rps

Welcome. There is a small, semi organized, but devoted walleye group that fishes the White River chain. I hope we meet up sometime.

I guess I could reply with a traditional, "I have an 18 foot Whatever with a Whichever motor and they are great!" However, I won't. Between my father and myself, we have owned 10 boats, a canoe, and two kayaks. They have ranged from a 14 foot jon boat with a 15 year old 18 horse Evinrude to a Mark Twain that had a Chevy V8 inboard/outboard arrangement. I have learned: No boat is perfect for all waters or all activities. Size, construction materials, hull shape, and interior lay out are attributes which vary by purpose and by budget. Therefore, the answer you seek requires you to make decisions and set priorities first. 1. How much are you willing to spend to buy the boat? How much more do you have to spend on upkeep and storage? 2. How often do you plan to use the boat? 3. Where do you believe you will use the boat the most often, and do you think that might change over time? 4. What will be your normal use of the boat, and does that normal use include different activities? 5. If you plan to tow the boat, how often, how far, and with what? 6. Are you the type of person who changes cars or changes interests every few years, or do you tend to keep cars for many years and you have and always will fish? 7. Do you have any physical limitations which might affect the selection? There are no wrong answers to these questions; there are only your answers. Once you can answer these questions, then you can shop more effectively. I just re-read what I wrote above. I hope I don't sound too pompous. I just wanted to suggest you think a few things through before you spend cash in tough economic times. Btw, if you simply wanted a straight response - I have an 16.5 foot Alumacraft Navigator with an Evinrude 75hp ETEC. It or something similar makes a very good, safe fishing boat for a riverine lake like Taneycomo. If I lived on that lake, I might have chosen something with a bit less power. I know many use similar rigs on that lake.

Thank you.

I bought tender tube jig heads (about number 2 hooks) for the flukes and trimmed them to fit.

I appreciate the loyalty so many of you show to your coaches. I will not argue basketball. I do not know or watch the sport past high school. However, you hurt me when you start to compare football coaches. Boomer Sooner.

I am preparing to share an anecdote. Like all my anecdotes it is absolutely, completely true - if you want it to be. Lest I offend any high brow purist, please know in advance that this anecdote is not about you or any of your friends. Those nobly called to the fly wand are practitioners of courtesy and grace. This anecdote is about the other guys. ;-) A group of us, some of whom are gone now, made a White River trip every year from the late 70's until the 90's. What began as a "Rowdy Boys drink beer and do some corn fishing" became more serious as time passed. It became our habit to arrange shuttles and fish artificials from near the dam to Buffalo Shoals. I remember clearly the first trip after that movie. It was a low water year with narrow, almost non-existent, chutes through the shoals. At every shoals until Ranchette there were at least 3 and sometimes as many as a dozen brand new fly fishermen, complete with tiny willow creels and exquisite wooden nets sized for Eastern Brook trout. Rim Shoals looked like a casting call for the musical stage version. Every last one of these wannabes stood square in the only chute through the shoals. When we asked them to move so we could pass, the kindest response we got was dagger looks. Larry, our most eloquent Rowdy Boy, dubbed them Wading Pukes. My God I was happy when the fad ebbed some.

A thing of beauty, sir.

I had scheduled a plumber for this morning, so I did not reach the marina until 11:15. Que the big wind machines. I headed way up river to hunt whites and walleyes. I also hoped to minimize the effect of the wind. Ha. Ha. Ha. All I did was arrange to fish wind tunnels. No matter what direction the river ran, the wind made a tunnel. At one point, I had the fluke on a 1/16 head land beside me. That was not the "funniest" moment. At another moment I had the rod in one hand with a bait sinking into a snag, the trolling motor fob in the other trying to keep the boat from ramming a pole timber, and the wind blew my OFA hat into the lake. I got the hat back, but lost the jig. In five hours I caught 6 small fish - white bass and black bass. I also relearned a bitter truth - I live on a lake. That means I don't have to humiliate myself in tough conditions.

Use Old Bay as the base plus add salt, coarse black pepper, a pinch of cayenne, and some onion and garlic powder. Bet that comes close to what you want. For a change, add the same ingredients to Jamaican Jerk Seasoning. Third variation: start with Cavenders Greek Seasoning. Bon Appetite.

Recent reports of success here have named: 3/8 to 1/2 jigs with craw trailers in the usual Ozark colors (green/brown/purple), warts in crawdad colors, smoke and avocado grubs scrubbed or swimmed on 1/4 heads, and shad and light purple stick baits. I might adjust the colors for the wart and stick baits for stained water.

Welcome Travis. We have all manner of fishermen on this board, including several enthusiastic cat fishermen.

