MickinMO

I can stop by Conservation Headquarters tomorrow on my lunch break and give someone a knuckle sandwich for you! Kidding aside, nearing end of fiscal year I bet whatever appropration postage is included in must be getting tight

I can remember when the Walmart sporting goods section actually had full time career dudes who only worked in that area of the store and that knew what they were doing.

Spring River in Lawrence County. Used to be a hatchery south of 60 hwy near Verona. Have caught them as far west as Stotts City. Would see some big rainbows while gigging

Welcome aboard. This is a great area. You can wake up and go any direction for good fishing

I suppose it does make sense to keep the most water in your highest elevation lake in the system. Plus, I always forget about the scale of the formula like what is happening with the Mississippi in Louisiana will affect what they do here

Guess this means they are going to hold Beaver a bit high? Can't think they would close TR gates if they were planning on drawing Beaver down. Weekend system looks to have ample moisture, but worst looking east of 65. Thank you to Mr. Lilley's onecast for confirming that the gates were closed. Seeing that 708 show up today was a welcome sight

Does anyone do a regular podcast about fishing in the Ozarks and tri-lakes region? I found some archived podcasts on here but from 2012 and searching my podcast app can't find one that is local. Anymore I prefer to listen to podcasts when getting my walks in. I can't really stand news or politics stuff, so I try to find things that are of interest that I can learn from. I know Lilleys does the one cast and that is a great way to get Taneycomo conditons, but hoping there is longer content someone is doing that covers a wider array of Ozarks fishing.

The models keep trending colder, which means less PWAT available to fall as precip. This is good for the basin. We will be down in two weeks for a cousins trip (my grandpa would be proud). Some staying at Lilleys and some at OTR. 711 I can handle. I am too old now for 712+ in a jon. My grandpa is rolling in his grave as he would be out in 8 units below Bull Shoals. Last April we were down and staying at OTR. Fished Friday in questionable conditions and then woke up Saturday to all heck breaking loose. OTR and Lilleys getting their boats out of the water. Lynn walked by the patio that morning while I was drinking my coffee and told us to be careful. Lynn, I am not getting on that lake if I have to wade through a foot of water on the dock ramp.

Beaver is still creeping up and closer to FP than PP, but they aren't running any water (yet). With Table Rock past crest would think they would start to draw Beaver down a bit with a wetter than normal April forecasted. However, as Mr. Lilley has mentioned what they do with Beaver is hard to guess. Regardless, it seems that there will be quite a bit of water to contend with for the foreseeable future. Although the cold soil temps lead to more runoff, these cold airmasses stunt the amount of available moisture for precip. So, at least we have that going for us for now

I believe there are 3-4 docks in front of the landing between the Main Street Marina and North Park. What are these supposed to be for? I have never seen anyone fishing off of them and they don't appear to be setup to load/unload boat passengers. Are they just for sightseers walking the boardwalk. Also, is it free to put in at the city RV park or do you have to be staying in the campground?

Welcome aboard

I am just now getting back into boating after a 10 year hiatius, but recently my buddy has had his deep cycles go bad about every 2 or 3 seasons. Far as I know he wasn't doing anything different from when we were growing up and he knows how to take care of stuff. We believed the culprit was lack of battery quality in the first place. Not sure on brand, but he had bought some from Walmart. So, after the second time it happened he bought Interstates and hasn't had a problem since. I know my car guy has told me that these modern batteries are more fickle and once a cell goes bad the battery is toast or at least unreliable. My truck battery last year tested ok after getting stranded. Still tried to jump it and charge it with the tow guy. Still nothing. Towed it to the shop. My mechanic swapped out for a new battery and it started right up.

Thanks guys. Good point about being able to get there from the ramp. Not many public ramps on a non-corps lake and not being comfortable even going across a main arm makes options few. PB1 is closest to the house so will give the Glaize a crack

Is there any part of the lake (aside from the tailwaters) that can be fished/boated safely during summer without a 30' boat? Even if it's a ramp and you have to stay within that cove, that would at least let me get on the water. I would have to think somewhere on the Niangua Arm maybe? Or should I just head for Pomme?

There is always Walmart in Bolivar if all else fails

Are you near the city of Stockton or which part of the lake?

Swinging bridge repalced about 5 years ago. Great creek for gigging and grabbin.

Any bites at the underwater spring just north of twin bridges?

Find you a big SWish to NE cove and let those spring SW winds drift you from back of the cove to the channel. 2" grubs or roadrunners. Start close to shore and move out until you start catching them. Will catch crappie and whites mainly. Helps if you have a drift sock or 5 gallon bucket to slow you down

When the lake is around 701, can pontoons or deep vees make it as far up as the downstream end of the Fall Creek dock (assume moving slowly and avoiding known hazards/shallow spots)? I know I have seen pontoons to Short Creek at 701. Also, can a pontoon or deep vee be safely launched/loaded at the Cooper Creek public ramp during low water? I usually fish from a jon or mod v, but growing family (and extended family coming along) calls for a bigger and more versatile boat. Don't want to buy a boat that I can't take up-lake a little ways at least. I also haven't boated the lake much since the recent floods. Thanks

My boat search continues. Have noticed quite a few vinyl floors in both used and new boats. Not sure I have ever been in a boat with a vinyl floor. Is the vinyl slick when it gets wet or is it made rough enough to maintain traction when walking around?

Anyone have experience or opinion on early 2000s Ranger Cherokee Deep Vees? I know zilch about them. I know Ranger fiberglass has a solid reputation, but I didn't even know that Ranger was making aluminum boats at that time. Thanks

At some point you will need to switch over to the trolling motor as even idling with the big motor may be too risky until you get comfortable with where the hazards are. Also helps if you have someone knelt on the front deck looking for stumps. Someone mentioned the zig zag in Turnback. I used to go through there will the trolling motor and then back to idle speed past the 160 bridge

If you are in search of black bass there isn't much need to get up into Turnback or any creek for that matter at Stockton imo

Welcome. There are many lakes that walleye do well on. I am a homer for Stockton in the early spring and even drifting the flats in summer