Tightline

Seen the Walleye truck at River Run last night so we decided to stop and see how they were doing.The crew seemed rather reluctant to answer any of our questions.We did find out that they had all the male Walleyes they needed but were having trouble finding females.We seen 2 boats at the Pothole and 1 up in the mouth of Swan.We decided not to try and fish. Phil, did you go out with them this year or have you heard how they have done? TL

Web we were using Shiners.Thanks guys and yes we were proud of em.I just can't imagine what a 40 pounder would be like after fighting those 20s. TL

For years if I was fishing at the Pothole or Swan before daylight or after dark I will take my spot light and look off the concrete bridge at Swan.Usually by the middle of March you will see those marble eyes glowing with a few Whites mixed in.Saturday mourning I thought I'd check and see if any were on their way back out before daylight,nothing,not one Walleye or White. Of course when the fish get to Swan they run into a wall of gravel.There isn't very much channel left.But that still doesn't explain why theres not more up at the Pothole.Maybe we are just rushing things,it may all bust loose in the next week or so. TL

Terry,I know some of you experienced Fly guys could get em in.Me ,I'm gonna wait a few years before I try that.And I'm gonna need a reel as big around as a pie plate!

For my birthday I received a guided Striper trip on Beaver.First time ever on Beaver,first time guided.It started off really slow but towards the end we landed these 2.My nephew and I are in the pic,his weighed 21 lbs and mine was 20.1 lbs.I know these are just medium sized but we were both proud to get em. I would hate to try and land one of these this size or bigger on regular Bass tackle.We fished with Frankie who is with BeaverFever guides.He had a 32 lb just days before. Beaver Lake is without a doubt one of the most beautiful lakes I have ever seen.The bluffs are awsome,and I really envy you all who live down there. TL [attachmentid=1099

My sinuses said don't go fishing this mourning 3-10 ,but the twitch in my arm said go.Got to the Pothole before daylight,and naturally they weren't running any water,so I knew it would be tough.Tried the Walleye early no luck.Tried Crappie after daylight no luck. As far as you could see down stream there were Trout rising,so I put on a grey jig and caught 3 nice Rainbows.Nice fat ones full of fight.There are some trapped in the slough by the dam also. Talked to one man down by Swan Creek ,he had just pulled his boat out,said he was heading to Beaver that he had been catching Crappie down there and a friend of his caught some Whites just inside the mouth of Beaver this week. I may wait till I see leaves on the trees before I go again.But I'll probably get that twitch in my arm before that happens! TL

My goodness guys get off his back!He's already admitted he was wrong and that the others who posted were right.He's learned a big lesson just like all the rest of us have at some point in our lives.My biggest and hardest lesson to learn was to SLOW DOWN.Now days I try to drive 5 mph below the limit. I'm not gonna throw any stones thats for sure.

Coyote,unless something has changed since the last time I was there 2/20,you can fish any place except above the line at the Pothole.They did pave some of the roads that lead down to it and cleared some brush and trees out. Hope Fishin Freak does some good.I haven't heard anything good since the end of Jan.and that wasn't much,and I've not heard anything at all about any Crappie. This evening might have been good with those storms coming. TL

Nice pictures,most of the trout look really healthy and have good color. I watched the guys cleaning a big mess of Trout friday evening on the Trout Cam.That is a really nice cleaning station Phil,I thought I saw B.Babler in there helping clean the fish,well, he was putting the fillets in a baggy. TL

Duckyd, jigs, swimming minnows,rapalas,husky jerks,rougues,and rooster tails all can catch fish there.When the Whites get up there and get going good any place on either side all the way to Swan can be good.A 1/16 OR 1/8 ounce lead head with a plain ole smoke swimming minnow will catch about anything at the Pothole,of course other lures do better at times. The guy at the tackle shop at the top of the hill will tell you what they are hitting at the time,he seems to be right alot. TL.

Wayne it was too deep for my Ranger truck to go through,but a big truck could've made it.When I got there hardly any water was going over the dam,when I left at 10:30 AM the falls were solid. It was about a foot deep across the road.

