Forsythian

I've got a 10yr old Viper (Coral) fishnski, and I'm kinda meticulous about it. It's always been garage kept, and the boat & trailer are in very good condition. That said, it won't be long before I'll need to replace the trailer bunks. It looks like a fairly straightforward job, but I wonder about pulling the new carpet back nice & tight, and securing it so's it stays there for another 10 years. Plus, the carpeting around the side rails are pretty much seamless... and I know my (skill & patience) limits! It's gotta look professional. Anybody tackle this job? Any advice? thanks a bunch Ken

Lonnie, I didn't do any good at all... I put out some jugs on main lake flats between Kdock and Mincy, baited with sunfish. The only action I had was gar, as Sam astutely predicted. One of these day's I'll figure out the jugging... Bass fishing wasn't bad though... keepers were few and far between, but there are a ton of 14 inchers.

Hey Lonnie, I'm thinking about spending the day out of Kdock tomorrow (or maybe Elbow)... if I go, I'll probably put out a couple of jugs while I'm fishing for bass & crappie. I'll let you know how I do. Ken

Don't you love it? I consider myself extremely fortunate to call Bull Shoals my home water. Some years the fishing is virtually non-existant, but that's alright by me. My boy and I went out of River Run last night from 7 till dark. We did not go to the pothole, but went downstream instead. There were a handful of boats (maybe 5 between the bridge and Beaver Creek), and there were tons and tons of shad. Like you all, I figured we'd get into the whites, but it never happened. No matter, there are plenty of 12 inch Kentuckies to keep a 14yr old (and his dad) occupied. My guess on the whites in the upper area? get downstream of the cold water line. Not sure where that would be exactly, but it's somewhere below the first bend above Beaver Creek. That's as far as we went. FYI, the sign at the ramp at River Run says the Corps will start charging again on August 15th (this Saturday). I never did get a sticker for this year, but as I recall they run from the 12 months of your purchase (and not by calendar year)... time to pony up I reckon.

Way to go Matt... I'm anxious to hear about your experience. I have a 14 year old son, and like yours he has flyfished at the parks and the tailwaters, but I've yet to take him on the 11pt. I hope to change that this October, when we plan to spend 2 days on the stretch from Greer to Turner. Best of luck to you and your boy. Ken

I got yer numbnuts

Seems to me you ought to be able to stir the pot once in a while. We're all avid fishermen, but we're not a monolith. I mean, look at the traffic this topic generated! Echo chambers are no fun. That said, I can empathize with the guides here... a man's living is a touchy subject. To Bill and Phil, I think you've shown your cool by leaving this topic open as long as you have... kudos! To you non-guide "ban the jerks" out there, in the immortal words of Sgt Hulka: "lighten up Francis"!

Wow CWF... I stopped in at the Reel Doctor's today for a clown-colored husky jerk and some swimmin' minners when I heard that THE Paul Dallas was back in the area, trolling for big game... and here you are! Now, I know you've gotten bit, but riling up this bunch is about as hard as chucking velveeta at Rockbridge. Might seem satisfying at first, but you're gonna get bored soon enough. Eric, I think the word you are looking for is humor... or maybe perspective. Here's hoping you find what you're looking for. If not, there's always Prilosec.

Took the family out to the Elbow launch yesterday evening... hadn't been there since before the water came up in the Spring. The water is low enough to take the low road around, but there's a dock ramp across it so you have to come in from up top. It's not in too bad of shape, but you need a 4x4. I forgot to get gas on the way, so off we go to lead hill dock... it is a 24 hour self-serve pump! That's a new one on me, pretty handy IMO. Fishing was pretty good... thanks to Rangerman and Stone9-7=2 for their regular posts! We got into the whites just before dark as they were surfacing on the windblown flats nearby. We had originally planned to spend the night over the lights, but family duties interfered... not sure how great it would have been with that big ol' moon anyway. Maybe next weekend! Beautiful area of the lake... I could go everyday

Got in a little fishing last week in NE Wisconsin. Among other venues, we spent the better part of a day on a creek tributary of the Peshtigo River. It was a real slice of wild country... lots of bear sign, and while the brookies seemed to be afraid of their own shadow, they were not line shy! Does that make sense? You had to stalk 'em, but if not spooked they readily took leach imitations as well as terrestrial imitations. My 3 wt was about right, but I really would have preferred a 6 foot rod or smaller. My boy outfished me 3:1 with his ultralight spinning outfit and 1/64 maribou.

No offense taken here! Glad you had good luck with your lines... I gotta get out there and run one myself.

Good read Sam... thanks for posting! Sure glad that slip was open. I would never had guessed there'd only be one left.

Sorry Zach, but don't call that a sunfish! Last night I went flyrodding on a local creek and caught bluegill, sunfish (pumpkinseed), green sunfish, and goggleye (rock bass)... 4 different fish. It was pretty fun, but it sounds like I'd a rather gone trotlining with showmebassin! edit: I forgot to add, it's been my experience that the little sunfish (pumpkinseeds) outperform the other types of bream for cats and for bass... not sure why

Well, hopefully you slept in a bit this morning... we had a pretty good storm down here until 8:00am or so. Good cloud cover right now, and not oppressively hot, I'd sure like to be out there right about now!

Hey Sam, whatchoo gonna pull behind the boat tomorrow? A big wobbler of some sort? Gonna tip it with a crawler mebbe? Must be nice to go galavantin' all over the lake on a Thursday... I'll be here at work doing my part to keep the wheels of commerce turning! Don't forget your milk

I drove by there on Sunday. There were a couple of folks who launched off the low road, evidently jack-knifing the trailer off the side of the road. Traveling over the hill, I saw where the majority of the lot is underwater, but there is room for about 3 or 4 carefully-parked rigs (leaving enough room to be able to turn around). As Naru mentioned, the courtesy dock is there. The pitch of the launch ramp looked pretty good. My fear would be to crest the hill with my boat, only to have to back on outa there because of a full lot.

Sounds like a decent day of trolling... good to know you're up to your old tricks! ;-)

I've put in on the East side of Yocum a couple of times in the last few weeks... I guess the West side is actually Brass Lantern (?) and I'm not sure how good the launch is there due to the dock cables. Bright Elbow ought to be good now. Buck Creek sure was busy last weekend!

Sorry Powerdive, I haven't dropped in here in a while. Yes, their launching area looked good, and there were lots of folks camping and swimming.

Just a brief FYI for those folks boating between Lead Hill and Kdock... we pulled into Tucker Hollow last Saturday and they do not have any gasoline. I didn't think to ask "since when?" or "until when?"...

thanks very much guys, I will check them out!

A quick pic... the lovely Mrs. Forsythian caught her first walleye during a recent Buck Creek outing. Sam, you might recognize the lure! And, a quick question... has anybody ever launched at Bright Elbow at 670ft? Kdock is a pain, and Buck Creek is a bit of a drive... thanks fellas!

A year or two ago I had heard a tale about a small resort on Stockton that featured a boat dock, and that was also near a small golf course. He had said that the resort was close enough to the course you could drive a golf cart back and forth to it. I figured somebody here might have some current information about this... sounds ideal for the family. Thanks!

Yeah, for a true relaxed family outing the Don Gardner par 3 in Branson would be your best bet. I like the Holiday Hills course well enough... but they can get a bit uptight about pace.

Went there today... lake level is 670 and launching is a pain. As for the fishing, we found Kentuckies on the steeper main lake banks... fishing wasn't too bad until the sun broke through the clouds. We found good swimming afterwards!