mclothier1

Had a good time, the fishing was pretty slow... tried everything I could think of and ended up catching only two white bass, probably loners since we couldnt seem to find any schools of them. Also ended up catching a couple of nice 4# channel cats even though I really wasnt trying to catch them.

Not really into catfishing. I dont think I would want to be down by Langley when they are dumping serious water. I think my plan of attack is gonna be something like this... Troll crankbaits across points and dropoffs, figure they will be hanging around those places since they are dumping water. And if we manage to find any, switch over to casting bucktail jigs to see if we can stay on them. If they don't like the jigs... we can always go back to the crankbaits. Probably wouldn't hurt to keep something handy in case they blowup on top. If all else fails... might try the jig or worm around some docks. ***EDIT*** forgot to add... And if that dont work, we'll just kick back and crack open a few cold ones

How far up the river? I know in the spring its pretty normal to be up past the 10 bridge. Never really fished the main lake... well I guess my Dad did take me fishing there way back when I was a teenager, so that dont count. Thanks for the link and the advice.

Anybody know where I can find a good fishing report? Looks like I will be down in a couple of weeks and Im not that familiar with Grand with the exception of fishing for white bass in the spring above Twin Bridges park, or down at Langley. This time it looks like Ill be fishing between Twin Bridges and Grove Wouldn't mind running into some crappie or white bass. Thanks!

Hey Quillback... MustBeZ is my son and you probably dont realize this but you have fished with us on a striper trip on Beaver back in 2009.

Since you guide all over the lake, have you thought about putting together a network of "safe launch spots" ? What I mean by network... Resort owners that have their own private boat ramp and a place to park your rig.

The way I read it.... DONT consume raw crawdad's from Table Rock. But cooked crawdad's are A-OK to eat. if Im not understanding that correct, please point me in the right direction.

Fished from point 6 to Mill Creek the last week and found a few big bluegills hanging out with the spots at around 24ft. Also found a nice 5lb. Channel cat around the same depth on a bluff end. Caught double digit bass every day mostly on the nightcrawler, and the majority were keepers (6 out of 10) Found several keeper Largemouth which was a first for me, most others were Spots and a few Smallmouth. Also caught a few on the shaky head with a pumpkin seed worm, (overcast day) Tried the brown/purple FB jig with limited success, but saw a tournament fisherman catch several nice fish on the same setup within 100 foot off the dock we were staying. He was able to cull up several fish since he already had his limit. We had our best luck early, fishing 24 to 36 ft deep on some of those long points and bluff ends. Didnt try anything over 40 since I never was able to pinpoint anything on the radar. Could of been my finder since it was acting up. Was able to catch several nice ones by dropping a jig straight down in the dock stalls, most of the time they would either hit it on the drop or the first hop. Only one short on the topwater. and several that slapped at it. nothing exciting there. Had a great time, and cant wait to get back!

For those that dont know... j/k means he is JOKING. And even if someone did take this serious, it would turn them into c/r fishermen, I dont see the problem? Bottom line... Get the facts!

If someone comes trolling up on a spot Im fishing, I really dont have a problem with that... but if you do that, be prepared to answer a few questions cause Ill pick your brains to learn as much as I can. Last year I was fishing a main lake point no more than one cast from the bank... and Im not sure if it was a tournament or what but a wrapped bass boat at pretty close to full throttle decided to cut between us and the bank. IMO that is just uncalled for..... maybe he was late for the weigh in? but in reality I dont think he saved more than 5 seconds by cutting by us. Im sure I could of wacked em with my jig.... but that aint right either. I gave em the ol universal sign of WTF are you thinking by throwing up both arms. Didnt phase em a bit, they just ignored me and kept on truckin. Not saying the wrapped boat guys are all bad.... thats never happened to me before, and not only did it kill the bite, I believe it was a unsafe act that could have ended up being much worse.

Here's a link to the NWS damage map, shows the exact path and strength of the Tornado. http://www.crh.noaa.gov/sgf/?n=event_2012feb29_tornadotracks My family and I rode out a F4 in a basement back in 1999, scary scary stuff for sure! Just remember things can be replaced. Thoughts and prayers for everyone in the area, I wish I could be there helping with the cleanup.

Good idea on the pvc... but what about using a length of garden hose thats weighted on the end? if it was installed just right I see no reason why you couldnt leave it extended, even when running. Just gotta make sure it stays out of the prop.

I would clean out my traps in the morning and put em in a fish basket... they stayed alive for several days that way. At first I just left em in the traps, but thats when I noticed they would escape, so from that point on... in the fish basket they went. good luck

Fish heads usually work pretty good, need something that they can pick on for hours. As soon as the meat is gone... they will sneak back out of the traps. Good luck and have fun with it.

It definetly helps to have a fishfinder that has enough power so that you can see your bait. But if not... just figure out the depth by using the above method, or even once you figure out the right depth take a sharpie and "mark" the line, or even a slip bobber knot will do the trick. Keep an eye on that fishfinder, it sees like a fish that is interested in eating will drop down and take the bait a lot more often than if you see a fish rise to your bait. So even though you cant see your bait on the finder... give it a twitch and see if a fish drops down after it, then get ready to set the hook. I have seen fish on the finder travel 10 ft or more vertically to come check out my bait.

