Champ188

I was picking up a pretty solid thermocline today at about 30 feet.

This is never bad advice in flood conditions.

Fished 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Launched trouble-free off the parking lot at Big M. Worked from there all the way down past the mouth of Big Creek. Caught 12 total with only a couple of really nice keeper spots. Spinnerbait, Ned, shaky head and drop shot all contributed in depths of 2-35 feet.

Gonna see what's happening tomorrow morning. Hopefully can launch at Big M.

I use the 1/4-ounce weights when fishing boat slips. The cylindrical-shaped ones seem to hang up less than the round ones.

No fish caught = no fish killed. Just sayin. Welcome to the new OAF.

Cloudy, rainy weather always opens the door for topwater fishing on clear highland reservoirs like Table Rock. That's not saying it always happens, but the likelihood rises under low-light conditions. Only time this is not generally true is when water temps are below 50 degrees.

We do often find ourselves across the fence from each other. That's OK, though, because I am tolerant of our differences.

Love it!!!!!!!!!

Side scan is only effective when the boat is moving in a straight line at a steady speed. My boat is rarely doing that when I'm on the front deck fishing.

There's a fine line between tolerance for differences and tolerance for what is downright wrong and detrimental to society. We have definitely crossed that line a while back and all the kum-ba-yah in the world isn't going to bring us back.

Packing list for my weekend trip to Taneycomo: 1. Live rainbow trout (certain striper guides use them for bait, so why not?) 2. Jersey (may have to use my autograph Sharpie to scribble in some trout-related sponsors between the bass logos) 3. Fillet knife with 15-inch blades (and a Bubba Blade for removing those really big rib cages in those 20-pounders and up) 4. PowerPoles (installation scheduled tomorrow morning) 5. Ned rigs (in case the live rainbows fail)

I don't consider that "free ranging" --- I'd call that having privileges and learning not to abuse them. Get your chores done and you can go fishing. Want to go squirrel hunting? Have fun and don't shoot toward any houses. Heck, my dad even gave me a verbal list of birds I could shoot with my BB gun (blackbirds, sparrows and those noisy blue jays). Color within the lines and everything is hunky dory. Get out of line and things aren't so fun anymore.

I'd be in jail within a week if I had kids today. Free rangers, LOL. Well put. And without getting on my soapbox, you nailed it on every count, Dave. Youth sports are a particular sore spot with me ... not keeping score so little Jimmy or Mary won't have their self esteem squashed by losing a game. So you lost. Here's a novel idea ... PRACTICE HARDER AND PLAY BETTER NEXT TIME. Or hey, maybe the other team or other player (individual competition) is just BETTER THAN YOU. Might as well get the hell used to it because there will ALWAYS be someone better than you sooner or later. That's one of the most important lessons I learned in sports. Done. Sorry for the mini rant. Onward.

Not a hijack at all. Electronics and drop-shotting are more than related ... they are the same topic. I have some pretty expensive Humminbird units on my boat ... a 958C up front and a 998C on the console. Only difference is the 958 doesn't have sidescan, which I didn't care about up front. To be honest, if I had it to do over again, I'd go with two Lowrance HDS8's. I've always been a Lowrance guy and decided to listen to the Bird fans this time around. Just haven't really gotten over the hump with them yet.

Bgc, if you aren't confident in your graph-reading abilities, don't be afraid to try drop-shotting "blind" as it will help you get started with this tactic. I catch a lot of fish out of boat slips by pitching my bait into them without actually going into the slip. Of course, when you are fishing more horizontal like this, your bait needs to be on the bottom. For vertical fishing, I would suggest going to an area where you know fish live, such as a favorite bluff end. Get right over the ledge where the bluff end drops from say 18 feet to much deeper water and drop your rig to the bottom. The presence of trees is a bonus. Bluff end fish normally stay pretty close to the drop. Keep working this tactic out to 50-60 feet of water, but realize that once you reach about 30 feet, there will likely be a thermocline and you should start to see fish suspended right around that depth, so you'll need to bring your bait up from the bottom to the depth at which you are seeing the fish. They aren't likely to be below the thermocline because there's not enough oxygen. Hope this helps get you started.

Used to be, I never gave a second thought to such behavior being anything but just that ... blissful ignorance of boat ramp etiquette. Sadly, these days I'm pretty quick to be swayed into thinking they just don't give a fat rat's rectal region about anyone but themselves.

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Ditto on hiring a guide. My suggestion is Bill Babler or Bill Beck. Look them up at: whiteriveroutfitters.com

I think another factor that has led to the demise of quail, rabbit and even turkey populations is the proliferation of predators like foxes, raccoons, etc. No one seems to hunt or trap these guys anymore, so they are free to procreate at will and plunder the nests and young of others.

Thanks, Magicwormman. It was a soggy day, for sure.

Fished a little over 2 hours Tuesday afternoon in a steady rain. The weather, combined with rising water, was much to the liking of the fish. Started and finished with one rod on the deck, to which was tied a 1/4-ounce War Eagle spinnerbait in purple shad. Caught close to 20 fish, including several in the 3-pound class. The fish were right on the banks and I saw practically every one of them eat the bait. Water was 80-82 degrees with light to moderate stain. Oh, before anyone warms up their fillet knife, these fish were caught from private waters in Bella Vista --- and released. Toodles.

By gosh, rps, I'll give you an A+ on that report. Well researched, well written, etc. Denny, please let us know how that works out for you. I might try that myself. Operative word there is "might."

Someone whiz on your Wheaties this morning?