Champ188

He's a good man, that Dave.

Not a lot to share worth repeating but here are the highlights ... of my five keepers (10-6), two came on a War Eagle spinnerbait (blue shad) and one each on a Red Fin, Ned rig and a War Eagle 3/8-ounce finesse jig in pond scum perch. Yup, five keepers on four baits. Talked to fellow OAF member Alex Heitman and he too had a 10-pound sack. I'll let him tell how he caught them if he chooses. I will say this ... he's a class act and anyone reading this should pay attention when he posts. He knows his stuff. Only thing I might have done to upgrade was go bed fishing in hopes of finding some bigger fish to cull the 2-pounders I had on board. I had my five at 9:30 a.m. But my co-angler was a young police officer from STL who is fishing the entire Ozark Division circuit and needed points to help him qualify for the regional. Had I stuck the nose of the boat on the bank and my foot on the trolling motor pedal looking for bedders, he wouldn't have had a chance. I ended up fixing him up some Ned rigs, loaning him a spinning rod to fish them on and making a friend. He learned a lot about clear-water fishing, he managed two keepers and I slept a lot better Saturday night knowing I helped him get the points he needed to stay on course to fish the regional at the end of the year. I saw a lot of co-anglers that day sitting on the back deck doing nothing while their boaters spent hours targeting spawning fish. I just have a hard time doing that to someone.

Yes, I was amazed that of the 25 fish you caught in that area, all 25 were keepers. You've figured something out that none of the rest of us have. Congratulations.

Jtram, try to mentally trace the route the fish made into their spawning areas in reverse. Topwaters are an excellent choice in low-light hours; otherwise, hard to beat the Ned or shaky head. When all else fails, start running main-lake points and bluff ends --- especially those outside of spawning areas. Hope this helps.

You were 25 for 25 on keepers? That's incredible! My ratio lately -- and for some very good guides -- has been more like 2 for 25.

It's anything but easy right now, Dennis. Keepers are really tough to come by. It will get better. Soon. I like the post-spawn bite and am ready for it to start.

I agree they can be, but I hope those big green fish bore the heck out of me Saturday in the BFL derby.

Hey Ham, drift socks are archaic. You should get Power Poles and use them to slow your drift. They even make paddles for them designed just for that purpose. How cool would that be? I bet if you bought two you could get some kind of discount on a jersey.

Some of these guys could hang their jerseys on one of their Power Poles when they take them off and sit them in the corner of their garage. Probably be the first time they'd ever been used for anything other than an overpriced dock rope.

Bo, likewise I rarely count on the Kings in a daytime derby. That goes for the BFL derby I'm fishing Saturday. Never considered the boat traffic/waves/noise element. Could be a factor for sure. Where I've been bit in the backside has been the fact that productive areas are limited up there and if you get half a dozen tournament boats fishing the same pattern, you're all done before you start because you just end up splitting up the fish.

Bo, you need to be first in line to pay your entry fee for the Friday night derby at Mill Creek. Fifteen keepers up to 5 lbs in 2 hours (dark to 10:45) is stronger than 190-proof PGA.

I think the shorter hook shank and narrower gap contribute to less problems with the Ned. Regardless, Donna and I don't seem to deep-hook many on it.

I mentioned this earlier but this comment is aimed toward myself and other bass boaters. Saturday is going to be a busy day on the lake. I will be fishing the BFL derby, and there are lots of other tournaments that day. We need to LOOK OUT for these kayak guys and give them a wide berth and show them courtesy. Richy says they will mainly be in Jake's Creek, so please be especially aware of this in that area. We all see too many bass boaters running WOT in places where it is neither necessary nor prudent. Let's all have fun out there and show some respect for each other.

Is there a Phase 2 planned this year? With the wife and kiddos?

I'm finally going to give fluorocarbon a try on my spinning reels. Bought some of the Cabela's 100% FC in 6-pound test last night because I really like it on my casting reels. Whoever makes it for them does a good job. I'm going to try the suggestion I saw here on spooling up halfway, applying Real Magic, then finish filling the spool and applying again. We'll see how it goes.

Magicwormman and Macsimus are all over it. Barbless hooks are the way to go for fun fishing. Just take a pair of needlenose pliers and mash the barb down. Donna learned the Please Release Me (Rejuvenade, etc.) trick several years ago while fishing as a co-angler in the Beaver Lake FLW tournament. Her pro, Jacob Powroznik, deep-hooked a fish and after removing the hook, he poured the granular medicine down its throat. In a few minutes, the fish had stopped bleeding and was as lively and well as his other fish at the 3 p.m. weigh-in. This is a great thread and I appreciate Jim Elam for starting it. These fish belong to all of us, so we should all be concerned with their welfare. If anyone is not, I hope you will soon tire of this pursuit and find something else to occupy your time.

Luke, I don't believe there's any mud anywhere in the lake right now. You should be good to go. Just a tip ... tie her a Ned rig or shaky head (green pumpkin is hard to beat with either rig) on a spinning rod with 6-pound or 8-pound line and get on gravel/small rock points. The entire left bank going out of Aunts Creek has the right type of rock. Good luck. Hope you guys catch a bunch.

Nope, no more spawners. No more waves. It's over. Done deal. Nothing to see up shallow. Move along, please.

Thanks, Dave. Will be up Thurs-Saturday. Hope to see you before you head back home to a storm of Ned head orders. Meanwhile, keep jerkin' on em.

Good day, nice report and thanks for sharing. One question ... what were the right kind of banks?

Thanks for the report. Helps just as much to know when/where it is slow as it does to hear how folks caught a bunch of em.

Been there, Sprint. Shake it off and go show 'em who's boss next time.

It blew as hard as I've ever seen it blow on Table Rock.

Gotta love it when the young uns win. Makes it a double win for Dad. Did you guys settle on a place?

I suspect he may be mathematically challenged, QB. Clear as Table Rock is, there's no way that 30 fish a day are gonna swim within casting distance of a boat with those electric blue Talons (power poles).