ozarksfishin

Wow Coldwater fshr, you really got Eric and Don in a froth!! I thought I would throw my 2 cents in also. I would say that 90% of the clients we take out are here about once maybe twice a year. We take them out for a day or two of fisihin and thats it, they go do other things in Branson the rest of the time. On a good week, we are on the lake 4-5 days, so we have to have more than a few spots to put our clients on fish. What I'm trying to say is that the people we take out are not locals (most of the time) so its not really a "shortcut" to fishing. Its not like they are gonna fish these same areas day in and day out, heck most of them couldn't even find their way back to the spots if they had to!! They are just here to have some fun fishing for a day or two and thats it. We don't own the lake, and most of us will not say too much if we see someone on our "spot", but is it the right thing to do? Back in Jan., I took out Bob Harkness on Bull Shoals to pre fish for the TBF tourney. I showed him where to go and what to use for his tourney in March. Bob is from W Virgina, had never fished Bull Shoals in his life, and may never fish it again. He hired me for my local knowledge and to narrow down where and what to fish on the lake. He won the tourney and $100,000 and an invite to fish FLW for a year. He paid for a service, he did not follow me or any other guides around the lake. In the end, he took what I showed him and fit it to his style of fishing. Just food for thought.

Bill P, the size I use is the 5 1/2in. one, its the larger one of the two that you usually see in the stores. The smaller ones don't cast near as far and are even harder to work.

I hear ya Sam! I never understood the point of the big crusiers either. Most of us guides try to get on the water early in the morning and off by noon or so to avoid the big boats. I can handle the ski boats, pontoons, even the jet skis, but the big crusiers are down right dangerous!

jcf, the Redfin is made by Cotton Cordell and can be found in just about any tackle store. Be sure and get the jointed red fin, and I usually get the smokin joe color or the bone color. Couple of things, when you buy one, you better buy at least 5 of them because out of the 5, you might get 2 that run right. Replace the hooks and the split ring on the nose, and I usually put a couple of suspend strips on the tail, the reason is you want the bait to wake across the top of the water. The redfin bite on table rock this year has not been real good, I think the water is a little too murky for them to see it. The spooks and Sammys have been working alot better. Babler is the better expert on the fin than most, lets see what he has to say.

Hey Teeter!! We were up around Shell Knob last week when we caught those fish, but been down by the Dam recently. Seems like the better quality were up in the White the past couple of weeks, but good numbers down at the Dam. And I have to hold on to the butt seat with some of those waves from the crusiers around the Dam Techo!! Lol!

Here is a pic of twin brothers from New York, and yes they could fish!! I knew they meant business when they showed up with a couple of Loomis and Carrot Stix in tow. They were all topwater fish, great guys and a great trip!!

The bass are in full swing post spawn patterns now. Most of the fish are feeding activley first thing in the morning and late in the evening. There is a very good topwater bite lakewide. The key is getting out at daylight and it usually lasts until 8:00 or until the sun gets out good. Look for bluff end points or small coves just off the main lake with deep water nearby. Best baits have been the Sammy, Spook, or a Redfin. Cloudy or overcast days this bite can last all day! After the sun comes up, look to main lake pea gravel points that are close to deep water. The fish have been holding in 18-22ft. of water on these points. Best baits have been a shakey head with a green pumpkin finesse worm, salt and pepper grub, or a split shot centipede. I have been catching some quality fish the last couple of weeks by these methods. Work the baits SLOW! the fish have almost wanted the baits sitting still when they eat it. Some fish are starting to show up on the off shore structure as well. Deeper docks, bridge pilings, and submerged timber have been holding some nice Kentuckys already. Drop shots and jigging spoons have been the best baits so far. Look for the fish to be holding in 20-30ft. of water on these places. The white bass have also made their way to the main lake and secondary points for post spawn. Look for them at the mouths of larger feeder creeks and flat secondary points. The right areas have surface activity all day long, just pay attention while running down the lake. Best baits have been swimming minnows or small topwater lures.

I will try to answer your question SRV, the stickbait on Table Rock and Bull Shoals is more of a colder water or early pre spawn tactic. Once the fish move up, it is pretty much over. You will start to see in the next couple of weeks that it really starts to slow down and the other tactics start picking up, like the grub, split shot, and jig. With the stickbait, you are targeting staging, pre spawn fish. As the fish move shallow, it is just not as effective, the stickbait is more of an open water, deep type bait. Most of the time, the fish are coming out of 25-30ft. of water to get the stickbait. Another interesting fact is that one specific stickbait is not always the best. Some days they want a Lucky Craft, other days they want a Spro, and then other days they want a Rouge! All stickbaits have a different action in the water, it just depends on what the fish want that day. Practice and time on the water is the best key to unlocking the secrets of stickbait fishing. Babler had a post not too long ago about what to look for on the water and the weather conditions, it was very informative. Those are the days when you can load the boat with a stickbait, most of the time, when conditions aren't perfect, you can hope for 6-7 bites on it. The good thing is, those 6-7 bites will be good fish. Hope this helps!

