Sam

I've never understood why anyone would want a boat that could cross the Pacific on a lake that's only 1/4 of a mile wide. I've had wakes go clear over my front deck, with me trying to get away from those big boats, running the bilge pump, and knowing I can't take a wave crossways or I'll be swamped. Considering how expensive those big boats are and how they have to stick to the main channels, I just can't figure out why they have 'em here. It's also pretty inconsiderate the way some of them tear by fishing boats, throwing a wake that's downright dangerous.

Sorry, I don't have any current info. I've been wanting to get down there too, for a walleye and crappie trip. After Sunday it looks like there's clouds and a chance of showers all next week, so I'll try and pick a cloudy day to go. In trips earlier this spring, I noticed that the rocks have been removed from the campground entrance. When launching off the road, though, I've always found room to park at that real wide corner by the creek where the high road branches off from the low road. Four or five years ago in June I remember the water was at 673, which I figure is 20 feet above normal. Last night it was at 671.9, whch is right at 19 feet above. At that level you oughta be able to launch easy in that dip where the low road and high road split. Knowing there's the pavement of the low road underneath, I'll probably keep my main motor kicked up and use the trolling motor to get off the road and into the cove to the left. After that it should be easy - I think every stump I could hit is 'way underwater now. Good luck with your trip. Give us a report, please - I've been wondering what's going on there.

Wow, what a fish! It's good to know there are a few like that around. A few years back in the spring I was fishing in that first little cove on the right just above the bridge at Bridgeport (James River Arm of Tablerock). I caught a 3-lb. bass on a plastic worm, and as I got it up to the boat the biggest bass I ever saw came up and hit it - it tried to get the worm out of its mouth! It could have been the size of the one those guys caught - close to it, anyway. Needless to say, I wasted the next hour fishing that little cove without another bite.

I think the conditions that produced my best trips ever trolling for walleyes are going to be repeated this year. In June of 2004 (I think it was) Bull Shoals was about 20 feet above normal. Right now it's 17 feet above normal and rising. Not to say this hasn't worked some most every year, but I had several trips that one high-water month when I caught limits of keeper walleyes and lots of barely-short ones - and that's a rare thing for me. Look for large flats. One I'd try around Tucker Hollow is straight across from there on the inside bend where the lake turns going north to Horseshoe Bend. Also, there's some good ones all up in Bear Creek, all around the island (which will be underwater now) in the mouth of Bee Creek, up in Bee Creek, and the big one just above Mincy Creek on the west side. What you're looking for is flats that drop off to a deeper channel. With the water high, the trick is to troll just outside the normal-level shoreline - that is, just outside the line of land bushes. Don't get up on top of the land bushes or you'll be hung up all the time, but it's pretty easy to scope them and avoid that. So if the water's 20 feet high, say at 673, stay in 21-22 feet of water and troll near the bottom. You'll have to adjust that formula to take the actual water level into account. With my main motor I troll a lot with a Bandit II plug, which runs at about 19' with PowerPro 10-lb. line. With the trolling motor, I'll slow-troll a chartreuse Roadrunner tipped with half a nightcrawler or a minnow, and of course you can keep that near the bottom by adjusting your speed and the size of the Roadrunner. On the rare occasions when this deal is just right, the walleyes make it easy. They scope REAL well when they're in those spots. You'll be trolling along watching the scope and see a couple of large fish on the bottom. When your lure gets to that spot, you'll get a fish on - that familiar stuck-in-the-mud walleye bite, then it'll start to fight on the way in. FUN.

I agree. The only closed-face spinning reel I ever owned has been laying on the ocean bottom off California for about 40 years now, 'cause I took it off the rod and that's where I threw it. There's no tangle like getting one of those tangled up, down inside. Open-faced spinning reels are easy with just a little practice. She'd have it with about 10 minutes casting practice in the backyard - I've got a 10 y.o. granddaughter who picked right up on using one. Just my $.02 worth, also.

Ain't it fun? I took my 10 y.o. granddaughter to Galena this spring, and this is her first white bass ever. We caught limits, but she was so proud of her first one I had to keep it separate because she wanted to eat that fish the next day. We had a ball.

It's just plain monofilament and kinda old-fashioned like me, but I use Stren Clear/Flourescent - the Stren in the purple box. 12, 14, or 17-lb. usually - there's no "finesse" in night fishing. It seems to work just fine, and under a black light on a dark night it's so bright it looks as thick as a pencil.

