merc1997 Bo

that is a really nice brownie. bo

not supposed to be fishing yet, but i just could not stand it any longer. met up with my long time buddy, mike sowders, at cow creek. we fished from there to whites branch. i was testing out a football head we will have arriving in about 3 weeks. we just caught the fire out of the bass, but did not catch one black. they were all brownies and kentuckies. most bites were in the 15ft. range. the best areas were medium slope main lake bluff ends. the fished completely around a couple of pockets with very little success. i would imagine the front that just passed through had something to do with that. we ended up with 12 keepers and several of those were in the 3lb. class. the best thing about the trip was the fact that we had the entire lake to ourselves. no big barge wake makers, no jet skiis, just us and some bass that wanted to get caught. bo

looks pretty normal to me, but that is a dandy brownie! bo

well, bill it sure sounds like some poor planning, and not getting out ahead of the problem. sounds like the corp was at least willing to work with them in getting the event underway. i could not have fished anyway. rehabing from rotator cuff surgery. probably another month and maybe i will be able to go. won't need much but a spoon by then. bo

just a question. if the corp does not handle permits for the tournament, then why is it that you have to get the permit from the corp. back in the day when we handled the tournaments out of cambell point, we had to get the permits from the corp. so, if that is not the way it still is, when did the water patrol get the say so over the corp?? just wondering how that all transpired. bo

i would just put in where you wanted to. and you could collect up those sawhorses and plant them for fish cover. bo

that was a very good day of fishing. sure wish i could have been there whacking them with you. still recovering from rotator cuff surgery. bo

i still say that we, the tax payers still own the lakes, parks, ect. there are never any attendents when i launch anyway. i really believe that push come to shove, the goverment can not legally shut down a facilty, which they do not own to begin with, just because there is not anyone there. next thought is for those that have purchased a yearly pass, the corp is breaking a binding contract. those passes are good 24/7. how about if every one requests a full refund?? if nothing else, i believe they can be taken to small claims court for not fulfilling a valid contract. i still say, just cut their lock or move their saw horses and go fishing. bo

we, the tax payers own the camp grounds also. bo

well, if i could go fishing, i guess that i would just be in jail because, i would take a pair of bolt cutter with me. when is the government going to realize that we the tax payers own the lakes and everything else, not them. we paid for the dams, lakes, ramps campgrounds, and still pay usage fees, which many of us have purchased a yearly pass. we do just fine when the attendent buildings are not manned to begin with. bo

here is my two cents on the subject. it is very hard to actually tell what type of feedback a rod is going to give without fishing with it. i have used many of my friends specifically designed "crankin" rods, and have yet to find one that i would use or buy for myself. here is why. you can not feel the wobble of the crankbait. you can feel the pressure it puts on the rod, but not the vibration or wobble of it. many of the bass that i catch on any type of crankbait, the pressure never changes, but the wobble will. if you are not feeling the wobble, there are lots of bass with the crankbait in its mouth, and you will never know it. i have two rods, both of unknown brand or make. one is 7ft. for lighter crankbaits, and the other is a 7'6" for bigger cranks. both rods will transmit even the tight non-discernable vibration coming off a shad rap. i used to have a bps 7' boron, which they no longer make, and i finally broke it. it took me a very long time to find replacements that gave the same feed back. i have many sit in the boat with me not catching anything on their crankbait, and i knew they had to be getting bites just the same as me, because we were throwing the same thing, on the same line. i have let them use my rod for a bit, and instantly they are catching bass, and all have commented that they can not feel the wobble of the crankbait on their rod, and they felt that change in wobble when the bass were taking the crankbait on my rod. yes, you do need a rod with a little bit of give for a crankbait, but it also needs to giving you feedback on the vibration. bo

SPOONS!! do not leave home without them! bo

well, i am going to take up for fishinator, because he could have went to school where i did. we did not sign up as professional writers. just trying to pass a bit of fishing info along that might help someone catch some fish. bo i can't type either.

