pstone

Don't have much to report, but thought I should contribute something. We put in at Cape Fair about 8:15. Fished down the lake to Wooley Creek. Tried chasing fish out deep with the scope but had no luck. Saw fish and shad, just nothing would cooperate on the minnow jighead and swimbait. Ended up catching 2 in Wooley on a flat side crankbait (red craw color). Both just under keeper size- LM and Kentucky. Tried jerkbait, craw on a wobblehead, finesse jig and A rig. Water temp was 47 when we got there and 49 when we left about 12:30. Bright skies and no wind until about 11:30 when a small breeze came up, when I caught the crankbait fish. Hoping it gets better in the next couple weeks. Water was a bit stained. Lots of rigs there- they had the ramp on the west end closed so all had to use the main ramp by the marina.

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!

Haven't contributed in a while, so wanted to post something. Only had 7 or 8, but 3 quality keepers. Caught 4 on a Surge shad wake bait, couple on a ned and the biggest keeper on the Ozark rig from Core tackle using a Berkley creature hog. first time using the ozark rig and really like how it slowly falls and spirals. I was using the 3/16 head. Bite really dropped off about 9:00 or so. water temp was 63-65. IMG_4918.HEIC IMG_4919.HEIC IMG_4921.HEIC

I’m fine with lowering the length limit on Spots

Happy Birthday, Bill! Appreciate all the great information you share on this site.

My Dad and I caught a bunch of goggle eyes in Wolfpen one Spring, about 9 years ago. He loved to eat those little dudes and we kept enough for him to have a mess. The biggest one I ever caught was in the little pocket near point 5 about 4 years ago. It came off right at the boat, but it had to be 14 inches. Happy New Year everyone! Thankful I made it through another year and looking forward to a new year and some good fishing in our beautiful Ozarks! Good luck this year to everyone.

Sorry to hear about Buster. Never met him, but knew of him and his skills. Will say a prayer for his family.

Thanks for the replies. I bit the bullet and paid Johnny and put in at Gages. Fishin wasn't too good for me. We only had a few hours and spent most of it searching for crappie. Didn't find many takers today. Did catch a Kentucky on a Rock Crawler in Blairs Branch but that was it on the cranker. Marked some good brush for future trips.

I'm assuming a guy can still launch at the old Long Creek Ramp down by what used to be Gage's? It's been awhile since I put in there, and I believe you have to pay $5 to get through Johnny's gate. Was going to head down there tomorrow. Thanks for any feedback/confirmation.

That is pretty cool. I've been a Mizzou fan my whole life and it's great to see the program turn around. They should take care of the Hogs if they play clean. It won't be easy as this game is the Hogs season and they will be plenty fired up.

We hung around after the game for a bit. My older sister that lives in Columbia was with us and she can't walk long distances so I parked in the Handicap lot behind Hearnes center. They have shuttles that take you to and from the lot to the Northeast corner of the stadium. By the time we got to the SUV, they had traffic humming pretty good out of there. We take 63 south through Jeff City to 54 at LOZ then 5 to Lebanon. About 2.5- 2.75 hrs. to Springfield from Columbia. Roads are much better than they used to be on that route.