Champ188

Goes to show you that docks are always a good option come hot weather on the Rock.

Also, since all night tournaments are team derbies and with a four-fish limit, neither angler is likely to reach the point of "limiting out" individually and going into catch-and-release-only mode.

This thread is worth saving for anyone who fishes TR from daily to once a year. Bill and rps know from whence they speak, and for them to open their minds like this for free is pretty darn generous. Better rathole this info in a handy place. It will stand the test of time, i.e. you can come back to it 20 years from now and every word will still be true. I will try to remember to toss out some nuggets of what I've learned over the years about the shallow bite in the fall ... topwater, flipping shallow cover and of course throwing a blade ... once that time gets here.

LOL at Bill's comment and agree. Always enjoy getting some of the younger one's (I'll leave his name out of it) money when he shows up for a derby, especially at Grand. But he looks the part with the pretty blue wrapped truck and boat.

Throw a finesse jig, shaky head or drop shot around boat docks, including inside the slips and as far back to the walkways as you can get. Concentrate on 18-25 feet of water. You will get bit.

"A spoon is not a lure, it's a weapon." ... Mark Davis, circa 1985 (when he was still a young fishing guide, before the onset of his glory days as a Bassmasters Classic champion and three-time BASS Angler of the Year)

That can sure shut them off, QB.

I'm with Jason. Not sold yet.

Good report, Josh. Thanks for sharing.

As abkeenan said, very good-hearted of you to try and find the rightful owner. Not cheap is right. I went to Cabela's last night and bought a spool of fluorocarbon and four jigs. Cost $39. You're good people, Josh. But we already knew that. You're a fisherman!

Good info, Quill. Been a lot of end-of-June days we'd have all sold out for a 20-fish morning.

That just sucks, abkeenan. Common sense is not only uncommon these days, it's darn near extinct.

Watch out for the morons. There are nocturnal ones, too, especially on holiday weekends.

Hard to beat a finesse jig or shaky head this time of year. Here's the thing about dock fishing. Once you determine the depth the fish are holding, which in summer will likely be right above the thermocline, don't fish every boat slip in the dock. Fish only those where the bottom is within 4-5 feet of your target depth and move on. Yes, it's work, but it will greatly increase your success. Another thing is to learn how to pitch accurately and get your lure way back in the shade ... preferably all the way to the walkway. Where there's a boat on a lift, get between the boat and the dock. Your line will probably be draped over the lift. So be it. Yes, you'll lose some fish. And jigs. And shaky heads. But by gosh you can't catch one if you can't get bit and some days, you just have to go deep into the jungle to find the tiger.

Thanks, guys. None better than Nicky at deep crankin, among other things. The guy can flat catch em.

http://www.southwesternparts.com/

Didn't hear who did but Elite Series rules include one that states if an angler sees another competitor violate a rule and does not report it, he is equally guilty and subject to disqualification. So it wouldn't be prudent to blow it off.

Good info powerdive. I think the problem for casters would be that casting for bass hanging around shad in open water would be akin to the old needle-in-a-haystack metaphor. When cranking points or ledges, at least one element ... the structure ... is stationary. With the shad moving, the bass moving and no structure as an anchor point, I don't see it as a productive venture. Not only do you walleye trollers get your baits deeper, you are covering farrrrrrrrrrr more water. Sooner or later you're bound to cross paths with some bass ... and hopefully some Walters, too.

Maybe they learned something from it. Since it was only five boats, the damage was minimal and sounds like at least they didn't just drive off and leave them. First off, that's a black eye on all of us and second, if you're gonna kill something, eat it.

I'm a fair hand at deep cranking and my experience on Table Rock is that it's a tough proposition except for in the somewhat stained waters of the upper James, upper Kings and far upper White river arms, along with maybe the upper portion of Long Creek. Anywhere else, these fish just don't live shallow enough ... and perhaps more importantly, they don't relate to the bottom enough ... to be reached effectively with a crank bait. I believe they spend far too much time suspended to be consistently caught cranking. You have to be bumping a crank bait off ledges or humps to get bit very often, and 15-20 feet deep (a crank bait's deep-end range) is just not where 98 percent of TR's bass live most of the time. Josh did have a good suggestion earlier about paralleling bluffs, where you can bump a deep cranker off the shelves and rock slides. It is also my experience that crank baits are not as effective in crystal clear water as they are in stained water. Not saying crank bait fish can't be caught on TR, but it is my experience and my humble opinion that if one is determined to do so, he'd do best to get way up in the river arms.

Amen, Bill. Stupid turds. That lake is a fish factory but it doesn't need to be abused by igmos.

I'll try to post more from time to time. A lot of what I do these days is probably not quite specific enough for this crowd but some of it might be.