I got to the Pothole before daylight yesterday,fished the Forsyth side,nothing,went to mouth of Swan and fished the edge of the swift water,caught a Bass that was a little longer than the stickbait I was using,went back to Pothole on the River Run side put my waders on and fished off the gravel,NOTHING. Seen some suckers in Swan,and a few schools of shad at Pothole but nothing like they were,did see some dead floating.I'll be glad when me or someone can post SOMETHING. TL By the way,I wouldn't recommend wading at the Pothole while the water is running unless you know it! It has ledges,potholes,and dropoffs.Its treacherous.

Been waiting for one of these,I need this,will be there Michael. TL.

Bill ,don't know if my dad could be considered a Walleye master but he was surely a (Fisher of men).He was hard to beat and always had people wanting him to take them fishing and some would offer money.His deal was I'll take you fishing if you come to church Sunday! Some did some didn't. He made reference to going to Beaver and trapping chubs alot but he never wrote down what he caught his Jacks on.So I would say he bait fished some for them back in the early days.Now after I started fishing with him I know he always had a white 1/8 ounce Jig( he called em Doll Flys) on one rod and a 3 hook black and gold Rapala with a split shot on the line on another.He loved those heavey jigs and made them with lots of maribou and they had to have red or pink thread wrap,he made yellow ones to.Alot of the Walleyes we caught were in the edge of dead or slack water,eddies.But he had a nack for bouncing those jigs just off the bottom while we were drifting and catching them and the wheeler hole was our favorite place to do this. The only time I was able to out fish him when I was young,we pulled up to huge blowed down sycamore just above the River Run park.It was causing a huge eddie.Well he didn't want me losing any more jigs so he gave me a chartreuse Road Runner and said to keep it moving real slow.Two or three times I would get hung and then it would just come loose. The third time he watched and said you're not getting hung thats jacks doing that, jerk next time.I caught a 9 lb walleye next cast,my uncle was with us,him and my dad tore the boat up looking for a chart Road Runner,to bad no more Road Runners.They sat and watched me a 10 yr. old reel in another 7lb and 5 lb Walleyes plus 4 big White Bass before something big broke it off.My uncle offered me a dollar after the second Wally.I don't think anyone could've bought that lure that day. To this day I haven't matched that total weight for Walleyes. Guys take them kids fishing, they won't ever forget. TL

Boy you hit that right on the head Crappie,cars,trucks leaking oil and spewing fumes are probably the biggest polluters.

Wow,good job CC,SKMO,and Fox on digging up that stuff. We know Vonreed caught a NICE Walleye that was over 10 1/2 lbs a couple of weeks ago and it was 30 in long,so the 2 Walleye my father caught in Jan of 1957 that were 10 1/2 lbs were probably 30 inchs long,according to your chart SKMO those Walleyes (or Jacks) were about 10 years old,meaning they were probably spawned in 1947 the same year Bull Shoals dam was (started) and long before Table Rock. I was wondering about that. Thanks. TL

