pstone

We put in at Cape Fair this morning at about 10:00. Water temp was 58 degrees and there was a pretty good breeze most of the time. I threw a couple of crankbaits and only caught 3 and had 1 come off. No keepers, but a Kentucky bass was close. Caught the bigger one on a gravel dawg (green gourd) and the others on a rock crawler (stone cold and red craw). Fished steeper, rocky banks with a little wind blowing in. It was tough for us today. My friend caught a 3 lb LM on a wobble head with a Berkley craw near a dock in about 30 ft of water. High skies all day, but decent wind and thought we would do better. Saw quite a bit of shad, mostly out in middle of coves/creek and tried to get them take a swimbait but had no luck with that. We put the boat on the trailer about 2:15. Most of the fish I saw on the Livescope were out deep today. It was a bit chilly all day.

I certainly will submit a report if I do get out.

Thanks for the update, Dutch! Gonna be chilly Friday but I might get out for a little while. Wanted to see if the rock crawler bite is any good yet.

Dutch, did you guys launch out of Cape Fair? I thought about heading down there Friday about mid morning. Might need to wait a bit.

Report on Friday showed 55 in the Kings River. I was out last Tuesday and it was 62 in Indian Point area.

Went out yesterday morning and put in at Cape Fair. Found tons of shad, mostly near the surface and bass were under them and feeding. I followed the shad balls on my livescope and threw a 2.8 swimbait and caught 8 or 9. 2 or 3 keepers, 1 largemouth and the rest kentuckies. I was outside a cove near Wooley Creek in 50-60 feet of water for the most part. Water temp was 66 degrees. The wind came up pretty stout and I tried spinnerbait and rock crawler on the banks but had no luck. I also caught 1 on a pee wee football jig in about 15 feet. Should start getting good here soon as the water temps go down some more. I did try topwater (walking bait) a little bit but no bites. Good luck everyone!

I believe it's actually 91, but no ethanol.

I get it at the Signal station in Nixa

Thanks, Champ for the input. I'm actually Perry Stone, not Phillip. I wish I could fish like Phil! I decided to run 0 ethanol in this engine after talking with lots of folks including a tech at Mercury. I can get it at a couple of places in Nixa which is handy for me.

Thanks, Wrench!

Looking for advice and input. I just bought a 2022 Phoenix 819 Pro with a Mercury 200 HP Pro XS 4 stroke engine. The manuel says regular 87 octane is fine and the guy I bought it from has had this for about a year or so and that is all he used and it ran fine. I've spoke with a couple of Marine centers in the area and the consensus is best scenario is use zero ethanol if possible. Some say it's OK to use regular unleaded (87 or 91 octane) but add an additive from Mercury or Sea foam to treat the ethanol. I fish year round so the boat won't sit for long periods of time. Appreciate any opinions/advice on best fuel option for this engine.

Yeah, I thought the wind might help some on the bite. I had several bump the spook but not eat it. The one I caught hit it 4 times before he finally got hooked. Better days ahead hopefully.

I was launching the same time you were. If I had know that was you guys, I would have spoke up! Always enjoy your posts!

were you guys in the Nitro Z20? I was the other guy there this morning in the Nitro 929. I had a tough day too. I went down the lake to about buzzard. Only caught 3- 2 keepers. 1 on spook early; 1 on flutter spoon and 1 on C rig. Saw lots of shad and fish, just couldn't get enough bites.

I will certainly echo Quill's comments, Bill. I have always appreciated and enjoyed your reports as they are always detailed and you just can't find that kind of information anywhere. I would bet my last penny the vast majority of readers on this post have enjoyed your posts and are missing them now! Bill, I respect your thoughts and I wish you the best in everything you do in the future! I might try that pickleball sometime!