Champ188

Glenn, ultimately it's your call, but I believe you'd reap the most benefit from placing the new unit on the front. Think of how much more time you spend fishing than driving the boat. That's my 2 cents, for what it's worth.

Good fish, Jason. You should find more of them the farther you go toward the dam. And more drum.

As for trip details, we launched at Sweetwater and fished down to Shell Knob. All fish came on a RC STX jerk bait. Water temps were 44-47 ... warmer down toward Shell Knob. All fish came from 45-degree banks with big chunk rock. No steeper, no flatter. It's also notable that for the first time this winter, the presence of wood played a definite role in getting bit. Tried to chase the wind but there just wasn't much to be had.

Good-looking heads, bluebasser. I love to paint my shaky heads purple. About the pink ... Guido Hibdon says big smallmouth love it. I figure he's caught enough of them to know what he's talking about.

I never want our forum to be unfriendly to guests and certainly not to members, and I may have spoken a bit strongly about the trolls. But there is a small population of members who fish a lot but HARDLY EVER contribute anything in the form of a report. (Does not apply to Fishrman, who started this thread as a simple request for info and who posts frequently about his outings.) Yet when I was responding yesterday to this thread, I looked at the bottom and they were all lined up waiting for the active members to pass out some free information. Just frustrating to put in all the time and money chasing these fish around and then have others take the info you freely give, go catch fish and then be unwilling to offer any kind of report. On the other hand, I should not be so naive as to think everyone enjoys the hunt as much as the catching. That level of satisfaction is reserved for the true anglers among us, not the bent-pole pattern guys.

I'm with abkeenan in wondering if it has to do with the natural disappearance of the standing timber. No doubt, gar and crappie share a lot of open water most of the year and that can't be a good thing for the crappie. But gar and crappie co-exist in lots of other fisheries. The common link between the really good crappie lakes (Stockton, Truman and Pomme) seems to be an abundance of flooded timber. As for "the jihadists of Table Rock" --- that's some funny stuff right there. Love it.

You know, I'm good with sharing a fair amount of details but I get a little irked when you can look down at the bottom of these threads and see the same trolls all the time who never contribute anything. Now it's one thing for the guys in KC, STL and other far-off places to hang out and keep up with what's going on. But some of these guys live around here and fish plenty often to let us in on what they're finding and catching out there. You don't have to tell everything. I sure as heck don't. But you could contribute something. It's kind of like those penny dishes at the convenience store cash register. Give a little, take a little.

You will look cute throwing those pink ones, Ham. Be sure and throw a few extra dollars in for one of those divine little trout vests and maybe the wooden-frame "minnow net" for dipping up your catch.

We're going, too, Fishrman (Thursday). Should be a good jerk bait bite. Of course, we'll probably have to vie for position with all of the non-posting trolls I see lurking at the bottom of this post, waiting for us to pass along some free info so they don't have to go look for fish themselves.

Yes, I've never been very successful at chasing gulls but have caught fish on more than one occasion near loons.

Good to know, 24/7.

Dangit, QB. You've done it now. Never thought I'd see a combination trout-Ned rig thread on the TR forum. Next time you catch one of those silly slicks, just chunk him back and don't say anything. P.S. What's a Ned rig?

I often throw a Bandit 200 on a spinning rod and 6-pound line in late fall/early spring. Makes a big difference sometimes in the number of bites you'll get.

Nice work, addiction, and a very thorough report. Glad you found them chomping.

Good to know about that Swimmin' Fluke Jr. We've been throwing the Keitech Swing Impact 3.8 but will have to give the Zoom a try. They sure work good on an A-rig, or they did 2 years ago before I decided I was done lobbing those contraptions.

Appreciate it, Fishrman. Had to be cold out there today. Not a bad total considering the post-front conditions.

Beaver is a much better crappie lake. Best fishing is from Hickory Creek Marina south up the White River as far as you care to go, or up the War Eagle arm as far as you want to go.

Nice of you to share all of this good info. If time allows, Donna and I may venture up there and try our hand at catching "slicks." Just one question ... think they'll bite a Fin? I bet one of those big browns would.

Nothing special to report. Donna and I launched in the rain at 7:30 a.m. at Viney and finished at 4 p.m. in the sleet. Temp was 36 when we started and 32 when we quit. Water temps were 46-47 from Viney down to the mouth of the Kings. Caught 15 bass total with 5 keepers that would total about 10 pounds. Nearly all fish on jerkbaits fished around main-lake points/bluff ends. Needed at least a 45-degree slope to the bank. Hope everyone has a happy new year.

Polar Bear set an all-time record a few years back of about 110 boats. Never had 250 and certainly won't this year with frigid weather expected.

Must have been something down that way. Donna and I only saw two other boats all day and one of em was just riding up and down the lake (late-model smaller Ranger with a 150 and 3 guys in it) acting like darn fools. Came within 100 feet of us bogging it just off the pad and throwing 3-foot rollers. Nearly washed us up on the bank.

LOL, love it. But I don't think I'll be trying that with Donna.

Great report and pics, 5bites. And those boys are the bomb. They must be as eat up with fishing as I was at that age to last 8.5 hours. Tell the one who caught his first jerkbait fish that I said "that's a game changer." He'll never be able to put it down now. LOL

Thanks for the report, QB. Donna and I are gonna get after em in the morning. Planning on pretty much flinging the stick bait all day.

Thanks for the report, kdc. I was down toward KC a couple of weeks ago and couldn't get much going. Pretty tough down there for some reason. Ol' hula grub and the Arkie Crawling Grub will get you bit in the winter time. Better luck next time.