rps

Sorry I am on so late. The bass are 26 to 30 feet deep , especially if the roll off to the channel is right at that depth.

They have been around a long time. I don't know the real deal, but I believe they somehow got mold copies without getting sued and shutdown. FWIW, a little over a year ago I found a sale on them and bought a fist full. You cannot tell them from original series warts except for the line tie. However, the percentage of baits that needed tuning to run straight approached 50%, and I found some I never could get tuned.

Welcome. You will find a small, but dedicated, walleye group on this board. Table Rock, Bull Shoals, and Stockton are among the excellent lakes for walleye in the Ozarks. I am a cross over fisherman. I bass fish and fish for walleye. We all hope you learn to love our Ozark fisheries.

Johnboy: From Big M on up, the lake is narrower and much more shallow. Not many real danger points, but a few if the water is low. (And it's headed there right now) The plus side is the fishing. More LM, larger walleye, and fewer yachts.

Look closely at pictures. You will see the bend is different and the hook point aims in a different direction.

Somewhere after our first boat, I guess we all become accustomed to the idea our rides are always an ongoing project. First this, then that, etc. I have sometimes wondered about the timing though. Very cold, very hot, very wet, and very broke seem to be the best times for a needed immediate repair, right?

Saturday I went upriver to cooler water. I was hoping to break my dry spell on walleye. Did semi split shift fish as a battery died after about 15 minutes. A 24 volt motor on 12 volts is sad. I suspect the battery was too long on the shelf before they put it in my new boat last May. Did a warranty swap out in Cassville and went back on the water. Caught trout, but I wasn't fishing for them. Sunday I stayed around Holiday Island. Stumbled on some spotted bass chopping shad around 9:00 and caught five. No keepers hooked up, but I did have one explosion on the topwater that got my heart beating. Finally found walleye, but not where I started looking. The ones I found weren't down 30+ feet. They were at 20 feet in tree tops. Basically you had to troll a crank at 20 feet and rip it out of tree tops. The hits came after the rip. Four non keepers plus this 25.5 inch male. Two more days of teacher training, Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday I'll fish. Thursday is the first day for kids.

good idea about the sticky, techo.

The mink are all over the area around the marina. Alan, the concessionaire, has people live trap them and release them away from the marina because they pull fish onto the docks, but under the walkways, to feed. The residue plus their scat stink. The deer, geese and the mink thrive and enjoy the no hunting/no trapping rules of Holiday Island. Many residents do not.

The politics of education defy explanation, but between the competing camps, the net result is more school days, more teacher training days, and more criticism. If it weren't for the kids, I would quit. Fortunately, the kids are great and worth the time and effort.

You know how, in the Spring, the water does not warm up as fast as the days? It takes quite a while for the heat to warm the huge body of water through. In the fall the process is reversed, and it takes quite a while for the cold weather to chill the water. Some of the best topwater fishing of the year will occur in the fall. I can hardly wait!

First time I had a bat strike my line I was in a float tube - you know, the tire inner tube inside a canvas cover with a sling seat. Creeped me out something fierce. You know, I was really dumb in those days. I would no more go out in a pond after dark in tube now days than I would jump from an airplane - with or without a chute.

From here on I am a weekend warrior. I will try to add information where I can.

Cleared the buoys at Holiday Island at 6:05. Started fishing the devils backbone at 6:25. Worked my way from Big M back to the 86 bridge before I quit. The net result? Six species, 15 fish, and a dry net. Actually the three bluegill were large and the one white bass was nearly 2 pounds. The three kinds of brown and green bass and the one walleye were all short. Marked many fish 28 to 34 feet of water, especially on roll offs, but just couldn't get the large ones to bite. Water temp was over 90 by 8:00 AM. I report for teacher training Wednesday and the kids" first day is Thursday week. Maybe the boat traffic will lessen for the rest of you.

