Alaskageek

Went out of Fairfield Saturday morning. What a beautiful morning!!!!!! Wasn't hot and heavy... but managed to find a few nice sized whites and a couple crappie. Not anywhere near the number or size that Navery has been hitting, but I'm still learning!!! Hit em mostly in the cove just southeast of the 83 bridge. Trolling Flicka Shad and Flicka Minnows. At first they were hanging about 7-12 feet deep in 15-20 fow, then as the morning went on, them moved a little outta the cove and were hanging 10-15 feet down in 18 - 25 fow. Water temp was ranging for 68-72 degrees. Man.... love my new Helix 7, much easier to track when the fish move. Still trying to get the DI and SI dialed in, think I need to adjust my transducer again.... for the 6th time!!!

Well... finally found some shad... at Dookies in Lowery City! Then hit Brush Creek area in Oceola. Had a few bites... mostly nibbles.... and never hooked up. My son has gone back to CO, but will be returning in about 5 weeks. He's given me homework of figuring out how/where to catch cats before his return. Will keep updating on my success/failures here, and would love any additional advice or spots. Think I"m gonna go back to Brush Creek but take the boat this time. There are for sure lots of cats being caught out of there. There were several big piles of fresh carcass and had many boats pull into the launch with nice stringers of good eaters. Seemed like everyone was launching and going downriver (?) toward Truman lake. Should have some nice weather the next few days and as luck would have it... I don't work for the next two days. If any of you all know that area... and are up for some face to face teaching (your boat or mine) .... I'll bring coffee and buy breakfast after.

Not too far, only about an hour from my place. Do you launch at the bridge on H? Would you suggest working up towards Schell Lake? or down back towards Oceola? Looks like a mile or so back towards Oceola, there are a couple big bends with a creek or two feeding in, would that be a good place?

So found an old 6ft cast net when cleaning out the shed.... and am working on learning to throw it........ but I've got no idea where in the water to actually find shad/minnows. Is it as basic as trolling around until you see bait fish on top of the water then whip over there and throw the net? Or do you use your electronics to find a bait ball a feet below the surface, then spin around, troll back to it and throw? With the real lack of shad at the bait stores....figure it's time to learn.

Well.... we tried Avery, working all the way up to Sapps a few days ago. Had a few bites, but never hooked anything. Wasn't able to find any shad at any of the bait shops... Everharts, Dookies, Cody's.... they are all out of shad. Ended up getting some chicken livers and gizzards. Only the livers got the few hits we had. Very pretty area, and was fun exploring. Hoping to find some shad in the next few days, and will try Fairfield after this storm system passes. On a side note..... I found an old 6ft cast net while cleaning up the shed, I'm still working on throwing it well, my question is.... where do you look for shad to cast on? Especially since the bait stores don't look to have any soon.

Well.... we tried Avery, working all the way up to Sapps a few days ago. Had a few bites, but never hooked anything. Wasn't able to find any shad at any of the bait shops... Everharts, Dookies, Cody's.... they are all out of shad. Ended up getting some chicken livers and gizzards. Only the livers got the few hits we had. Very pretty area, and was fun exploring. Hoping to find some shad in the next few days, and will try Fairfield after this storm system passes. On a side note..... I found an old 6ft cast net while cleaning up the shed, I'm still working on throwing it well, my question is.... where do you look for shad to cast on? Especially since the bait stores don't look to have any soon.

You never let me down Navery.... put me on the whites last year this time!!!!! Avery.... thats between Sapps Landing and FairField launch, right? and moving upstream would mean back towards Sapps /Pomme lake, not back towards Truman lake... right?

Thanks Mr. Giggles...... do you know if he was fishing from the launch on the Hwy 13 bridge?

Thanks River Rat...... from right near the launch? or over in the big coves to the south and east? or down the other way into the Pomme river?

Thanks Oneshot.... will for sure try that cove west of fairfield launch, since we'll probably be over that way one more time before he goes back to his mom. I love Sapps...... but I'm with you... water might be too high to launch out of there. Is "upstream" from that launch consider towards bridge? Would you be willing to give up a suggested spot or two on Pomme? I've tried flats and deep channels both with spotty results. Do you run a float between the weight and bait? to keep the bait of the bottom?

