rps

If you want a walleye bite, fish jigs with trailers . The second best accidental walleye bite is wiggle warts. If you are prepared to be really serious about walleye, send me a message.

Thank you for a very informative post, bfishn.

I had a three paragraph comment typed for this.Then I realized there was no way to state my thoughts without offending. I will confine myself to this: Too many, from both sides of this issue, remind me of chicken little.

Look for the deep holes below shallow spots. As an example, the deep hole directly below where Butler Creek flows into the White just above Beaver town. My sources say the fish are not yet up on the shoals above Beaver town, but are holding in holes down stream. The area just outside of Holiday Island's entrance of Leatherwood Creek has also been giving up fish. I will not draw maps, but what I state is where the recent fish have been caught.

The walleye have not yet moved up river. Look to staging areas directly above HI and Beaver town.

Fished with Capps about ten years ago. Good guy and knows what he is doing. Great fish!

PM powerdive. He fishes Stockton for walleye.

You mean, of course, the ramp you drive over the gravel bar now exposed to reach. That ramp drops directly into the river channel. Everyone should be aware that at this water level, stay in the middle of the channel when you run between that launch and Stubblefield. Up stream is even more demanding.

The minnows Ken uses are larger than crappie minnows (2X?) Don't know where he gets them. Many of my walleye correspondents swear by chubs this time of year. Don't know what that really is or how/where they get them. Can you tell I don't fish with minnows much? I can say this. I have cleaned enough walleye to know they love shad and they love bluegill. Don't know why a shiner wouldn't work.

I haven't posted much this winter. Illness and school stuff has limited me from learning anything worth reporting. Went down to check the boat at the marina. Good thing I did. Evidently the seal on the pump is getting old and leaky. The lift had sunk enough to put the very bottom of the boat in the water. Since it was down I turned the key and the engine started on the first crank. I love machinery that does what it should. I shut down using the Etec fog method and raised the lift. I used the manual valve on the tank to make sure it stays up. At current water levels, I advise launching from the gravel point across from the marina. I watched one launch and one load while I was there and both had no trouble. On the other hand the paved ramp end (which creates a drop off) will cause a problem for the longer trailers or those who need deeper draft. I also talked to Ken Greenwood when he came in. Ken owns a self built pontoon/houseboat. I met him through Chuck Etheridge. The boat inside has a bed, a stove, a heater, and wall rod racks. Three holes with lids are cut in the floor for vertical fishing. Ken is a transplant from the North. He primarily jig fishes. He uses 1/8, 1/4, and 3/8 bare jig heads with 3 or 4 inch minnows. He told me the brown water from the rain has slowed fishing down. He reported he and his friends had caught 278 walleye in January, mostly by casting and slow swimming the jig along the bottom. He said the largest was 13.8 and that there was another 12. By the way Ken typically keeps one or two barely legal fish.

Statistical survey and analysis is a science premised upon both math and other social sciences. Skilled people can give deadly accurate results if the sample (number of people measured) is large enough and picked to avoid bias and questioned in a manner to avoid injecting bias. Read that last sentence carefully and ask yourself, "Do I think the fish and game people performed in such a manner?" BTW, the wife teaches AP Statistics at the high school. I merely took a political science class in college called Sampling and Statistical Analysis. We have concluded that 98.7% of all polls reported are crap and that 99.9% of all poll reporting by journalists are crap. (See how adding the decimal makes it look official?)

That is NOT meant as a brag on me. Instead it is meant as a thank you to the Ozarks.

I have truly enjoyed this thread. As a uncommonly lucky member of the "I fish for Walleyes!" contingent, may I add this? Tobin, Shomobin, Columbia River, or Erie may deserve credit as the next best place. I would like to fish all those places. On the other hand, I am an ordinary regular guy. Really. And I have two in the boat over ten in the last couple of years. Thank you Ozarks. I know very few can measure up to that!

I wanted to add a note here. This thread is 174 posts and so far even those who have disagreed have been civil and intelligent. What a pleasure to read!

Life in the Ozarks is very good.

Bill. Funny you should mention canned fish. Well made fish patties from traditional canned fish is nothing but good eats. The problem is making sure those who harvest by gig or spear actually process the fish.BTW, who else out there likes pickled fish?

