hoglaw

Warren, I'll send you a PM

Randy: Thanks for the vote of confidence. Muddy: I'd be happy to talk with you about it if you wanted. I'd want you to try a couple of rods I've made myself to get your feedback first because that's a pretty individualized deal. A lot of folks could call a lot of different things "tube rods," and what I like in a tube rod you might not. But I could for sure build you one you'd be happy with.

All of the threads about wanting to buy rods, and which rod/combo to buy got me motivated. I've built custom rods for a while now, mostly as a hobby for myself, but also quite a few for friends, family, and paying customers. There are some amazing craftsmen out there who can do incredible things with thread, inlays, and wood work. I'm not one of them. I got into building rods because I wanted to fish with the absolute best equipment possible, and there came a point where off the rack gear just couldn't do what I wanted it to, regardless of the price. While I do add some decorative elements when I'm not as concerned about adding weight, or the location of the weight to be added makes it a net benefit to the rod, I've never been motivated to learn the intricacies of diamond wraps, woodwork, etc. What does motivate me is building state of the art tools that are the very best for their job, bar none. I do this so that I will have an arsenal of technique and even lure specific rods that are beyond comparison in sensitivity, weight, comfort, casting distance and accuracy. And that I can do. I have built pistol grip shorties for tossing spinnerbaits underneath limbs and into cypress knees for the white river refuge. I built 7' spinning rod with enough backbone to handle donkey sized carp, but capable of tossing a 1/8 oz jig right in front of their face from range, and getting by with 1/16. My recent build (pics attached) is a 7'6" flipping stick for a customer that wants to pitch and flip 1oz jigs with pinpoint accuracy, but wants the most sensitive setup possible. It is spiral wrapped (meaning the third guide through the tip are on the bottom of the rod) with fuji's heavy duty micro guides. It's incredibly light but will never see anything less than 30lb braid. I should have kept a portfolio when I started this, but I never really considered the possibility of doing it for other people on a regular basis. But lately I seem to be doing more of it, so I figured I'd put the word out here as well. I'm not in this to make a living - I have a job that I work a lot of hours at for that. But this is time consuming and expensive, and while I can guarantee that I'm cheaper than a true professional rod builder, it's still not cheap to have the best of the best. You can easily spend more on a custom rod than a high end off the rack rod if you want to. That being said, I also have the ability to produce rods that, while they may not be the absolute best, will blow away any off the rack rod in the same price range. There are a lot of options. In any event, if you have any desire to explore the possibilities of what a custom rod can do, shoot me a PM. I guaranty that you will be blown away with any rod that leaves my house, and if you aren't, I'm more than happy to keep it for myself.

By premium, how premium are you wanting to go? For what application? I'd be happy to talk to you about building a rod if you're interested.

This echos the swimbait comment someone made earlier I think. You're darn right they eat sculpins. I think every fish that lives in water with sculpins regards them as the king crab legs of the aquatic world. One time I was fishing the Illinois just west of Fayetteville and had drifted a wacky rigged worm past the same root ball a couple of times. I saw a sculpin just below me and managed to grab him from under his rock and put him on the hook to fish like a live jerkbait. First cast to the same spot produced a 5lb largemouth. My "non-sporting" way of catching big browns has always been tight lining dead mangled sculpins at night. We caught a lot of absolutely scary fish that way, but watching a 30" brown bleed out soured my stomach on that in a hurry. Maybe I could avoid that with circle hooks, but I just can't stand the idea of killing a big one. Those goby swimbaits look just like a sculpin. On a carolina rig or a pretty good rock-proof jighead or swimbait hook, I have to think you could stick some good fish in the White. You really can't fish a stickbait that's too big on the White, particularly if the water is rolling. I've just been in the wiggle wart collecting business lately and I'm wondering if grinding a wart in the deeper holes would hang some fish. May have to get Trophy to do me up some mottled sculpin versions.

On the sunglasses, I have the older version of the Oakley Straight Jackets. I wasn't particular about Oakleys and had never bought anything other than the cheapest polarized ones I could find at Wally World. But when I realized I needed glasses, I bought a pair of prescription sunglasses. I wanted ones that really wrapped all the way around my eyes without being too bulky or hot. They're however polarized lenses can be, prescription of course, and I think they have some anti-reflective coating on the back side of the lenses to keep the reverse glare down from light bouncing off my iris and onto the lenses (yeah, they sold me an extra whistle there). I am chronically ADD and forgetful, and I lose pretty much everything I own, but I've kept up with these since W was in office. I absolutely love them and cannot do without them. Rain, sun, clouds, snow - I have to have them. They have an amber lens (I'm sure you can get whatever color lenses you want if you're going the prescription route) and they just make everything look great. The woods are brighter. The glare off of rain while I'm driving is gone and they improve visibility in a heavy downpour. They're just second to none. And I love the frames. They aren't big and bulky but they wrap all the way around the sides and offer great protection from the sun and physical stuff.