Howdy All.... Well... got the first part of the floor for the boat all fixed.... looks pretty good if I do say so myself. My Son has been over for the last week, with another week to go. We've hit Pomme twice and Truman out of Fairfield Once looking for Crappie. Never hit em hard... but always managed to find 10- 15 keepers. With that being said.... I have another big favor to ask....... where can one fish for some catfish, either from the shore or from the boat. My son is obsessed with catfish... and my efforts to get him one so far have returned poor results... only finding him a few around 2-3 lbs over the last couple of times he's been over. Would love to hook him into something 5lb or more. Was planning on fishing the rocks, below the Truman Dam spillway... but access to Bledso is closed. My Son leaves Saturday evening, so would love to get him out, targeting cat fish, with a decent chance of catching something a little bigger, before he leaves. Thinking of calling Cody's Bait shop to see if he's running charters yet, and if he is, if he could get us in. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The only way I know to fish for cat is to throw on a piece of cut bait, with a 1-3oz sinker, enough to hold the bottom, then sit and wait. Not a bad way, but so far has only resulted in the smaller cats, and not many of them.

Howdy All.... Well... got the first part of the floor for the boat all fixed.... looks pretty good if I do say so myself. My Son has been over for the last week, with another week to go. We've hit Pomme twice and Truman out of Fairfield Once looking for Crappie. Never hit em hard... but always managed to find 10- 15 keepers. With that being said.... I have another big favor to ask....... where can one fish for some catfish, either from the shore or from the boat. My son is obsessed with catfish... and my efforts to get him one so far have returned poor results... only finding him a few around 2-3 lbs over the last couple of times he's been over. Would love to hook him into something 5lb or more. Was planning on fishing the rocks, below the Truman Dam spillway... but access to Bledso is closed. My Son leaves Saturday evening, so would love to get him out, targeting cat fish, with a decent chance of catching something a little bigger, before he leaves. Thinking of calling Cody's Bait shop to see if he's running charters yet, and if he is, if he could get us in. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The only way I know to fish for cat is to throw on a piece of cut bait, with a 1-3oz sinker, enough to hold the bottom, then sit and wait. Not a bad way, but so far has only resulted in the smaller cats, and not many of them.

Howdy All! Hope you're finding time and open launches with some nice weather sprinkled in to get out and enjoy the water. Hope to be joining you all soon..... staying at least 6 ft away!! Got the boat back from LSK in Lebanon last Saturday. Then quickly "redneck" mounted by new Humminbird Helix 7 and launched outta Wheatland to see how she was running and get out for a bit. Got about 100 yards from the launch and opened her up, only to have the motor bog out........ couldn't get up on step. Powered down, did a quick check and tried again = same thing. Also noticed the water flow out the side of the motor, which is normally a steady stream, look more like a guy with a swollen prostrate trying to pee. Opened up the motor and determined LSK had neglected to put a hose clamp where it was needed. Looked in my toolbox, but no clamp small enough for the hose. Hose would stay on at idle or just a little above, but anymore than that, it would pop off. Figured I was just going to be slowly trolling around anyway, not going too far from the launch, mainly playing with the Helix, plus wanted to see if the original issue I took the motor in for, sputtering/dying at idle throttle in gear, had been fixed. Well....... it sorta was....... it would stay running at idle speed in gear, but it was rough, rough. She spits and sputters and shutters but doesn't die, so I guess they sorta fixed it. To say I'm a little disappointed in LSK is an understatement, especially after the $400 bill. Would not recommend them and will be looking for another shop that services Honda outboards for this winters maintenance. Helix 7 was everything I have been dreaming about for years! Definitely going to take some time to get it tuned in , as well as get some experience interpreting DI, SI and sonar images, after working off an 8bit piece of crap for so long. Also think my "redneck' mount of the transducer needs some work as I seem to be getting quite a bit of interference, but plan to remount it all as I' working on the deck overhaul. Even on a three hour trip just around Wheatland, it has opened up a whole new view of the lake, that I had only been guessing about! Never found any big schools of fish, but did run over a few dozen big balls of bait fish, and found some single fish. Biggest concentration of game fish I found was just outside of Galmey Cove on the dock side in about 40 fow, hanging about 25 ft down. Came off the lake, found a small clamp and clamped the hose the LSK had forgotten to. Have pulled the boat under cover, and started to remove things outta it. Have all the supplies ordered for the deck overhaul and cleaning. Hope to knock that out in a week or two.... maybe even less if work lets me start working from home. Hope to have it done and back on the water before Turkey season and crappie spawn sets off. Stay safe and get out on the water or in the woods or both!!!

