james

The next OAF tournament and cookout should be interesting by the look of things, respectable points made from both sides of the table but I think its sad to see this site divided into two groups because of one issue, we all share the same passion....to feel weight after the hookset. Some guys are always gona keep a few to eat, some are always gona release them, just the way it is.

Found this mess in my neighborhood at a intersection, seems to be all LM, hard to say where they came from but Lake Conway being only 4 miles away is a good guess { not TR, everyone stay calm } Doesn't matter where their from, very sad either way.

Nice spots!

Personally I don't fish TR anymore, about 20yrs ago I found a lake to the south called Bull Shoals, I don't think I've ever sat in line to fish a point and rarely contend with someone to fish where I want even in summer, oh wait, how does that saying go...no fish here..... move along. And as far as keeping fish to eat, seldom does a " good un" eye or crap live to see another day when coming into my boat so if you want to keep a few k's to fry up, who am I to say, and I was just wondering if that stringer of k's came out of bull if anybody would have said anything?

Great report Ham, just what I wanted to hear before I come up, thanks.

My father in law recently did a guided trip on bull for walleye, said they caught 36 in 2 days, maybe 12 keeps, personally I wasn't there but saw the pics, doesn't seem their to hard to catch once you dial them in.

Fished 5-14, was catchin smallmouth and walleye in 2-15 ft on c-rig and swimming minnow then the water came up 4', scattered them a bit, by next week they should be settled back up in the bushes and on the old shoreline. I would imagine the north side is a little dingy with this rain but the south side was clear on thurs, but who knows next week.

Was wondering if any body has any info or advise on the stripers in the Arkansas river during winter below dams, would shad kills this time of year draw them to the tailraces or will some move up and hold over till spring? Toad suck area would be closest. I live just a couple of miles from the river yet rarely fish it, but I'm told often I'm missing out on a great resource for fishing in general, Hard to get away from the clear reservoirs I'm used to, but would like to devote more time to it. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks

Very helpful, that bait looked so good, made me want to eat it, thanks for sharing.

Great idea, I think i'll try that on Greers, thanks for the report, nice fish!

I tie 2 jigs on my F&F set up, about 6-10'' apart, different colors, 10ft rod ,4lb floro, used to use the same setup on steelhead in northern Michigan, the long rod makes it easier to control the fish on light line and cast {well... lob really }

Good day! nice report thank you.

I've really been liking the st.Croix premier series 7' H model PS70HF,$159 I think, its got a long handle so you can get some leverage in your cast and its pretty stout, I had some nice hybrids test it out for me this fall and it worked great, and I paired it with a shimano Sedona 4000FD, its got a large arbor, holds lots of line, good drag, no problems with it yet. I think I paid $60 for it at BP. I also use the MH weight in the same series rod and its works fine to, i just prefer the heavy model due to the fact that most bodies of water that i fish contain populations stripers or hybrids or both. Hope that helps.

Yea those are cool rigs, good price, I'm gona look into those, not to far from me, thanks for the info

Great info Bill, much appreciated always. Just wondering what size line is being used to get and keep the stick bait in the strike zone? and are you guys modifying your sticks to get extra depth? I've always used a thin braid for my jerk baits on bull but was thinking I might be missing some fish because of it.

I throw the rig on spinning gear, seems unconventional but its a lot easier on my wrists and arms, I use it with bait casters to, but I really start to feel it after bout an hour {hate getting older} I can throw it all day with a spinning rig, 7ft MH with the smaller a-rigs and 7.6 Heavy with the big ones, I also use 50lb power pro. With a good quality set up you can throw it a long way.

Very nice! Pretty fish...congrats.

Nice Fish.

Thanks for the helpful info everybody, gives me some confidence to hear somebody is catching a few.

Does anybody know if their releasing any water below the dam? don't live in Forsyth anymore, but was thinkin of coming up that way this weekend and fishin a couple nights, Dec was always my best month for walleye there, just don't know what the waters like. Don't see anybody talking about the jerkbait bite, so I'm assuming fishing must be decent.

Yep that's what it was, someone messed with it, got it all figured out appreciate it.

Just bought a late 80s ranger 320v, it has 2 livewell control levers below the throttle problem is the writing is rubbed off , i assume the top one is the front live well but, which way is open and closed? Anyone ever have one of these older rangers, love the boat quite fast with a 115. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks

Thanks Champ nice report, did go out today no schooling in cove creek area, did manage some nice slabs in the timber and smallies on gravel. Agreed another cool down is needed. Nice to see someone else on this thread, keep the reports coming.

Anybody know or hear of any hybrid activity?, its getting to be that time of year.

Fished sat-sun, middle fork way up river, wt 53, caught about 100 whites an hybrids in those 2 days, fished smaller a-rig 90% of the time on mud flats in 2-6 ft water.Something i learned on this trip...dont use thin wire hooks on your rig, the hybrids straighten them out, what a fun lesson to learn.