To answer your question Lilley, Denjac is right the wildlife area is in the back of Piney. There are a couple of bouys out in the middle of the cove that say no powerboats.

You still have time brownie, they are not done yet! I fished in Long Creek on Table Rock yesterday and they are just now starting to turn on up there. I think it will be a stellar year on both lakes! Now put that mortgage payment off for a couple of weeks and get down here!! I have a couple of trips on Bull next week, I will try and get some pics posted.

The fish are on the move in the Long Creek and Yocum areas on Table Rock. With the water temps in the low to mid 50's, the fish are following the shad back into the creeks. Mostly white bass and crappie can be found on the large flats and shoals in the upper end of Long Creek. The fish are still about a week to week and a half out of really turning on good, but I have been able to catch a few over the last couple of days. Most of the active feeding fish have been relativley shallow in 2-8ft. of water on these flats. Look for fallen trees from the ice storm to hold better numbers of crappie. There are several of these laydowns scattered about, and as the bite gets better, the crappie will stack up in these trees. I have also been graphing large schools of white bass in these same areas, they are really concentrated around the schools of shad right now. All it will take is a good rain and things will really turn on. Should be a good year for the whites and crappie, lets keep our fingers crossed!

The best color for me has been the smoke w silver glitter and a 1/8 oz. head, just reel it slow close to the bottom. Most of the fish have been on the big flat just before you get to Old Lowry. We really need the rain and it should make the bite more consistent(just not as much rain as we had last year!) And yes the schedule is starting to fill up, I am just glad the whites are actually having a good run this year, it makes those early spring trips great!

Fishin Report from K-Dock to Diamond City 3/7/09 The white bass, crappie, and walleye are in full swing on Bull Shoals right now. All the fish species have been biting really well all winter, and now with the warming water, are really on the move. From K-Dock to Diamond City, the best bite has been in the backs of the major creek arms. Areas like East and West Sugarloaf, Bear Creek, and Bee Creek have been producing exceptionally well. The fish seem to be a mixed bag when you find them. You can catch whites, crappie, and walleye in the same area. The best areas to look for are the long, flat points in the backs of these major creeks. Look for the fish to be in 8-15ft. of water. Best baits right now are swimming minnows, small stickbaits, or drift fishing live minnows. Some days are better than others, but when you get into them, catching 60-70 fish in a day is not uncommon. The bite should get better with the increasing water temperatures, and if we get some rain! Good luck!

Babs, have a great trip and be safe while your'e up there!! Hurry back for the fall fishin!! Oh yeah, stay out of trouble while you are there. It might take a couple of days for all of us to pool enough bail money!!! Just kiddin! Have a safe trip.

Whack, I knew there was a good reason I liked you!!! As far as the lake arms go; my personal favorite (especially this spring) on Table Rock is around Kimberling City. There are some big fish around there. Big Don knows what I'm talkin about, he got a pic of an 8 I caught there this spring. Bull Shoals, I would have to say from Lead Hill to K Dock; on Truman, Tebo used to be real good, but I haven't been up there in a while to say.

Hey wait, isn't Capn. Phil already taken? Just kiddin!! Congrats on the Lic. Phil!!

Sounds like it was a local club tourney, I haven't heard of any weekly night tourneys out of Aunts Creek. You have to cool that water down and recirculate it all night, and don't dump in fresh water, that lowers the oxygen in the water and increases the temp. I used to fish the old Thursday nighter at Cricket Creek religiously since the mid 90's, and even then Mark Bristow (owner and tourney director) reminded us before blast off to use ice and recirculate the water all night. He even had a tank of medicated, cool water to revive the fish in before releasing them. Me and my partner's job for several years, was to fizz the fish that needed it. We were also trying to teach everyone there how to do it also. It never ceased to amaze me, there were at least half a dozen people standing around to see where to fizz the bass. Mark had one of the best run night tourneys around. Despite his efforts, every week there would be a few dead fish, but he wouldn't hand out the money until someone came forward to take the dead fish home and eat them!

Dang it Babs, you know by the time it makes it to the board here, they grow a pound or so!!! Spoken like a true fisherman! Certainly one of the greats, I just hope me and Tetrik keep you and Beck on your toes!!