A fellow member asked some very good questions about deep cranking in a separate thread. The following is an article I did a few years back for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (it was later modified slightly for publication in Fishing Magazine, the former official publication of Central Pro-Am Association). The source for this article is Nicky Parson, who I consider one of the best deep crank bait anglers to ever set foot in a boat. The article was set on Grand Lake but also contains lots of viable information for the White River lakes. Hope this helps someone catch a few more fish this summer. DEEP THOUGHTS ON SUMMER BASS By diving deep, fish escape the heat, but they can’t hide from Nicky Parson BY JAMES GILZOW ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE GROVE, Okla. — Nicky Parson considers hot-weather bass fishing a deep subject, and for good reason. Unless they are confined in a stream or other relatively shallow waterway, most bass in Northwest Arkansas and the surrounding area head for the cool comfort of deeper water when the summer sun bears down. Likewise, many anglers choose the air-conditioned comfort of their couches. Some turn to fishing at night, when the air is cooler and water temperatures often dip enough to draw bass into the shallows briefly to feed. But for Parson, the heat is a minor obstacle that he refuses to let keep him from some torrid bass action. “Actually, this is my favorite time to bass fish,” the Farmington angler said Sunday as the late-morning sun over Grand Lake mounted, giving a strong hint of what the afternoon would hold. “It’s not peaceful fishing by any means. You’ve got the heat to contend with, and on lakes like this one, the big pleasure boats and jet skis will drive you crazy if you let them. You have to put that stuff out of your mind.” Parson’s focus and passion were obvious as he tirelessly hurled a big Bomber Fat Free Shad crank bait far as he could, then reeled it hard back to the boat, occasionally pausing it for a split second. “It’s work fishing these big crank baits,” he said. “But it’s all worth it when you come across a school of big ’uns and start catching a 4- or 5-pounder every throw.” GETTING STARTED Parson began his Sunday search just after daybreak, stopping first on a long, slow-tapering point only a quarter-mile from our launch point at the Oklahoma 10 bridge over the Elk River arm of Grand Lake. Several anglers nearby frothed the shallow water along the banks, hoping for topwater action in the low-light conditions. But Parson stopped our boat far from shore, his mind set on catching them his way. “We could probably catch some shallow early, but people have learned about these deep fish,” he said. “In tournaments, I used to try to catch a quick limit fishing shallow early, then move out deeper later in the day. But anymore, if you wait to hit your deep spots, someone has probably already beat them up pretty good.” Our starting place would provide a glimpse of nearly every spot we would fish over the next eight hours. Points, especially those that slope gradually into deep water, play a big role in Parson’s deep-cranking strategy. Bass tend to feed in shallow water during summer, herding schools of shad up onto the tops of points, then ambushing them. The lesser distance between the lake’s surface and the bottom confines their prey. When they’re full, the bass retreat to deeper water off either side or the end of the point. “Points are good places to start looking for crank-bait fish for a couple of reasons,” Parson said. “To start with, they are natural feeding areas. But more importantly, they’re easy to see. If you’re running down an unfamiliar lake and see a flat point sloping out from the bank, you can bet that whatever you see above the surface continues below.” Other types of structure, or bottom contour, that Parson seeks out include offshore humps and flats with a well-defined creek or river channel slicing through them. Like points, both offer shallow areas for bass to feed with deep water nearby. DISSECTING AN AREA Simply finding such areas, however, isn’t enough. Some won’t hold fish at all. Others will be productive one day and barren the next. And without fail, there is a key place where the fish are concentrated. “Structure fishing is all about finding that sweet spot,” Parson said. “Every point, hump or flat will have a little place where the fish are concentrated. It can be a brush pile, a rock pile or just a single big stump.” One advantage of deep-diving crank baits is that an angler can cover far more water with them than slower-moving lures like jigs or soft plastics. Parson pays great attention whenever his lure hits an underwater object during the retrieval. “If you’re on a strange lake or fishing an unfamiliar area, it’s important to really cover the entire point, hump or the drop [where a flat falls into a channel] to find the sweet spots,” Parson said. “And you really need to be alert when your bait hits something other than the bottom. With some practice, you’ll learn to tell by feel whether it’s brush or rocks or whatever. “And once you hit something like that, you need to throw back there over and over from different angles. Nine times out of 10, that’s where the fish are going to be.” Even though Parson was working familiar waters Sunday, he was diligent in spacing his casts just a few feet apart in order to comb entire areas. “I’ve pulled into an area a lot of times right after another boat left and caught fish after fish,” he said. “A lot of guys find the right general areas but they don’t fish them thoroughly enough.” CONSIDER THE CONDITIONS As with any fishing method, weather and water conditions can play a vital role in deep cranking. Sunday dawned a bit cloudy and calm for Parson’s liking, but that would change as the day progressed. “With our deep, clear lakes in this area, we’re used to wanting it cloudy so the fish will be out roaming around,” he said. “But when I’m cranking deep, I want it sunny. That helps position the fish down on the drops and close to the cover where you can pinpoint them better.” Parson also likes