rps

Good on You!

For buzzbaits, use a double palomer direct to the wire loop. Whether you use a small snap or split ring for WTD lures depends on the bait. A traditional spook works better if the knot is snugged on the bottom of the eyelet. My Top Dollars need the split ring. With braid, you need to be sure to reel down to feel the fish before you set. If you instinct snap set, the no stretch braid will pull the bait away from the fish.

Franks Red Hot. Flavor over bite.

Grand fishes easy when the water is warm and up in the willows. Otherwise it is a local knowledge lake primarily based on planted brush piles, man made structures, and subtle breaks. Can you imagine all those boats fishing jerk baits in boat stalls?

PM Fin and Feathers. He has the scoop and shares.

On the other hand, you have so improved your casts. You can cast clear across Sportsmans Hole without even getting your feet wet!

I hope, I wish, I cross my fingers that the opening creates opportunities that negate the imposition of sales tax. BTW, I resolve to visit Hook, Line and Sinker on the way to Cabelas. Who is with me on this resolution?

I did not know him. His interests were different than mine. However, I am envious. From your comments, he lived the life to which I aspire. Rest in peace Tom. I hope I meet you on the other side.

We had a brief, hard rain Sunday. The ground sucked it up and the creeks are still empty. For flow into the lake to happen, we will need several days of rain.

There are several that can put in the right areas, but I don't know if any are like Mike Worley on Bull Shoals. Walleye are his principal target. PM Bill Babler and ask for his answer.

I must admit, if I were to live on BS, I could post more impressive reports and more impressive pictures more often, I do not live there, I will envy those who do and report what I find here.

I lost a kid I coached when he decided to ride a blow up float down a creek after a victory party and rainstorm. The water wedged him into a drain pipe from which he could not escape or breath. Stupid. Inexcusable. Damnable. Miss you Greg.

6 AM to 10:30 AM and 6:30 PM to dark should be ok. If you are thinking above Eagle Rock, be aware the water is getting skinny up here.

One: The lake that feeds the fishery doesn't have nearly the water of the fisheries to which you compare it. That makes minimum flow, etc. far more difficult. Two: Any management discussion must include Southwest Power, the quasi-governmental entity in charge of electrical generation. Three: The Congressional resolutions that authorized the dam building did not include recreation or wildlife in its priority lists. As a result the Corps is duty bound to ignore those factors and the lands and water you are discussing are Corps. Four: The grade between the Beaver dam and Houseman is less than the other locations, which means when water is off the water stays put. I understand everyone's desire to upgrade the section to the level of the others, but the task will require enormous coordination of a serious political effort with a serious environmental effort. In the current political times, that is doomed. Furthermore, even if successful, the results will not be dramatic as the stretch is rather short and flat. As a side note, there are many, many trout down in the lake. That is where many of the stockers go to grow large.

Don't get me started.

I cannot imagine trying to put nice amateurs on fish under these conditions. All early Septembers are tough, but this year is weird. However, they are smiling.

I have taken nice walleye from Campbell Point, just down river from Shell Knob. Many of my message board friends swear by the Kings River for walleye and its mouth is just upriver from Shell Knob. Up lake from there to Viney Creek also has excellent areas. So my answer is yes, that area will be as good for walleye as any on the lake. In addition, Shell Knob is smack in the middle of the best bass fishing on the lake.

Quillback, that was harsh. If you look for my post from today, you will see I am proud of the smallmouth I caught this morning. It weighed about 2 and a half and gave me quite a tussle. It went back in the lake, even though I am told smallmouth are tastier than largemouth. Walleye five pounds and up put up respectable fights, complete with surges that pull the drag and head shakes. And they do eat beautifully. Maybe you and Jeb need to fish with me some to find out what keeps me interested.

I went out for the first time in two weeks this morning. School and oral surgery had kept me off the water. Early I found a top water bite. Some small bass and gar were tormenting the shad on a long pea gravel point. I was in 20+ feet of water when a speeding train hit my bait. By the time I reeled down to feel the fish and set the hook, it was 20 feet from where it took the bait. Air twice and a good long drag pull later, I netted the best fish of the day. I spooned most of the morning and wound up with at least one of all four basses and a walleye. One of the largemouths was also a keeper, but unfortunately the walleye was not.

I am rps and I fish out of Holiday Island Marina which is so far from the dam we call it Arkansas. Seriously, location marker 26 is the point where Roaring River enters. I dock nearly 7 river miles up stream of there.

I feel your pain about the wakes. The general public will retire from the lake soon and we who fish can relax until May next year.

What he said. I use YoZuri mono/FC hybrid and my 7' fast action jig rod. I've recently switched to War Eagle spoons that have a swivel built in. http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/War_Eagle_Jiggin_Spoon_2pk/descpage-WEJS.html

Good on you.

Crawbug: If Bill replies, ignore me and pay attention to him. If not, rig your drop shot per the usual with a #4 or 2 Owner octapus hook. Put the hook point through the nose and fish it. Drop shot crawlers don't need jigging like spoons. Wait for the fish to "load" before you sweep the hook into the fish. You aren't trying so much to set the hook as to take the stretch out of the line and let the hook work for you. Catch a good one.

Bill's comment, which I am sure is accurate as can be, points out a difficulty of the one end of the lake to another pattern. Here, where I am, 32 feet of water, at this lake level, is somewhere in the channel. That is why I travel so far down lake to fish.