I'm not much of a bass fisherman, I nearly always go for other species. But I make an exception when it comes to night fishing - that's my favorite thing starting about this time of year, and I'll make several trips from now up into July. I fish for 'em the way I like to - same as we did 20 years ago. Working the banks, trees, humps, and points with a Texas rigged 11" worm, usually Motor Oil/Red Flake, using Stren flourescent line and a black light. I know you guys have lots of new and improved ways to catch bass, but at that time of year at night this old way still works real well - and the size of the worm pretty much cuts down on the dinks. Watching that bright line give a little "tick" when a bass picks the worm up, lowering the rod tip and gently reeling up the slack for a 3-count, then set the hook - and the fight's on. Now, that's fun. I swear both my partner's feet leave the deck when he sticks 'em. You'd be surprised at the hawgs we catch every year - and yeah, we throw 'em back, I've got crappie filets in the freezer.

The water looked fine, not too clear and not murky. Water temp was 70-71 everywhere we went. While I was cleaning both of those channel cats (one on Monday, one today) I noticed that they were full of crawdads.

We went out of Bridgeport today and fished from there past Cape Fair and down to Piney Creek. There's not much good to report - some short bass, a couple of crappie, just a few white bass. I already posted that on Monday I was flipping a white swimming minnow up to the bank and caught a 28" channel cat. Well, it happened again today and I caught a 24" catfish. Just before we quit in the afternoon, my partner was doing the same thing and got a catfish on - and we don't know how big that one was. Some things are too big to be caught on a light crappie rod, and that fish was sure one of them - Max is still mumbling something about being hooked on to the back bumper of a pickup truck. Since the catfish are even biting on crappie jigs once in a while, I'm thinking it's time to take some bait and heavier rods and have a catfish trip.

I didn't try a jigging spoon yesterday, and I know that's what I needed to do. All day I was scoping bunches of whites 'way down deep, and just once in awhile one would come up shallow to hit a roostertail. A few trips back one of the guys I took fishing said something I've been thinking about. He said he's noticed I only fish a few different ways with a few lures. That's right - I've fished for a lot of years and I know some ways that often work, but I'm in a rut. I'd sure like to watch you guys catch 'em on jigging spoons so I could learn how - that's something I seldom try and I don't catch anything when I do. Old dog, new tricks.

You betcha. My wife tells me that's supper tomorrow.

I put in at Cape Fair late this morning, about 8:30 a.m., and fished between there and Piney Creek until about 4. It was a bluebird day, high pressure and sunshine - great for the fisherman but tough for fishing. In spite of that, I think I had a real good day. White Bass: Those are mostly what I fished for, I was trolling a big roostertail across the major cove mouths, across the points, and along the drop-offs from flats to the main channel. I finally got a limit of medium-size white bass but it was much, much slower than it was under the clouds last week. It took all day to get a limit, and I culled lots and lots of tiny (5") white bass to do it. Kentucky Bass: These were the big surprise, they wouldn't hardly let me fish for white bass. I caught maybe 35 bass, all Kentuckies, while trolling the roostertail. Lots of them were only 9" or 10", but there were a lot 13" or 14" too. Much to my surprise with the weather conditions and the way I was fishing, I caught 4 keepers between 15" and 16". Especially along the bank just below Turkey Creek, out at the stump line in about 25', Kentuckies were feeding all day. They were spitting up 3" minnows while I was unhooking them. Bass fishermen ought to be having a ball right now, because if they'll bite a roostertail surely they'd bite a spinnerbait even better? I threw all the bass back, but I put a lot of holes in bass lips myself today. They were really slamming it, and time after time I'd think I had a good-size white bass on - until the first jump. Crappie: I caught a few on a jighead and swimmin' minnow, and they're big, 13" or so, but I couldn't really get on to 'em. They're not up by the bank, though the water temp was 69 in coves and 67 in the main lake. The ones I caught were on stick-ups near major cove points in about 20' of water - but I never got any two in the same spot. I don't know what to think about the crappie this year. My other disappointment was that I tried to find goggleyes on nests, but couldn't. I fished lots of gravel points and cove banks near the bottom in about 18' with a swimmin' minnow and a 1/4 oz. jighead. It seems like it oughta be time for that right now, but I couldn't find any goggleyes. Catfish: I'd say the catfish bite is still on, because that was my big excitement for the day though I only caught one. I was going along a steep chunk-rock bank throwing a white 1 1/2" swimmin' minnow right up to the bank catching Black Perch. We want to try the "Poor Man's Shrimp" recipe that was in Missouri Conservation magazine and some of the guys here said was good. I threw that up by the bank by a dead cedar tree, and I got a FISH on. I was using my lightest crappie pole and the fish stripped off about 5 yards of line, headed right into the cedar, and got me hung up on a limb. Fortunately I could still feel the fish on and I gave it slack and it came loose - then it ripped off about 10 more yards of line heading for more brush. I tightened the drag as much as I dared, and used the trolling motor to move out toward deep water. I was able to lead the fish out into 30' water where it couldn't reach brush, then fought it pretty much straight down. It would take some line, I'd gain a little bit back, and that went on for awhile. It kept going to the other side of the boat, and I kept having to guide my line around the trolling motor. Finally I wore it down and got it in the net - a 28" channel cat that I'd say weighs 5 or 6 lbs. That was fun, especially on a light crappie rig, and I'll remember catching that fish. A long report, but that's everything I know. I had fun and I wanted to share it, maybe it'll help somebody.

