Champ188

I stand corrected sir.

It’s my understanding that Johnny charges to launch at his place in Long Creek.

Anyone can use it. There’s a donation box that helps pay the upkeep.

I will stop myself eventually. No doubt about that. 😃

I use it because it works best for me. Doesn’t change my politics. And it gives people something to snipe at me about. 😆

TW, spinnerbait, spoon ... 17 lb green BPS Excel mono. FB jig, Hula grub, Texas rig, wobble head ... 15 lb Sunline Sniper fluorocarbon. Finesse jig, Senko, floating worm, swim bait, squarebill ... 12 lb Sunline Sniper FC Warts and other midrange to deep cranks ... 10 lb P-Line CXX mono. Jerk baits ... 8 lb Sunline Super Mono green

You might check with Jug and Plug in Shell Knob and see if they have any flyers.

Slippery wording in that last paragraph... second “collision” this year. No mention of the season opening one-boat accident that killed the co-angler at Okeechobee.

Always good to get out with loved ones.

Wish I could but can’t go til Saturday.

Hang in there, Gary. Hold God, remaining family and friends close. You're in our prayers.

LOL 😆

Thanks for the report, M&M.

I can tell you right now that you'll likely find the same scenario up shallow ... fish are really wadded up tight in certain areas and you can fish for quite a while without finding said areas. Don't linger too long in one spot. They'll tell you if they are there.

All good info, Seth. Thanks for being willing to share even though you had a tough trip.

You can do a lot worse than 8 fish on a February day in the Ozarks. The fish are still grouped up for the most part, which can make finding them pretty darn hard. And with water temps in the 40s, there's certainly no guarantee they'll bite when you DO find them. Better. Days. Around. The. Corner.

I have no problem sharing my feeble thoughts on any technique. I prefer weighting my swimbaits because we are talking Table Rock here, i.e., super-clear water where the fish are often reluctant to come near/to the surface to eat a bait. But there are those times, often in spring, where a hook will work just as well. I don't like the belly-weighted hooks because I just haven't found any that look very natural when rigged. Again, I'm open to sharing any/all techniques and I hope everyone else is, too. It's when we get into derby season and you start getting thousands of views on every post that I'm reluctant to say anything about where I've been fishing or patterns that are working for me. Say too much about an area and you'll have lots of company next time out.

Well said, Mark. Some of my closest friends are the result of being an OAF member and I've learned SO MUCH from them.

This ^^^ !! You can pretty much throw it anywhere you'd throw a jerk bait or spinner bait, especially if you rig it on a weedless head like the War Eagle Grubber. Be sure you get the bait perfectly straight on the head ... it swims a lot better that way.

Just stay on your own end of the lake. We don't allow deep-sea fishing up here anyway.

PM sent, Royal Blue. This post has been up less than 48 hours and has had 1,077 views vs. 14 replies. So for every 78 people who have viewed it, only one has left a comment. Therein lies the reason I provide only general information these days. Yeah, it's derby season. If you want to know more and are an OAF member, PM me and I'll elaborate.

Means a lot for you to say that, bo. Truth is, I got weary long ago of bumping my gums together about the many variables and nuances of fishing a spinner bait. I'll still happily talk for hours with truly interested parties about it, but I'm done wasting my breath on the folks who think all there is to being a good spinner bait/crank bait fisherman is throwing it out there and reeling it in. Got better ways to spend my time.

I had the same thing happen last week with the crank bait dinks until I went back with a spinnerbait and slowed it down. Size and keeper ratio improved considerably.

Pack your superglue and don’t try to reel it thru a tree.

Several recent posts on this forum contain that info. Might learn something important if you read them. 😁 Upper 40s to low 50s.