rps

I have a friend with a boat at Eagle Rock. He finally reached the top of the list to acquire a lift. He hasn't been able to get to the boat since March 19th because of the high water. In addition, the storms ripped several of the docks loose and took off roofing. The out of state owner has not yet begun repairs and has no apparent intent to buy or rig walkway access. Needless to say, my friend is not a happy camper.

Panhead: you all, yall, yawl, yahhl - all are correct, provided you add heahr, as in, "You all come back now, heahr?" Of course, once you master this phrase you must begin to work on "fixin to" "seement" "tar arn" "peecan" and how and when to add "bless his heart" to take the sting out calling someone something harsh.

I'm glad you enjoyed your trip and caught some nice fish. TR was my vacation choice for many years before the wife and I moved over. Funny, we don't vacation much now that we are here.

If you like the Maxima - and I fished it for years - try the Yozuri Hybrid green. Very similar feel, smaller diameter and a little less stretch at an inexpensive price. The flouro coating seems to help it resist water logging and deterioration. Try the double palomer knot. Make two overhands before you drop the hook through the loop. Because of the extra overhand, be sure you wet the line before you pull it snug.

Fished about four hours on Saturday morning and another three on Sunday. I spent maybe two of the hours Saturday in the trees. I saw lots of big fish on beds - all carp. I flipped a creature and threw little short casts with a spinnerbait. I will readily admit I am not a good jungle fisherman. I have always preferrred clear water highland lakes where structure meant bottom contours. Fate rewarded my skill. I caught nothing. I moved out to points and fought the wind while swimming a grub and dragging a jig. I marked bait fish at 10 to 15 feet and suspended larger fish at 20 to 28 feet. What I did not do was catch anything. Sunday afternoon I did not tree fish. I threw a blue pearl pepper grub and dragged a june bug fish doctor. Took one dink on the fish doctor and caught two spotted bass on the grub. One of the grub fish was just under and the other was a fat 17". I did have a number of followers on the grub so I kept trying different retrieve speeds as well as stops, starts, etc. Both fish that bit hit the grub when I paused and let it fall a foot or two. The bites felt more like hitting a leaf than strikes. Maybe if I had more time I could have figured out the key. Not an encouraging post, I know, but maybe the information can be useful.

Update on Holiday Island access. HISID bought four different small sections of walkway and added them to the existing sections. It looks jury rigged, but it is safe and works. As a result, you can now launch and load without having to beach the boat. The courtesy dock portion of the marina holds two boats. The marina will open before Memorial Day and will have boat gas etc. Don't know what the plans are as far as pontoon and boat rentals. The debris in the lake may cause them to be slow to start rentals. For those of us with slips, this is a huge, good thing! :-)

If it works this link is to a video of the Mikey Jr. in action on the Tacklewarehouse web site. http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/videos/JMKJR.html?pcode=JMKJR

The amazing part is that Mikey Jr.s are not the most expensive. Check out the Xcalibur XW6 wakebaits, the Deps Buzzjet Jr., the ima Roumba, and the Strikeking King Shad. Last winter I found the Mikey Jr. on sale for less than $10 and felt as if I had hit the jackpot. They came with quality hooks and did not require any modification. Now, if I can only find the right time and place.

When I used to practice, I always considered prompt payment of my bill to be all the tip I needed.

Holiday Island: OK but easier loading with two people or waders. Parking for 30+ rigs. Beaver: Closed Add a note to Eagle Rock SP that loading is easier with two people or waders. Don't know the status of the launch at Eagle Rock marina but suspect it is similar.

Yes, there is usually a very good topwater bite in early June. Be on the water as soon as you can see to drive the boat. Use spooks, chugbugs, and wakebaits. (There are some good threads on redfins in the archives). Unless it is overcast, the bite normally quits shortly after the sun hits the water. In normal water years, I then switch to plastics and fish the 15 to 25 foot range. Right now water 15 feet deep is in the middle of forests. I don't know if that will be true in four weeks, but I suspect it will be. I don't know if the fish will move out and down as usual or stay up in the cover. For the answers to those questions, this forum will be your ticket. Hope you have a great trip.

The nearest local dealer to me is in Golden, Mo. I did not buy there though. I sent email requests for prices to about five dealers in Mo., Ar., Ok., and La. I wound up with the best deal in Shreveport.

I have owned and fished out of an Xpress 18' center console H2 for two years. Love the boat! I have a two stroke 90hp Yamaha on it. If I were to do over I would put a four stroke 115 on it and buy a T8 for trolling for walleye. Dry ride, stable stand up fishing platform, nearly indestructible. Look at my blog for a little peek of the rig. Good luck.

kcangler: Anyone with the sense to find and read this forum is, by definition, not part of the entertainment. I am an upper end type - Holiday Island. I can only tell about the two ramps open up here, Holiday Island and Eagle Rock SP. Both can be used but are flat because of the water height. Eagle Rock has parking for maybe ten or twelve rigs. Holiday Island has parking about 100 yards from the ramp for 30 or 40 rigs. Assuming the ramps at the other end of the lake are in similar circumstances, my advice would be to come a little early and put in Friday and motor to the marina before the entertainment arrives. Another thought would be to fish Taney for a change. Another thought would be to not tow the boat and use the gas savings to hire Bill, Don, or Eric. Regardless of what you decide, I hope you have a fabulous trip.

Don and Champ: Sorry you got bit that way, but I am reassured. I am not the only one on the forum to "hook up." See my blog for the story.

