merc1997 Bo

grubs and bucktails will work well also. the spoon is much quicker to get down to depth. at times when specifically targeting bass and have trees present, i might also use a heavy single spin or a twin spin, but, they also take quite a while to get down to 50+ feet. bo

that is what i was also thinking looking at it. silver buddies and sonars are great cold water lures. bo

looks very interesting except for the very short shank treble hook. i would change it out for a longer shanked treble, but some may get along with it the way it is. if it hangs level, it might be effective like rapala ice jig. bo

i will do both. as we all know, bass are not always on the bottom. of course here on table rock, it is getting harder all the time to find a piece of timber that still has any limbs left on it. bass will still suspend around a pole sometimes, but not as well as trees with limbs. bo

grubs, both paddle tail and swimming tail do work, and i will go to them if the spoon is not working. but, when they are biting the spoon, it is hard to put down because you can get it back to depth much faster. a 3 and 4 inch gitzit hung down in front of them is killer too, even more so when the water temps get under 48. bo

while doing the deep water video, i had mentioned explaining about keeping a belly in the line. chane put together a short clip of that. it is somewhat hard to see the line, but hope you will get the idea. fishing a spoon unimpeded but still maintaining contact is critical, and i see many attempting fishing a spoon making the mistake of keeping tension on the line. the reverse can be said of having too much slack line on the water. here is the link to you tube : www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvwP7jlZyvs&feature=em-upload_owner-smbtn i am not sure how to make the link live, but someone else did the other video. hope they will help us out again. bo

you have wrench have hit the nail on the head of why i basically quit fishing tournaments. kind of a waste of time to win and hardly cover costs. back in the day, most tournaments did not pay past 5 places regardless of how many showed up. the only way to fish against someone with comparable abilities would be to have a handicap type tournament something like team roping does. it would take some doing and setting up, because you would need to have a series of tournaments to establish a handicap for each one. of course, you can improve as you go along, and be boosted up to competing with anglers with better abilities. a bit off topic, but something to consider. bo

it is possible to find some brief early morning top action, but most of the bass go down as the sun gets up. the other hurdle you will have to deal with is the big waves off of the summer boat traffic on table rock. since you have a kayak, we have plenty of great streams in the area to fish. bo

finally got the video put together and loaded unto you tube. hope this will help some in understanding a little bit about chasing these deep water fish around. we did catch mostly whites on this trip, but we did catch some nice bass, and you will catch all bass many times around the same areas in and around the shad. catching these fish is the easy part. the hard part is finding them, and then deeping the boat on top of them. www.youtube.com/watch?v=xujbzElIb78&feature=em-upload_owner-smbtn bo

nothing like having something tugging a fishing line. it is all fun. great job. bo

way to smack them! sure hope this extended cold will not put a stop to the deep bite, but it seems that when the water gets much below 48 the shad schools seems to disperse. bo

thanks for the feedback. i just never could figure out why having a set leader length would have an advantage over using a slip bobber. our local fly fisherman, tim's fly shop, can make the right jigs for that system. just like crappie, bass can get really zeroed in on very small baits in cold water. one other thing about floating a tiny jig around during cold weather is you can keep you hands covered up and not freeze to death. bo

cindyjo i think you are very correct in your thinking about gar having an affect on the crappie and bass population. one other thing to remember is that crappie, just like the bass here in table rock, are becoming open water feeders. they just follow the shad pod around same as the bass do. this just makes them much harder to locate and catch because they are not around anything, just hanging out in open space. bo

champ see how easy that was . the float n fly thing has proved its ability to catch bass, but i have just never grasped the need of the extra long rod. does that technique just not work with a slip cork?? i have dabbled with it a little bit, but used a slip cork, and it seemed to work, at least for me. any float n fly experts that would care to explain why the 9' rod?? bo

i have met so many wonderful people over the years. one thing i would love to be able to do before i am too old to do it is to get to go at least one fishing trip with all these wonderful folks. looking forward to quillback's derby in march so i can meet more of you here on this forum. this is a great forum in that there is such a great variety of fisherman here. there is someone catching them at all depths and with a great variety of techniques. great place for everyone to learn. bo

i would have loved to have been out today, but too much catching up to do since i was in alabama visiting family for a week. one of my retired buddies was out for a while today, and they really caught them. they ended up with 11 keeper lmgs, and several of them were in the 3 lb. range. depth for the bite was 49 to 60 ft. and, i did here of a couple of nice catches on an a-rig fished around 30 ft. seems as if you can find them deep or shallow, there is still a good bite going. bo

i hear ya on that one. the other problem is with their small mouth. i had one completely engulf mine once and had to cut it open to get the jerk bait back. bo

chane is working on it, but the holidays slowed down progress. bo

champ those bass are really fat and healthy right now. actually bass for bass the best shape that i have seen them in for quite a while. thanks for the pics you post. i hardly ever take any since i do not have a cell phone or digital camera. besides, i am always ready to not waste time and get another one on. bo

that is so nice. nothing like preserving glimpses of history. bo

i will check them out. cold weather really does a number on my lips. thanks for posting mixer. bo

it will be a great day to catch them. i would like to be out there too, but need to get some work done. donna. i have been trying to remember the exact name of the hand cream that will mend up those hand. there is one that is called something crack cream, but there is another one that one of the local chicken grower supply stores sells, and everyone tells me it is the one to get. i think chane might remember, and i will try to get the name from him. i have a couple of fishing buddies that use it and swear by it. the fishing will be great even if the catching is not, just because of all the eagles that are out. enjoy the day. i am sure that champ will because if he is like me, any day that i get to go fishing with my wife is a great one. bo

fishing catching is still in full swing right now. we put a smacking on them again today. got to meet quillback. we were fishing deep again, but talked to a boat that was a-rig fishing, and they did really well fairly shallow. we actually did a video today that was informational on how to find and fish these deeper fish. have had many ask that i do one. we will see how it all looks and comes out after chane get it put together and loaded onto you tube. if you are not out fishing right now, you are really missing out on some great fun, deep or shallow. bo

i did see you wave when you went by. i was guessing it was you by the boat and how both of you were dressed. fish are really on a great feed right now. all the whites are just a great bonus to have a fun day of tug of war. bo

we were not sitting by any buoy and i did wave when you went by. like i stated previously, fishing is great right now no matter what depth of water you are chasing them in. i am a lazy fisherman anymore, and it is a lot of fun catching those big whites. but also, it goes to show just how many bass are out there taking advantage of the whites gathering up all the food for them. bo