some wind with his sun, saying that seems to help the overall activity level. “I’m not sure why that is, but I know that it sure helps,” he said. “Nothing seems to stir much when the [water’s] surface is flat. I think the wind helps move the baitfish around and triggers bass to feed.” Crank bait experts, Parson included, also like some power generation at the dam of the lake they’re fishing. The turbines that generate electricity are powered by water releases through the dam, which pull water downlake and create current. “That can be a big factor,” Parson said. “I’ve seen days on Beaver Lake when it would be 1 o’clock and I hadn’t caught a fish. Then they’d start generating at the dam and the fish would turn on almost instantly.” Another aspect of water conditions that hasn’t been favorable for deep cranking this year is lake level. With average rainfall, lakes in the Ozarks and surrounding area generally are at or below normal pool by early summer. But because of this spring’s heavy rains, most are well into flood pool. Beaver Lake, for instance, has hovered within a foot or so of the top of flood pool for months. “That’s bad news for guys like me,” Parson said. “There is so much shoreline cover in the water that the fish scatter instead of gathering out on the points and drops. I’m a firm believer that bass will stay close to the banks even in summer if there’s enough cover and water depth for them to be comfortable, and this year there is tons of it.” Too much cover even at normal lake levels presents problems with deep cranking, which is one reason Parson concentrates his efforts on most lakes in the river arms. Standing timber is so prevalent on the lower end of Beaver Lake that the bass scatter out in it. Also, the water is so clear that the fish tend to go deeper than even a deep crank bait will reach, or they suspend, following schools of shad around in open water. “I’ve just never had much success cranking on the lower end of most lakes or in clear water,” Parson said. “I’ve done lots better in the river arms where the water is a little off-colored and the cover is more isolated. It makes it a lot easier to figure out where the fish are holding and tends to concentrate them on those areas.” TOOLS OF THE TRADE In part because of the sheer size and weight of deep-diving crank baits, it’s critical that anglers choose a rod well suited for the technique. Parson recommends a 7-footer in medium heavy/fast action. He also suggests using the best baitcasting reel an angler can afford, preferably one with a midrange gear ratio of 6:2:1 or 6:3:1 — not too slow and not too fast. The primary reason is that such an outfit allows the lure to be cast a long way, meaning it will be in the “strike zone” as long as possible as it arcs back to the boat. “It’s very important to get that bait out there as far you can,” said Parson, whose personal rod-andreel choice is a G.Loomis 7-footer specially designed for crank baits and a Shimano Chronarch reel. “The reason is that on the first part of the retrieve the lure is diving. Then in the middle stage, it’s at its maximum depth, which is when you want it bumping the bottom or whatever cover the fish are holding on. The last part of the retrieve, it’s coming back up to you. “Nearly all of your bites will come during the middle stage of the retrieve. The farther you’re able to throw it, the longer it will stay at that maximum depth and the more chance you have of getting bit.” As for lures, Parson keeps his choices pretty basic. On Sunday, he used a 3/4-ounce Bomber Fat Free Shad in the citrus shad color almost exclusively, occasionally picking up a similar-colored Rapala DT 16. “I’ve tried pretty well all of the deep-diving crank baits out there and it’s hard to beat that big Fat Free Shad,” he said. “It’s my goto lure.” Another consideration when choosing a rod is hooking and playing fish. The medium heavy/ fast model features plenty of backbone in the butt section for handling a big fish but also a limber tip for allowing the fish to grab the lure without the angler jerking it away. “You don’t want a real stiff tip or you’ll miss a lot of bites,” Parson said. “Also, you don’t want to jerk when one bites. I just keep reeling and let the rod load up, then lean back into the fish and start playing him. Modern hooks are sharp enough that they’ll do their job just by a guy applying steady pressure. When you jerk hard, you risk ripping the hooks completely out of the fish.” Even more so than with his lures, Parson doesn’t experiment much with line. He favors Seaguar Carbon Pro exclusively, and nearly always in 10-pound test. The 100 percent fluorocarbon line is nearly invisible underwater, it sinks by nature and has very little stretch. “You don’t want to go much bigger than 10-pound or you’ll lose depth with your crank bait,” he said. “If you play a fish right, you won’t break them off and if you’ll carry a lure retriever for when you hang up, you won’t lose many baits either.” PATIENCE PAYS Although deep cranking is an active method of fishing, Parson says it rarely provides constant action. “That’s kind of the nature of this type of fishing,” he said. “You can go hours without a bite, but when you hit the right spot at the right time, you can load the boat in a hurry.” Sunday proved a bit unusual in that Parson picked off one bass here and another there, eventually building a catch of 20-21 pounds on a five-fish tournament limit standard. One of those bass came on a War Eagle jig dragged along the bottom in an area that he’d already raked for 30 minutes with the Fat Free Shad. “Dragging a jig through the same areas is an alternative when the bite is slow or if you’ve already caught a fish or two off a spot with a crank bait,” he said. “I think what happened today is that although [Grand Lake] isn’t as high as Beaver or other lakes at home, it’s still high enough that the fish really weren’t ganged up on my deep spots. But by being patient, we ended up catching a big sack. That’s what that crank bait will do if a guy will stick with it.”

Thanks for the very good report. Glad you guys caught a bunch.

I agree Jason.