Trav

I use smokey colors if the water is stained and milky colors when the water is clear. Probably just a confidence thing because my wife uses only shades of purple and she does just as good. Go figure. As far as depth....I usually do a five count and then add a couple to the count with each cast until I get to the bottom. You have to find out what depth they are feeding at and whether they are looking down for food or looking up for it. This system works pretty goood. I rarely drag it across the bottom if I am fishing water deeper than 10 feet but I do bounce it into the bottom at times.

Beaver Creek still open? It is about a mile East off 76. Does K docks still have bait? What about hilltop near Kirbyville?

Only have seen one and it was my brother who caught it. Little 10 incher...from out of the James near Horse Camp three or four years ago...

I never fish on weekends. You guys should know the fish never bite Tuesday through Thursday....The fish save all the fun for you weekend guys. Seriously though...I don't mind sharing the water with fishermen as long as they aren't running all over the place like chickens with their heads cut off. It is the Joy riders, Water skiers and Jet skis which bothers me the most.

Water temps have a lot to do with my choices of location. I think deep early in the day and shallow in the evening, when it is below 50 degrees. I reverse that tactic when it is above 70 degrees but you normally don't see that until June. Just a rule of thumb. It is primed between 55 and 65 degrees and you can catch them all over the place. This usually is late April to late May. When the water is high, I stay in the main lake ninety percent of the time. I like the Gin clear water. However there are a lot of fish in the stained water. Just not my style to poke fish in the head to get them to strike. As far as baits....in March and April....Grubs Grubs Grubs....I do a bunch of cranking as well on midlake humps but I use heavy lipless baits so I can get down deep during the high water. Be sure to pay attention to the birds. They will let you know where the balls of shad are and if there is a transition on a channel where it has a flat at the end of a deep bluff....work it hard. The bigger ones will move up in the afternoons to warm up and if those flats have timber all the better... Let us know how you do!...

too funny.....everyone knows people in Missouri don't know how to drive.

KVD!!!

lalalalalalala

I went to Phil's fly shop at Lillys Landing to get mine.

Great report!

They may have relaxed some....my buddy got his ticket five years ago....I would ask about it before doing it, Clint might have broke the ice for the practice...who knows? Let me know...I live close to the lake and have never been there because I have a bigger motor. Might be a bummer to load the boat on the trailer without the motor though.

Phil will mail ya some.... Everyone! Get your stickers!!!

No you can't. Had a friend who even pulled the prop off his motor and he still got a ticket....silly...I know.

I have yet to see anyone with a sticker. Kind of thought maybe people weren't using them anymore... Hey Phil.....how many of those stickers do you have left?

I actually hope they keep the water up until June....makes for a better spawn

Let us know how you do....

Too funny....but only because I have felt this way a few times on here before....haha

We launched at Hermitage around 2pm today, spending most of the time trolling for Musky with no luck at all. I did throw a grub around to test out the bass but it was late in the evening and couldn’t establish a pattern for what depth they were hanging at. Not much of a fishing report but it was fun to get out on the water. It was windy and had two foot swells for a couple hours. The water temp was 43 to 44 everywhere we went but we never got any further from the ramp than a mile or so. There was maybe two feet of visibility and it mucked up pretty fast once you got within 20 feet of the shoreline. I think I read the lake was six feet high before I left home but when I got there it was easily 8 feet high.

I will help ya Al...just say the word....

"Today we affirm a new commitment to live out our nation's promise through civility, courage, compassion and character." - George W. Bush Sorry...couldn't resist...

Phew...

Granted, however the discussion started with a misleading article which was full of misleading facts. Like the loss of a fed hatcherey would be the end of fishing as we know it as it ruins the local economy? If any blame is to be thrown out there it is the way they portray the situation in the article. The COE and the FWS have their problems but they are trying to find ways to get through it. Blaming them for needing to save some money someplace isn't fair. It is like blaming the principle of a school for not having enough teachers. They can only do what they are given to work with.

I resemble that remark sometimes...

I have been a member of this forum for a number of years now and any topic with a political angle ends up being a "dog pile" discussion. I am guilty of stirring the pot so I am not throwing rocks in this glass house. Just saying. The best thing we can do is take a conscience approach to not feed the debates.

My feelings exactly. I spent half my life living on a trout lake(Lower Taney) and there was plenty of days I was glad those trout were there. When the bass fishing was tough, I knew I could always go after the trout to "get my fix". However, I would not of cared one way or another if all of a sudden they were gone. I think this thread is getting off course. I think the original topic was about the impact of losing the hatcheries. Not who is to blame for the political decision to do so. Honestly, There wouldn't be much of an impact. I think the state hatcheries would fill the void of federal fish just fine. As far as privatization...after some thought I don't see it ever happening. It is quite an economical stretch.