Trav

We took advantage of the cooler weather today. Decided to focus on the Pomme arm today. It was a bit windy but wind suits my fast fishing style anyway. Got on the water around three in the afternoon and fished until eight. We started off doing what I was doing last week but the pattern had changed. Instead of finding chunks off the bluffs I ended up finding mostly sports feeding on bait being blown into the shallows. Wherever I came across pea gravel (or smaller rock) at the end of the bluffs I would pick up a couple. It was pretty difficult to stay on those locations because of the wind so I just targeted bluffs and set myself upwind from the end of them and drifted over the areas where the water shallowed up. Managed to catch sixteen for the day. The chunks just weren't aggressive today. Most of them were sports between ten and and thirteen inches with only three of them over fifteen. The drifts were too fast to do much more than run cranks. Couldn't get grubs to sink fast enough. I wore out the old wrists dragging warts about ninety percent of my casts. Am thinking about going back tommorrow. Maybe I will see you out there!

Pesky things....turtles... I find the stinky stuff attracts them the most. Try using "live" baitfish like tiny gills. Give the bait plenty of leader to run from the turtle. Doesn't work all the time but it does discourage them. Cats will chase down that bait, turtles won't. As far as locations....try to find shallow points which linger way out in the lake. The further you are from the shore the less chance you will find a family of turtles. And the further you are from timber the better. Out near the bouy on the edge of Martin Flats is a good example. There are a couple dozen spots like that in Pomme.

I have been there fly fishing. Been a couple decades though. From what I remember, tons of dinks and lots of pressure. Pretty though!!

I think tactics and geographic simularities are more important than specific locations. It would be nice to have everyone share where a missed road bed or sunken fence line is but I have found people "think" it is a secret spot when all they really have is a target point. If you read between the lines, most people give enough info to remind you of locations you already know about. This info can be used all over a body of water if you know fish are congregating a certain way.

My two pennys....... I think the police are given way too much latitude. I can't tell you how many times I have been the only vehicle on the road and have a cop follow me turn for turn for miles on end. Most the time they make up some bogus reason to pull me over and when I refuse to let them search my vehicle (private property in my eyes) they use my refusal as "reasonable cause" to search it anyway. I have had my person violated too many times for absolutley no reason at the hands of police. If police want respect they should earn it by giving some instead of demanding it. Park Rangers may appear like bumps on a log at times but they at least leave people feeling they have dignity intact. I think the police could learn a little personal relations from park rangers. The police assume everyone is a potential criminal, park rangers are educators as well advocates for the wildlife they protect. One entity is looking to cuff and control where the other is looking to communicate and monitor. The saying "protect and serve" best describes a park ranger while a cop hides behind this motto as they "dominate and violate".

darn bears keep stealing my picnic basket....wait a minute....

Looks like a Florida Strain...hmmmm....

Sorry to hear about this. I am glad you don't let your ailment stop you from wetting a hook. Which is the most important thing. Maybe I will see you out there one day!

There are pros and cons to adding ice. Most ice will have the same chemicals as city tap water. The temp shock is a stress factor but it isn't lethal if done gradually. As far as fizzing...I say be very careful. If a fish is fizzed and kept too long they will get infections and die days later. I have read myths advocating both sides of this issue. Most bass tourney guys will fizz so they don't weigh dead fish and it works for this purpose. I read an article in BASS TIMES about the fish realesed after tourneys and evidence of fizzing summer bass turns out to be the majority of the mortality counts after release. I have some experience guiding salt water and fizzing is important when pulling fish out of waters deeper than 50 feet but most lakes here in the Ozarks wont hold fish that deep due to the thermocline. So it is in most cases not needed. Keeping fish in a livewell during hot days creates debate over and over. Livewells draw water off the surface and you can run your tanks constantly and never relieve the stress. I think it is wrong to attempt it unless you are willing to actually freeze ice from water you know is chemical free. Then add it during your event but then you couple it with a weigh-in period where the stress is increased even more. I am not a fan of livewell events when the surface temps are over 80 degrees. B.A.S.S. events go through great lengths to avoid the stress. They keep multiple tanks to get those fish out of the livewells during weigh-ins. They also have staff focused on nothing but limiting mortality rates. Local tourneys do not have these resources. So in my opinion, if the surface temps are above 80, local tourneys are an oxymoron to thier catch and release practices. Also, pro tourney guys these days rarely worry about fizzing knowing the act of the procedure is discouraged by the biologists who handle the weigh-in fish. I am a little sensitive to the subject. It is not just Bass I am knowledgable of. Walleyes have a higher mortality rate. And forget about trout. A catch and release trout weigh-in seems almost ludicrous in my opinion. Even if they swim away..the stress will make them food for the crayfish. If you guys want some serious science. True research experience to livewells and the effects to the fish then you should be reading up on it. There are publications out there with articles concerning this topic.

