merc1997 Bo

fished around big m tonight and caught over a dozen keepers. four or five were keeper kentuckies. not one bass we caught had any signs of spawning. all were fat and not a mark on them. most were in the 10 to 15 ft. range, and a few were 20 ft. it certainly is a different year than normal. bo

i have not been in over a week, but did talk to one of my emarld beach retired buddies, that has been out a couple of times recently. he had 6 keepers one evening up to 6lbs. and 5 the next time, with a 4 lb. being the biggest. i asked him if they were spawned out, and the reply was, they still do not have one mark on them, and are as fat as ticks. in talking to mike sowders, which he is the last one i fished with, he is just like me, and has not seen the traditional signs of spawn being over. the night we fished, i had a 5 and a 6, plus the other 8 keepers we had, and none of them had spawned. i still just think everything is going to be about a month behind. mike and i both experienced this same thing back in 80 or 81. we had a really bad winter, and a really late spring. guess in about a month, we might have a better answer. bo

very good point champ. bo

this has been a very hard year to predict anything about where and when the bass are going to be. just from the lack of numbers of big bass that have not shown up, i can not help but think that many of the big ones, have not made it in yet. i guess we will see how things progress. one thing about the big ones for me this spring is they have been pretty deep. most of the big bass have been close to 20ft. it is still cold at 20ft. spring is the most difficult season to keep up with bass. they are like a pack of wild dogs let loose, and when you throw in all the weather changes we have had this year, it is very hard to keep up with them. i do believe that in the kings and long creek a good percentage of bass got their spawning done early. i definitely will be filing this season into the memory banks. bo

back to the spawn. i have noticed several posts about not finding any topwater bite. nomally, after spawn, there are at least males still guarding nests, and will cream a topwater presentation. i have not talked to anyone that has seen evidence of fry. i did get the chance to run some banks in big creek on thursday night, and saw a few kentuckies on beds, but not one large mouth. not one of the fifteen keepeers that i caught after dark were skinny or had any sign of fanning a nest. they were all slcik as could be. i did have a couple of bass in the 6 lb. range, that were fat, and not a blemish on them. now, maybe the bass have spawned for the most part, but tournament weights have not reflected that, and at least to me, all the other signs such as missing topwater bite, fry and so forth, have not given me the indication that the major spawn has occurred yet. we have had such a screwy spring with the temps yo-yoing back and forth, it is really hard to discern just what those green critters are doing. i have caught bass from cow creek to eagle rock, and just have not caught one that has been even fanning let alone skinny and spawned out. i will say that i have not caught hardly anything from a flatter pocket or cove. very interesting to read what everyone is doing though. bo

interesting reading the different thoughts about the stage the spawn might be in. just from what i have caught, i do not believe the big spawn has happened. might be some smaller ones that have, and some in the rivers where there was early mud. i have not caught one skinny bass, and none with any wear and tear on them. all have been fat and slick. all of my bigger bass, even at night are coming from 15 to 20 ft. with the water clear as it is, i would expect the bigger ones to be spawning out that deep. the surface temp might be 65 to 67, but it is not that temp at 15 to 20 feet. i have not read any results of the tournament, but my guess, and i might wrong, but i am guessing that there was not a whole bunch of 6 lbers. weighed. i have caught some at night, but those bass are non-existent during the day given their fondness of just suspending doing nothing during the day. bo

X2. he can get you fixed, and if you need any tweaking on one, knows just what and how to do it.. bo

glad to hear that you like to spend time with your daughter. she is getting older each day and you do not get those back. bo

If that is the case, then why could the same go for Viney Creek?? Leave the ramps accessible. Bo

That would be a good solution. They tried to block off the H ramp, but did not get it done. Their boulders kept getting hauled to the ditch. Might be a good place for their gates. bo

my opinion is if we just keep letting the corp do as they please, we just might not have any access to any lake one day. bo

the last word that i heard is that air boats will not be allowed. we do have a decibel level law for the lakes, and all the air boats that i heard last year do not meet those requirements. bo

just curious as to what you throw when they are not biting wiggle warts, which appears all you have. if you have the same amount of other cranks, you need to seriously think about opening a store. bo

