Champ188

Methinks some folks do more fishing here than on the lake.

Good question huntest and maybe I'm contradicting my earlier advice, but I pretty much always Tex-pose my shaky head. The difference there is, shaky head worms are small (thin) in relation to a swimbait and require little pressure to drive a hook thru. Also, I rarely throw a shaky head that I'm not around some kind of cover. Also, the shaky heads that I use exclusively have the little wire spring extending below the line tie and are therefore designed to be Tex-posed.

Haven't used them myself but have generally heard good things.

Thanks, Quillback. Donna and I fished four hours Sunday from Eagle Rock down to Big M and found things just about the same. Think we had four total with three line-bumper keeps. That area is just fishing tough right now. Also, we started out upriver from Eagle Rock near the state line and the temp was an even 40 up there. Got warmer as we came down toward Big M. Think we're going to Tenkiller this Saturday.

Open hooks are always the best choice in open water. Never put plastic between a hook point and a fish unless absolutely necessary. Tex-posed belly-weighted hook when fishing around cover.

My choices are: Topwaters, spinnerbaits, buzz baits: P-Line mono in 17-pound test Football jig, C-rig: Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon in 15-pound test, although I've recently tried Cabela's Fluorocarbon in 14-pound test and have been very impressed with its sensitivity and strength. Jerk bait, finesse jig: Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon in 10-pound test green tint Anything on a spinning reel: BPS Excel 6-pound test in green tint I will say that back in the 1980s, BASS pioneer pro Ricky Green introduced me to the advantages of fishing a jighead worm (shaky head) on 2-pound test line. It's crazy how many more bites you get as opposed to 6-pound test. In fact, I'm going to have to do some of that this coming year when not fishing derbies.

Good point, F&F. Even now, people need to be really careful when using those concrete ramps. If the water is clear enough, give it a visual glance before launching. Even then, the driver should back up SLOWLY in case to prevent backing off a steep drop and damaging a trailer.

I wouldn't put much stock in anything that's said or posted publicly as to how those fish were caught. Frakes has been fishing and winning tournaments a long time. He's smart enough not to put much info out there for public consumption.

Prize money was paid to the top six teams. All teams listed weighed a six-bass limit. 1. Nick Frakes, Andy Benson, 21 pounds, 2 ounces. 2. Larry Walker, Jared Gobel, 17-12. 3. Warren Edwards, Allan Shannon, 16-5. 4. Rocky Hopkins, Jerry Ray, 15-15 5. Tony Anderson, Scott Patton, 15-14. 6. Jason Mitchell, Sheldon Vinson, 15-6. Congrats and good job to all on a miserably cold day.

Sorry, posted this to TR forum instead of Beaver but might be of interest anyway. Prize money was paid to the top six teams. All teams listed weighed a six-bass limit. 1. Nick Frakes, Andy Benson, 21 pounds, 2 ounces. 2. Larry Walker, Jared Gobel, 17-12. 3. Warren Edwards, Allan Shannon, 16-5. 4. Rocky Hopkins, Jerry Ray, 15-15 5. Tony Anderson, Scott Patton, 15-14. 6. Jason Mitchell, Sheldon Vinson, 15-6. Congrats and good job to all on a miserably cold day.

Nice of you to say, Pour Dennis. Back atcha, pal.

You are right, Fins. Left mine out for a couple of days once to dry out after fishing in an all-day rain and the Nazis had put a note on my door within 48 hours.

Thank you, Ron. We are well pleased with it so far.

Thanks, Capt. Joe, Jeb and Bill for your thoughts and observations. Good info to ponder.

Some days just aren't meant to be. Donna and I had a similar experience on Beaver. Fished 11-dark for two short brownies and one nice keeper LM.

OK, here's the deal ... I know we have to be responsible and pay our bills and take care of necessities first, and Donna and I do just that. But we are not gonna sit around and not go fishing because of some doom and gloom economic forecast. If I have money to make my boat and truck payments and a little left over to put gas in both and buy a couple of baits, the economy is pretty sunny in my world. Just sayin, some people are gonna sit around and fret until they wake up dead one day.

Well, just as I was starting to wonder if I'd bought a lemon, Donna and I managed to put some decent fish in the new Ranger. Started at 8:30 a.m. at the mouth of the White and finished up at dark in Baxter. Total was about 20 fish with 7 or 8 keepers, best five going 13-14 pounds. Caught a few the first couple of hours on a lavender shad War Eagle blade, then switched over to a jerk bait for the rest of the day. Threw a SPRO of undivulged color. Pretty much ran main-lake bluff ends with wind all day. The few times we did get off the main lake, we quit getting bit at all. One thing is certain ... I CANNOT get bit on a bank with less than a 45-degree slope, and truth be told, it needs to be more like 60-90 degrees. I guess it's the low water level, but these fish are on steep stuff. That goes for LM, SM and K's.

Thanks for the report, Quill. Donna and I are going tomorrow. Not sure just where.

Good to see you back, Troy. Hope all is well.

LOL, abkeenan. Now that's funny right thar. Actually, I was pointing Thumbs to the lower end of Beaver Lake albeit on the wrong forum. I'm sure you're right about TR, though. No smallies anywhere near the dam. Never. Aunts Creek to Bridgeport up the James. All of em.

Thumbs, I don't usually do a thing to those Spro jerkbaits. Mike says you can hang an extra split ring on the front hook hanger if you want to achieve a very slow sink or if you happen to get one that wants to rise slightly, but other than that they are good to go. I throw mine on 10-pound flurocarbon although I will probably experiment some this year with 8-pound. I haven't thrown one a bunch this season because frankly I get really weary of fishing that way by the end of winter. No need to prolong it on the front end in my book. Not sure about the wart bite. It's pretty much on from what I hear at Table Rock. Not sure about Beaver. Now that Donna and I have the new boat, gonna be spending a lot more time on the water. Hope to have better info in the near future.

I can't adequately express how strongly I would suggest two of the original Spro McSticks over one Megabass — one in Blue Bandit and the other in Ghost Table Rock Shad. These baits were hand-designed by Mike McClelland, who cut his teeth on Ozarks lakes and is one of the best stick bait anglers ever. If you must go with Megabass — and I own a fair number of them myself — I suppose the can't-do-without color is Pro Blue.

Not taken that way at all, Thumbs. Your frustration is understood. Happens to all of us no matter how much experience or ability we might have. Besides, you are scaling a tall hill in trying to learn to catch them consistently on Beaver. Only a few people I know can do that and I am not among them. But don't kid yourself about those pea gravel points. You can catch some darn fine brown bass out there. Go down to the dam by the camping area next April-May and throw a brown-purple or PBJ football jig with a green pumpkin double-tail trailer on those gravel points. I bet you'll start seeing some results.

Thanks, Thumbs.

Slow-tapering gravel points seem to always hold fish in our Ozarks lakes. Most likely, the guys you saw were dragging football jigs. You can also throw tubes, grubs, hula grubs or even shaky heads on these points, and if you spot a school of fish on your electronics, you can drop-shot them. On cloudy days or during other low-light periods, you may want to position your boat in 20-25 feet of water and throw up into 8-10 feet. Under sunny skies and/or later in the day, move out to where the boat is sitting 30-40 feet and you are dragging your bait 15-30 feet deep. Lots of guys go deeper than this. I like to use a 3/4-ounce fb jig and a 1/4-ounce head on my grubs or shaky heads. Not every point will hold fish, of course, so don't sit and fish too long if you aren't getting bit. Move around until you find some fish.