Fishin' Freak

Thanks Phil--Is the two way swivel attached to the main line to decrease line twist??

Bill Were you drop shotting the flats or were you just chasing surfacing fish?? We chased for a couple hours there this morning but they didn't want to play much. The flat is a lot bigger than I thought it would be but it looks good. Just wonding if you drop shot the little points coming out off the flats up to and including the bouy point?

I am new to the drop shot but am quickly learning it is a very versatile presentation. I had my first bit of luck on a Zoom finesse worm with a size 4 drop shot hook (the one with the eye for the tag end) and a 1/8th ounce weight. I am wondering how many of you use more than one lure on a drop shot rig and how far apart you put each one. I am also wondering what size and type of hooks you guys use. Do you have to have a "drop shot hook" to get the bait to stand out straight or will a size 2 wide gap hook work. Can you use a 1/0 hook or is that to big? I also played around with the rig and had a Eakins PB&J 5/16th jig on the bottom for my weight--do many of you use a jig or grub for a weight??? I am also wondering what type of approach most of you use. Saturday we let the slight breeze "drift" us across a point and we used the trolling motor to keep us in the right depth. As we did this we made short casts ahead of the boat with the rig and would shake it for a few seconds then move it a couple feet and shake it again--repeating this till we felt constant pressure. Is this a common approach? And for my last questions---is the bite usually just constant pressure. I was a bit surprised that the fish were not hitting the bait harder or running with it--they just applied pressure/weight and that was it--is this the typical bite? I know this is a lot of questions but thanks in advance for any tips!!

Two of us hit the water around 5:30 this morning at Joe Bald and headed up past point 16 to the flats that Bill Babler had mentioned to me. We saw a ton of surface activity but we could only convince one nice keeper smallie and one spot to hit. We did have one nice fish blow up and miss a Pop R but we chased surfacing fish for about two hours and could not get them to hit anything--and we tried alot of different lures. We then went up the lake towards point 20 fishing points and expermenting with the drop shot rig. The two of us are new to drop shotting and were looking to get a feel for it. We ended up catching some spots on pea gravel points between 22 and 35 feet of water on Zoom cinnamon purple finesse worms. We only caught one around timber (which was not on a pea gravel point) but we were able to pull 4 off of one point. We caught 6 total spots but only one spot was keeper size and we missed a few as well. We didn't start hitting the pea gravel points (which were the key) till around 8-8:30 which may have been to late and by 9:30 things had pretty much shut down and the boat traffic was picking up. We are headed out again tonight or tomorrow early so I will report more then.

Thanks Bill--I will for sure have my Wiggle Diggle on early in the morning!!!! As for the flats across from Baxter--are you talking about the ones on the complete other side of the lake back towards point 16?? If it is the flats I am thinking of you can see Baxter but they are about a mile back towards point 16 and on the west side of the lake. Are these the same flats you are talking about?

Thanks for the info Bill. I think I will stick around the Joe Bald to Campbell area tomorrow and give the spots a shot. Are they still holding around the gravel points on trees? What about bluff ends?? We will be doing a lot of drop shotting. From what you said earlier in the week the fish have been as shallow as 18 feet early down to 35--so we will give that a shot.

Any reports on the white from Friday a.m. I heard there were 9 boats at the slot. Just wondering if it is worth a 9 mile boat ride up there in the morning. Thanks

Not what I was wanting to hear. We hit them last Sunday for the first time and two of us caught 5. We had a little trouble getting to the exact depth the fish were wanting but when we figured it out we finally caught some fish. I was planning on hitting the lake Sat. and Sun. in pursuit of them but I may have to just focus on the spots and smallies.

Any new reports on the whites?? I am thinking of making the 40 minute run up the lake early Sat. a.m. and was wondering if they are still learking around the area. Thanks

My most recent incident happened yesterday (6/21) at the Joe Bald ramp. A friend of mine, my wife, and I went down to the lake around 4:30 and put our boat in. As we were unloading two drunk men in there 20's were swimming near the ramp and ask us for some beer. We said we didn't have any and they got a little angry--why we weren't sure. We took off and hit the lake until dark and when we returned my friends passenger window to his 2003 F-150 had been broke out with a big rock. Who ever did it--assuming it was the two drunk guys--took three different throws to hit the window, leaving two big dents on the side of the truck. Nothing was stolen--thank goodness since my wallet was under the seat but it is another lake incident to document. If it was the two guys we think it was they were driving an old Jeep wagon which was light tan with dark brown/fake wood trim. You guys might be aware if you see such a vehicle.

Phil, I am interested in the bass fishing on Taney as well. When you say lower Taney---are you talking Forsyth area??? What tactics are you using for them this time of year? I am not real familiar with fishing the colder water of Taney. Thanks in advance.

