rps

The notch where the docks sit that you see in the background is an excellent walleye and drop shot location in mid to late summer.

I became disenchanted with the Curado a few alphabet letters ago. E series I think. In the $150 to $190 price range several manufacturers offer great products. Lew's Speed Spool BB1 and Abu Garcia Revo SX Generation 3 are two excellent reels in that price range. One uses a centrifugal brake and the other a mag break.

My experience there is a bit dated: July through November, 1971. Lots of goggle eye and some decent smallmouth in the Gasconade. I did not fish on post. As a boot camp and AIT trainee, off post was safer.

Welcome! Have you gone back and checked out the archives on TR? I joined in 2007 after thrashing the lake for four or five years. In that time there have been hundreds and hundreds of "teaching" threads covering more than several species and dozens of techniques. One thread a day will up your consistency in a hurry. Good luck.

2014 patterns were very different from those of the four years before it. Fish were simply not at the "usual" locations. On TR we never saw a hard thermocline develop. Early summer I was too deep, I think. In retrospect, I should have fished deeper than I did in late summer. In both cases I was fishing where the thermocline usually placed fish.

A foil is a last ditch solution to a problem created by poor planning. In all other circumstances, avoid.

Four years adds deposits. Not as clean as it once was, but still one heck of a fishing boat. Somewhere between $15k and $50k, reason loses out. Somewhere between 50k$ and $150k, reason has gone.

You (plural) made me look notropis up. Good one. I live at the upper end of TR -> Holiday Island. When you are ready, I will meet you at Houseman ramp and share a few techniques that work between there and Holiday Island.

Visual:

The 15 to 20 inch spawner comment was mine and based upon much reading. First, as mentioned, there are more 15 to 20 inch fish out there. Second, think of it in terms of teenagers and 20 year olds. Fertile as heck and ready. Last, the percentage to hatch and viability goes way down in fish old enough to reach 10 pounds.

I did not fish at all this weekend. (Don't even think about asking me to justify that decision.) However, I will admit I really, really wanted your report to be accurate.

This topic is one continually revisted on other boards. Well meaning people state, firmly, they only keep the 12 to 16 inch "eaters' and release all above that. Others state, authoritatively, that all who eat any walleye above "X" inches make a mistake and will kill off the next generation. The most prolific spawners are 15 to 20 inches, That does not matter in TR as spawn is not the source of recruitment. Stocking is the source of recruitment. TR is a put and take fishery. Whether you keep a fish 18 inches or up does not matter. Do not keep eaters - that violates the law. Keep the few you catch over 18 inches - good eating. And, BTW, if you think any fish over "Y" inches is not good eats, drop them off with me.

Best way to make LM taste good.

Well done sir! When I zero in on the Spring walleye, I will message you.

Jersey? JERSIES? We don't need no stinkin' jersies!

1/8 or 1/16 jig head with a 3 to 4 inch boot tail grub in white, salt and pepper, or white/chartreuse. 3 to 5 inch suspending jerk bait. Light colored marabou jig tipped with a crappie minnow.

I have a number of flat warts. I am working on a place/time for them to work.

Tenkiller anecdote, retold, again: Ken Rainbolt and I liked to fish. He was a Vietnam 2 tour vet in law school with me. We fished local ponds and all. Because I owned a hand me down Evinrude Fastwin 18, we also rented boats and fished lakes. Tenkiller was our choice. One Spring break we caught a two person limit of crappie two days in a row. 37 X 2 X 2. We cleaned them, fried them in cut off drums and celebrated our passage of the Oklahoma bar exam together.

Like TR and BS, Tenkiller is a highland lake, just on a smaller scale. Very simair structure, similar amounts of wood, and very similar water color. Before I moved over from Tulsa it was my favorite near by lake.

Fish it as a very light Carolina rig. Set the hook early as they love to swallow the bait.

Jdoc You hurt my feelings.

BTW, if the water is really cold, try this. Bagley Bang O Lure or Rapala Floating minnow in the 5 inch range. Throw it to the spot. Let it sit until the rings are gone then twitch it every 10 to 30 seconds.

Despite my avatar, I will not recommend the Top Dollar. It is only for sickos like me that want to work hard. Early top water (before June) requires smaller and smoother baits moving but not that fast. Spook Jr. or mid size Sammy with a rythmic cadence or a jointed Jitter Bug at a medium retrieve. My 2 cents.

Neat stuff BH! Before I found the Top Dollar, I fished a Berkley Frenzy when I wasn't fishing the spook. The Frenzy could be fished as a plain chugger/popper or it could be semi walked. These little dudes look like they would be in that category as well. If so, they will be killer stream baits.