Champ188

Always colder in the river arms.

Tough nut for us to crack, too. We launched at Aunt's Creek around 9:30 and literally fished til dark. Got my first bite on a jerk bait at 1:45 p.m. Caught my first fish at 4:29 on a jerk bait and the second 15 minutes later. That was it for the day. Two. Water temps ranged from 42 in Buttermilk Basin to 45 in Aunt's Creek. Sunday was not much different. Three fish, all on jerk bait. I'm done trying to figure 'em out for awhile and I'm just not gonna get out there and try to catch 'em on a spoon or grub in 60 feet of water or more. Not my deal. Going to Grand next weekend.

Good stuff, Dewayne. Good to see you here. This is a great forum indeed and having guys like you contribute only makes it better. Donna and I are staying with Basil and Nancy tomorrow night at Harpers Valley. I've seen you there before, I believe. Good people. It's the only place we'll stay anymore.

Hey TRRANGER, I think we'll put in at Mill Creek. Hope to be there by 8 a.m. Good luck to you too, Jason. Bet F&F is right ... we probably won't get lonely out there. Here's a pic of the new boat (well, it's a year old now) for those of you still accustomed to us being in the old Champ.

Again, my understanding is that everything is fair game except marina docks, which now means all docks owned or operated by a marina. Formerly, it was only gas/retail docks. Otherwise, fish on, folks!!

Fishing upstream of Campbell Point requires a special permit. See Babler for details.

You are absolutely right about that.

Guess ya'll better make room for another passenger in the "my way or no way" boat. I'm the same way. I have my techniques and I can cover everything from dry land out to 30 feet deep. Any deeper than that and I'm pretty much screwed ... or disinterested, to be really honest.

Hey mjk86, unfortunately it appears those indeed are off-limits. They are part of Port of Kimberling Marina and under the latest regs, all docks that are part of a commercial marina are off-limits. Here is a link to the Central Pro-Am website that provides a map of all off-limits areas on TR: http://webboutdoors.com/central-pro/corps-engineers-commercial-zone-limits/

Not much to add to what abk had to say except would toss in that if you have brush piles that you fish with jigs or worms, these can be excellent spots for a jerk bait. The fish will suspend up above them and unlike a lot of exposed timber, they don't get hammered as much by passers-by. Along that same line of thought, pay attention to underwater rock structure is a big deal on Table Rock and other Ozarks-area lakes. Anywhere you have a rock pile or dropoff (like a bluff line that extends offshore) can be very productive. Lastly, and this becomes more critical as spring approaches, target your transition banks where a bluff turns to chunk rock or chunk rock transitions to gravel. I wouldn't sweat too much about pausing longer than 10 seconds. What I WOULD suggest is that you resist the urge to "snap" the lure when working it in very cold water. The lower the water temp, the more subtle you want to move the bait. A simple short "pull" or the rod tip works best in very cold water. Hope this helps. Good luck out there.

Dang it, QB, you were supposed to go today and figure them out for me!

We had a guy fishing our Central Pro-Am championship a few years back on Bull Shoals who was practicing by himself on Friday. Squirrels were migrating heavily that year because of low food supply from ice storm damage. Anyway, my friend finished his day, stored his rods and started the run back to the ramp. About the time he got the boat up on plane, he felt something scrambling up his leg (he was wearing shorts). Looking down, he saw this wide-eyed gray squirrel had a death grip on his leg. Needless to say, he leaped out of the driver's seat, pulling the kill switch in the process, and scrambled up on the back deck while the squirrel went the opposite direction, pausing momentarily on the front deck to give my buddy one last wild-eyed look before bailing over the side of the boat. Apparently the squirrel was swimming the lake and decided to crawl up in the boat, under the driver's console and take a nap.

I'm about to get buried at work at least thru the end of February (one-day weekends) so Donna and I are gonna take a last-fling overnight trip to The Rock this weekend. Not sure what the rain will do but like Thumbs said, if it's warmer than the water temp, things could get good. At any rate, the weather is going to be darn nice compared to recent weeks and we're gonna enjoy ourselves, My primary plan is to see if the jerk bait bite has finally cranked up. I'm sure Donna will be systematically raking every rock and crevice with a jig. We'll post Saturday night. White Ranger Z119, Merc 225, silver and gunmetal stripes, big fat ugly dude on the front, far prettier female type on the back in bright-red Guidewear. Stop and say hi.

I'm like you about wanting that nose-down attitude, jolicious. Not sure why the bass seem to like it that way but in my experience, they do.

1. Pick three techniques -- one for shallow water, one for deep water and one for suspended fish -- and learn them well. Don't be a jack of all trades and master of none. 2. Determine early on if it's the fishing that interests you most or the catching. If it's the latter, save yourself a bunch of time and money and find another sport. I don't care how good you become, you're gonna spend more time fishing than catching. 3. Spend as much or more time learning about the fish as techniques. It matters not what you're throwing or how skillfully you can throw it if you can't get yourself around the fish. Guides like Babler and Beck prove every day that just about anyone can catch em. It's the finding 'em that's hard. 4. Find yourself a source or two of dependable info (such as this forum) and keep your ears open and piehole shut, except to ask an intelligent question now and then. 5. Keep it simple. When you can't seem to get bit on anything else, get "finessey" with it and go to a little green pumpkin worm on a shaky head or a finesse jig with a small crawfish trailer. That's my 2-cents worth. Good luck out there.

Got that right, Jerry. I think the darkness somehow multiplies the sound by 10.

Guys like the ones Billfo is talking about are the ones who create ill feelings for all of us between dock owners/renters and fishermen. If you can't cast any better than that, don't start pitching lures around people's property. I started learning to pitch in my 20s and I literally spent hours outside in my yard working on my skills. These days, I can pitch a jig or shaky head in the space between a boat and a dock walkway all day long. When it appears my lure might be going to hit a boat, I stop my pitch before it does, reel up my line and pitch again. It all comes down to being responsible and respectful anglers. .

Good work, jolicious. That's a lot cleaner look than wrapping solder wire around a hook.

Shouldn't be a problem. My suggestion would be to get some small diameter solder wire and wrap around the front hook. Shouldn't take much to neutralize the slow-rise action.

I think I will call up Denjac next time I want to go and it's 10 degrees outside. If I'm not mistaken, that new 921 Phoenix of his has central heat and air. It has so many options that it took them dang near a year to build it and get it to him after he ordered it.

Now that's funny I don't care who you are. Thanks for the chuckle, abk.

Sprint nailed it when he said you have to commit to throwing that A-rig and not veer off one way or the other. You probably aren't going to get more than a dozen bites in an 8-hour day on it but practically all will be keepers with usually a big bite or two. It's work.

Been writing and editing professionally for 35 years. She has a nice touch.

I'm pretty determined (or stupid) when it comes to fishing but had I not been working today, I don't believe I would have attempted to venture out.

Nicely written piece about a very good guy ... and a heck of a fisherman. Thanks for writing and posting it, Phil.