Gave it another shot this afternoon. Thought the river would fall out a little quicker than it did. In the spots I fished between Neil's and Twin, the water was stained but with about two feet of visibility. Even though the water was significantly higher than it was last week, the current was slower. Seems like maybe it's backed up from the lake some? It wasn't a good trip. Very few fish were being caught. I don't remember seeing anyone catch any for the first hour or so while we were there, except one each for my co-workers and two little males for me. I decided to venture upstream in search of some better water, and called in some permission behind the Waterford subdivision. The shoal there is beautiful, and I think it's just downstream from the old "burned out house" access that used to be open to the public. The water was much clearer and I thought with so much water, we'd be in good shape. It wasn't to be. I caught maybe another dozen between there and the next shoal down, which is the second one up from the bridge - the one at the top of the LONG deep pool. The carp were in full blown spawning orgy mode. That was kind of cool to see. We just never could get on the whites consistently. With the weather forecast looking the way it does, it's going to be a long time before it gets good again. Maybe some fish could be caught tomorrow, but I think the 100 fish days are drawing to a close.

Camelbak's are awesome. I have a camo one from Gander Mountain (their house brand I think) that I got for half price, about $50. I use it as my wading gear bag now. I can fit everything I need in it plus waders and even clip those simms boots I got from you onto the bottom for a hike-in trip. Only drawbacks are that it's obviously not as accessible as a chest pack or military chem pack when you want to grab something out of it while you're on the water, and it's about impossible to keep it from getting wet if you're going into waist deep water. But it is awfully convenient and extremely comfortable. Mine has the big padded hip straps like you see on trekking backpacks. I don't know how much water the thing holds, but I've yet to come close to finishing it on a trip. I do find that I drink a lot more water when I have it right there as opposed to having to dig out a bottle. Dehydration and sun exposure are no joke. It's hard for me to burn, and if I do it just turns dark in a day. But I'm bad about not drinking as much water as I should. It's amazing how much different you feel with appropriate hydration and proper high-protein food as opposed to beer and honey buns which used to be my staple. Sodium intake helps your body retain water as well, and will make you thirsty. For that reason, beef jerky and a salty trail mix are great fishing foods.

I was fishing the rise Friday, big time. I caught them on the first three casts in my favorite spot, then a few more in that same area. I had the place to myself so I figured I'd try a different spot that's normally a little more crowded. Picked up a few there, but then it slowed down. I didn't notice how fast the water was coming up until I went back down to my favorite spot and the water was noticeably cloudier. I tried another spot just above Walker's Bluff and had nothing, so I went back up to the confluence to see what was up and Richland was running really muddy and big. There was a huge shifting mudline just below Richland that was neat to watch, but no fish. I didn't catch any more for the rest of the day and packed it in around 6 or so. I'll send you a PM with the rest of the details. Been lots of lurkers on this thread lately. The white bass run is by no means a secret, and I could fish shoulder to shoulder with buddies and still whack them when conditions are right. I have zero qualms about sharing spots, dates, etc., with members, but this thread appears to get watched a lot.

I expect another banner day this week. If I can only make it two banner days somehow, then I'll really be happy!

I was out there yesterday from 2 to 6. Caught fish at first but the rise was noticeable. Clear water got muddy. Went upriver and saw Richland was chocolate milk. Made a cool mud line. Fishing will be off until well into the week I think.

I'm probably going out there early this afternoon...maybe 1 or 2. There's a pretty good chance I'll get rained on, but if anyone wants to come with I got access to a close enough parking spot and a four wheeler that will drive us within ten feet of the fishing hole. Shoot me a text at 479-nine5seven-8328

I've seen BIG trout that would probably eat a cigarette butt during a western stonefly hatch. And the wild mountain stream fish will eat just about anything if it's presented on a natural drift without spooking them. But the caliber of fish I'm after in the White don't operate that way JD.

Man that makes me miss living down south. We just don't have that in NWA. Don't get me wrong, the clear mountain creeks and smallmouth up here are a blast, but there really are no "secret" spots anymore. There are a few stretches of streams around here that I know don't get much pressure, but there are so many places along the river and in the flatlands that just don't get fished at all. I'd have loved to have had a kayak like that growing up. One of my good friends is from McGhee and growing up he could drive turn roads and the levee road forever. There's just so much more space down south. But on the whole, I'll take living in NWA and visiting down south over living there any day of the week. I don't miss the bugs, the snakes, the demographics, or the weather one bit. We've got it pretty good in our little corner of the world.

All jokes aside, they don't make beds. They spawn in current and the eggs have to be able to drift. I always figured it was the males got a little too revved up and couldn't make it all the way to the bed. Happens to everyone.