I have fished parts of Memorial Day the last several years - usually from can't see until skidoo. After I come in, I often hang around the ramp and drink cold soda while laughing at the ramp antics of the twice a year crowd. This year promises to be different. First, I can't predict how much the high water will affect the travel to the lake crowd. Same number but fewer places to launch and park? Smaller number but still too many for the available ramps and parking? Everyone stays home and the fishermen can stay out? I can say this. I will be there Saturday morning to watch the madness. Can you imagine the fun when, in an attempt to launch Miss Behavin II on a shallow ramp, he or she backs the Hummer clear out in the lake? What will we see when Herman arrives with family and 'toon boat and finds all spaces are full and two doofus' have made up parking spaces in the approach to the ramp? I can hardly wait. Do you think they will let me sell tickets and popcorn?

I read recently that the strongest knot with braid was a double palomer. You put the loop through twice rather than once before you drop the bait through the loop. Tried it. Works great! Before trying it I used the uniknot. Hope one or the other suits you.

Definitely a keeper.

Today I fished a new to me lake. Everyone who has been on the water since the rise is now used to the new look. I was amazed. And somewhat thwarted. I put in at Eagle Rock so I wouldn't have to drive the boat so far to reach the long gravel points near Panther Creek. A solo launch was challenging but possible. WARNING: If you don't have waders with you, you better not mind wet feet if you are going to solo load. Seven bites today. Five fish on. Four in the boat. One squeaker keeper. All spotted bass. All came off jigs on the bottom from water between 20 and 26 feet deep. No bites on a swimming grub. Nothing on the spinner bait. All the water clear of drowning trees was too deep for a wart. I guess if you want to fish a wart, you have to fish in someone's former yard. There aren't nearly as many of those at this end of the lake as down by the dam. I get the feeling I never really dialed in the pattern. The fish that bit were very aggressive, I just couldn't find size or numbers. I will not be surprised to read that others had fabulous days catching. Still, it was a great day to be out, and even a tough day is better than not fishing.

Tomorrow, for the first time since March 17th, I will fish. While my boat was marooned and other obligations prevented rescuing it, I read the posts daily. I have imagined the action as the bite went from almost jerk bait through big blades behind the trees and on the docks, then on to slow rolling grubs for suspended fish, and yesterdays football jig bite on long points at about the old waterline. I have tied on a grub, a football jig, a blade bait, a wake bait (just in case), and a wart (just in case). I will be fishing the upper end, of course, and we will see if things are the same for me up here. Regardless, thanks to all of you for such enormous detail and specifics. I at least feel I have a starting point. I have hopes of posting a fishing report tomorrow evening, as opposed to a water condition report.

I have discovered there are trade offs that make you choose from a list of factors based upon what is important to you and to where you are. Let me give examples. Some lines, including the one I fish 99% of the time, are strong and durable, but they are not as limp as Trilene XL. You have to be more careful in spooling, reeling, and using them or you run the risk of twists and backlash. Fluorcarbon is very clear and has a smaller diameter. However I can't get it to hold up to the way I tie knots and fish baits. My breakoff percentage is way too high. Also, it sinks which is a real negative for topwaters and suspend baits. Besides, it is very expensive. Other lines have quirks. For example Berkley Sensation and Iron Silk curl and turn into springs when they hit cold water. Bottom line - based on the choices I make - when I fish light lines in clear water, I fish the green Maxima or the Yozuri Hybrid in either clear or green. Both are very tough and durable without being well rope thick like Berkley Max. Neither is limp, but they hold great knots and don't seem to fall apart overnight. The trout guides below Bull Shoals tout the Maxima. I've fished Yozuri for nearly two years now. Every time I match it against a new line (Suffix, Gamma, Cajun Red, etc.), I go back to it. Of course, for others, the choices they make lead to different opinions.

I've said it before, but I will repeat. When it comes to the bad manners crowd - 28' cruisers running at near plane to make a wake for the grandchildren on jet skis, water skiers that think it is cool to spray boats they pass, people who park on the ramp, tournament boaters who fly blind on GPS in the fog, and others - we have only one solution. We need to spray where they breed.

Hey. Watch it you guys. You're going to make me remember how lucky I am to be here, instead of being grumpy about not fishing for a month.

Let's see. The current lake level is nearer 931 than 930. Rain is in the forecast. May is the traditional wet month around here. Eastern Arkansas has turned into a swamp that has Riceland and the rest screaming to hold the upper White water back so they can plant. The lake has to drop to 925 before you can use the marina ramp. The concessionaire running the marina (even though the marina has gas and electric service) has decided to ferry people to the marina according to a Mon, Wed, and Saturday schedule of 10-11 and 3-4 only. My last fishing day was March 17th, the day before the rains began. That's it. I have had enough. On Saturday, at precisely 10 AM, or whenever the concessionaire shows up, I will mount an expedition to go out and plug in my boat. At 3 PM, or whenever the concessionaire shows up, I will make a second expedition to start and motor my boat to its waiting trailer. I will load the boat and take it out of the lake. From then until what appears to be June, or even July, I will be launching and loading on an as needed basis. I'm sure glad I moved to the lake and paid an annual slip rental so I could "be fishing within five minutes of leaving my door."

Many dealers buy only packages - boats with specific brand and size motors and rigging. This makes negotiating even more difficult. What I finally did was to decide what combination or combinations of boat and motor would satisfy my requirements. I then put together a specification sheet and emailed it to every dealer who carried the lines within a distance I was willing to drive. I asked that they respond with a quote. The answers I received varied by nearly 20%. It costs nothing to try this. Hope this helps.