I'm glad all you guys are having fun putting more holes in bass lips. No sarcasm intended, I really am. There's not that kind of pressure on "my" species, and I'm fine with working crappie, white bass, walleye, catfish, goggleyes, etc. out from between a herd of bass boats. Actually, we're not even fishing the same places and there's no conflict at all. Maybe you could leave notes for each other on those short Kentuckies you're throwing back - "Hi, Joe, I caught this one at 8 a.m. on a Spook". Naw, no harm intended and I'm just kidding. I'm glad they're biting and you're having fun out there - I know I am, and isn't it great that we've got these wonderful lakes to enjoy whichever way we want to?

On Tuesday I went out of Cape Fair and fished Piney Creek and coves around there. We caught a bunch of white bass and crappie, and I reported on that in another thread. What I didn't mention is that we talked with a couple of guys who were catching perch to bait their trotlines with. They'd been doing real well and told us they'd caught several big flatheads. They held up a huge blue cat, 30 lbs. or so, to show us. We saw a couple of trotlines while we were fishing Piney Creek and the cove below it, I don't know if they belonged to the guys we talked to or not. They were obviously being tended and were well maintained, and they were tied between stick-ups in about 20 feet of water pretty close to the cove mouths. In case he doesn't see your question, Martin lives on the Cow Creek cove a couple of miles by water down from Kimberling City, so I'm sure his trotlining is around there.

Nope, I haven't been to B.S. since last week, I've been at Tablerock. If the water's that high, I guess K Dock's impossible. Only bad thing about launching at Beaver Creek when the water is high is the gentle slope of the parking lot when the ramp's underwater. I've launched there with my truck about 20 feet out in the water to float the boat, and if I'm by myself that means I've gotta wade and have wet feet all day. One ramp that won't be affected is the one at Fine addition at the top of Horseshoe Bend. That thing's so steep it's the scariest ramp I've ever launched at. The water could be 25 feet high and it'd still be steep. At Yocum Creek high water just means launching farther up the beach - I've put in there with no trouble when the water was 33 feet above pool, so I guess we'll find a way. Are they talking about making the power pool 659? I hadn't heard that - it sure would change things. Coming in on the lower road at K Dock, I always look at the old concrete steps at the edge of the water. If I can see the top and two steps, I figure that's normal - 653. I may never see that thing again now.

That's what I've been trying to figure out. I've been fishing all my regular crappie holes 2 or 3 times a week and I've been catching crappie since January. Thing is - I still haven't found them up on the nests where you throw to the bank and the action is hot and heavy. I gave all the fish to the fellow who fished with me yesterday out of Cape Fair, and he took them home and cleaned them. He told me today that all the big crappie were full of eggs and they hadn't spawned yet. He wouldn't know the difference between a crappie full of eggs or half-full, and they sure didn't look real fat to me when we caught them. Also, they were on stick-ups in 15-25 feet of water and I've always found that's a post-spawn situation, not pre-spawn. The big female crappie from Bull Shoals that I cleaned earlier in the week were all half-full of immature eggs. My theory? I think for some reason it's only a partial, intermittent crappie spawn this year. It's not happening all at once, and many sows are only dumping half their eggs. Since there was an enormous high-water spawn last year and the lakes are full of 3" crappie from that, maybe nature has a way of limiting reproduction in the following year????? I sure don't know.

Phil - Wow, two major fishing trips in one day, K Dock and Long Creek. You've got a lot more energy than I do, my single trips are usually followed by a long nap. We found a bunch of Tablerock crappie below Cape Fair - as per the report I just made in the "White Bass Everywhere" thread here. Water temp was 65-67 up there, and I think the crappie spawn is over because they're on the sticks.

