merc1997 Bo

i would say you put a good old fashioned "cow killing" on them. those are the type of days that keeps you going back. bo

i would say with water temps 43-45, you did pretty darn good. most of the time when the water temps get down that low up here on the upper end, most of the shad schools have broken up, and have came up shallower. i think you fished a pretty good pattern for the water temps. bo

those were some really nice chunks. bo

it will depend on whether the shad are still gathered up, and then water temp. if under 50, i have not had as good of success using a spoon as i have a gitzit hanging in front of their nose. i had a friend call yesterday, and he had been out the day before for a bit. he stated finding shad around 60 to 70ft., but could not getting any takers on a spoon. he said he was reading 48 to the water temp. here is one trick that will work sometimes, particularly for kentuckies, to catch them on a spoon with a 48 degree surf temp. you simply just hang your jigging spoon. i use mono for this because you will have some line twist. the spoon will sit there slowly twirling back and forth. just bump you line every now and then, and they will whop it, sometimes anyway. i normally do better hanging a gitzit down there when below 50 degrees. bo

i know there are several very good dock bassers here on table rock. me personally hate to have to fish docks. in fact, i really wish we did not have any. it is getting harder every year to parallel a bank because is it one dock after another. that is why i really enjoyed fishing on falcon, no boat docks to speak of. but, we do have them, and there are usually some fish around them, and many like fishing them. one thing that i have observed when i have been fishing with someone that did fish docks, is that it is pretty much a one man project. the front of the boat needs to be positioned so that casts can be presented down the sides and in the stalls and so forth, and from the back seat you pretty much just need to take a soda and some popcorn and watch . i do know that there are many tactics used to fish dock here, everything from jigs, spinners, senkos, buzzbaits, and just about any thing else in your tackle box. spoons have become very popular here for dock fishing also. bo

as far as spoons go, i am much more interested in the falling action than a realistic color. do you really think a bass can see all that detail at 60 ft.??? it is pretty darn dark at that depth in table rock. that is why i just use three basic colors, white, silver, and chartreuse. what i use on a particular day depends on the sun and water clarity. kentuckies some times have a real like for the chartreuse, even in clear water with the sun out. it is just my opinion and many years of fishing that i believe those realistic colors catch more fisherman than they do fish. bo

funny thing that i have discovered about all the so called stand up heads is that the only time they do stand up is when you sit them down with your hand. i have drug about all of them across all kinds of terrain, and they all fall over and drag on their side. many have claimed that their favorite heads hang up a lot. the reason for this is because they are really not standing up, but laying on their side. some "shakey" heads will stand up some, when lifting straight up and down, but not so much casting and dragging. just my opinion, but i have tested many so called stand up shakey heads and have not found any to really stand up. obviously fish are caught on them, because people do. but, do they really perform as billed? bo

i have always believed a jig to be the most versatile fishing tool you could have. it can be fished from top to bottom. can be made to imitate crawdads, shad, and bream. you can dress it up or stick plastic behind it. i have not found a season that it will not catch bass. bo

when it is still accurate to 105 ft. i am not going to worry about being off a few inches. i have sat in 105ft. of water and let the spoon all the way to the bottom, and it took exactly 15 trips. we use the same method for fishing for whites and stripers under lights. bo

a friend of mine had one, and it was only so so. not as accurate as a 5500c. bo

first off great job and great outing. to answer bill about marking line. you can not always have your lure in the cone due to wind blowing and other factors. i for one never worry about seeing by lure in the graph. i use a 5500c, and i will tell you it is a very accurate line counter. with a normal filled spool, one trip across is 7 feet of line. most accurate and quickest method of being at the right depth with your lure. bo

nice trip. i had too many other things to do today to go again. bo

that sounds to be a very good answer. good advice on getting it resolved before there are more problems and expense. bo

sure sounds to be a viscosity problem if everything works during warm weather. you can check sitting on trailer. shift into gear either way and see if prop locks up. did you happen to get to see how the lube looked when it was drained?? bo

