rps

Chris Farris' answer is dead accurate. I can only add that if the lake is up and in the willows when you arrive, try a big blade pitched into the tangle and retrieved. As it leaves the trees, kill it in case you have a follower. Good luck.

Awesome post with great pictures. Save these for later.

My back porch in the Ozarks is covered in snow, and I can't begin to say how happy I am. (I don't know how to make the emotican that means tongue in cheek.) All I know is I want to finish school soon.

Old school answer: Browning still makes a model called the Silaflex. Dad owned one he bought in the 60's, and I rebuilt it in the 80's. Good rods. Now days they sell for $40 and come with aluminum oxide guides. Their original advertising touted their parabolic action. This just might be what you are looking for.

Trav: Thanks for starting a good thread. Knowledge and time invested versus money and technology. How can one decide? BTW I hated paper graphs when they came out. Then I learned how to use them.

That's a good start for the year. Any year.

Dingy and cold water slow rolling? Black 3/8 oz. twin spin with copper or silver blades reeled only fast enough to keep the bait from hanging on the bottom. Look up War Eagle twin spins.

I can't play this game. I've never bought a LC bait of any kind. Nor have I bought a Megabass. I guess I am too cheap. Topwater: Xcaliber Jimmy and Xcaliber Zell Pop. (If you are willing to change out hooks and tie feathers, the Spook wins) Jerk Bait: Spro McStick, Xcaliber Twitch Jigs: Jewell Jewell Jewell Jewell Jewell Jewell Jewell

Just ordered a new boat. The 898si was the compromise I made for myself for the rear sonar. The way I figure it, someone owes me a piece of their commission.

I have ordered a new boat (I admit insanity runs in my family) and the not really old boat must go on sale. 2006 Xpress HD18CC with 90 HP Yamaha two stroke with stainless prop, one year old 24 volt Minnkota Riptide ST 80 lb. troll motor with remote control, two Humminbird 525 sonars, and an Xpress aluminium trailer. Three batteries (two are one year old)and an on-board three bank charger are included. I also have a custom canvas cover for the center console and a butt lean front deck seat. Most of its life the boat has been on a lift at Holiday Island Marina. I have had the motor serviced every year. No dings in the hull. Some minor dock rash on the edges. Interior is a textured spray on similar to pick up bed liners and the entire boat can be power washed. I plan to take pictures and list this on craigslist next week. I will ask $9750 when I do. If you are interested, PM me or call me 479 244 5278.

Apologize for kidnapping your thread, but I'm putting my 2006 Xpress HD18CC with 90hp 2strk Yamaha on the market. Its in good shape and has some extras. I'll be asking less than $10k. You might research them and consider saving some money. Just a thought.

Search this forum for stick bait or jerk bait. also search on wiggle wart. Both searches will give colors as well as how and where to fish them. In March I also have a rod rigged with a jig head grub and another with a spinnerbait for slow rolling. Good luck.

I buy 4 and 5 inch grubs. If I need a smaller profile I bite the first inch off. BTW, over the years, I have had as much success with straight tail grubs as curl tail.

Smallest split ring possible. Best idea for line joins, hook joins, and all else.

french accent: Increcible'

I've been using VMC barbarians for the last year. Very sharp and sticky. Cabelas sells them in 25 packs.

"Show him a bunch of pictures of women with pictures of his wife in the mix, when his wifes picture pops up he gets a treat, when one of the other women's pictures pop up he gets a painful zapping of some kind? Or maybe it's some kind of brainwashing, if you watched that speech he did seem robotic and wooden, maybe his mind is now in the control of others." Hey, I saw that movie too! Clockwork Orange, right?

Add to your list: Spavinaw Creek, 14 Mile Creek, and the tail water at Copan

Home made pizza. Dough from scratch, chicken, arugula, mushroom, black olive artichoke, fresh tomato, five cheese. :-)

I have nearly eliminated spinning equipment from my tool set. I would entirely if I could find and rig an outfit to throw 1/16 and 1/32 ounce jigs for crappie and trout. Try rigging the spinning rigs with braid equal to the diameter (not the test) of the mono or fluorocarbon you wish to fish. Then use an Alberto knot to join the leader to the braid. Make sure the leader is just short of being reeled onto the reel spool.

The tournament fishermen are no different from the PWC and wakeboat drivers. Some are careful and considerate. Others are (fill this in yourself). Unfortunately, my life experience is that the latter will always outnumber the former. I pick my times and locations on the lake to minimize the number of chances they have to make me mad.

To answer your question: That depends. If there has been recent rain (not snow melt) the Kings tends to color until the runoff reduces. Once the runoff ceases, the river is only marginally more colored than the White. Of course the gully washers of the last two Springs colored the White as well as the Kings. Personally, I don't like to fish cold, dirty water - never have done much good - so in the Spring I'll head where the water is clearer. Can't speak for lower lake - it has been many years since I fished down there - but early March offers options at the upper end. The winter walleye run above Beaver doesn't end until the last part of the month. The jerk bait fishing in the Eagle Rock to Big M section is outstanding, and places like Butler Creek, Owl Creek, Panther Creek, and Rock Creek offer some good blade bait fishing from time to time. Best of all, the water up here is outstanding wiggle wart territory. If I had the money I'd hire someone to show me that section of the lake on the first day.

be afraid. be very afraid.

Eureka Springs, with all its attractions for wife and family, is on the upper end of Table Rock. Many excellent and quaint places to stay. Good ramps at Holiday Island (15 minutes from Eureka) and Eagle Rock (25 minutes from downtown) plus you can book one of the guides who post here and fish the Kings or Shell Knob with less than 45 minutes of driving.

Dutch: You are so cynical - correct though.