Champ188

Gotta be a post-spawn blade bite with clouds and wind. Doesn't there?

The flat "back side" of the mushroom head also seems to provide a larger surface for glueing the bait to the head.

Haven't been to Stockton in a couple of years but I've noticed the same thing up there, although the dam area seems to have a fair amount of pleasure boat traffic. There are plenty of sailboats, but they don't bother anyone.

Thanks much, 5bites. That helps more than you might think. I've always been one who'd rather just get some general help like that rather than a full rack of details. I sure do better if someone doesn't send me to a specific place with specific instructions. It's just hard to catch someone else's fish. Whereas, if someone gives me a general idea of what's going on, I can take that to my own areas, apply it and often come up with the answer. And sometimes not.

Friendly banter acknowledged and appreciated, SOX. Sorry I misread your intent.

This is directly from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission website: A White River Border Lakes License (WRL) is available for a $10 annual fee. This license allows holders of a valid resident license from either state to fish all waters of Bull Shoals, Norfork and Table Rock lakes without a fishing license from the other state. The permit is valid for impounded waters (the waters between Beaver Lake Dam and Houseman Access in Arkansas are excluded). Trout may not be taken with this license. Anglers younger than 16 do not need to buy this license to fish in Missouri waters. Anglers are required to abide by the fishing regulations of the state where they are fishing.

Very nice report, 5bites. Hats off to you for including your sons in your derby fishing. That's an investment guaranteed to pay big dividends in terms far greater than money. I fish Grand quite a bit, except for during the coldest months, so I'll make an effort to start posting some here. I'm going Saturday and will try to remember to post Monday (after the Nichols tournament Sunday). Not fishing Nichols myself but helping a friend.

That's funny, Danger.

How about letting me speak for myself ... big difference in wearing a T-shirt with a logo and a sublimated "jersey" plastered with logos and your name on the back like you think you're some Elite Series pro. If you're actually sponsored (product or money) by those folks, by all means wear the jersey. If not, a lot of us think you look pretty silly.

I'm with ya on that, Plug. I buy what I need to catch fish, and some of it is made overseas. But I buy local or U.S.-made whenever possible ... War Eagle and Bass-X (both in Rogers, AR), Jewel (Harrison, AR), Luck-E-Strike (Cassville, MO). In recent weeks, I bought a total of 244 shaky head jigs from two sources here on the forum (Swing Oil and Pour Dennis). Not gonna need any of those for quite a while. And I find that the older I get, the less I need -- at least where variety is concerned. As you have preached here many times, Plug, the most successful fishermen -- and this goes for every level -- don't flip-flop around with every technique under the sun. They choose 2-3 that fit their style of fishing and learn them very well. Then they fish their strengths and catch fish more days than not. For the most part, the jersey jocks are wannabes and never-gonna-bes who are trying to convince both themselves and the rest of us that they are the next coming of Roland Martin, Rick Clunn or KVD. Almost without fail, they flame out in short order ... because they were fishing for attention and not a true love of fishing (but that's another topic altogether). Next thing you know, the testosterone-laden turds are on the golf course, spraying balls all over creation from the back tees (naturally) and ruining the rounds of everyone unfortunate enough to be playing behind them.

+1

Jersey-wearin', wrapped-boat type. Don't get me started on these yay-hoo's wearing the sublimated jerseys plastered with the logos of companies that never heard of them, much less sponsor them. When you challenge them on it, they say, "I like their product and I show my appreciation by promoting them." No,Willy Wannabe, you showed your appreciation at the cash register. We all know the jersey isn't about that.

Looks like fun, Phil. And the pics are really nice. Pretty sunset.

Congrats on 50 years, OldPlug. Hope you guys enjoy many more.

You got the most important thing right .. when you're best friends first and foremost, everything else will fall into place. Sure has for me and Donna. Best wishes for a lifetime of joy.

Just my opinion, but we had them at Lake Ouachita (west-central Arkansas) where I am originally from and they hung out a lot in brush piles and even more in the thick hydrilla and coontail that the lake once had growing down to depths of 20-25 feet. I personally think their eyes are very light-sensitive and that they enjoy dark, shady places ... which would include boat docks.

Late spring, it's pretty common to catch walleye shallow in the White River arm of the lake. Seems they disappear into the deep, dark abyss when the water starts getting hot.

I haven't noticed any changes up the White but I haven't fished below the White-James junction this year. In fact, Donna and I have caught more than our share of keeper K's up to 3.75 pounds this spring.

Tully, was not aware of that one. Thanks for the tip.

The regular Zoom Tube is also thin-walled and soft.In fact, it is promoted as being designed after the original Gitzit. I always keep some onhand. The Zoom Salty Super Tube is bigger and has thicker walls.

How many "plus 1's" can I add to this? Donna and I feel exactly the same about them ... all the way down to the fact that the only BPS-branded item in our boat is ... get this ... smoke-copper grubs with red flake. We do have them in both single and double tail, as she likes to put the latter on the back of a jig sometimes. I recently weeded out the last of my three Johnny Morris POS (piece of sardines) Signature Series spinning reels. At $100 each retail, they were supposed to be the cat's meow. The first two worked great for 3 months, so I bought another. All three fell apart in less than a year. I now own Lew's eggbeaters and love them to death so far. Not to be exclusively mean to BPS, we don't buy Cabela's brand knock-offs either. Tried some of their hula grubs once and won't make that mistake again. I ran, not walked, back to Yamamoto. They do have a very good spoon that to my knowledge is their original design. Don't know of anything else like it. Botttom line ... I don't think you save a single dime by pinching pennies and buying junk -- not if your priority is catching fish. And after all the money we spend on everything else, why suddenly stop short of buying decent tackle and lures?

Guys, I know a lot of us are gonna lay low this weekend, but others are going fishing amid what promises to be nothing short of a complete zoo of boats of all descriptions. Table Rock has gotten really, really popular with the party crowd, and there are plenty of people out there who have no business driving a boat sober, much less crap-faced drunk. PLEASE be careful and don't become the object of a prayer request on here next week. Might have missed it, but I don't recall there being any drownings or boat-crash deaths yet this year. That said, seems Memorial Day is pretty faithful to supply the first each year. Have fun, wear your life jackets and slow down. Getting there first doesn't matter if you arrive dead.

I like the looks of that.

Hey T, hope you catch a bunch a fish, making an already great week even better (any week on Table Rock is inherently great). As for the entertainment value of this forum, we need a mix of that and information. I try not to overdo the humor but sometimes I'm sure I do. As for info, I can tell you that you should have no problem catching some Redfin or Spook fish early and late (or anytime under cloud cover), and you can also take a shaky head with your choice of finesse worm and catch a bunch of fish throughout the day. That's not the only way by a long shot, but it's one of my favorites.

Bill, you got me beat with that one. Unbelievable. Ron Shuffield had a guy do it to him one time on Lake Ouachita. They were fishing deep grass and this guy pulls out a solid white jig and hangs a bright red Uncle Josh No. 1 jumbo pork frog on the back. Proceeds to catch 20 pounds on that contraption in less than 2 hours' time. The reasoning behind his color choice? He was a diehard Arkansas Razorbacks fan.