Hunter91

I think you can go to the extreme both ways. I agree with PD and selective harvest. Personally, I don't harvest any bass during spawning time but then again I really don't have a problem with someone who does. I harvest a few during the summer because I like to eat bass. There are those who abuse it and catch as many as they can and cut all the heads off. But in my opinion the people who fish the most for bass practice catch and release. I was reading another post about the good ole days and all the bass that were caught and ate. You can't even compare how many bass were harvested when I was in my teens compared to how many are harvested today.( I am really not that old either) Just my 2 cents.

Are you saying there should be no bass fishing or tournaments during the spawning period? How many bass spawn out of the sight of any angler every year? I agree that you can catch fish off beds in shallow water but most of the bass I have seen bedding shallow are not trophies. I have seen some that were but the majority of what I have seen are mostly up to three pounds maybe four. So then if that is the case, should we not fish for them in the prespawn period as we may be putting to much stress on a big female you may catch before she spawns?

Gonna give it a try in the morning for a couple hours in Sons Creek. i'll let you know what happens.

Bill, We fished the same area today from about 9am to 2pm. We caught 8 bass with three good keepers and one big crappie at 16 inches and weighed 2 lbs 6 oz. swimming a grub also. The wind was terrible!!

Not lately. About two weeks ago we were catching whites and crappie right at the edge of the weeds. I did see a ton of boat pounding the bank around the CC hwy access earlier this week, don't know if they were catching anything or not.

Dutch, You are right about them being spawned out. The ones we caught were good ones but none had eggs in them and none were males for certain that I could tell.

Nothing with a motor attached over a 6hp is allowed on the lake even if you do not run the big motor. Sorry.

Bill I fish TR, Stockton and lower Taneycomo a lot every year. I have run into the same problem as everyone else people being rude while you are fishing even while fishing with my 15 yr old son we have had people come into a spot and cut us off as you say within a boat length or two. It kinda ruins my day and I point it out to my son and tell him, that better not be you EVER!! But I also believe there are just as many true sportsman that would never cut someone off and always lend a hand to people who's boats are broke down in the middle of the lake and people like most folks on this site who are very willing to steer folks in the right direction to have a successful day on the lake catching a few fish.

Still catching some whites way up the creeks at Stockton. Went yesterday evening and caught 8 nice whites on swimming minnows in about 2 ft of water right before dark. Some other fisherman were doing much better than we were and had even caught a few walleyes.

I have gotten many bucket fulls of shad around 65 hwy on Lk Springfield with a thrownet. You do need a boat but sometimes you can get all you want in one throw!!

My son and I went to Blunks yesterday evening a couple hours before dark. We hoped to catch a few after dark. Only caught three males about 13 inches apiece on swimmin minnows after dark just upstream from blunks. didn't see many catching anything but heard one guy say he had caught 22 before dark. By the way, if you are in the area at night you need running lights or at the very least a signal light. We saw several people after dark running the river with no running lights, flashlight or anything. We were almost hit by a couple guys we had to holler at, luckily the were not wide open just idling and not paying attention. Missed us by an arms length!!

Sam, I have found the same frustrating situation. We used to launch there a lot and spent our share of money at the marina there. We now launch at Mill Creek a few miles past the bridge and to the right. It adds a couple miles run to get back in the Kimberling area but I am not paying that extra fee to launch there either when I have a COE pass.

Went Tuesday afternoon up Turnback with a friend and caught 21 whites and 8 crappie up to 14 inches. All on swimmin minnows. Went back today for a few hours and only caught 10 whites and 5 crappie to 12 inches in the same area and on swimmin minnows. Interesting, Tuesday the majority of whites were female and today all but one were males.

I ask the MDC about those specs on the crappie. They said it was a parasite caused by waterfowls and shore birds. They also said that the crappie with these on them were harmless to eat. I don't think I want to see them under a microscope though

I got a headache trying to put all them numbers together so I say 3-1-07.

Caught some whites schooling in the Mutton Creek area this evening. they were very scattered but we got on a couple of small schools and caught about 20 keepers on topwaters right at dark.

Thanks. That is a good article on "fizzing"

Can anyone describe a good method of "fizzing" or "needling" a bass when needed? Thanks

I usually fish Fellows heavily in the spring for crappie and have spoke with several fisheries folks that I run into there that run MDC nets at that time. They constantly catch muskies 40+ inches. My son caught a small one last year while we were crappie fishing but I have seen pics and heard of many people catching them in the spring. I think I will stick to my crappie and bass fishing there though.

If you are serious about catching numbers of eyes' I would go to Stockton. I have heard of some good ones in Pomme but not the numbers Stockton has.

It has been a while since I have been out to BS. Probably at least a month. We did catch some walleyes around the Mincy Flats trolling crankbaits in 20-30ft of water then. Things have probably changed since then but it would not be a bad place to start. Good luck.

Didn't do to hot yesterday. It became pretty windy before dark so we ended up trolling most of the time around KK. Caught some nice blue cats on crankbaits, 1 good white and 1 drum. There were a lot of boats around KK didn't see many fish caught though.

Thanks Dutch. I have a G3 with a 90hp so I have a little range. I may try that area.

Thanks for the suggestions. We will let you know how we do.

Welcome Ham, I am originally from Bossier City LA. Probably fished a lot of the same water as you have. Some great places down there but there are some awesome places close around here too. OAF is a great source of info for around the area here. H91