top_dollar

Speaking of bass pro shops...I was mad at them when I walked into the giant theme park esqe self proclaimed "grandaddy of all outdoor stores" looking for a couple of cheap fiber glass down rigger rods (they are great for longline trolling) I asked the guy...he had no idea what I was talking about. I said 9 foot super floppy glass rods...blank stare. OK thanks guy. I couldn't find anything even close. I found some 7foot browning silaflex rods and picked up a few. They worked alright but too short and too stiff for long lining with metered braid. they would probably be excellent rods for casting deep crankbaits, especially at 40bucks a pop. Note..when storing 2 piece rod tip sections in a separate box....don't forget that box. :/ had a bunch of reels and butt sections. Lol oh well...bought 7 new fishing rods worse things have happened lol.

Haven't tried the whopper plopper yet, I'm late to that party...by the time I use one fish will be all plopped out. I did however order 3 of those stutter steps...those look like an all in 1 type bait.

Nice work! Those are two giant eyes! I couldn't manage to troll any up. I was over commited to the spoon and it cost me lots of worm fish. I felt like I was trying to force feed them the spoon as well. It was tough! I saw em on the graph and fish would willingly eat a crawler, but wouldn't touch my spoon. I don't get it...the crawler fish were spitting up spoon shaped shad.

This is how i fish a crawler. It works a lot better than a split shot cuz you rarely have to retie it, doesn't pinch/knick your line, and minimizes twist. Sometimes you may want to slide the sinker up a foot like a traditional split shot rig, however the further the weight from the worm the higher the likely hood that the line will twist up around the weight. I've found that this rig less than an inch above the hook works most efficienctly when probing deep areas. On windy days you can up to a 1/8th or 3/16 Oz weight, but I like the 1/16.

That's precisely the hooks I have on that! I like death traps and gammys. The feather is a must on top water lures imo. I'm willing to go over the top with a top dollar cuz they work so well for me. I can't believe those lures aren't available anymore, there really is nothing comparable that I can find.

I like to paint lures up at work. I have painted hundreds, this is my last batch of top dollar lures.

Got out for a bit of trolling yesterday evening. Bout 2 hours dedicated fishing. Caught 7 smallies, 1 spot, a few white bass, all were 12 to 17 inches. Was targeting walleye...had 1 very nice fish on a few seconds. Solid heavy weight with occasional head shakes, came off mid fight. Kinda thinking that might have been my good eye. Last year I caught 2 trolling cranks in the same location. I was pretty upset as I go to great lengths to make sure when I hook a fish trolling it comes to the boat, and it's rare that I lose one anymore. Caught fish trolling 2.5 to 3mph on main lake gravel points with deep water near, and bluff walls with tree tops about 20 feet down. Pulled flicker shads 17 feet down over 17-40 fow. This morning was my last...slower today, but same as last few days. Crawlers, spoons, long flat gravel points 15 to 25 feet down. Not much love on the spoon yesterday or today. Nightcrawlers worked well though (although I'm sure some snub their nose at live bait)..I use a 7 ft light power, fast action spinning rod spooled with 4 pound mono. I attach (in this order) a rubber bobber stop, a 1/16th Oz slip sinker, a bead, a rubber bobber stop, another bead, then a #6 or 4 gammy bait holder hook. The distance of the weight to the hook is easily adjusted, but due to line twist I usually just have about a half inch between the hook and weight. I'll post a picture. The crawler is threaded on so it's perfectly straight. As was mentioned fish like to swallow the rig. This can be alleviated by being attentive, when you feel a bite, lift up slightly, if you feel weight set the hook immediately. Often times you'll miss the bite and lose your worm....it happens as it's a 9 inch worm on a half inch hook. When you get it down though you'll hook up on 75% or more of your bites.

Bluegill are biting very well. More of the same as yesterday. Crawlers fished vertical 25 feet down. They are easy to see on the graph, like a bunch of squiggly lines a few feet above the bottom in 25 to 30 fow. Catching a good mix of bluegills, black bass and catfish. Gravel points with shad present. Struck out with a spoon today.

Trolled cranks this afternoon for walleye...none. caught 4 smallies all bout 12 inches long. Went bluegill fishing, found them on the bottom in 23-28 fow way out on the gravelly side of a main lake point.

I wait til they poop out the hook and reel em in backwards.

Wow....forgot to mention....main lake gravel points, 15 to 20 feet down in 15 to 45 fow very close to 100+fow.

