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edyer

Fishing Buddy
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Posts posted by edyer

  1. Monday I had a decent day catching smallmouths and spots in the clearer water of the White River, but I headed to the Dirty James about an hour before the rains came. Paid off with a nice 5-12 throwing a spinner bait around the flooded bushes and trees. Last day here today. Back up to Michigan. Hope I can arrive virus free. I always seem to head home just when the fish move up and start to bite good.

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  2. Looks like you found a few in groups instead of the lonely one and done spots that I had been finding. Had a couple of those groups myself finally Had 20 keepers yesterday out of 24. First keeper was a 3 1/4 pound largemouth on an A Rig. The rest were caught on a 2.8 or 3.3 Keitech. Best fish was a 3.88 smallmouth. Had several nice spots and a couple of Meanmouths. wonder how the cloud cover will affect the bite today?

  3. We always come down from Michigan to share your beautiful lake and fish the Aunt's Creek Association Buddy Tournament.My buddy Dale and I came down last week Friday. We had just got the news that the tournaments were called off. We each drove our own boat and trailer down with planes that our teammates would come later to join us in the tournament. We also expected four others to join us. Then the Coronavirus stated getting more people infected and shutting down more stuff, everyone else decided to stay home.We figured we could socially distance ourselves on Table Rock, so we have been fishing out of our own boats, trying to stay within a mile of each other the past week. we fish about 6-8 hours a day, and compare our catches and stories. The first day, 3/21, was very tough. I caught one 2.5 pound largemouth and Dale got skunked. The next day we stayed between point 9 and Aunt's Creek. I caught a 3.5 pound smallmouth and a Spot. Dale caught a ball Spot. I believe it rained in the morning on Tuesday. We fished the Aunt's creek area again. I had five keeper smallmouths and a 40 inch Striper. Dale got skunked. The next day, we took a ride up the white towards Campbell. I caught 14 spots, two smallmouths, and two largemouths. Dale had 12 spots and two smallmouths. Next day we went to Kimberling City. I caught Two nice smallmouths, three 3 pound largemouths, and a nice spot for 17.68 pounds. Dale had a nice bag of four smallmouths and two spots for 16.86 pounds. We are kind of competitive. Thursday we went up the white again, and I only had three keepers, but one was a 3.65 small jaw. Dale had about a dozen, with a couple of smallmouths and the rest spots. Today we went back to Kimberling City and Dale had seven with a couple of real nice spots, one over 3 pounds.I had five fish, buttony three keepers which include a couple of small jaws, and a big spot. The majority of the fish Dale caught were on a 5/16 round ball jig with a smoke/purple Yamamoto 4 or 5 inch grub, or a 3 inch Kalin Grub.Keeps his boat in 25-30 feet and makes a cast award shore and slowing reels it back, trying to keep it near the bottom, without getting slimed.Most of my fish were caught on swim baits, using a 1/4 ounce Shin Spin jig with a 3.8 Keitech. I also caught a few, including the 3.65 smallmouth, on the 5/16 jig with a 2.8 keitech. The day I caught the Striper, I caught all five keeper smallmouths on a finesse A-Rig thrown very close to the flooded bushes. Much like a spinner bait. I tried a spinner bait, but couldn't get bit on it.Trying to decide where to fish tomorrow. Still haven't caught a big bass(I did lose a five pounder on Tuesday) Tried to net it by myself, and I should of boat flipped it. Glad it wasn't in a tournament. Still would like to have a 50 fish day. but with the water levels going down, I don't think the bite will turn on. We are leaving early Monday to head back to Michigan. Good luck everybody.

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  4. I have been fishing the past 7 days along with my buddy. We fish by ourselves out of our own boats. Fishing has been fairly tough. Our best day for numbers has been was 18 and 14 fish, with with only a few of those being keepers. The majority of our fish have been caught swimming a grub or a Keitech. Some nice smallmouths over 3 pounds and some chunky keeper spots have been caught on days of fewer fish, but my buddy Dale has been pretty steady the last couple of days on both numbers and keepers. Clearer water towards Kimberling City, but we have caught some in the stained water in the white and James as well. With the high water warming, you would thing a spinner bait of a fluke bite would be happening soon. I'm going to post some pictures on a new post soon.

  5. I was fishing the James River/Aunt's Creek area Tuesday evening. The water was very muddy, but there were a lot of shad and loons around so I was launching my A Rig trying to entice something to bite. I started to get frustrated and questioned my sanity for fishing such muddy water. I was going to leave this spot after this cast, and suddenly my late afternoon trip turned into something special. I felt a tug and set the hook and soon found out that this was not your usual bass you catch on Table Rock, but a Striper! In forty years of fishing Table Rock, I had never heard or seen one caught. I had heard that there were some in the lake that escaped Beaver Lake when flood waters allowed some to go over the dam. The mighty fish made several runs, before I was able to bring it closer to the boat. I had thought it might be a huge Cat or a carp, but I was sure surprised to see this beautiful fish swim by the boat. I was able to get it halfway into my net, and had to use both hands on the hoop to get it into my Ranger. I called Dick Stewart from Oak Hill Resort to share my surprise and he said to bring it in so we could take some pictures of it and weigh it. It was 40 inches long and weighed 26.5 pounds on his dock scale. We were able to release it alive. After we did, I wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do or not, but maybe someone else will get a chance to decide it's fate and experience it's fight.

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  6. 16 hours ago, Deadstream said:

    Glad you didn't tell everybody the best lakes in Michigan. I'd hate to know how many on my  favorite lake see the knife and the skillet. A LOT!

