Champ188

Don't know about evening but for me, the TW bite has always been best in the mornings before the lake lice and wake makers send the fish diving for cover.

Thanks for the kind words, fellows. I just enjoy seeing others learn a little more about the sport we all love.

Pretty good fishing/golf analogy, bo. I was just trying to cover some basic tactics with him that will hopefully help him find/catch fish when things aren't so easy. The topwater fish are definitely showing signs of slacking off. I'm sure the spoon bite will start coming on soon. And no doubt the night bite.

Are you kidding? I thought OAF had become a "take and take more" forum.

Fished 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday out of Shell Knob. Fished from the bridge down to Big Creek. The relatively late start hindered our topwater efforts but we did manage to catch a couple of very nice keeper K's and another one just barely short of 15" out of some chasers on a long flat point. The trip was mostly an instructional one with a golf pro buddy, so we jumped around on techniques but caught fish on all of them. Ned rig and fb jig on gravel points worked pretty well, as did a finesse jig on bluff ends, Ned and finesse jig on boat docks, and drop shot fished 30-40 feet in 60 feet of water. There's just a lot of ways to get bit out there right now. Typical post-spawn activity. Other than the deep drop-shot fish, most of our bites came in 12-20 feet of water. Some might have even been shallower except for the bright, calm conditions. Ended up with 28 and eight keepers, best 5 of which were probably 12 pounds. Nothing extraordinary but enough to keep the interest level up. Actually, I was pretty pleased given the high blue skies and very minimal wind conditions. Good luck and go catch some. And watch out for the bumbling idiots in assorted recreational watercraft. Their numbers are incredible, even on Mondays.

Woo Pig!

I don't have the McClelland jig rod so I can't speak to that. However, Donna has the Finesse Jig rod and I can tell you that's the ultimate deal for fishing the 5/16 Eakins-style jig that everyone should be using a lot. At present, I'm using a Lew's Custom Speed Stick 7-3 MH for my bigger jigs. Love it.

It'll give Chapman something to whine about besides getting his tail kicked by KVD. He spends more energy in the MLF derbies worrying about what others --- especially KVD --- are catching than he does finding and catching his own fish.

I use the Cara Reaction Series Swim Jig rod for my spinnerbaits these days. Love it.

^^^ THIS.

A darn fine pun, it was!

Well, despite Obama's best efforts to hose it up, it's still America and we can all shop where we wish.

LOL, I feel your pain fozzype. Mailing it in, so to speak. That way you don't miss any sleep either. I really like the sounds of that.

Isn't "silent buzz bait" an oxymoron?

If you want to know something, anything, everything (well, probably not time for that) about the Ned Rig, you won't find a better source of information short of Ned himself. Bring your wallets/checkbooks, too. There is only one place to get the Ozark Finesse heads, and he's the man.

What the heck would I be doing with a spinnerbait? Can't stand the silly things.

Other than Falcon quality is just hard to beat, here's the really big difference in the two ... if you tell Bill exactly what your dad will be doing with the new rod, he can fit one to your needs perfectly. Most of his clients use spinning rods so he knows exactly how to match the tackle to the lure/tactic they are using.

Kelly and his crew will do a great job with that store. Certainly no lack of knowledge of what needs to be in stock year 'round, seasonally, etc.

Pretty good work. Nice double for sure.

Love it!

Good grief, I was thinking EXACTLY the same thing.

Plug, you certainly have a lot on your plate. Prayers that all goes well and that by September you are back in fishing shape. You are certainly welcome in my boat anytime you want to make a trip down here. And I hope you catch more than me.

This is not LOZ. Line visibility definitely matters in clear water when fishing slow-moving baits.

Couldn't agree more, vernon. Just kills me how they'll show up at 5 a.m. to ticket tournament boats whose bow/stern lights may be flickering but let seemingly bigger, moving violations speed on by.

Ease up on yourself, fellow! We enjoy your company.