My largest ever came from a pond. Forty years ago. Now days I would release it. Back then I took it home to brag and eat. I wonder how many out there caught their largest on a pond. Speak up if you did.

I may head for colder water this afternoon.

My Granma always said, "If you can't say something nice about someone, don't say anything." I went out Wednesday and Friday and can't say anything nice. Still, maybe some of the information will help. Both days I stayed above the 86 bridge and tried a variety of tactics for walleye. (Right now I am not even fishing for bass) Five shorts in a total of 10 hours of fishing. Trolled cranks, bounced the bottom, and dragged a death rig with agonizing slowness. Other information someone else may be able to use - surface water temp was 84 - 88 unless you went up river of the Beaver bridge; there is a lower level cold water layer as far down river as Holiday Island because of the generation and trout are easy to catch that far down river; the water is falling a few inches a day from generation; bass (spots) are hanging at 28 feet in tree tops and on drop offs, although I caught nothing over 16 inches; high numbers of ski/wake board rigs out, even for weekdays, but I did not experience any rude behavior - just a little ignorance type stuff. On Friday I did have one good thump bite on a purple 900 reef runner at 30 feet on the edge of a timber line in 35 feet of water. I put the motor in neutral, stood up and fought the fish maybe 20 to 30 seconds. Felt like a good walleye. Then I felt the hooks pull out. I had time to think, "oh shucky darn," and suddenly a fish was on! The second fish was a snag hooked spot. I assume the spot got excited and was following the fish I had on, like they do, and then got snagged when the hooks came out of the first fish. I wanted the first one back. Hope you all do better than I did.

The wife and I made out first visit to Broken Bow in 1974. From then until the 90's it was our favorite lake destination. In some ways I wish Table Rock were more like there.

Circle hooks minimize the number of fish who swallow the bait. Thread the worm or mold the PB around the hook; when you have a bite, start reeling. The line will pull the hook into the corner of the fish mouth. Very high hook up ratio and better than 9 out of 10 hooked in the side of the mouth. Have a great trip.

Lots of houses and condos at Holiday Island for rent. Contact Don Eiler 479 253 7255. He and his wife have an inventory. Also try Island Rentals 888 443 7741. You and the wife can do interesting crafts, arts, or saloon things in Eureka when you are not on the water. PM me for food locations.

his on line and corporate name is fish of excellence. Nice guy. I will get more details about method when I see him next, if he doesn't post them himself.

I recently junked a year old Shimano Curado after its second breakdown. My three year old Citica is still a very good reel, as are my older Curados. I bought an Okuma Serrano to replace the junked reel, and it has impressed me mightily. Like Shimano Okuma has a price point reel to compete with the Citica. It is named the Cayenne. Look at it. Hope these comments help.

Saw a cigarette boat earlier in the week too. Four people in cute red uniforms and helmets. I wondered what they thought they were going to do, race to Bermuda? The gas fill up bill has to be astonishing.

The cross country and track coach at Eureka Springs sold his boat some years ago. When I bought the new boat last May, he was full of questions and I promised him a trip. Today I made good on that promise. After his church we went out to find fish. For reasons that surpass explanation, I decided to take him to the Devils Backbone. The ride there was surreal. PWC, wakeboats, ski boats, runabouts, pontoons, and even a cigarette boat were all over the lake with more than half pulling tubes, knee boards, skiers, or empty ropes. Once there we guzzled water, trolled worms at 1 mph (26 feet deep), sweated, told stories, and managed to catch two legal walleye. His was larger than mine. It was perfect. I cleaned the fish and sent him home around 5:30. You should have seen his face. I had a great day.

I have a slip at Holiday Island, one of the commercial docks off limits to fishing. As I walk to the boat, almost every time for the last two weeks, I have seen multiple keeper bass. I saw one that would have been anyone's kicker fish. They tend to hang under the main middle dock way and favor slips that have boats in them, the kind of locations you would pitch to instead of cast or skip to.