Jessary - Thanks for your report that led my partner and I to a great trip today! Everything you said about the white bass was right. We found lots of them in both of the coves you mention, as well as in the mouth of every cove between there and Cape Fair. I don't much like to fish with a jigging spoon, so we caught all ours on big Roostertails. We'd troll until we located a bunch and then stop and throw to them. Then, when they quit biting in that spot we'd troll until we found another bunch. We got white bass limits but we didn't catch near the numbers you did because we got distracted - we found crappie. We found 12"-14" crappie with white 2" Swimmin' Minnows on the standing timber all around there, and clear back to Cape Fair too. Some were also on the banks near brush. They're not on nests and I think they're on brush near nesting areas, post spawn. We didn't quite catch crappie limits, but close. Added to that were quite a few Kentucky bass mostly 13"-14" caught and released while Roostertailin' for white bass, and 10 big black perch caught near the banks while crappie fishing. Thanks again, we had a ball!

Yep, I've cut the red meat out, and I've soaked filets in everything everyone's ever told me - including Sprite, salt water, beer, and I don't know what-all. I think someone even told me to soak 'em in Dr. Pepper once, so we tried that. It helps, but not enough for me - those big whites still taste like an anchovy boat smells after it's been out in the sun for a few days. I think the real problem is that I've spoiled myself with lots of crappie and walleye filets.

We lived for a while where I fished the Pacific Ocean about as often as I fished in fresh water. A friend and I rigged up a smoker, and we got to smoking fish (yeah I know, it's hard to keep 'em lit ). We were surprised to find that good freshwater fish like crappie weren't too good smoked, and neither were the mild ocean fish we normally enjoyed eating, like halibut, rock cod, and calico bass. The best smoked fish came from oily ocean fish that were so strong-tasting we didn't like them any other way - mackeral, yellowtail, barracuda, and bonito. I bet filets from big white bass would be real good smoked, because they're the same way.

Generally, "culling" white bass means throwing back the ones that are bigger or smaller than you want to eat - and I'm sure that's what he meant. That's what I do when it's obvious I'm going to get a limit - not by getting in the live well, but just throwing back the ones I don't want as I catch them. Under 10", white bass don't have much meat on them. Over 15", they're awful strong tasting. The ideal size for me is about 12"-14", so if it looks like I'm gonna catch 100 fish I figure I might as well keep count of the ones I put in the live well and only put the ones I want to keep in there. There's nothing illegal about that. There's a new limit on the real big ones, too - only two fish over 18", or something like that. I don't remember exactly because I always throw those big brooder sows back anyway. They're lots of fun to catch, but 'way too fishy tasting for me.

Hey, Ken - You were there in spirit with me the other day when the fish were biting, though I knew you had to work. I sure hope they don't let Bull Shoals get 40 feet high again like last year, that's impossible to fish. Around 2004 though, they kept it about 20 feet high and I had my best season ever. I was launching at that little dip where the K Dock high road and low road split, and ducking when I took my boat under the power line that used to run to a street light where the old marina used to be (I really HOPED that thing was dead). In May and June in those conditions I was catching crappie, bass, white bass, and I even got a couple of limits of keeper walleyes. So I kinda like high water down there, as long as it ain't unreasonable. What worries me with the water rising is that one of these days I might get to K Dock, go over the high road, and find that the whole lot's flooded with no place to turn around. Backing a boat and trailer up that road doesn't sound like fun, but I guess I could do it if I had to. Then I'd go to Beaver Creek.

That's a good idea about doing this with white bass. I always throw white bass over about 14" back - they're fun to catch but just too strong-tasting for us, like an old mackeral from the ocean. And yeah, I've tried trimming the red meat off, soaking the filets overnight in salt water or beer, etc. That helps, but not enough. Now I wonder how those white bass filets would be if I cut them up into bite-size pieces and gave them the "Poor Man's Shrimp" treatment. White bass are an oily fish, and maybe that strong fishy taste would boil out with the oil? It's worth a try.

I read an article about floating the Finley in Missouri Conservation magazine yesterday. The author mentions making "Poor Man's Shrimp" by fileting a whole bunch of little perch (bluegills, longears, black perch, etc.). He said to boil the little filets in water with shrimp seasoning for 4 minutes, then cool the filets in ice water and serve them with cocktail sauce - maybe on lettuce leaves for a salad. I love cold shrimp, and that sounds pretty good to me. It oughta be healthy, too, with no grease or breading at all. It'd be fun to take the grandkids and catch a bunch of those, which we can do anytime of course. Then if grandpa (me) has the patience to filet them.......... Has anybody here tried that?