Champ188

There's that "R" word again --- respect. Not much of it going around anywhere in this world today.

Maxima is great line. Mr. Babler swears by it and at his recommendation, I tried it and now use it religiously in the winter for jerk baits on baitcasting tackle (8-pound test). Tough stuff. In my opinion, it also runs a tad big on diameter and strength, i.e. you could throw a shaky head, drop shot or Ned on 4-pound Maxi and get the same performance as with 6-pound line in other brands.

Travis, I think you'll be fine with the 6-pound P-Line although I'll make one disclaimer ... I love P-Line but their diameter tends to be a bit larger (and stronger) than other monos in the same pound test. You might go down to 4-pound test, get more bites and be just fine on line strength. Another option is to try 6-pound BPS Excel in the green color. I have used this line on my spinning rods for quite a few years now and it is the best I have ever found for limpness, toughness and whatever else you're looking for in a spinning gear line. I don't pinch pennies with my tackle and would pay more for this same line, but it's nice that it's very reasonably priced. Just means you can change it often without cringing at the price. As for jigs, I would recommend 12-pound fluorocarbon. As clear as the water tends to be lakewide in the fall, I'd be afraid of line visibility issues with 12-pound mono. Also, you'll have a lot more sensitivity with a good fluorocarbon. If you don't already have a favorite, Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon in the green tint is the best I've found. A bit pricey but worth it, IMO.

He wasn't talking about docks in the White River. There are no fish around those docks.

Gotta love when those big uns get on that red spinnerbait bite up in the dirt in August. Did yours have the red painted blades, too?

Thanks for the info, QB.

QB, he likes those Beggin Strips best. The bacon-flavored ones.

That's my pet. Quit thrashing at him with your rod! Big meanie!

In the profound words of Freddie Mercury ... another one bites the dust.

I think Bird Watcher is all over it. His free-lined shad is wounded and therefore easier prey for the predator. Same with a lure presented differently than the hordes of shad that the bass are swimming among. Otherwise, how else would our lures ever be singled out over the millions of other baitfish in the lake?

Hard to imagine why they would close both Eagle Rock and Big M. That's really your two primary access points in the upper White. At least that's the two I usually use when fishing that part of the lake and coming from Arkansas.

I understand your concern and I, too, don't tell everything I know here on the forum, but I don't think you need to worry about anyone following you because your boat was partially pictured here. Maybe I'm being naive, but I don't think many Southern boys are gonna stoop to following someone else to their fishing hole. Not for walleye anyway. This isn't the North and we don't have walleye derbies down here.

Like others above, glad to hear common decency hasn't completely gone by the wayside!

Why a mistake to have your boat in the pic?

Well, better to go that way, I suppose, than to try and throw a deep crank bait on a broomstick.

The only issue I had with trying to combine a big crankbait rod with the A-rig was that for big cranks, you need a parabolic action ... i.e. when loaded, the rod bends pretty much equally throughout its entire length. If you try throwing an A-rig with that kind of action, you run the risk of (A) breaking the rod or ( hooking yourself in the azz with that contraption. On the contrary, if you try to throw a big crank on a stiff, heavy action rod, you are gonna miss a lot of fish because your rod needs to be soft enough to let the fish take the bait and turn to swim away. Too stiff of a rod and he won't get hooked half the time. Bottom line for me is you need different rods, although you could probably throw a single big swimbait on your deep cranking rod.

I use Duckett Micro Magic rods almost exclusively and I haven't noticed that the guides ice up any worse than regular ones. To me, the bigger problem is the level-wind reel guide icing up in cold weather. As for A-rig rods, I bought two Castaway 7-6 heavy action rods from Academy for about $40 each. Mounted a couple of trusty old green Shimano Curado 200s on them, which have lots of line capacity. They serve my purpose very well, although that purpose these days is mostly sitting idle in the garage. Not a big fan of the A-rig unless I'm fishing a derby and am forced to throw it. I'd rather catch em on a stick bait if I can.

For me, fall bite usually doesn't get going until mid-October. Need that water temp to dip down below 70 to really get them stirring. That's when I'll start consistently finding those thumper spots on the front corners of the boat docks. Burn a spinnerbait by them and hang on. A little later ... around the first of November, usually ... they'll push on back in the pockets and you can start way-laying them on breezy days on a blade or a mid-depth crank bait like Bandit 200 series. Love me some fall fishing ... you modern-gun deer hunters just please remember there are still a few boats on the lake and keep our safety in mind.

Hey Hazbin, we actually did play golf both Saturday and Sunday. Golf game isn't bad ... shot 77's both days on different courses ... but my fishing does get very rusty in the summertime. You are right ... it's hard to do both at any accomplished level, especially when still working full time. Thinking of you and will pray your neck procedures go smoothly, along with your recovery. Would enjoy meeting you this fall, as well. Donna and I will be spending time at Table Rock then and we'll make a point to get together with you. We fish the Emerald Beach area quite a bit.

I'm with ya, Thumbs. One of the many good things about this site is we can give each other a hard time without hard feelings.

Grand did not happen Saturday. Wasn't feeling great and just couldn't drag myself out of bed at 4 a.m. to go day fishing on an August full moon.

Just pickin' at you guys, F&F. Your explanation makes sense. The striper guides at Ouachita drive 2 hours to the Arkansas River a couple of days a week to net shad.

Hey now, I know where to find you Thumbs. And yes, Cindyjo, we have a darn good group of folks here. It's good to be reminded of that.

Why would someone need to go to Grand or Table Rock to net shad? Beaver is brimming with shad. I know it is because every time I say otherwise, I'm corrected by those smarter than me.

Hey mojo, what happened with the experimental introduction of vegetation at Bull Shoals? Did it ever "take" or was the climate/lake bottom just not suitable?