rps

In the recipes section I have posted a different way to saute fish and also a fishburger recipe in which I always use at least half walleye. Last night I made a walleye ceviche (you put raw fish in fresh lime juice to "cook" it and serve it with a spicy salsa) If anyone wants that recipe I will post it.

Sadly, my experience the last several days has been too similar to Bill's - except he caught fish. I believe that it's go early or not at all right now.

Trolling is a great way to target game fish and I believe they prohibit it in the tournament world for the same reason they prohibit live bait - it's too effective. You might remember the article I did for Phil on walleye trolling? The same tactics and a slight up size in line and rod would work very well on hybrids. I would suggest 15/4 braid and a 7 or 7.5 foot medium heavy or heavy rod with moderate or fast action. Fin and Feathers on this forum can give better advice than I on striper rod/reel/line. I have caught stripers to 25 pounds on Texhoma using the rig I describe, but I suspect a 40 pound fish would punish you if you had anything other than a high capacity reel. I advocate using inexpensive cranks to troll. You will lose lures on ledges, edges, and humps even in a cleared lake. Rapala lures are excellent but pricey. I stick to Storm, Cotton Cordel, and Norman. For stripers and hybrids, I also suggest you purchase some bottom bouncers and set up plastic swim baits to trail the lead. An alternative would be a threeway swivel with a 2 ounce sinker dropper. Start your boat moving and let out line until the sinker ticks bottom then crank the handle twice. If fish are suspending over deeper water, go to a flat that is the depth you want to fish and use the same drop, tick, and crank method to set your depth, but count the number of times the line moves back and forth on the spool so you can repeat the depth. Good luck.

Thanks. That tallies with what I have seen developing.

I waved, but I was fine with what looked like determined fishing. We actually wound up crossing paths several times.

I fished both yesterday and today from dawn until noon. Both days I threw a DD22 for the first hour at flat edges hoping to provoke an early walleye bite. I had two hits and both were off almost as fast as they were on. Yesterday I hooked a good fish early on a crawler harness but it came unstuck before I saw it. Later in the morning I trolled a crank at 28 feet through some submerged brush on a hump and hooked a walleye I would estimate at 24 inches. My own clumsy net handling knocked it loose. This morning I manged to land two walleye, 19 and 20 inches. Both hit trolled crank baits in brush. One at 22 feet and the other at 28. Water temp was up to 81 by noon, and the wind really picked up. I called it a morning.

In Arkansas, the legislature has set a minimum tax rate counties must assess for cost of eduction. Naturally, every county has set the minimum as their rate. In all but three districts, that minimum equals less than the amount the legislature has allocated for per student funding so the general budget is used to make up the difference. The Department of Education maintains that the three districts that collect more than their allocation must give the excess to the Department of Ed and cannot keep it. That issue is in litigation. Where to prioritize funding from limited resources is a problem all states and the feds face right now - especially in the face of those who would reduce the revenue stream Any day I expect some bozo to suggest that hunting and fishing be banned because it costs the government so much money

@ Bill: I dropped by Hook, Line, and Sinker and picked up some DD22's and one same size Fat Free Shad. I will crank the edges of the flats I have been fishing. I might as well try the method. Are you sticking the rod down in the water to get extra depth?

I don't know - wrench may despise Evinrudes, too. But I am very happy with my ETEC.

Yes, I catch walleye. Sometimes, very large walleye. But TR does not support many hundreds of thousands of 14 inch "eaters." You have to work at it.

I had a good trip. Thanks. In real life I am Randy and I teach at the middle school.

I think this year is way different. At this time last year, the top water bite was just starting. I think the 60 fish days are done. I believe will will have the occasional good day here and there - all weather based. I also think I will keep a rod armed for those white/black shad attacks that happen all summer.

Duck: Do you often put in at Holiday Island? I frequently see a yellow Bullet there.

Absolutely perfect morning. There was a bit of a chill and a hint of fog early. I did not see another boat in the first 40 minutes and that one was the only one for another hour. Only thing is - the bass didn't want to hit top water baits. I caught six, but all of them would fit in a quart milk carton together. Only other thing is - keeper bass were really hungry on the places I chose to fish harnesses for walleye. I suspect a jig and trailer fished on gnarly drop offs in 23 to 28 feet of water would be bitten. I fished down to Big M and had one 23 inch walleye to show for my effort. It gobbled a harness in 29 feet of water near a drop off.

So there are coyote ugly motors, too?

That appears to have all the features for $80.

I went out early this morning for the first time in over two weeks. The wife and I drove 4720 miles and were in 22 states and the District of Columbia. We visited both children and her mother (our remaining parent) I had 1 bite on top this morning. That's right. One. It was a 2 or 3 pound smallmouth and it decided to not visit the boat. Nice jump, though. I worked hard to catch one crappie and one keeper walleye. The other walleye I caught was just under legal length. The keeper measured 24 inches and weighed around 4.5. Both walleye hit a silver wiggle wart traveling 19 feet deep (125 feet of 10/2 braid) as I zig zagged a flat drop off into the channel. I marked large fish sitting at the bottom of those drop offs (26 to 35 feet) but could not entice them with trolled cranks or nightcrawler harnesses.

Sensitivity is dependent on graphite content, but not entirely. Other factors include total weight of the rod (lighter rods feel more sensitive), where the rod balance point falls ( a tip heavy rod feel feel less sensitive) and the handle build (if your fingers rest on the blank, the feel is greater) Go to tackle tour and read their archived articles that compare rods to a base line (usually a well known Loomis). They have done a series for swim bait rods, finesse rods, and regular rods.

Except for boats involved in collisions and trailer fall offs, I've never seen a broken transom like that. Glad you made it in safe.

I have been spooled twice, I have had a slalom skier throw water into the boat, I've been swamped twice (back when I had a river boat), and I can't count the number of times I've had to take evasive action. I never expect to fish an area undisturbed and I wear my vest at all times. I have finally come to terms with the concept that common sense is uncommon and courtesy is a term only used with dower. (You'll have to google courtesy and dower to get that joke)

I will admit I have not fished Beaver for walleye. I fish TR. I have observed that 30 inch fish from this lake exceed the average weight for most other venues. The shad and bluegill in our White River system seem to be superior forage. Here at Holiday Island Marina, Chuck Etheredge has a 14.5 and I have a 13.75 as personal bests. Others have various 10's, 11's, and I know of a 12. This leads me to believe there are 15, 16, 17 pound fish already out there and waiting. There is no reason I know that Beaver cannot match this state of affairs. True, it is a bit more shallow, and a bit more prone to muddy ups and downs, but I don't think that is a deal breaker.

If you want to paddle a 12' Native Ultimate, come visit, and I'll drop you below Beaver so you can paddle and fish down to Houseman.

F and F is spot on with his advice, as usual. If the lake keeps dropping, somewhere around 910 you will begin to encounter shoals above Beaver and you will need to stay to the channel between Holiday and Beaver.

Your Xpress with a 25hp is perfect for the Holiday Island to Hwy 62 Bridge above Houseman Access section of the lake. In that stretch (10 miles), you can find all three species of bass, walleye, huge bluegill, trout, and crappie.- even in the 4th of July heat. Plus, the narrower width reduces the number of the big wake boats you will encounter. When I return home from this trip in another week to 10 days, I will fish and post about every other day.

a few special order leeches by internet, but they seem a chore to keep. Check out the Uncle Josh "meat" leaches.