Bassmeister

Spoiler alert, it’s the same exact thing! Took the day off Friday to practice for the bass tournament today. Went up the white and caught em good. Water temp 48-51 depending on the time of day. Spinnerbait and mid depth crank. Found sunny banks with a bit of wind. Both main river and arms. Let the spinnerbait disappear and tried to hit some wood. That worked well. Prob caught 20 and that was with leaving spots after 1 or 2 bc I knew I’d come back to them today. Well, I was one of the first boats out and ran up the white. Same pattern. Even waited for the sun and wind. Ended up with about 10 rods on the deck by the end of the day. Only thing that got bit was a crankbait. Weighed in 2 fish. Caught maybe a dozens but all small. I was very worried the number of fish would be greater than the number of pounds but it was just over 2 lbs lol. Needless to say, Beaver lake is still the most frustrating and confusing lake I’ve ever fished. Hope you all did better this weekend!

Beaver seems quite a bit more difficult to me. At least for quality bass. Wonder if it’s just that people would rather talk about the good days than bad. But I agree, even bad reports and the depth they were fishing is useful.

It takes us 3 months to find a group of bass on Beaver. So we aren’t as quick to let everyone know. But it wouldn’t matter because the bass would move out before the report posts lol. In all honesty, it’s such a tough lake to pattern for an extended period, a report is nothing more than historical info. Personally, I need to spend more time out there marking brush offshore. I know a lot of action happens out there all summer.

I went to Southtown over lunch and got everything I needed. BPS isn’t what it used to be!

Went to the Bass Pro in Rogers to get some early spring essentials. Couldn’t find any Spro crankbaits or jerkbaits. Asked the store associate where they were and he said Bass Pro doesn’t sell them anymore. I was completely shocked. I actually asked if he knew how big of a deal Spro was in this area. He knew well, agreed and said he was shocked too. He was a good company guy but you could tell he was frustrated with things. I’ve been a Bass Pro customer since their only store was in Springfield. To see what they’ve become is disturbing. The way they’ve bought boat companies and closed them, decreasing competition. Their continued focus on BPS brand fishing rods, reels and lures... Just try to find a quality rod in that place these days. They aren’t there. I really wish they returned to their roots and realized who made them successful. In the meantime, they will continue selling flannel shirts and vacations packages to the casual shopper. Glad we have some good local tackle shops that care about our business. Ok I’m done with my diatribe. Hope everyone has a good week!

I need to start prefishing. This is basically my Bassmaster Classic lol

Sorry for the ignorance but which Navionics chip? I’ve been looking and only seem to find different shades of blue for contour shading not different colors. Really appreciate any help!

What mapping chip do you use? I really need to get shading on my HDS9. I’m using the live pro 16 or something like that. It’s not that great.

Creek. I don’t like the one on main lake bc the wakes on busy days can crash your boat into the dock. The rod is in the front of the dock so if you launch away from it at bit and get to the wood you’ll be good

Went out of Rocky Branch around 10:30-4. Got some lovely scratches on the ranger bc of a metal rod sticking off the dock. So that was a great start. Fished shallow bc that’s how I like to fish. Nothing and I mean nothing. Then I was throwing a crankbait to shore while I was in 50ft and had two spots follow it up. I actually did the figure 8s like musky fishing and one hit it and I got him in. That was a first. Anyway, I saw them out there so I threw a jerkbait for the rest of the day. They were suspended over 40-50 feet on points. Only caught 10-12 but salvaged the day. Really wondering if the fall “back of creek” bite was completely skipped by the fish.

Went to Table Rock today with similar results. No fish shallow. Not one hit on topwater. Only keeper was on crankbait in 10’. Had a few fish swat at a spinnerbait but not a lot there. I’ve never fished so hard out there with such poor results.

Very nice of them to do. Just hope this doesn’t result in giant, pregnant walleye being pulled out left and right during the spawn.

That picture makes me sick.

I’d like more performance than a 188. Although I’ve heard they are great fishing platforms. Also, I’m buying used so a 198P or Vexus are likely out based on that. I have a 17’ xpress now and It has withstood everything I could throw at it. I just need a bigger boat at this point.

This is a shot in the dark but I’m wondering if anyone on here owns an Xpress X19. I’m in the market for a “new” boat and am torn between this and a 18.8 fiberglass. Would really like to get a ride in the Xpress if I could. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Had the same happen a month ago while the water was a bit cooler. Blood everywhere. Tried the Mountain Dew trick and stuck it in the livewell. After a few hours I thought it was dead for sure but, to my surprise, she swam off. Not sure if she lived but she was in much better shape than when I pulled her out.

I’m always shocked at the weights coming from the Beaver tournaments. I mean, 21lbs?! I have to assume most of these bags are coming from deep. Just crazy for Beaver!

Ok the trout took that day to the next level. That’s a multi-species day if I’ve ever seen one! Awesome job; always like your posts.

I weighed the crappie and it was right at 2lbs. I think that’s the largest I’ve caught so I was pretty excited. I really didn’t try deeper since I didn’t have very long but I’m sure you’re right about them pulling out a bit. Looking forward to the return of warm weather!

Boy what a difference a few days makes. Went last Sunday with a crappie jig casting to the bank and watching it disappear. Probably caught 50 fish. Around a limit of crappie, about 5 or 6 short walleye and the rest bass (a 2, 2.5 and a 3 while on a phone call lol). Went Friday after work and used same technique and area and no crappie, no walleye and just some short bass. Beaver is the most situational lake I’ve ever fished. All pics from Sunday. *All fish were released to fight another day!

I took off work Friday but slept in too late. Got on the water around 11. Rocky Branch area. Caught a 19”smallmouth, 2 keeper spots, a small LMB and a good sized white bass. All on rock transitions in 12 ft or less. Wish I had a bit more wind but was a beautiful day!

I had two keepers today and I’m not sure combined they would have won. It was great meeting everyone today. Good group of folk on this forum!

I’ve never fished a bass tournament before, but this seems like a perfect start! That trophy lasts much longer than any money I’d inevitably spend on lures!

I really appreciate the responses. I have a 7’ Fenwick Aetos Medium Moderate that’s really sensitive with good bend. Also just bought the Dobyns Fury CB rod. We will see where that fits. Might relegate to topwater. I always change hardware anyway so I’m not worried about that. Was hoping to avoid tuning much, though. If anyone knows of alternative blanks they prefer I’m open. I’ll definitely send to Tim for painting. Seems everyone agrees on that. Last year was unusual since the cold stuck around until summer, basically. I was able to get a good WW bite for a while. It was a lot of fun just reading banks and looking at electronics to see what could be successful. Beaver was a tougher bite than the rock, but that’s usually the case.

Awesome, I’ve seen his website before. I thought he did some colors for Storm and Bass Pro. I didn’t know he did custom colors outside those. Thanks, I’ll see what I can get done. Any tips on the KO blanks? Predator seems good but wanting to hear if anyone else has ideas. Some of these look like art. It’s kind of addicting.