I am new drop shotting and have some general questions. On TR how long do you guys typically leave your tag end?? I know this depends on what depth the fish are suspending at but if there is a starting point on the length what would be a general rule of thumb? During the late June and July months where would a guy have the best luck drop shotting? I am thinking long gravel points between 30 and 40 feet of water. How do you guys hook your finesse worms--wacky style, texas rigged style ect????? Any tips would be greatly appreciated. I was also wondering if any of you use another lure like a jig on the bottom of the drop shot instead of a drop shot weight?

My wife and I put in at K-Dock Sunday around 4:30 and trolled the area till 8:30. We used about every crank you can thing of and only managed three nice sized crappies. Each time we hooked a nice crappie we trolled back through the area and then stopped and threw swimming minnows--casting them and jigging them but had no luck. We had hoped to hook a walleye or two or even a white but no such luck. The three crappie will eat nice though. Anyone else having any luck on BS?? There were a ton of boats at the ramp yesterday.

Nice smallie Phil!!

I decided to brave the elements this a.m. and give it a try in the rain. I put in at Joe Bald around 9:15 and headed up to the point 16 area and found some fish surfacing on flat pea gravel. I fished a number of flat areas and only seemed to have luck between the rain showers on my new homemade wiggle diggle (thanks Don H.!!!) I threw a spit shot rig and some grubs in the same areas with no luck. It was a slow morning but very pretty with a light rain coming down. I didn't catch anything with any size but it is always fun to see schooling smallies and spots busting the surface. I spent as much time chasing them as I did catching them but it was fun.

Thanks for the info Bill. I will put it to work Wed.

I just made 4 wiggle diggle's and I can't wait to get out and give them a shot. The idea of fishing them will keep me awake until I can get out again. Thanks Don!!

I have not been having much luck as of late. Thursday I fished a number of points around the K-City bridge area and had very limited success and Sunday I made a run up into Aunts Creek and fished that area with limited success as well. We fished points, flats, and about everything in between with no real success. Someone who is catching the bass let us in on your many secrets!!!!!!

Don Thanks a bunch for the info--I really apprecitate it. What do you use to bend the bill on the Rapala's? I have a few that I will bend and try.

Can the wiggle diggle be bought or is it just a modified jerk bait? Can someone tell me how to make one. I thing Don House uses one some but what is it, how is it made, and how is it worked? Thanks in advance.

I will throw my 2 cents worth in on this matter--not that it really matters. I have always been a catch and release guy when it comes to bass. I am a bass fisherman except when the crappie and walleye (on BS) are biting. I agree with Phil in the regards to the fact that most skilled bass fisherman support catch and release and the average sunday fisherman is not as well equiped to but together a nice "stringer" of bass. I know there are expections to this rule just like every other rule but the large majority of fisherman who catch consistent numbers of bass support catch and release. I hate to see a nice bass cleaned just like 99% of you all do but if someone wants to keep a couple and they do enjoy the taste of bass (which I don't see how they can) then let them do so with the guidelines set by the Department of Conservation. I am not a guide either and from a guides standpoint I could see it a bit frustrating because you make your living on being able to catch nice numbers of bass. In my opinion limits were set to help manage a fishery not to try and hurt it and with bass fishing I feel confident that 90 plus % of bass fisherman support catch and release and that is a good thing for the sport. As I said I am a bass fisherman and I don't keep them but I also hear the same arguement from walleye fisheman and I will keep every keeper walleye I can legally keep and I will eat everyone of them (because they don't taste like bass)!

I fished Swan Creek Friday night along with about 50-60 other fisherman and maybe saw 5 whites caught from 6 to 9 p.m. I never had a hit. It was slow to say the least.

Bill, I might have been a bit to shallow. I kept the boat betweeen 10 and 15 feet so maybe I should have just moved out a bit. All the banks were pretty wind blown and that is why I resorted to something with some weight and did not throw the senko much. I will give it another shot this week sometime. Thanks for all your reports--they are always a help!!

I fished the Aunts Creek area on Sat. afternoon with limited success. I decided to go shallow and give it a try. I ended the afternoon with 5 fish--nothing of any size and I lost one that would have gone around 3 pounds. I was mainly throwing a split shot rig but I did hook my better fish on a Yum craw bug. I also threw a spinnerbait for a while with no luck. I don't know if some of the fish were on the points still but I thought the shallow water bite would have been a bit better than it was. I didn't fish the points mainly due to the high winds but maybe I should have sucked it up. Anyone else have better luck?? I know some did real early in the a.m. but I was wondering about the afternoon.

Nice fish SKMO--I am heading out the door right now to go try my luck today.