WOW!!! As usual, this group continues to impress!!! West Marine doesn't work on Honda outboards, but LSK does!!!! Will be taking the boat over next weekend to get in the queue for repair (sounds like about a two week line) Everharts ....still haven't gone by... but will soon, it's right across the street from where I"m working in Clinton. Didn't get a chance to call Hermitage Lumber to see if they can order in marine grade plywood, but will do so shortly. As for sealer.... have been looking at West Marine's West System Epoxy Resin system: https://www.westmarine.com/buy/west-system---105-b-epoxy-resin--318352?recordNum=2 https://www.westmarine.com/buy/west-system---206-b-slow-hardener--318394?cm_sp=Onsite-Recs-_-DY-_-PDP MOPanfisher, oneshot, and Ranger520vx...... you info has been a big help over the years when I was just visiting over here, sure i'll be hitting you all up frequently now that I"m living here. Need to learn about Spring Walleye, as it's not a species I"ve ever targeted. Caught a few as incidental catch. Know they have to be over 15" to keep em. I have trolled around the humps on Pomme at Martian Flats, but never picked one up there. Also am very interested in findin " from the shore" placed to fish near Clinton. With the "longer days" now, would like to be able to get off work @ 4:30 and get to a fishing hole quickly, without having to drive all the way home to Galmey to get my boat, so i can enjoy a few hours of fishing on week days, and then be hitting em with the boat on weekends. My drive home goes from Clinton, south on 13 till Collins, the east on 54 to AA then over to Hwy 83 to 254 then into Galmey. Allthough for some good after work fishing I'd have no problem taking 7 east out of Clinton over to Warsaw. Seems like there should be a few honey holes, fishable by shore on either way. Thanks again for all the great advice. I'll let you all know how things turn out and post some before/after pics of the deck project and boat overhaul.

Howdy to you all!!!!! I have finally made the move from CO to MO and am ready to continue my journey from a expert AK salmon fisherman to a expert MO fisherman. I'm all moved into my place near Galmey and have picked up an IT job up in Clinton! What a beautiful drive I have every morning, crossing over Osceola, Deepwater, and Grand River bridges as the sun rises. Quite a change from the bumper to bumper drive I had over in N. Colorado. Hope to become a frequent poster in this and the Truman forums this year as I plan to spend as much time on the water as possible but........ the old fishing boat needs some work..... I mean, she floats and runs, but needs some love... starting with the deck. She just a simple SeaNymph Fishing Machine FM161. Thats actually her in the top corner of my profile pic. Need to replace the main and front decks. I helped my father years ago, do something similar to another boat, but we did it cheap, cheap, cheap... two sheets of regular plywood and some textured paint later and we were done. I'm doing basically the same thing, but would like to buy a little more quality materials and would love y'all's opinions. I'm looking at some 3/4" marine grade plywood from Menards for my wood........ running about $90 a 4x8 sheet (I'll need 2). Then I figured to seal it all up with.... something??? Epoxy Resin? Marine Paint? Flex Seal? Fiberglass mat? My main goal is water/weather protection and to hopefully make it last a long time with minor upkeep. What do y'all think? I'm no carpenter, but am not totally useless and there's always YouTube. My budget is around $500 for the floor, as some other things need to be upgraded/replaced besides the decks. Also looking for a shop in the area to do a tune up on a Late 90's Honda 4 stroke 35hp. See runs pretty good on step, but sputters a little in gear at idle. To say I'm really looking forward to this spring/summer would be an understatement! Thank you all for the great info I've already received and the massive about I will receive over the next year!!!

Call me a newbie but...... how come MoPanFisher?

You helped a ton!!! Hope to meet face 2 face in July! Sunscreen for sure, but being used to the prehistoric sized mega swarms of AK skeeters, bug dope will be for the kids!!!! Very true, a few showers in that heat is refreshing!

