 mph is flat-out top speed - and that's in the daytime with a tail wind. I think I'm really hauling at 30, and I can't imagine doing it at night. As far as running lights at night, I can't fish with 'em on. They're on when my boat's moving, and if I'm sitting still I turn them on when I hear another boat coming.

I've caught yellow perch out of upper B.S. since the early 1990's, but there's sure not enough, or big enough, to go fishing for them specifically. I catch one or two a year on average, but only about 5" long. This January, crappie fishing out of K Dock, I caught a 9" yellow perch - my biggest ever. Since I've never fished the northern states I kept it to see if yellow perch are really as tasty as they say. Yep, it was real good - and I see why folks fish for them up there. I wish we had more of 'em, and that they were bigger.

Hey, did KY3 News get it wrong tonight or is Bull Shoals really at 659 feet? I hope that's right but it's hard to believe. That would mean it's dropped 11 feet in just two weeks, making K Dock launchable again. I bet that's a mistake and they meant 669. Does anyone know?

You found that broke off in a brushpile, didn't you? I've left enough of 'em down there. Good job with the walleye. I haven't met Mrs. Forsythian yet - she looks like a keeper. At 673 feet it's real easy to launch in that dip at the start of the K Dock low road. At 670 like it is now, I bet it's a real pain. Do you ever put in at Yocum Creek? I've put in at Yocum with no problem all the way up to 686 feet water level. It's just a wide open gravel beach with no ramp so you need 4WD, but the slope is perfect. Once you're on the water there, you're just across from Bee Creek and right around the corner from Mincy. That's an area of the lake I like, and putting in at Yocum saves quite a run from K Dock, especially at night.

Reminds me of why I like K Dock. Lots of times I don't catch anything, but sometimes I can look a mile up and down the lake and not see another boat. No heavy cruisers there, for sure.