Got out this morning from 6 til 830. Water temp 89, clear down about 6 or 8 foot I'd say. Fishing was very good. Two of us fishing caught 2 keeper spots as well as about 30 shorts and 6 giant bluegil. Best bait was a whole nightcrawler with a 16th Oz split shot and a #4 bait holder hook. Also caught an 6 or 8 # flat head catfish. Caught nothing on a jig, and 6 or 7 on a spoon. Spoon bite is best with a 2 to 3 foot aggressive hop. Lots of fish spitting up 2 inch shad. Both keepers came on the live bait today. No walleye.

I was in the Kimberling area yesterday and found spots thick 15-20 feet down over 25 to 200 fow. Gravel points on the main lake. Fished 9am til noon and 7pm til 9. Three of us got 6 keepers and several shorts, a few smallies and bluegills mixed. We used night crawlers mostly, struck out with jigs and spoons. Also did a trolling pass with no luck. Odd cuz spoons and trolling ought to be the ticket. My boat is out of commission for now so we've been bank fishing and using a rental pontoon boat. Water temp was 89-91 degrees....insane.

I don't think the fish are smarter...I just think the fisherman overthink things. I know I have a tendency to make it more complicated.

I've never hired a guide on table rock, but I totally agree with the mentality that when your on the water with a professional you ask lots of questions and absorb information like a sponge. Who cares if the fish are biting, that's day to day anyway, but it Def behooves a fisherman to learn exactly why the guide is doing what he is doing. I hired Bob Bennet on Stockton and in 8 hours he taught me how to fish for crappie walleye and bass all year long. Fishing was kinda slow that day, but the information he gave me that day has kept me on fish for years now. Honestly...I wish I would have brought a notebook to jot down notes. It's like fishing class. Shout out to Bob Bennett. ...great guy and true master of his craft, as I'm sure most fishing guides are when your fishing 300+ days a year. This time of year on table rock is easy IMO though at least for good numbers of decent sized bass and huge bluegill no fishing guide needed. Find gravel points on the main lake, and drop a 1/16-1/8 oz split shot rig with a whole crawler (half if the gills are ankle biting). Put the boat in 15-35 fow and drift around with the crawler vertical. If no bites in 20 min move to the next point, fish are either there or they are not don't waste too much time. This is great for kids (and everyone really). Put 6 people on a pontoon and hang a wall of crawlers. On another note....I have never seen a school of nightcrawlers swimming around in open water, yet fish tear em up, they are dumb animals.

Man you catch some big ole bass from table rock. Nice going!! I only target the deep suspended bass which tend to be smaller spots and smallies. Occasionally I'll get a 4+ # fish but it's pretty rare. Great catching.

Not mentioned yet is the heddon spittn image. Those are spotted bass killers on table rock.

Light and humidity are line killers. Good advice above. If it was kept inside it's probably just fine.

This is probably the most reasonable advice, get one you think looks awesome and stick with it. (as i have 4 stutter steps on the way...)

Bill Norman Top Dollar....discontinued so they are tough to find. I may have bought them all. The hardware sucks, they need new hooks, and i custom paint (stock colors are ok though) and put my own feather on the rear treble....that said there is no other lure on the market that I am aware of with the same shape/profile/and action. It just has given me more consistent results than any other top water lure.

Cool video!! Stockton is just simply my favorite missouri lake, and its not even close. Nice work with the jigging spoon. Its nice to see some folks using it as i feel with all the new lures the spoon is overlooked...yet its one of my big producers of all species. They are def one of my best tools on the southern missouri lakes. I noticed though that you mentioned casting them? Are you counting it down and yo yoing it back to the boat? I have a jigging spoon tied on 100% of the time but i rarely catch them during a retrieve. My most effective method is a 1-2foot short hop, or 1-3 inch wiggle on a vertical drop. I would love to learn your casting/retrieving technique?

Great thanks for the info.

Were you longlining? What type of crank? If you dont mind me asking. Ill be down next week. Last year i caught em decent in the kimberling area on flicker shads 19ft down in a small ditch out over a gravel flat. Tried flicker minnows, reef runners, and hot n tots to no avail....dropped spoons on em...nothing....but they would eat that flicker shad.

This is a very informative thread, i have tried with bottom bouncers before but do so much better with a half a crawler on a jig head. With this advice i think i might just give it another shot.

I have not been to stockton in over a month (although jigs n crawlers worked then too...trolled cranks were slower)...but last year in mid july the walleye fishing down there was stupid good just tossing jigs and crawlers around from 15-35 feet. It was main lake points, starting shallow than working deeper. It was a bit peculiar....if i dropped the bait straight down to the depth they were biting id rarely get bit...but if i pitched the bait up shallow and worked it back slowly id often get bit when the bait was underneath me and vertical jigged. Almost as if the fish were shallow to begin with, then would follow the bait out and eat it deep.