Would've been great to see you Ranger, but have to say if I lived there, and wasn't trying to make up for 9 months of lost fishing, I would have been hanging near the house working on things and spending time with the family during that monsoon! In the words of Arnold...... I'll Be Back!!! Hope to run into you on the 4th! Yeah... thought for sure I'd left that crap at home, but somehow it made it's way into my gear. Will double check the bags before I head over in July MoPan!

First off, I have to apologize for not updating here while our trip was happening, but was just too busy living the dream to jump online. Would have also been worried about shorting out my laptop with all the rain. Second, sorry no pics. Used too much juice on my phone each trip, checking weather radar and fishing maps, always seemed to be dead when we got back in. Before I get into the blow by blow, wanted to give huge shoutouts to Ranger520, MoPanFisher, OneShot, Navery and VJMAC for giving me all the great info, even after the monsoon came through and the water level went insane!!! Sunday 4/28 - Started out the morning by hitting the docks below the dam on Truman. Fishing was slow, on the docks and in the many boats spider rigging. Wind was blowing pretty good. My buddy manged to pick up his first ever keeper crappie, but it was the only keeper of the morning. Through back a few shorts. The evening found us on Pomme and in the fish. Caught a ton of shorts and managed about 20 keepers, about an even mix of M/F. Fishing backs of coves near the Pomme dam. 3-5 fow. Pretty much were hitting whatever we through at them, but minnows under floats seemed to work better once the sun went down. Monday 4/29 - Hit Pomme about 8am, same coves as previous night. Fish not as aggressive this morning, minnows working better than jigs. 15 keepers, and enough shorts to keep us busy in between. Came off the water around 11am for lunch and cleaning. Back out about 6pm, caught the remaining 15 keepers pretty quick. Fish pretty much hitting whatever you threw at them. Mostly males today, many very black and tails torn up. Tuesday 4/30 - MONSOON!!! Knew it was gonna be a rough day so headed to Springfield for a trip to bass pro and eats at Lamberts. Spend the evening in our tent, playing cards, drinking, frequently checking to make sure our gear hadn't blown away and pumping water out of the boat every few hours! Have to say, even with 30 years camping in AK, that was probably the worst single storm I've ever weather in a tent. Wednesday 4/30 - Gear check. Didn't lose anything to important, but did have to retrieve my tub of catfish jugs from the back of wheatland cove as well as move the boat to find a place to tie it off given the massive lake rising! Went and ran some clothes and gear through the dryer at my step moms but we were back at it by 1pm. Ton's of trash everywhere tried working our way down to the lightfoot launch to work coves around there, but even the main lake was chocolate milk with debris all over, to say nothing of the coves. Ran..... slowly... back to the coves near the dam. Water cleared a bit and debris thinned some closer we got to the darn, but when you got in the coves, it was all back. Slow day of catching, but the sun did come out for a few hours, giving us our only nice weather day of the trip. Tried jigs and minnows, didn't seem one was better than the other. Tried finding some brush piles, closer to the mouths of coves, but tough to find them with my ancient fish finder. Managed to pick up 10 keepers jigging the overflow brush, in coves just off main lake, but lost twice that amount of jigs, and spend alot of time retrieving others and re-tying as that type of fishing is new to me. Now know I need to get some weedless jig heads to help from getting caught up so much. Thursday 5/1 - Been pushing pretty hard, so took the morning and slept in and had a good morning around camp. Big breakfast of fresh never frozen crappie, fried eggs and taters! Hit Pomme around noon, check out catfish jugs,..... no love. Water still coming up, but clearing up a bit both in water color and debris. Jigged the overflow brush around wheatland and galmey coves. Managed 4 keepers. Headed over to the Fairfield launch on Truman. Wind was howling!!! Raining on/off. Found the white bass/hybrids right were Navery said they'd be. Didn't have an anchor, and trying to use the trolling motor to keep us in place was way too much work with the wind (old style tiller handle), really need to get a foot pedal one to keep my heads free. Ended up trolling back and forth using flick a shads, Sassy shads and jigs (chartruse) picked up our limits of WB, including one hybrid each, about 4-5 lbs, which was a great fight on the light crappie gear we had. Tried heading down to bean cove for crappie, jigging standing timber in various depths, but never got a bite. Not sure if it was me or the fish, but my guess was me. Pulled out by 8, as I wanted to get back to launch before dark for sure! Friday 5/2 - Last day to fish. Spent the morning on Pomme. Nothing on the jugs again....pulled them. Worked down to lightfoot again, water and debris better, but still alot. Picked up a few shorts jigging the overflow. Worked over to coves near darn. Lot less debris and water cleaner. Jigged the brush, but not much luck. Started throwing jigs and sassy shad towards the "channels" in the middle of coves (not towards the bank) and managed to pick up 10 keepers. Pulled the boat out about 2pm, cleaned it up and tarpped/parked it for storage until July. Did some pre-packing at camp, then went to fish outlet park below the darn. Picked up 2 keepers and two shorts. Pretty slow, but they were running lots of water by then. Overall, another great trip. Weather could have been better, but if you wait for nice weather to fish, you'll never go!!! Was a curse and a blessing with the massive lake level change. Had to adjust want I was doing and try things I've never tried, which was cool, but would've loved another day or two of the "norm" crappie spawn fishing before the lake rise. Didn't get near as much exploring on new water as I wanted, but did find a good mix of fishing like a crazy man and relaxing for sure! My buddy is now hooked on fishing. More fish then he has ever caught and I fear his wife is gonna kill me as he as already started looking at buying a boat! Big Love to all those who are helping me become a Master MO fisherman!!!! I'll be watching the forums, especially since I'll be back over in two months for the 4th of July, looking to find the Whites/Hybrids/Crappie/Catfish in the heat of the summer!!!