Babs, as usual you are right on! I have noticed in the last couple of weeks, the usual drop shot fish have been spitting up large amounts of shad. These are usually KY's and on deep structure. But the jig fish, are full of crawdads. They seem to be holding shallower this year. I think most in part because the crawdads and shad are holding near the flooded bushes. On a guide trip today, we started out (after the downpour early this AM) on the usual drop shot locations and had about 20 fish in 4 hrs. with a few keepers mixed in. The clients really wanted to catch a SM, so we rigged up some FB jigs and headed to the points. Third cast on the first point we pulled in on, I land about a 4 1/2lb. SM (I know the client is supposed to catch it). Then five casts later the client lands a 3lb. KY, both fish were in about 18ft. of water at about 11 in the morining. I'm like you Bill, the Dropshot fish are not bunched up yet, still pretty scattered. You can catch some short ones with a few 15-16 inchers mixed in on the usual places, I still think we are about 3 weeks behind yet. On a side note, I did catch a nice KY on a spoon under a deep dock. I hope this is a sign of things to come, I love those spoon fed KY's!!

Im like you Whackem, its just not worth it anymore. Skeeter, I hope you are reading all these posts, you have to ask yourself, is the action you take worth the consequences that you face. It may seem like shooting someone is the right answer now, but when you are sitting in the pokey, and you have time to look back on the whole thing, you might have handled the situation different. I have a 6 yr old son, and I will tell ya, nothin makes you look at life a different way than a child. I am not saying to bow down to these theives, but deter them from stealing anything. Like Babler said, it has been happening for years. And if you do catch them, don't shoot them!! Just give em a good ol country butt whoopin!!!

Skeeter, I understand your frustration, but shooting someone is the last thing you want to do, and patroling the dock every night can get tiresome. There have been many great suggestions on here, something else to try, disconnect your fuel line from the filler neck and lock the deck lid where the fuel tank is stored. May take 5 min., but is worth the hassle of taking shifts of patrol or the time spent in jail. Think of all the other night fishermen out there just out fishin! On a side note, Whackem, you are one heck of a guy. You turned an apparent bad situation, to a couple of guys laughing it up about mutual friends. My hat off to ya!! If that would have been me (and it has happend) I would have jumped on that 1/2 drunk guy before he knew what was goin on!! Whackem, you are OK in my book!

Babs hit the nail on the head!! If you look on your topo maps most of the saddles or ridges are jus old road beds before the lake was made. Most maps will show them, they are great places for the fish to hang out and ambush shad as they go by. Bill, good luck in the tourney in the AM, hope you and Beck wack em again!! I have Daddy duty this weekend, but we will be out in the mornin chasin down some of those big bluegills! I will post some pics.

The fish are really starting to make the move out into the deep summer patterns. Starting to catch some consistent numbers on the deeper docks and out of the deep trees on the bluff ends and saddles. I have spent the last couple of weeks in the Dam area to Indian Pt. fishing main lake points and deep docks. Most of the fish we have been catching start out in the morning in 18-20ft. and by 9 or 10 am move out to 30-35ft. when the sun gets overhead. Most of the fish have been Kentucky's with a few Smallies mixed in. Best baits are the drop shot and have a topwater or spoon on the deck for the schooling fish. Earlier in the week, we were catching a few early in the morning on a milky smoke and pepper grub just outside the tree line, but this bite has faded later in the week. Still a few fish in the willow bushes on the points, but nothing to get excited about. Most are smaller males that are still protecting fry. Still fun though, its not often we get to flip willow bushes on Table Rock in June. Seems to be the norm this year!! A big thanks out to my trips this week, had a really great time and some great fishermen. Tom Seegers from St. Louis, who is a long time repeat customer, our best five would have went 12-13lbs. Mike from southern Indiana, we drop shotted up another 12lbs. on Wednesday. And Ken and Robby Novara with 5 nice ones pushing 13lbs. on Tuesday. Below is the pic of Ken and Robby, check out the 4 lb Kentucky, nice fish Ken!

we had 5 that weighed 10lbs., we culled through some, but just couldn't get that big one. We missed a couple of good fish early on the Red Fin, those would have put us right up there, but o well, we will get em next weekend!!

Whackem, the newer units can all be used to see the drop shot, with a little fine tuning. I am not as experienced on the Humminbirds, I have always had Lowrance. What I do is set the ping speed as high as it will go and the chart speed as high as it will go. This gives you a much better "real time" picture. Don House has a wealth of info on the Humminbirds and I know he would be able to tell how to set it up. He will chime in when he gets off the lake and reads this!! Help us out Big Don! As for being able to see the fish on your unit, it is extremely important. Alot of times you can see a fish come up and look at your drop shot and then go back down, sometimes you can follow the fish down and he will come back and eat it! And I like to see what depth the fish are holding so I can work the drop shot just above them, if not you may be working it just below the fish if you can't see them on the screen.