thanks for the well wishes. doing fine so far without too much pain. mike called this morning to see how i was doing. he fished yesterday starting at noon. he did not do much until dark, and then it was the same as it was wednesday night, lights out. summer fishing on table rock is always going to be better at night. bo

got my last two fishing trips in for a while. having rotator cuff surgery in a few hours. i fished by myself tuesday night. ended up with 12 keepers. had two brownies over 4 lb. and several in the three range. wednesday night mike sowders and chane garcia fished with me and we just flat clocked them. we caught at least 30 keepers. a lmb over 4 lb. and a brownie over 4 were the best ones. our best six would easily go 20. again, the best lure was a 3/8 NuJig with a 5/16 sinker on the line with a super chunk style trailer. the three best colors were green pumpkin blue, bluegill, and missouri craw. earlier in the evening the bite we 25ft, and as it got later, there were some that moved up in the 10 to 15 ft. range. good roll offs with timber were definitely the best places. well, i will not have any reports for a while as i will be in a sling for 6 weeks, and then will begin rehab. those that do not night fish are really missing some absoultely great fishing. bo

had a chance to get out for a couple of hours this afternoon to see how daytime fishing is. we caught 5 keepers in two hours of fishing. a 4 lb. black, and a 3 lb, brownie were the two biggest. the bass came from 25 to 30 feet deep. all were associated with rock humps. we were using a 3/8 NuJig with a lot of weight added using a slip sinker. total weight was in excess of an ounce. the reason for this is because the wanted it dragging and moving across the bottom. so, it was pretty much chunk it out, let it go to the bottom and then start winding. dang brown and green critters, you just never know what it takes to get a strike out of them. i know several of you would start dragging with the trolling motor, and we could have done that. but, i still consider that to be trolling, and trolling is not allowed in tournaments. since most tournaments turn their head on this practice is one of the reasons that i do not tournament fish too much anymore. rules are meant to be enforced. trolling is trolling whether it is done with the troller or outboard. just my opinion. i do not have a problem with that method of fishing for fun fishing. our best color was pb&j with a pumpkin trailer. bo

i do not peg the weight. the only time that i peg the weight would be if i were flipping or pitching cover. bo

it would apply to the football jig as well. we actually did some testing on a NuJig football head that i am working on the other night. it was a 1/2 size, and i fished it with a 1/4 sinker. it did very well hooking, and even though it did much better in not hanging up than standard football heads, the football style head will not be as snagproof as the original NuJig. bo

they are currently produced in 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2. but, here is why i use a smaller head and a sinker on the line. with a smaller head, you are presenting a smaller profile, and with the sinker added to the line, you have the weight and fall rate you need. next, smaller comes through cover easier. and when you stick a bass, it only has the lighter weight jig in its mouth and the sinker slides up the line. it is much harder for the bass to dislodge a lighter head compared to the leverage it has slinging around 3/4 oz. weight. i have used this set up for eons and it works. all of my close fishing friends use the same set up. it makes it very easy to also dial in the exact fall rate that will trigger strikes. bo

bass continue to move deeper and more into a traditional summer pattern. we caught lots of bass 25ft. deep tonight. we ended up with 22 keepers with one lmb in the 4 lb. range, and one smallie in the 4lb. range. we had a good mix of all three species in our keepers, but more brownies. a 3/8 oz. Nujig with a 5/16 oz. sinker did the most damage, but we also caught several on a naked 1/4 oz. NuJig with a 5/16 oz. sinker, and a beaver type bait. it seemed that the better areas had some timber. bo