Like Bill said above, dont be afraid to get your feet wet. just make sure to use a life jacket. If you can get on some gravel banks a texas rigged worm, or shakey head rig should do the trick. just let it hit bottom and slowly drag it back. If you have access to a dock... dropping a full nightcrawler straight down off the end of the dock (20 - 30 foot deep) might be productive. or a piece of worm or cricket (10 - 20 foot deep) if you wanna get into some bluegills. Nightcrawlers will usually get you some fish... When I was there a few weeks ago, we fished a shallow gravel point (15 - 20 foot deep) with nightcrawlers one evening, ended up catching several Kentucky bass, a couple Smallmouth bass, A White bass, a Walleye, a Flathead catfish, and several good sized bluegill.

One short, the rest were keepers.

Fishing between point 6 and 7, fished mostly long gravel banks, caught 6 nice smallmouth yesterday from 3 to 5 pm on a wind blown bank. Using a shaky head with a green pumpkin fish dr. Missed the hookup on several more. Fished that same bank this morning and would have had about the same luck but I couldnt get the hookset. Fishing in anywhere from 10 to 20 ft. of water, all the hookups came from close to the old shoreline. temps 81 - 83. Seen a few whites busting the top, but it dont last long, less than a minute and they are done.

Thanks for the report, Its fun to get on the whites when they are feeding.

High water isnt scaring me off... Dont care about the news reports, I get the real news right here. Our annual vacation is coming up in a week, Probably be 30-40 people total invading the resort we stay at. Pretty much have the run of the place. I dont even care if it rains on us all week... we still have a great time. The place has its own ramp, so even in 08 we didnt have any problem. So, while the news reports may cripple attendance from the impulsive crowd, I consider myself a regular visitor (eventually a landowner) and Im sure there are plenty more out there that will make the trip like us. Now Im not saying the economy is all roses, My wife lost her job 9 months ago, I would love to hire another guide, but I just wont have as much to spend this time around... but we are STILL coming to harass your fish for a week, Promise to put em back too. Has anyone considered contacting the media outlets that are spewing the un-truths? probably wont get em to run a retraction, but you might be able to get them to at least stop spreading the lies. Seeya in a week! (cmon smallmouth... hope the pattern is still on!!)

I agree with everything above. Hoping for a speedy recovery, keeping Julie and Capt. Don and family in my thoughts and prayers.

Mine has the rechargeable 12v gel cell, you can use AC to recharge it or rig a plug so you can plug it in out on the boat. It is a neat toy, and very useful for finding submerged items. The orientation is hard to figure out... like others said it can be very hard to figure out which way the camera is pointing, especially when trying to actually retrieve something from the bottom. I spent a good hour on retrieving the first fishing pole, the second one took several sessions... probably a couple hours on that one. It was stuck in the middle of that brushpile. Just a plain ol Zebco that had been there for a LONG time, the guts were just one big glob of rust, but the mono was still good! lol If you dropped a set of keys in the lake, I bet I could get em back. Next trip in June, Ill try to get some pics of it in action.

I bought the Cabela's version and used it on my last trip to TR. Mostly used it under the dock and I thought it was amazing... We saw Bass, Crappie, Bluegill, Gar, White bass, Carp, Catfish, Crawdads, And I think Walleye, and this was just under the dock! The camera comes with infared lighting, but we had better luck with it in the daytime. Tried it at night and the infared indeed lights everything up but it also illuminates all the small particles in the water making things very hard to see unless really close. Daytime visibility seemed to be much better. at around 30' depth We could see probably 6' I was even able to find and retrieve two fishing poles and a pair of sunglasses. One of the poles was thrown in the lake by my bro-in-law a year ago, I retrieved it and wrapped it up for his Christmas present! The camera was also a big help in locating a sunken brushpile under the dock which we always seemed to get snagged on... we figured out exactly where we could drop our baits where we didnt get snagged, and you wouldnt believe all the fish holding in those brushpiles! All in all it is a neat toy, I hope to use it more on the next trip in June. I also want to use it from the boat to actually help see the structure and see what fish are holding in certain locations. And it does not appear to spook the fish. Most fish we saw were very curious and came right up to the camera. Might even attach a nightcrawler to it for more fun! Nothing beats a good sonar though! especially one that also has the ability to show your lure.

I snagged one around the Kimberling area this summer, Anchored up in a cove to cool off and swim... Pulled up the anchor and it had a trotline wrapped around it. It was abvious it had been there for a long time so I pulled it. One less abandoned trotline to worry about! Sorta makes me wonder how many are out there??? Im not really into trotlining, I have set a couple but never had any decent luck. Mine are marked with gallon jugs and an engraved aluminum tag. Never had em messed with, but I always tend them in the morning and evening. and of course they get pulled when Im done.

Ive been coming to TR for the last 8 years, the first couple years it was really tough catching anything other then bluegills... then I found this forum and started reading, and then read some more. Thanks to the fine folks (regulars and guides) that post reports, tips and techniques, Now I can go and catch some fish! Every year it gets better and better. Of course I also booked a couple of guide trips which also helped. Cant get any better TR fishing advice than this place