Haha, I really should learn some patience. Wiggling a worm, dragging a lizard or hopping a jig just isn't my style. Don't get me wrong, I will do it when working older lakes like when in Texas, Mexico or Florida but not deep Ozark lakes. I envy you guys who can relax and disect a hole instead of canvassing the entire lake. I work water fast. If I pick up a couple bass in a certain area I might slow down a bit and toss a grub but even then I can't bring myself to work too slow. I do have some spots where I know fish stack so to find a pattern I will work it to see how the fish are reacting. Once I figure what is going to work I tend to focus on it and bounce to areas which match my tactics. Different strokes for different folks I guess. I will be moving a bit further north soon and plan on expanding my "bass on the brain" attitude to include some serious walleye fishing. And with Pomme to be my home lake in the near future I plan on working the muskie as well.

It sounds like your morning shallow pattern would be perfect for top water. Did you try? Most of our hits were in the six to eight foot depth. They were suspended in the deeper water or coming off the bottom to get the bait. I was casting with the shore or away from it. When I got over fifteen feet they would nail it. This is a typical evening pattern in Ozark lakes when the surface is at "bathtub" temps.

I was thinking this today. I have yet to see a single boat with a dot !

I was in the Pomme area looking at a house and we all know Trav can't get too close to this lake without dragging his boat along. I just looked back. Can't believe I haven't posted a fishing report since June. This heat really has my interests into indoor activities! What is wrong with me? Is this a sign of old age? Haha...OK! Insert your wise cracks here---->>> We didn't get on the water until around five in the evening and found the surface temps ranging between 87 and 89 degrees. Managed to cover about four miles of the Lindley Arm in three and a half hours. You all know me. I fish fast and cover a lot of water quickly. Only caught nine Largemouth with just two of them under fifteen inches. The largest was probably just shy of three pounds. (Lost three at the boat..need to change the hooks on some of my cranks!) Was on a nice pattern for the chunks. I am so used to going to Pomme and catching mostly sports, it was quite refreshing to think I would have been culling if I was looking at a weigh-in. I would have been very pleased with a day like this back in my tourney days. Even without a kicker big bass I could have walked in with a twelve pound sack easily. This is saying a bunch considering how many ten to twelve inch sports this lake has. Not sure where all those juveniles were. I covered depths from 10 to 30 feet and not a single one was under twelve inches. Spent most of the time deep diving the edge of ledges with warts and redeyes but did catch almost half of them on purple twin-tail grubs off the deep side of long shallow points where the humps drop fast. The key depth was fifteen feet. I am curious. Normally this time of year I have to beat the white bass off with a stick on those points and I didn't even see any breaking the surface. I am not a big white bass guy but was hoping to report something to my Dad. He loves them. Anyone else having any sightings this year?

Interesting thread. I am considering a Wrangler myself. The big dodge I have eats a lot of gas!This is definately food for thought. I wouldn't ramp a boat without a 4x4 though. There have been a lot of times where my truck just spun on wet ramps and the 4x4 was needed.

Haha And the Aldermen in Branson are complaining about a Nelly concert?...I think GnR would draw a bigger crowd!

There are always a few bad seeds. Eventually cheaters always get caught. I am glad this guy was banned for LIFE....makes the other bad seeds think twice.

Me too!

I like to sweat but not while I fish. I am actually looking forward to Fall this year. We can't win for loosing this year! Wasn't too long ago we were all complaining that it wouldn't warm up! Haha

Did you get a chance to fish the area where Crane Creek enters?

Pomme is a good lake for those "other fish" while bass fishing. Stockton is too. Sometimes I catch more walleye than bass!

I will second that!

nice!!

My boat is 20 years old and it has the original carpet. The previous owner kept it in a garage and I do the same. Have family who have boats older than mine with original carpet as well. Everyone keeps them stored even if in a pole barn or carport. My dad had a pontoon he kept in the water at the dock for 15 years. Something about having a roof helps a lot. Might want to consider a building for it???

I grew up on Lower Taney. Have seen the bad and good. It is at its worst right now. Invasive plants and carp running the whole dumping ground ......And it is a dumping ground for the the upper trout infestation. It sounds harsh...sorry about that...

Did I mention a cat will chase a six inch worm all over the kitchen? All you have to do is drag it across the floor.