First off, I have to apologize for not updating here while our trip was happening, but was just too busy living the dream to jump online. Would have also been worried about shorting out my laptop with all the rain. Second, sorry no pics. Used too much juice on my phone each trip, checking weather radar and fishing maps, always seemed to be dead when we got back in. Before I get into the blow by blow, wanted to give huge shoutouts to Ranger520, MoPanFisher, OneShot, Navery and VJMAC for giving me all the great info, even after the monsoon came through and the water level went insane!!! Sunday 4/28 - Started out the morning by hitting the docks below the dam on Truman. Fishing was slow, on the docks and in the many boats spider rigging. Wind was blowing pretty good. My buddy manged to pick up his first ever keeper crappie, but it was the only keeper of the morning. Through back a few shorts. The evening found us on Pomme and in the fish. Caught a ton of shorts and managed about 20 keepers, about an even mix of M/F. Fishing backs of coves near the Pomme dam. 3-5 fow. Pretty much were hitting whatever we through at them, but minnows under floats seemed to work better once the sun went down. Monday 4/29 - Hit Pomme about 8am, same coves as previous night. Fish not as aggressive this morning, minnows working better than jigs. 15 keepers, and enough shorts to keep us busy in between. Came off the water around 11am for lunch and cleaning. Back out about 6pm, caught the remaining 15 keepers pretty quick. Fish pretty much hitting whatever you threw at them. Mostly males today, many very black and tails torn up. Tuesday 4/30 - MONSOON!!! Knew it was gonna be a rough day so headed to Springfield for a trip to bass pro and eats at Lamberts. Spend the evening in our tent, playing cards, drinking, frequently checking to make sure our gear hadn't blown away and pumping water out of the boat every few hours! Have to say, even with 30 years camping in AK, that was probably the worst single storm I've ever weathered in a tent. Wednesday 4/30 - Gear check. Didn't lose anything to important, but did have to retrieve my tub of catfish jugs from the back of wheatland cove as well as move the boat to find a place to tie it off given the massive lake rising! Went and ran some clothes and gear through the dryer at my step moms but we were back at it by 1pm. Ton's of trash everywhere tried working our way down to the lightfoot launch to work coves around there, but even the main lake was chocolate milk with debris all over, to say nothing of the coves. Ran..... slowly... back to the coves near the dam. Water cleared a bit and debris thinned some closer we got to the darn, but when you got in the coves, it was all back. Slow day of catching, but the sun did come out for a few hours, giving us our only nice weather day of the trip. Tried jigs and minnows, didn't seem one was better than the other. Tried finding some brush piles, closer to the mouths of coves, but tough to find them with my ancient fish finder. Managed to pick up 10 keepers jigging the overflow brush, in coves just off main lake, but lost twice that amount of jigs, and spend alot of time retrieving others and re-tying as that type of fishing is new to me. Now know I need to get some weedless jig heads to help from getting caught up so much. Thursday 5/1 - Been pushing pretty hard, so took the morning and slept in and had a good morning around camp. Big breakfast of fresh never frozen crappie, fried eggs and taters! Hit Pomme around noon, check out catfish jugs,..... no love. Water still coming up, but clearing up a bit both in water color and debris. Jigged the overflow brush around wheatland and galmey coves. Managed 4 keepers. Headed over to the Fairfield launch on Truman. Wind was howling!!! Raining on/off. Found the white bass/hybrids right were Navery said they'd be. Didn't have an anchor, and trying to use the trolling motor to keep us in place was way too much work with the wind (old style tiller handle), really need to get a foot pedal one to keep my heads free. Ended up trolling back and forth using flick a shads, Sassy shads and jigs (chartruse) picked up our limits of WB, including one hybrid each, about 4-5 lbs, which was a great fight on the light crappie gear we had. Tried heading down to bean cove for crappie, jigging standing timber in various depths, but never got a bite. Not sure if it was me or the fish, but my guess was me. Pulled out by 8, as I wanted to get back to launch before dark for sure! Friday 5/2 - Last day to fish. Spent the morning on Pomme. Nothing on the jugs again....pulled them. Worked down to lightfoot again, water and debris better, but still alot. Picked up a few shorts jigging the overflow. Worked over to coves near darn. Lot less debris and water cleaner. Jigged the brush, but not much luck. Started throwing jigs and sassy shad towards the "channels" in the middle of coves (not towards the bank) and managed to pick up 10 keepers. Pulled the boat out about 2pm, cleaned it up and tarpped/parked it for storage until July. Did some pre-packing at camp, then went to fish outlet park below the darn. Picked up 2 keepers and two shorts. Pretty slow, but they were running lots of water by then. Overall, another great trip. Weather could have been better, but if you wait for nice weather to fish, you'll never go!!! Was a curse and a blessing with the massive lake level change. Had to adjust want I was doing and try things I've never tried, which was cool, but would've loved another day or two of the "norm" crappie spawn fishing before the lake rise. Didn't get near as much exploring on new water as I wanted, but did find a good mix of fishing like a crazy man and relaxing for sure! My buddy is now hooked on fishing. More fish then he has ever caught and I fear his wife is gonna kill me as he as already started looking at buying a boat! Big Love to all those who are helping me become a Master MO fisherman!!!! I'll be watching the forums, especially since I'll be back over in two months for the 4th of July, looking to find the Whites/Hybrids/Crappie/Catfish in the heat of the summer!!!