a defined thermocline is developing at 20 ft. deep. consequently the bass are moving out. not only deeper, but towards more main lake places. the bass that had been further back in the pockets have vacated. you have to hunt and peck each night to find a bunch of bass that have moved in some place to feed. brownies and kentuckies dominated our catches. mike sowders fished with me again on saturday night, and we came up with 20 to 25 keepers. we did manage a couple of 4+ lmg, and several 3+ brownies. the best lure combination was a 3/8 oz. NuJig with a 5/16 oz. sinker added to the line. however we did catch a few using a naked 1/4 oz. NuJig with a 1/8 oz. sinker. behind the jig head we fished a 12' worm or a beaver style bait. both caught bass, and we caught our largemouth on these two baits. this more typical summer time pattern should last until cold snaps start the water temps on the cool off. here is something to keep in mind when the water starts to cool. we will have two different batches of fish to chase. we will have those that move up shallow, and there will be those that stay with the thermocline. traditionally as the surface temps cool, it pushes the thermocline deeper. this continue to happen until the water on top of thermocline sinks on down and starts turnover. keep in mind that even at night, it is important to be fishing areas that has bait in the area. bo

fishing from shore does present challenges. yes, you would want to concentrate your bottom efforts in the 18 to 20 foot range. as far as dealing with suspended bass, they can suspend over any depth of water. you might want to try using something hanging down from a slip bobber. in doing this, you can utilize wind and waves to move and impart action to your bait of choice to entice suspended bass. bo

quillback many people do not associate that bass many times want a smaller profile in their lure. when heavier jigs are required just about everyone, except for the few people that fish with me, reach for a heavier headed jig. but, the larger head on the jig will give it a bigger profile. just stick a 1/4 up next to 1/2 oz. now with that said, when bass are wanting a smaller profile, but are deeper or wanting a faster fall rate, using a 1/4 to 3/8 oz. jig will be difficult to fish and feel. and, you will not achieve the speed necessary to trigger a strike. but, by adding a slip sinker to the line, all that can achieved. the other advantage to doing this is that now when you stick a bass, it only has 1/4 to 3/8 oz. of weight to sling around because the slip sinker slides up the line just as it does on a t-rig. i never fish with a traditional t-rig anymore for fishing soft plastics. i use a 1/4oz NuJig, and if i need more weight, i again add a slip sinker to the line. this set up is more snagproof than a t-rig by far. you are also fishing with an exposed hook, and the NuJig hooks more accurately than a bare hook. plus, it keeps the hook locked in after hook penetration. here is a youtube link to show the rig. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVQ2s5Uhc-c. bo

fished from cow creek to dam. found the bass to still be back off the main lake a little. thermocline seemed to still be around 20ft. ended up with 15 keepers. of those, 4 were largemouth with one around 4 1/2 lbs. one keeper kentucky and the rest were brownies with 5 of them in the 3lb. + range. most bites came 15 to 20 ft. we did catch small kentuckies out to 25ft. the best lure was a 3/8 oz. NuJig with a 5/16 oz. slip sinker added to line. a little bit of timber in the area seemed to help. we did fish some spots without a bite. seemed like the bass were bunched up really well. when you got a bite, you had better fish the area very well. bo

i think many are not really getting the real question here. and, that question is why was the water patrol on plane that close to the bank to begin with?? is it the responsibility of another boat sitting very near shore to turn lights on to keep the patrol or any other vessel from running into the bank?? even in the daytime, the patrol boat was on plane too close to another vessel. that is the whole point here. i am pretty sure they patrol boats are rigged with gps. they should be able to keep a safer distance from shore than under 100 ft., especially when on plane. i have twice had a patrol boat pull up to my boat and not be under control, and run into the side of my boat. that is not cool, and certainly does not say too much about the boating skills of the officer driving the boat. i know the water patrol does not spend as much time on the water anymore, but perhaps they should be and the ones that do not really know the lake at night to do it with someone that does. just as with anyone else operating a boat on plane at night on the lake, the patrol running on plane is not any safer than a tourist if they do not know the lake or have night vision problems. i witnessed a water patrol unknowingly run through not one but two exposed tree rows at night. plus, in between the tree rows was an area about three feet deep. that patrolman was quite lucky to not impact or ground the boat. again, why was the patrol boat on plane that close to the bank?? bo