Come to think of it I did catch a rainbow in the little red on a spittin' image years ago when it was the only lure I had with me for a work weekend. I imagine a big brown would eat one too Al, but more of a reaction bite than anything. Now, if you had a stream with naturally reproducing rainbows so they had lots of forage that size, that might be a different issue.

I have fished the White River, in some form or another, my entire life. I'm talking about the bull shoals tailwater here. I have fished the "upper" portion to a few miles downstream of redd's landing. I have fished what I always knew to be the White River growing up as far up as Maddox Bay. But everything in between is a total unknown to me. On my last two trips, we fished the catch and release area just downstream from redd's landing with great success. I have to think that if you go much farther down than that, you start to get in to even more warmwater fish. So here's my question. Is there an area downstream from redd's landing that's great for browns (that can tolerate warmer water than the rainbows) and smallmouth or other warmwater species at the same time? Any info anyone can share on the lower stretches of the tailwaters would be much appreciated.

Last time I was over at the White, we fished the catch and release area that is downstream from the norfork about 5 or 6 miles (not really sure on the distance) and we really got into the smallmouth. No big ones, but we caught five or six very fat fish in the 12-14" range on husky jerks. So while I assume that fishing warts upstream of the warm water influences would be an all or nothing big fish kind of deal, I have to think that doing it downstream could get us into some bonus smallmouth too.

With some pretty unconventional water in Ark/MO, I figured someone would have to have tried some unconventional trout techniques along the way. I remember Trav always touted himself as a guy who pursued big browns with bass tackle on Tanny. My specific question is what types of heavier lures have folks used to target trout on the White and our other tailwaters? It's no secret that big jerkbaits in big water produce big fish. But what about crawdad cranks like a wiggle wart? Not a little rebel craw, but an 8' deep rock grinding reaction bait? What about tubes or other bottom bouncing plastics? With the ability to drift over miles and miles of chunk rock and gravel, surely someone has tried getting after them with a wart before, or some other power-fishing type lure covering lots of ground for big fish.

It didn't come up as much as I thought it would. It's about the same as the big rise we got two weeks ago or so even though it seems like we got a lot more rain. River came up about four feet I think and will drop very quickly. Water temp dropped over 10 degrees though, and may continue to stay low over the next few days. I think the river ought to be in good shape again by next weekend as long as we don't get any more rain, but there's some in t he forecast. The bigger issue to me isn't so much when the water will be back in good shape, but whether the fish will still be doing their thing when it gets there. It seems like it's pretty late to still be catching them and it was really just getting awesome this week.

Ditto the thanks on the heads up there Ham. I just beat the absolute tar out of it like I was grocery shopping after coming back starving from a day on the river. They didn't have my very favorite color of 5" hulas, but at those prices I'll try some others. I guarantee that I support my local small tackle shops as much as anyone, but 50% discount plus no sales tax is tough not to get a little carried away over.

Now that's funny right there

Saw an older couple in a boat out there today and the fellow was catching them pretty good on the A-rig. A coworker told me I could park at his place in the polo subdivision and take his four wheeler down there, so I did. I drove right to my spot behind that subdivision and caught a few right off the bat, then it slowed down a little around 5. After about 5:30, it was every cast until dark. I have no idea how many I caught, but I'm positive I unhooked over 100. At one point I landed a fish on 16 successive casts. Best fish were one walleye that I don't think quite made 18 inches, and a really solid hybrid that went about 4lbs. It was one of my best slimer days ever.

Our state's legislature is an absolute joke. Most of them are barely literate, elected by an even more illiterate electorate that only pays attention to the D or R. Most of them spend their time trying to make headlines, doing things like requiring a mother to hear her fetus' heart beat before getting an abortion; banning abortions at a gestation stage that is incredibly unconstitutional; allowing folks to carry guns in church. The ones that can count and read are still morons, but for the most part they cater to interests like Koch and will get on board with whatever they want. They sponsor and caucus a bill that the rest of the folks with an R after their name (not trying to play the D or R game here, that's just the majority at the moment) will support without question. We have some serious morons in our state's legislature. I can't emphasize that enough. It is beyond sad. The best thing these folks could do is just stay home. We don't need them to do ANYTHING. The state is getting along just fine, or it was without them anyway. While I like the idea of term limits and fresh blood, unfortunately when your talent pool (and gene pool) only runs so deep, all this does is assure that some serious dumb asses get their shot. I'm not going to name any names, but I'm absolutely astounded that some of the folks who hold state office get elected, including some that are from right here in NWA. Aside from vote, or actually run myself, all I can do is sit back and pray that they don't do anything too stupid, or if they do it's so stupid that the feds have to step in and say "are you kidding me?"

They should be close. All of the water hazards at Pinnacle had bass on beds today. My girlfriend and I went to a private spot over off Highway 59 yesterday and we caught some nice fish up very shallow. We weren't "bed fishing," but their tails were blistered.