Champ188

Great news about your success, Bill, and yes, it pays to go see the best in cases of major surgery. Donna and I both used Dr. Jason Cook in Tulsa for our kidney cancer and have never once regretted it. If you have good insurance, it costs the same for a hack or a top-shelf surgeon. I'll have the latter, please and thanks.

Here is my 2 cents worth on the shad kill --- from a totally different perspective than Babler. The older members here know that I'm a skinny-water guy (not to be mistaken with a skinny guy, which I'm not ). For years now, and for multiple reasons, Table Rock bass have been living more and more offshore. And why not? There have been shad by the truckload swimming around in the middle of the lake. The spots do this by nature, but I believe a lot of the LM have joined them. Smallmouth seem to be everywhere but they are their own species. With fewer shad out there to gorge on, my hope is that some of the green fish (LM) will go back to their former shallow, structure/cover type areas and get back to hunting perch and crawfish. And when I say shallow, I mean 25-30 feet and in. I doubt this shad kill will mean curtains for offshore fishing. You guys with live scope, spot lock and all the other toys will be fine ... plenty of fish left out there for you and I really doubt the shad population is going to take a long-term hit. But I do believe this could put some fish back in shallower areas where old dummies like me can catch one every now and then. I appreciate that we have all sorts of anglers here and some very good ones at every style of fishing. Best of luck of 2021!!!

We have a TV in our exercise room. Sure helps pass the time on that stationary bike!

So which ones work for you?

Thanks, Mitch. Appreciate the post. I would love the little Yum Ned Craws except the colors SUCK, especially the green pumpkin. Remember the little army men we all used to get in plastic sacks of 50? That's the color of their GP. It's opaque and looks kind like baby spit-up. Great mold, just need to step up the color game.

That little Stik-O craw looks like it might do the trick.

That's a Saturday night clubhouse leader right there. It does really lend itself to being trimmed down and it's also very slim and low profile.

Hey guys, I'm looking for very small soft-plastic craws (about 2 inches, pincers and all) and thought some of you stream fishermen might be able to point me in the right direction. I don't mind pinching off a bit of the body but I need the pincers to be significantly smaller than a Zoom Lil Critter Craw. These are for trailers on some very small jigs I make. Might even share a jig or two if you're extra nice. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! 😁

I had one of those Zell rods ... darn fine topwater rod.

Sound like great spinnerbait rods.

I've seen a lure change make a lot of difference in bed fishing, especially if you've been sitting on a fish for a while. Many times, the first or second pitch after the change, the fish will inhale the new offering.

Fall rate is definitely an area where I can see the line size making a difference. Obviously, there is less drag on light line than heavier line, thus producing a faster fall. I've seen this make a big difference when flipping a jig or shaky head on boat docks in warm months.

I love the old All-Stars. Owned quite a few. They were very good rods for their time. Still are, although I don't have any left. I do still have a couple of Castaways, which I always believed were All-Stars wrapped with another private label slapped on them.

Couldn't agree more. Love those spotted fatties. Except when they swim around Babler's boat in 125 feet of water all day long. I can't see that spots are pushing out the largemouth. They are opportunistic feeders who will target shad, crawfish or anything else that swims by and looks like they could swallow. But we sure don't seem to have a shad population problem. I think the largemouth are suffering from the lake's old age and natural loss of shallow cover. They don't seem to be as nomadic and adaptive as the spots. Also have to agree with the Texas stocking deal ... if and when MDC starts supplementally stocking our lake with bass, I can see eating a few spots, along with the occasional walleye. But as it stands now, we need to take care of every fish out there. The more that are swimming around, the more babies they make and the more fish we have for everyone.

Don't feel bad, Fishrman. Dang near happened to us, too. We caught one non-keeper LM on a Ned and that was all she wrote. Threw that jerker until my arm nearly fell off. Couldn't even drop-shot a fish off the SK bridge. Barely marked any bait there. How sad is that?

No one zeroes in Beardsley. It's so good in there that you are awarded a bonus 4-pound smallie upon entering. Just appears in the livewell.

Great to know, Bill. Headed down that road myself before long. Gotta get the gal a new hip first.

One of the greatest things about this forum is our ability to "agree to disagree" ... and most of the time with no flaming arrows launched. I was fishing buddies with one of the BASS originals, Ricky Green, during the 80s and he showed me one day just how many bites I was leaving behind on bluff walls during the summertime. I was fishing Trilene XT 8-pound mono (no fluoro back then) and he was also using XT but in 2-pound test. Same lures (1/8 shaky head worm), same everything ... but he caught a dozen fish behind me in an hour while I caught one. Blame it on the difference in abilities or whatever you want, but I'm forever convinced it was primarily the line.

You let that dang walleye go right now, old man. That's a spawner. 😁 😆

Donna and I are gonna try the Footjoy winter golf gloves today. Will report back on how we like them.

I was just messin with ya. Been the same for me ... throw jerk bait til your arm falls off for 2-3 bites a day. Jig and Ned bite is better right now. Donna and I are headed to Shell Knob in a bit to investigate recent reports of some decent action up there.

Is Bo making a jerkbait these days? That don't look like no jig I've ever seen tangled in the net on that third smallmouth pic. 😁

Pics are there and they certainly look like Kings River "green trout," as folks call them on the Mississippi gulf coast. Nice ones. Crank bait bite just seems to be off everywhere right now.

Nicely done on the fish and a fine-looking older Ranger. What year and model?