I have been told, directly by an agent of AFG, that the natural reproduction of walleye in TR and Beaver is virtually non existent. He described both lakes as put and take fisheries. That is the reason for the small limit number (4) and for the minimum length of 18 inches. He and I did not discuss Bull Shoals and I do not know if it is considered a put and take. Put and take fisheries are counter-intuitive to the "release the big ones" mind set. Gentlemen from the North, who are accustomed to keeping the 13 inch "eaters" and releasing trophies, naturally have a hard time with the idea that any and all fish over 18 inches are "eaters." As far as giggers - I would just as soon that were never a part of the management equation.

Not exactly what you asked - but relevant I hope. I have been running a 24 volt Terrova on a fob for over a year. I would never go back. If you can afford the jump, you will never regret the move.

I had an unbelievable year in 2011. Two fish in two weeks that were both fish of a lifetime from Tablerock. Both post spawn. 32.5 inches and 13.75 pounds. 30 inches and 10 pounds. Both very healthy and strong fish. Had they been in spawn mode, we would say 15 and 12 pounds. I saw Chuck Etheridge's 14.5 walleye from 2010. Somewhere between 33 and 35 inches. Hope this helps answer questions.

Most people prefer the console. I have owned three boats with consoles (two side and one center) I have also owned three with tiller (a 1982 Tuffy, a river boat, and the one pictured) I find the room you gain is considerable. My current boat is 16 and a half feet but fishes much larger with company. You can tell that from the pictures. BTW, with three, I drop the seat I removed and had put on a spider back in the boat. In addition to the extra room, it is easier to handhold a rod sitting as I do in my rig. Of course, if my back were troublesome, I would figure a way to put a seat back where my cushion is. The built in seat was forward and to the center from where I sit. The seat obstructed full range of the tiller and made a turn to the right really awkward on my shoulder. I read somewhere the placement was dictated by a lawyer after some lawsuit by the widow of an unfortunate soul who fell out of the boat. For what ever reason, it was just wrong. It had to go. Finally, to be completely honest, there is something about tiller steering that seems "right." The fact that it simplifies installation and costs less is just gravy.

Fishinwrench has described a wonderful boat. Allow me to show you a less expensive option. Alumacraft Navigator 165 with a tiller steer 75 HP ETEC with a Titan Tiller Steer system. I did not buy a fancy prop - I just bought a spare standard aluminum. That is a large Terrova up front. I removed the ridiculously placed tiller seat and sit on the bench with a large cushion. I can troll with two guests, it burns little gas and even less oilI It comes out of the hole well and top ends at 34 MPH with just me.

I bought a dozen or so Brads two years ago. They had serious "can't be tuned" problems. I lost my temper and threw them away.

The listed bottom of power pool is 881. At that level everthing above Big M will look like a river and everyhting above Eagle Rock will be canoe country. Alan will ask all boat owners to remove their boats from Holiday Island Marina somewhere near 900.

We have nothing to send at TR. We are at 905. Yes, that is correct, 29 feet below 2011.

I completely and totally support hunting. Elk, moose, deer, coyote, rabbit, squirrel, duck, goose. In season and within limits. I completely and totally support home defense. Shotguns, big slug pistols, etc. So what do the new regulation proposals mean? None of those things go away. What goes away are weapons designed to damage many people very quickly. Not hunting weapons. Not home defense. The round for an AK 47, an AR 15 , etc. is designed to wound people - many people - in a hurry. The design is based on casualties - not kills. This has a use where? Next step: we all believe a responsible gun owner has training and a desire to use weapons safely. Requiring all to register before purchase violates this how/ Requiring a sanity/court check first makes this bad how? Let me ask a sportsman's question: When was the last time you needed ten rounds to hunt? Twenty rounds? Thirty rounds? So maybe restricted magazines have nothing to do with hunting? OK. When was the last time you needed 30 rounds to defend your home? OK. So where is your problem with smaller magazines? Are you a lesser man that cannot get the job done in ten rounds? Does anything in the proposals criminalize past purchases or possession. No. Does anything prohibit ownership of previously acquired weapons? No. Finally, as a brain teaser, I served in the Oklahoma National Guard from 1971 to 1977. If you are not in the Guard, how can you really call yourself militia with a right to bear arms?