rps

I have used the technique on the long J hook point at the mouth of Rock Creek. It works well for the spots there. So far it has not given me any walleyes.

Bill, Never meant to jinx you. I was trying to be funny. I am sure you will bounce back next trip.

Sorry Jason, but I am at the bifocal/prescription sunglasses stage.

Two of my favorite ponds, when I was young, were on Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa. You just had to make sure you didn't try to fish during the U.S. Open or the PGA.

What he said.

In my younger years (1972 - 1980) I fished often from a tube. I found flippers to be difficult and switched to the step in, strap on, side foot folding paddles.

Ho Hum. Babler reports another incredible day. Doesn't he realize he has put himself in a Bob Stoops or Barry Switzer situation? If he can't produce the same or better every trip the fans will grow restive. (Sorry about the Sooner football comparison. I know over here in the land of Jayhawks, Tigers, and Razorbacks, it's more about basketball. But then I am short and don't understand basketball.)

I have used this mold to make twin spin spinner baits. The choice of head sizes would seem to fit your description of your first focus. A 1/4 ounce head with a 1/0 hook and a light wire with a #1 or #2 Colorado blade will be a crappie killer. For bluegill, you might have to go smaller. 3/8 and 1/2 are prime bass spinner bait weights. I make mine with deer hair and tinsel tails rather than silicone skirts, but that's just me trying to recreate the old Shannon Twin Spin. http://www.jannsnetcraft.com/do-it-spinnerbait-molds/025724032403.aspx

At this end, generation out of Beaver makes a difference. Not only can you see flow and eddies, it also affects water temp. Chuck Etheridge's favorite walleye stretch is more productive after noon when the Beaver flow reaches it.

This app is the topic of multiple discussions on Walleye Central. Word has it he (Mark Romanack) will charge for each lure you download. That seems a bit harsh, even if its 99 cents per lure. I have a copy of the last printed edition and use it often. Here is a make do method: 1. Always use the same line. I use 10# Power Pro Depth Hunter braid which changes color every 25 feet. 2. Find a flat that stays fairly level. 3. Start with 2 or 3 lures - I would suggest an original series Wiggle Wart, a 7 cm Berkley Flicker Shad, and a Norman Deep Little N. All three are inexpensive and work great on multiple species. 4. Find out how many feet (colors) you must let out from the rod tip for each of the three baits to hit bottom at 10, 15, 20, and 25 feet. BTW Only the Deep Little N and the Wiggle Wart can hit bottom at 25 on 10# test braid. 5. On the separate Plano boxes you use to store the different colors of each bait, write down the feet from tip required to hit the depths. You will be able to fine tune (17 feet will be not quite half the difference between 15 feet and 20 feet) on the fly. Good luck.

I threw the Buckeye in my (large) box of lures in disfavor. I call it the box of shame. I ordered a Jackall Mikey Jr. from Tackle Warehouse. At under $20 it was a bargain!

Super!

Oh My Goodness. Why does television not deliver this any more/?

My bad. Somewhere in the dark past of my mind I heard a comedy routine (I think it may have been the Smothers Brothers - my how I miss them - about how mom favored one child over another. "Tom got a pony. Did I get a pony? Noooo.") Someone help me out here. Who did the routine and when?

If you read back through my posts, you will discover I am a picky son of a gun. I make or have rods made. I fiddle with lures. I have systems I use. I test and experiment with reels. I read Tackle Tour. I am opinionated about lines. Fins defy me. I can't find a reason to buy 100 lures, modify them, and wind up with 20 that work. (Those number come from Babler's experiments) 100 X $6 + $2 additional hardware + labor = $800 plus labor. 20 baits that work => cost per effective lure = $40 + labor?

Thank you for the report. Depth on the drag baits?

:-) Tell Beck well done!

F & F got it in one. At H. I. you are minutes from a town that lives on tourism. That means restaurants and attractions. However there is no Branson style traffic. We are one hour from an airport that lands jets. Drs. Kresse and Bell provide great local medical care and the fancy heart/cancer/joint doctors are an hour away by car in Walmart town (Bentonville) and 15 minutes by life flight. Houses are cheap, taxes are low, and $10,000 goes a very long way in this part of Arkansas. Nancy and I researched your question in 2000. We looked at Austin (too expensive) Grove and Jay, Oklahoma (nothing to do) Hot Springs, AR on Lake Hamilton or Ouachita (definite contender but jobs didn't materialize) as well as Bull Shoals and Mountain Home (too far from civilization). In July 2002 I landed a job teaching in Eureka Springs. Both of us were here by 2003. We have never regretted the choice. BTW, my slip at H. I. marina costs me $750 per year and I paid $1200 to buy the lift in that slip. I don't worry about maintenance or lake rises or lake falls, If I walk across the street and look down the bluff, I can see the marina. Check my posts for bass and walleye pictures. I should get commissions for this kind of sales, right?

Now that is a compliment! And a curse. Or as the French say, "Touche."

Rodmaker: Deep but rewarding if you can dropshot, jig spoons, or fish at the dawn and dusk times.

Bought a Jitterbug this morning. Replaced the trebles with what I had in that size - Gama EWG. Tomorrow morning I will use it. I will throw my beloved Top Dollar with the other rod. We will see which calls the fish.

Yes, I was fishing the wrong lake at the wrong places. Except I loved every minute.

Bill, Days like you describe must make you feel wonderful. Very happy clients, including a kid! Well worth the boat scrub out, right?

Bill got lots of ponies. Quillback got ponies. Others got ponies. Did I get a pony? No. This morning I tied on a Buckeye wake bait. It makes a great wake and looks beautiful in the water. Did I catch a fish with it? No. I threw it for an hour on pole timber bluff ends and way out on pea gravel points. Frustrated , I began to alternate casts between a Ned rig and a jika rig. I fished from 2 foot to 30 foot. Did I catch a fish? No. I fished the plastic for more than an hour. By now it was 9:00 AM and I had not put anything - even a bluegill - in the boat. I threw my hand made custom rods with Revo MGX's and Lew's Tournament Pro's down in the bottom of my boat in disgust. (Actually, I was pretty careful. Those rigs are expensive!) I began to hunt walleye where I found fish two days ago, gravel inside bends at 10 feet. Guess where they weren't? Around 10:30 I began to find fish. I finished with 6 walleye. One was maybe a foot, four were between 16 and 17.5 inches. I had one 21.5 inch fish to clean. All on worm harnesses. Today's depth was 15 to 17 feet and the magic was bumps on flats.