they are never in the same spot the next day, hahaha. have to go round them up every trip. bo

got on the water close to 11 today, and we just "cow killed" them. started catching them right off the bat, and left still catching them. a jigging spoon was all that was needed. ended up with 12 keepers, and the best 5 would make 18 lbs.+. we caught mostly largemouth also, very few kentuckies. most of the bass came 60 ft. deep over 75 feet of water. so, my conclusion is that in the area we were fishing, there is probably not much of a shallow bite. if we just caught kentuckies, maybe not. but, when the majority are good sized largemouth 60 feet deep, i just could not have too much confidence in catching one up shallow. i am getting too old for all of that chunk and wind all day. the bite is on, better get out and get some. bo

bud thanks for letting others know what all the jigs will do. we sure have had 20+ years of fun catching an awful lot of big bass. bo

no, right now, we are in dallas jan. 10, then chicago about two weeks after that, tulsa, and oklahoma city. bo

i sure would love to go, but had wrist surgery today and am in a cast. i have several shows to go to after the first also, and that will eat into fishing as well. everyone catch some for me. bo

you should have no trouble locating some big shad schools in the creeks around kimberling. a jigging spoon will get them. depth can change from day to day, and yes the bass will be mostly suspended. this time of year and with the extreme cold we have had, it would not be uncommon to catch them 70ft. deep. bo

me personally, i fish with unpainted heads all the time. i seem to catch plenty of bass. i always just figured you just needed a basic skirt color and your trailer. i know there are many that are pretty particular about painted heads and certain colors in the skirts. i have seen times that a particular color seemed to really make a difference, but i have seen many more times that both of us in the boat were catching them on different colors, but we were both fishing the sames weights. i have always put more fishing emphasis on depth and speed rather than color. that is just me. confidence is a big factor, and whatever gives you more confidence will help you fish better. bo

there are jigs designed now that will give you a better hook up, and also be much more snag resistant. ask mitch f. bo

i will take a heavier wire hook over light wire hooks. the lighter wire flexes in the throat, and actually requires more force and energy to penetrate. a cardboard box lid will tell you all you know. we have put up two videos on this subject with visual tests to prove the point. the o'Shaunessey will penetrate will, but has a trade off of the pull line being nearer the hook point than a round bend. the longer the hook shank, the better it is to keep the line of pull from the line tie and the hook point lined up. a good example is the short shank trebles they put on cranks and jerks baits now. just take one of those, and tie a line to it, and get the "ol" cardboard box lid, and see how hard it is to pull the line and get that short shank treble to ever go through the lid. most of the time, they will skip along. reason being the shank is so short, as soon as you pull on the line tied to it, the hook point start rotating away from the line of pull. just try it for yourself, and you will easily see. bo

do you ever do some testing on your own with something as simple as a cardboard box lid. take a hook out of the package and feel how much pressure you exert to get the hook to penetrate the lid. then sharpen that same hook and repeat process. i have not found one hook that was sharper to begin with. they always penetrate easier after i sharpen them. just my own personal experience. i love catching big bass, and to aid in landing them, it really helps when the hook is stuck through bone and not skin. this requires a sharp sturdy point, and i have had more success over the years with a point with four cutting edges. ever notice that buildings that finish with a pointed top are most often diamond shaped?? i would imagine the reason would be for strength. anyway, it is one of those subjects that will probably still be debated after i am long gone. besides, with this weather, we do not have anything better to do . i wonder just how far south you would have to go to get out of the cold. they are cold at falcon too. water temps are down in the middle to upper 50's. should be some really good jerk baiting when it is fit to get back out. keep those hooks sharp. bo

here is a subject i will throw out for discussion, and that is hook sharpening. as for me, i have never seen what i would call a sharp hook out of the package. i sharpen everyone of mine, and especially before a tournament. i use a high grade mill file, and create a diamond shaped point. this creates four cutting edges, which i have found to penetrate much better than a conical point. i also believe the diamond shape to have much more rigidity than conical points and will take much more abuse without dulling or bending over. lets hear what everyone else does. bo