Very Interesting, sadly all of the people who could give me any help with this have all passed away,but I do have my fathers diarys from 1950 thru 1965.He started keeping these when he became a minister mainly for church records and attendance but the other thing he loved was fishing and he wrote down every time he went.The 2 things that never left his side were his Bible and those diarys.Pictures,I am sure he had some but our house burned while we were away in 1964 and we lost everything. The diary for 1951 thru 1955 was damaged by moisture,he had made reference to catching several big fish but the part that tells what they were is not readable.1956 was a year he did construction on a church not much fishiing.On January 7th and 8th of 1957 he wrote of catching a 10 1/2 lb Jack and going back the next day and catching another the same size.And yes he had an old tip scale because he didn't like people to say he exagerated.I am going to try and post these diary pages on here.Now if Walleye live to be 15-20 years old that would make these fish about 7-8 years old meaning they were spawned in 1949-1950. Also he had 6 brothers who loved to fish, dad talked of them getting in on grabbing and gigging of the fish that got trapped in the large potholes and pools when they shut the water off at Powersite before Bull Shoals dam was built.One Uncle had a huge Walleye mounted,I can remember that fish on his wall way back,and will try to find out what size and when it was caught.The biggest my dad ever talked about was 14lb but had many people brag to him of much bigger,kinda like Charlie.I was in the same class as his daughter at Forsyth. Charlie C is a good man and anything he says you can count on,and I agree with him about the different strain of Walleyes.But I still believe there are some Walleye that make it through the spawn and to adult fish.If all the Walleyes in Bull Shoals came from the one stocking in 1955 then how could we have caught smaller ones in the mid to late sixtys,dad was always making me throw back small ones? The crowds were big back then but they were there mainly for the White bass.Thats what put Forsyth on the map was the big runs they had.No the pressure hadn't been like it was the last few years,but there's still alot of the old Walleye guys around,and they are much more efficient than they use to be. Good job Bill,I agree that that must have been alot of work,I'll keep digging and looking for photos. TL.

Wow, neat story,I read it twice.

Dutch,last year the first whites I caught were at the willows on the 27th of March,my nephew had started catching them about 10 days before in the mouth of Beaver.But we didn't have the water running like we do this year so maybe if we can get through this eternal winter we are having and get some warm days or rains they may start up a little early this year.Its hard to speculate or guess what the whites will do,like Crappie said, something drastic is gonna have to happen to see runs like we use to. I sure wish they would do something about all the gravel that has piled up in Swan creek,there are very few deep areas now when its running normal.It might make a difference in the spawn. TL

Well Mr Bill can you quote ANY part of this thread where someone was ridiculed for keeping any fish ?Nope didn't think so,the only person getting jumped on was me just for trying to spread a little conservation .I SAID now that he had caught that big one it might make it easier if he ever did want to release one. And I would disagree about your claim or any biologist that its a false run the Walleye make.I have caught the little devils many times in my minnow traps and seines up in Swan.The reason they don't produce as many fry now is because there aren't as many big spawning females, because of the pressure.My opinion. The difference between now and then was we caught alot bigger fish back in the day,and now its more fish,we don,t see those 14 15 18 pounders like we use to.And with all the pressure thats on them now days I doubt if that 21 lb record is ever broke,unless a few of us turn back a bigin once in a while. Bill any time you see something you don't like about anything that I post,just jump right on,cause I'll just take it then probably jump right back at ya.But this time you had no reason to jump!! TL

Got my cap today!Very nice, good quality and reasonably priced.Bet you will need to reorder a few times. Thanks Phil.

Thats funny,wonder how my dad and me use to walk down over the hill to the Pothole and catch Walleye when I was about 6 years old.That would have been 43 years ago,there was no stocking program then so where did they come from Bill?And like I said before I keep alot of Walleye Crappie,and White Bass but I have also learned not to be so greedy when the fishing is good and try to put some back. As for Swan and them being very accessible,what are they doing up in there any way (crazy fish). Hope I didn't tinkle back at you,I just think if a person is going to (Talk the Talk) Then they need to (Walk the Walk) so to speak. And Bill if you want to keep every keeper Walleye you catch thats your business. TL.

Hey John,anywhere there is bait fish there's usually gonna be fish,the more abundant the food the more abundance of fish.Thats why if they will keep that water running some the next 3 to 4 weeks I think we will see a better year than the last few. Every place I looked they (the shad) were up on the bank,even at the Wheeler hole where the current is really strong.Maybe all this food will keep them around longer after the spawn.Of course it may make it harder to catch anything for a while,who knows,I am going down this weekend sometime and give it a try. TL

Was down at the Pothole last weekend mainly just looking,every place I stopped there were thousands of 3 to 4 inch Shad up next to the bank trying to stay out of that strong current. I think its going to be a good year.(hopefully) Match the hatch guys. TL

Thanks Bill, will also probably be asking more questions.