I headed up to Houseman this morning, determined to find walleye/whites. By 2:30 I had zero fish. The area was busy despite it being a weekday, but I did not see many catches. Those I talked to said things were slow. Around 2:45 I watched a gentleman catch a huge white and then a 3+ pound walleye, both on a chartreuse pearl fluke. Met and talked to him later. Nice guy. His name is David Blackford.He was throwing the fluke on a 1/16 head and fishing it like a jerk bait with a fairly quick cadence. He reported the bait was pretty much his go to rig and that he caught two other walleye and several whites. Later in the afternoon I put on what I had to "match" his bait - a shad fluke on a lightly weighted fluke hook. I caught two huge white bass and a short walleye. I had several other hits, but couldn't connect. Water temp was 54 in the morning and 58/59 in the late afternoon.

Yesterday, the 21st, water temp reached 58 in the afternoon. It will hit 60 before the 31st, but I don't know if it will stay there.

I would imagine he uses the old fashioned Dacron braid. Cabelas sells it. It does not deteriorate quickly, packs tight, and makes a great backing. Use two uni's to tie together. MODIFIED 3/21: Cabelas sells Prestige Dacron Braid in 20 lb. test at $15 for 500 yards.

Amen.

Second day of Spring Break today. Much warmer than Saturday but sunny. And after glass like conditions until 9:30, the wind became very strong. I went up river to try and find white bass and walleye. I don't like foot control trolling motors - my balance is not that good. For years I ran a bow mount hand steer. When I bought this boat, I put one of the digital Minn Kotas on so I can steer from the rear when I troll and I keep the foot pedal at the house. Today it was position the boat, cast and retrieve, reposition the boat. Flat wore me out. I threw a white grub jig, a silver buddy, and a flicker shad today. Two large mouth and two white bass. I kept thinking I would pick up more white bass or a crappie, but at day's end I released the two in the well. At least this time of year, they stay healthy in the well. Well above Beaver the water temp was 53.5. At HI it hit 54.8 by the time I pulled out.

All three creeks flow in upriver of Eagle Rock. My best days with a wart have all been at water temps below 60. I don't think it will hit 60 by the 31st, but I know the weather gods love to make fools of those who predict. Even if the water temp stays in the 50's, wind, or it's absence, and sunlight can change a wart bite to lock jaw in a moment. I made a fall trip to Aunt's Creek. I seem to remember a number of banks that looked like what I fished today, including one directly across from the Highway OO launch.

I fished Haddock, Cedar, and Leatherwood Creeks today as well as two long banks on the main channel. Between 9:00 and 4:00 I found 50 - 51 degree water. I used a V38 original style wiggle wart, a white grub, and a Spro McStick in a lite purple/gold. I found fish on 45 degree chunk rock banks, especially if there was timber or laydowns, in 4 to 8 feet of water. I caught 18 spotted and large mouth bass. The two largest were 16 and 17 inches. Three others barely measured 15 inches. Only two were less than 12 inches. The wart was the weapon and they wanted a slow retrieve that knocked the bait into something. None of the fish were gullet hooked - all were lip hooked. My assumption is that the collision with something and the erratic motion created, triggered strikes. I am sure I had a big fish lure in my boat, but I find it difficult to leave a pattern that is working to experiment.

On the assumption you will C and R, I suggest the following. When the pressure affects the fish, switch locations. Fish BS or Beaver, or up here at the ugly top end of the lake. 50+ river miles from the weigh in makes a huge difference. A difference in the number of tournament fishermen, not in the numbers or quality of fish.

Rangerman posted about a zone on the Kings with warmer water that held many bass and some whites and walleyes. Sounds to me like you need to find the same in that river or the James. The warm weather today and tomorrow could change things quickly.

Good for you! Anymore, during the summer I fish the morning topwater bite for bass and switch to walleye. From now until summer I will spend about half my days on the water solely seeking the walleye. They are amazing fish.

I haven't targeted cats on TR, but when I lived in Oklahoma, we fished rip rap for bridges and the dams during May. Had the best luck if the wind was blowing into or along the rocks.

Kudzu makes excellent greens.

Techo, seems to me the set of pictures featuring the largest number of very large fish was posted by Babler a couple years ago. Some place in the James River arm - I remember now. Aunt's Creek wasn't it? My honest answer? I would say far up Kings, James, or Long Creek. Far enough to be out of the daily pressure you see in Aunt's Creek or down by the dam. Some bluff to point transition with a great ambush, deep heavy snag cover, and an easy nearby spawning place that isn't an obvious bed fisherman target. To reach 10+,a fish has to avoid tournament and meat fishers that pull it away from home to weigh it or eat it. Having said that, I will admit my largest TR fish came form the tree tops at the point where the Kings flows into the White. I assume almost everyone reading this topic would fish that transition.

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