your report of the water temp dropping is just exactly what i have been preaching for eons now as to why the fish population on the upper end is dwindling every year. you can never get any type of successful spawn with water temps constantly yo-yoing up and down all through spawing season. i have witnessed the water temps fall from the lower 60's to 50 in a 24 hour period. if bass had laid eggs during this period, they will all be ruined. ever since beaver went in, and they put in trout, the upper end fish population has been on the decline. the upper end of bull shoals experiences some of the same problems. back in "yesteryear" the upper end of the lake was the first to warm up and the first to spawn. now, it is the last. it has also been over 30 years since a shocking survey was done on the upper end. pretty much sums up the mdc. they don't care, or they are total idiots. you take your pick. bo

i am glad that glenl mentioned boat control. this is another area that over the years that i have observed where most bassers could really improve their catching, and that is better boat control with the trolling motor. you can not catch the first bass if the boat is never where it needs to be. you have to be able to fish, run the troller, watch electronics, know what your lure is doing at all times, carry on a conversation, and set the hook all at the same time. you can not be running the troller and then fishing. you have to do both at the same time. variable speed trollers make it pretty easy to dial in the right speed and never take your foot off the troller. if you do get on and off the troller button, make sure you make a whole lot of little adjustments instead of long great big ones. when you drive a car, it is a lot of little adjustments, not a great big one every once in a while. there are only two people that i fish with that are proficient at keeping the boat where it needs to be, and i taught both of them how to fish. those two anglers are mike sowders and kelly williamson. it is hard to get them on the troller when we go though because they are like me, and it is fun to just have to concentrate on your fishing because the boat is always where it needs to be. we all can get better with out trolling motor skills, but we have to practice at it. if anyone thinks that they can catch all the bass they should be when the boat is yo-yoing, meaning going like hell and then blowing all over, they are crazy. especially with worms and jigs, you can not be flying at your bait on instant and then dragging it the next because the boat is blowing everywhere because you are no longer running the troller. i am sure that bill can chime in on how important boat control is to help in the process of catching bass or any fish for that matter. bo

that big one is a beauty. bo

very interesting film. the thing that comes to mind for me gets back to all those that profess invisible line. you can see all the wires and hardware on that umbrella rig as plain as day. many of the bass are following for quite some time before taking a swipe. don't you think they can see all the wires just as easily as your line, but yet they still are striking it. i believe i will still continue to use florescent line that i can see. bo

quill, this one of the most glaring mistakes that i have watched bassers do year after year. here in the last couple of weeks, we have really whacked a lot of keepers, but most of those keepers have came off of very small areas, and they required multiple casts on that same short stretch. even all the smaller bass have been the same way. have you ever noticed that a bass will come smoking off the band after taking your bait?? when this happens, you had better park for a bit, because that bass was getting away from all the rest of his buddies with its food. nothing wrong with covering water, but when you get a bite, slow down and work the area thoroughly. bo

the length of time that a jerk bait needs to sit, it really dependent on what the bass are telling you. plus, we are now fishing in 50 + water temps, and naturally the speed can be picked up. always experiment with your speed until you discover what is triggering strikes. bo

if it was the jeff farley that i have known for years, very sorry to hear that. he had a real love for fishing. bo

boat ramps are somewhat like roads, and once public access has been going on for eons without pay, i really believe that if took to court, it is illegal to charge or close access to. bo

i am with you bill. how does taxpayer owned property get sold to an individual without a vote for one, and an auction for two. bo

bill that is why all of us should try other crank baits to see which wobble the bass are wanting on any particular day. another example is why one day the fish will not bite a jig with a rattle on it, and you can go back the next, with the exact same conditions, and you have to have a rattle on to catch a bass. guess that is why it is called fishing and not catching. bo

you are dead on for tourney fishing. holmden and watson used to make it work some, but i don't know how many times kelly williamson went up there and got burned. i never did go to the kings for a tournament. in those smaller confines, boat traffic can really shut down the bite, and a lot of times, there just are not enough good ones up to share with others and do any good. bo

i had really been keeping the kings river bite mum because i had had it all to myself. we have just been really whacking them on crankbaits. actually our best crank has been a model a bomber in the size up from the smallest. we have caught a few on the wiggle wart, but not at the rate of the model a. fish will be different from on day to the next. on day, they will all come on bluff faces, and the next, right on the transition ends, and the next day out on the flats. pretty much just have to put the trolling motor down, and cover water and pay attention to where the bites come from and adjust from there. bo