    There are so many good lakes with Giant Smallmouths. I have seen 4 and 5 pounders being kept to be eaten on one of the lakes NE of Traverse City. We had a D & R Sports tournament on there and about 200 over 4 pounds were weighed in. Here is a 6 pounder from Lake St. Clair in early May caught on a Lucky Craft Slim Pointer in Table Rock Shad color. Water was still pretty cold that spring. Hit on a 5 second pause. 

     

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  7. This was a 6 pound 4 ounce smallmouth caught in the fall on Manistee Lake, one of the drowned river mouths that connect to Lake Michigan. This is an example of what Michigan smallmouths can grow to be. If I can figure out how to do it, I have a 6 pounder from Lake St. Clair also. Marcel Veenstra  also guides on Burt and Mullet Lakes in the Indian River area in the northern lower peninsula of Michigan. You don't catch as many bass here as you do on Lake Saint Clair, but you could catch a 6 or 7 pound fish on one of those lakes.

  8. 11 hours ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

    Can you recommend a time range to go in the spring and an outfitter please?

    Marcel Veenstra - Marcel's Guide Service- Also on Facebook

    Art Ferguson - Art of Fishing Guide Service

    This Year, late April through early May should be good. Catch and Release during this time of year. Most of the fishing for big smallmouths will be in 4 to 9 FOW. Fun times! This is the time I like to go, but the guides can put you on fish other times of the year. Most of the big FLW and Bassmaster Elite tournaments are in late August and Early September. Did you see Seth Feider last year on Lake St. Clair? 

     

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  9. On 2/28/2020 at 11:42 PM, willyfish said:

    If I got to pick I would go to Lake Champlain or somewhere in Michigan for smallmouth, Traverse Bay or maybe St. Clair. Lots of opportunities in that area and those fish don't get hit over the head everyday with rattle traps. 🙂

    I agree. I had the opportunity to fish Lake Champlain in 2014 as a co-angler in the Northern Bassmaster Open Tournament. Big Largemouths in the Northern and Southern ends of the Huge Lake, and a ton of quality smallmouths. I live in Michigan, and the possibility of catching a smallmouth over 6 pounds in any of the lakes connecting to Lake Michigan exists, as well as many of the northern inland lakes. I try to make a trip to Lake St. Clair a couple of times each spring before the spawn when huge schools of smallmouths move shallow to feast on the yellow perch that have just finished spawning. 50 fish days 3 to 5 pound bass per angler are considered a slow day. 100 fish days per angler are possible along with the chance of a 6 pounder being caught. Fish are in 4 to 8 FOW, so they can be caught on a lot of different methods. I will be coming down to Table Rock for my 40th year this spring. A lot of things have changed with the growth of the area, but the fishing is as good as ever. Not many places where you can catch an 8 pound largemouth, football shaped Spots, and a lot of nice smallmouths. Looks like the fish may be "moving up" a little earlier this spring in the weather forecasts are right. I was ice fishing today, but I think the ice could be gone in the next week. Can't wait for another trip to the Rock. Love reading your posts and Bill's reports.

  10. On March 29 I watched the morning TV weather report and they said the rain and possible storms would be in the early evening. Decided to make a longer unto the Big Creek area. At noon, I commented to my partner that the shy was getting pretty dark. He checked the radar on his phone and said there is a storm about to be right on us and that we needed to find shelter. We tied up inside an empty dock stall and within minutes the head rain came and we had a couple of lightning strikes so close that it made the lights on the dock flicker. We were there for 2 1/2 hours. I called two of the other boats in our group about the impending storm, and because there were closer to our resort, they both made it back in time before the lightning hit there.in Michigan, we can see the storms coming about 30 minutes before they hit. Not that way on Table Rock.

  11. Has anyone previously fished in the KVD Big Bass Bash? Do you have to weigh-in at the Long Creek Marina or are there more than one place to Weigh-in? We are staying at Oak Hill Resort in Little Aunt's Creek and driving the boat that far is a long ways and trailing that far looks like a 60-90 minute ride.

  12. As far as A Rigs go, do you or the fish prefer blades or no blades on your A Rigs? I usually like the blades, but some very good Tournament fishermen in Michigan like Blades for Largemouths, and no blades for Smallmouths. 

     

     

  13. 15 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

    Guys around here do that crap all the time.  It boils my balls.  

    The guides all do it so they can post pics/videos on their insanely gay Facebook accounts.  By the way.... Please Like And Subscribe! and call/text/or message them for a trip. 🙄

    The YouTube channel guys do it so they can have an "end of day" scene in their videos.   It's the whole signing off, "thanks for watching", hallelujah thing.

    Yeah, I'd like to shove all of them, and all their GoPro's, into a soggy bilge compartment and leave them there until they loose about 30 pounds, and don't feel handsome enough to be movie stars anymore.

    Two years ago, up here in Michigan on Lake Huron, a guy on Youtube took pictures of 10 smallmouths that were between 5.5 and 6.5 pounds. I asked the same question, "How can you justify risking the lives of these trophy fish by keeping ten of them in the live well to take these pictures? I later found out that the live well pumps had stopped working, and half of those fish died. Idiots!

  14. I have fished both Bull and Table Rock the past five years in the Spring. The bite on Table Rock was great this year during the first week in April, but we did have a few cold days. Catching 50 fish a day is not too bad, and the number of smallmouths sure has increased. I still haven't caught a smallmouth like the 4-6 pounders we catch up here in Michigan. I don't think I would like to be here once the big boats came out to play. Bull is great if you want to get away from people. If given a choice, I would still take my trip to Table Rock in the Spring over one on Bull Shoals, I would love to be able to stay two weeks each at both lakes.

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