Wow!!! Thats awesome!!! Can't say thank you enough for giving me your spot! Would be awesome just to hook a few that big!! Will be sure to post up some picks of our hopeful success and for sure awesome days. Limit for WB/Hybrids is 15 there, right? With only 4 being over 18"?

Always!!!

Gonna be a long friday at work to say the least. In less than 24 hours will be on the road to heaven and will be living the dream by tomorrow evening!! Thanks to all for the great info and tips. Will be sure to post pic's but will probably start a new thread, so you don't have to dig down in this one to get them! Hope to see you all on the water!!!!!

Less than 24 hours will find me on my way to heaven! and 48 will have me living the dream!!!! Will be looking for crappie, whites, and hybrids and anything else that wants to tug on my line. 🙂 I'm not able to find KK island on any of my maps, could you maybe point it out Navery? The attached map is a zoomed out view of the Fairfield to Sapps landing area. I've circled what I think is Bean Cove in yellow. When looking for the whites/hybrids, do I need to get upriver to at least Buzzard Cave Bluff? or farther?

Thanks for that info MoPan!!! While I'm ok with white knuckle rides occasionally, don't need to go looking for one as enough just sorta happen. Will check out bean cove from sure. Also happens to be one of the Corps land spots I marked to scout for Turkey. Have you ever heard any Tom's gobbling away up in there?