Trav

I have ruined two of my favorite spinning reels and three rods trying out braid....it burns the guides and eyes... leaves grooves. Like I said...Floro cuts too easy on rocks and gravel and i like to dig the lake bed as I fish....mono is the best when it comes to abbrassion resistence without ruining my gear. It just has such a stretch flaw I have to replace it all the time. Next time I go to BPS I will pick up some hybrid. It sounds promising. I wrote an article on fishing line back in the spring and have found even the best for spinning reels has its flaws. I would like to write a more thorough report to include lines I have yet to experiment with. As far as spincasters.........my Gramps was a prolific big fish man and he had some reels as big as grapefruit. He loved them. In my opinion, fishing is one of the most individualistic sports there is. Some guys won't even hit the water unless they have a fly rod and others think baitcasters are the bomb. My style of fishing is totally oriented around spinning reels and fast retrieves. I know some guys who don't like to fish with me because I move too fast to work a worm or a jig. To me slowing down is a grub or a tube bait with quick pitch fishing. My mom likes a bobber and a nightcrawler...haha... It is all successful if you know what you are after. I have always said fish with your strengths and it will do you good. But I stray...I would like to find a line that is abbrassive resistant, won't ruin my gear, and will last more than three outings on the lake....haha... This is why we have OAF!....lol To get insight...

It is the dam which is being worked on....the ramps are just a side project since it is down. The only work I have noticed being done on the ramps is some clearing on sediment removal....have you observed anything else? As far as the bass bite....The bait fish are confused. They have no cover to hide in and the bass are taking advantage of it. Think anything which matches shad and minnows. Right now it is a no brainer. Fish any cover you can find with clear water and you will catch fish.

That would have beat me for the day. What an impressive weigh in. Pomme is truly turning out some great fishing this fall.

With the water going so low with the dam work...there will be lots of crazy discoveries I am sure. Last Wednesday I think I dragged in two hundred yards of mossy fishing line. This gives us all a chance to clean up the lake a bit. If we all pick up a few submerged items during this change of water depth the lake will benifit.

I like to use different colored scrippie pens and doctor my baits. I have also been know to drill holes in cranks and fill them with water for a slower wobble. Or put on bigger hooks to make the wobble bigger. Lots of stuff you can do. Wink

Humans are selfishly composed. They are the reason why I don't fish weekends or holidays.

Thanks for the info. Might give the hybrid stuff a try and see if I like it. Haha....haven't used a zebco since I was a wee snot head. I meant spinning...

I am an Iowa boy as well. Des Moines born and raised. I learned most of my basics there including quite a bit of fly fishing below Red Rock Dam. Lots of pike and whites on small bucktails. Used to fish the Raccoon River with a fly rod for monster carp. Now that was actually pretty fun!

I think the bass are liking the low water huh?...

Another thing to consider is the nearby construction muddys the water all the time. It is a small lake and if you are willing to use multiple tactics you can do well. Just don't expect a bunch. It is Spankfield lake.

Maybe I think trout are too easy. If you can't catch farm fed trout you aren't much of a fisherman in my book. Catching savvy old trout might be a different issue but if you really want the big ones you just have to up the size of your presentation and sacrifice the numbers for quality.

I might be stuck in my ways...but I am a mono-Trilene smooth cast guy when it comes to spin cast reels. And Keep in mind I Only use spin cast reels. So, I can't attest to the floro and braids when it comes to bait casters. I just know they are a hassle when it comes to spin cast rigs. I have found that mono is much more abbrassive resistant than floro but I do have to change my line a lot more often than most guys who use floro. Hard pulling cranks and trolling stretches mono to a weak point. And when you are talking about test higher than eight pound the stretch fail seems to be more of an issue. I use a lot of cranks and it does hassle me. However, I will take respooling my line every other day over a line which might be compromised by a log or rock during an outing.. As far as viscious is concerned...never tried it... I am open minded to something new if it comes with some hands on knowledge... I am all ears here! Has anyone use the hybrid nylon/floro?

All the Pomme whites must have went to L.O.....haha

Yeah, sure wanted to go again on Thursday but the little lady had other plans for me.....was a good day to get the lawn mowed and the garage a little cleaner....haha Next week for sure I am going to get two days in!!

That is why I saw so many boats out there.....hmmm....what was the winning weight? Anyone know?....I could have taken in 12 pounds easily if I was in it.....

Come to think of it.....what the? Usually I have to sort through a dozen whites while LM fishing but none of that this year.....strange indeed.

Chris, I posted a report. The best bite today was on black warts but I am pretty sure any crank with a natural baitfish color would have worked.

Was a good day.... I spent the better part of today on the water and was quite surprised to see so many boats out there. There was quite a bit of fishing pressure for a Wednesday in late September. It definitely gave me flashbacks of Table Rock. However, unlike Table Rock darn near a hundred percent of the traffic were fishermen and not once did anyone crowd us or zip by ten feet from our boat. Usually I get frustrated by rude boaters but for the most part everyone was quite respectful. And it was a beautiful day! Couldn’t have had better weather. We put in at Nemo between seven and eight in the morning. The lake was about four feet below pool and there was still plenty of ramp for launching. When they built the ramp there they thought ahead. It goes way out there. I am pretty sure the Nemo ramp will remain accessible during the dam work, even if they have to drop the lake another three feet. There is quite a bit of gravel and sediment as you back in but it wasn’t an issue. I never went any further than a half mile from the bridge all day so am not sure what the other ramps look like but I am sure there a few open. There was only about six rigs parked at Nemo and there had to have been three times as many boats in the Lindley Arm alone throughout the day. We started the day up near Haverstick and I felt water was a bit dingy above the bridge. We only fished it for an hour or so before heading toward the clearer water downstream. The water temps ranged between 73 and 76 as the day progressed. The morning bite was slow but it picked up tremendously after lunch. I started off throwing a spook since the water was so calm but with no luck, spent the rest of the day with spinner baits and cranks. The key pattern was to focus on the exposed timber. The baitfish would swell up and all you had to do is position yourself just offshore from where you seen them and cast parallel along the edge of the timber and do the occasional toss toward the shallows. However, we caught them at all depths. It didn’t really matter if the timber was sitting in forty feet or ten feet. If you found bait all you had to do is positioned your casts the same distance from shore as where they were. Today was one of those days which got you thinking about the old tourney days. In all we caught twenty eight largemouths and sixteen of them would have been legal. No kicker bass but we could have culled two twelve pound sacks easily. Pretty good for Pomme. The best part was, after we left Haverstick, we only worked three shorelines the whole day to do it. Going to try and get back out tomorrow afternoon so will let you know what happens. (still haven't seen any AO dots on the lake yet.......)

I have a car alarm out of my old car if you want to trade something for it. A light breeze will set it off....drove me nuts!!....

Gonna be going the next couple of days....will let you know what I find.

Hmmm.....I would think one shad per hook....If the bait is two inches long I would probably use a 1/0 hook but go to a 2/0 if they are much bigger. Just me...I know some guys like to use 4/0.

A boat is truly a hole in the water to which one pours in money......

I am jealous......

I catch them sometimes while mainly bass fishing as well. Most the muskies I have caught were off cranks in May and June.

I was curious since they don't have anything listed since '06. I have heard they were going to cut back due to money but it is just rumors I think.