rps

Thank you for the kind words. Went out today with two friends from long ago when I was respectable. Fished the same places I took The Coward. Three in the boat and I knocked a fourth one off with my net. 24 to 28 feet deep on crawler harnesses.

Forgive me a movie reference. An old Harrison Ford movie, Witness, has him hiding out from dirty cops and drug sellers among the Amish in Pennsylvania. At the end, the father figure Amish tells him "Be careful out among them English ..." I went out today and stayed out until noon. I was nearly swamped by a wake boat, nearly run over by a poontoon pulling a child on a tube, and nearly turned to leather by the sun. Other things I learned: 1. The top water bite is non existent. 2. The Beaver generation causes the water above Beaver town to be much cooler than below Beaver town. 3. The walleye bite is slow but you can pick up one or two if you work at it. I scored one keeper at 24 feet in the brush on a trolled crank bait. Surface temp was 85.

They hit me hard on this one.

June July and August I fish 3 or 4 times per week - subject to trips to see children and my wife's mother. Let's say 40 half or full days. In September, October, April, and May I average 2 or 3 trips per month, so that's 10 more. On Spring break, weather always prevents a full week so count 3 days for March. December, January, and February - not very often as I hate being cold. Long story short, 50 to 55 days per year.

Here at the other end of the lake, the generation that affects fishing comes from up river, and it definitely changes things.

You must have passed me - for the future: Black and Silver Alumacraft deep V with an Evinrude 75. As far as the fishing, what you found is what we found.

Had a guest fishing with me this morning. He showed up on time (5:00) and we left the marina headed down lake. He specifically asked to see and fish near Big M and on down. I figured Bill would forgive me if I didn't go too far past Viney, so we went. We fished on top for about an hour, maybe a little more. 4 or 5 fish, but a 13 inch brownie was the best.We fished the mouth of Rock Creek carefully with a harness but only found bass. I showed him a classic pea gravel run out and bay just past Viney and he caught a keeper spot. I picked up another near keeper brownie, and stuck an 18.5 inch walleye on a slow death rig. We ran back to HI and were off the water by 11:30. I had a great time. Thanks Hans. Surface temp between 85 and 86. Fish in the 22 to 28 foot range. The boat traffic was present but not oppressive.

I really do not expect any year to be llike the one before. However, this year has not matched any I have experienced here. To put that in context, I am fishing my 11th full time summer on TR. By this time of year we usually have a hard thermocline in the 20 to 22 feet range. Not this year. I am not sure there is a thermocline and if there is, it sure isn't a firm one. The surface temp is usually 80 to 81. Not this year. When I got off the lake the temp was 85. I fished starting at 5:15 this morning and worked at it until 11. I caught small spots, I caught bluegills, I caught white bass, and I found large shad schools supended between 7 and 20 feet deep over 28 to 35 feet of water. I found one barely legal walleye. If it helps anyone, the fish I caught and the fish I marked but did not catch were near the bottom in 22 to 29 feet of water, but only if there was a sudden depth change to deeper near by.

There is some limited reproduction in the White River chain. However the fishery is primarily put and take -> stocking equals catching. If one depends upon reproduction, a closed/limited season makes perfect sense. If you depend upon put and take stocking, the "answer" is different. Example: If Table Rock were a natural reproduction lake, the "limit" might well be 4 or 5 fish @15 inches or greater with one over 22 inches. It is not so the limit is different.

No, but I made an order to try a different presentation. If it works, I will post.

Fished this morning from 5:40 to 11:30 in Rock Creek and the Roaring River. As I motored to the first location I saw no signs of top feeding so I did not even try top water. I started immediately walleye fishing. I did note some top water feeding between 7:30 and 9:00 but it was scattered and mostly over the channel. I watched a gentleman land a nearly 3 pouind smallmouth in Rock Creek. He appeared to be fishing a grub or small jig. Water surface temp was 84-85. I caught 4 walleye. Two were legal. All came from 24 to 28 feet of water on or near edges with much deeper channels. The big fish both hit immediately after speed changes so vary the pace of your baits. Both keepers were full of 3 to 4 inch shad.

Barbless circle hook in through the mouth, out through the gills, and back in the tail. Let them hook themselves in the corner of their jaw. CR at its best.

OG is right about size - Bull wins. Stockton has many, that is true, but Bull may win that as well. Sleeper category? Table Rock or Beaver.

Holiday police efforts are responsive to what the police chiefs percieve the public wants. A year or two of complaints about river shenanigans leads to a year or two of river patrol.

@jdm: cool. Well done.

Awesome: Complete information for a weekend.

Phil: Please shoot this topic dead.

Chuck Etheredge, my walleye mentor, says after noon is always better.

Hey guys. You are making me want to fix things.

Hardest thing in the world to do -> When fishing a top water (frog, spook, fin, popper), reel until you feel the fish before you "set the hook."

I wrote an article for Phil on walleye trolling. Check the technique articles at the site's main page.

Last night I was a guest chef for the local doctor and his wife. I did not get home until after 9:00 -> late for me. While I was gone, our house guest for a week arrived. This morning I was happy to host her and make oatmeal and coffee. I was free to fish at 11:00. I began at 11 by leadcore trolling a spinnerbait through a prime walleye flat with brush and timber. The method is "new" in the last year or two and seemed appropriate for a low water/fish deep situation. All I did was lose 20 yards of leadcore and a 1 ounce spinnerbait. I reloaded with one of my nightcrawler harnesses and fished the same area. I know - fishing a harness in brush or timber is foolish. I lost three of my rigs in two hours. I also caught a tail pinch keeper and lost a much larger fish at the boat. I was off the water at 3:30. Bottom line - I caught a barely legal walleye in 4.5 hours. Reality - I had a great time and I think it was a good trip

Only $1000? What a bargin! Someone buy this before he recovers his sanity or gets committed to some institution. Wait a minute ... he marked it down?