mclothier1

Im not grumpy... Im happy because I will be on the Rock (again) in a couple days Wooo Hoooo!! Right on Techo, completely agree Seriously... the first several vacations we took here, we couldnt catch diddly... (except maybe some bluegill) if we did happen to catch anything, we just racked it up to the bass feeling sorry for us. Now after hiring a guide for the last two vacations, COMPLETE turn around! Gee now I can take others out in the boat and we can ALL catch fish! Its amazing!!! If it wasnt for the reports posted here, or the first hand info from the guide trips, we would still be struggling! It used to be frustrating trying to catch fish on the Rock, now its just plain FUN!! Bill, feel free to use this...

Heck with them! just offer a refund and call it a day!!! I think you are doing a fine job, probably not easy guiding full time, running a resort, and giving out secret fishing methods on the internet in what little spare time you have.... if you can even call it "spare" time!

Bill, In my opinion, I believe that anyone that calls or emails you complaining about a particular guide giving out bogus reports.... needs to remember "its called FISHING... not catching" These people need to pull up their panties and find they're own stinking pattern!!! I believe the guides that post here do a wonderful job of trying to spell it out for us regular Joes. And yeah, Don House is one of the best! we had a trip with him a month ago, and we had a great time! Showed us Kansas hicks a couple new ways to catch fish. As far as the lodging... good ideas! But Im not the kind of person to go complaining to the Boss if things dont work out. (you wont be getting a complaint call or email from me) Now maybe if a guide reccomended a certain resort and I stayed there just off his word, and the place was a dump... Yeah I would be kinda upset. But I've learned to also do my own due diligence and find out as much as I can about the resort before pulling the trigger. The first year we stayed on Table Rock, was at a resort that I would NEVER go back to, the place looked nice on the outside, but the inside was a whole other story, seemed like there was something wrong at every turn. We rented two different boats thru the week and both of them broke down, the pontoon left us stranded deadstick south of the Branson Belle and had to be towed back! gee that was fun!... NOT! But I was the one that picked the resort... so SHAME on me, if I would have done a little searching I would have found out that the resort in question wasnt quite up to par based on the reviews that I later found. The information is out there, you just have to find it.

Joe, Any time I can spend on TR is a great time!!

Joe, Thanks for the help... Fish hook didnt have any cabins open for the days we wanted to stay, Happy Hollow looks nice, but is a little far from where we want to stay. I found a cabin at Lazy Lee's which should work for us.

The wife said she wants a mini vacation, ok no problem... but its a last minute kind of deal, she wants to stay next Wednesday thru Saturday. So I am searching for some last minute lodging. Any ideas?

I think I heard something about Table Rock being a "buffer" lake. Im sure there are Striper in Table Rock by coming thru the dam at Beaver, but they cannot populate the lake by themselves, they must be stocked. And I think they wont stock them because they dont want them in Taneycomo? I could also imagine a state record striper being pulled out of Table Rock, No real fishing pressure, plus an all you can eat buffet of bass!!

Im pretty sure I heard the same thing from a guide we hired a few weeks back, And I dont think im giving away any of his secrets. But yeah I heard that when they are running water, that the fish are more likely to position on points, I dont know why? but my guess is that the fish are following their food source.

And... dont do it like this, Bass Boat Crash

Go ahead and fish with your lights off, just make sure to turn them back on when you see me coming so I can steer clear. Whackem... one other question, as far as your speed... are you going off of the boats speedo, or a gps reading? I know boat speedo's can be way off, so maybe your not running quite as fast as you think? And no im not trying to tell you how to run your boat, you know it way better than me. be safe out there, that is all.

I always use my lights at night, not just when underway, but also when fishing. Maybe I just dont have the experience but I dont believe the lights make any difference when night fishing. The reason I feel this way is that we went night fishing several nights of our week vacation, and had no troubles catching fish, it seemed like everyone in the boat caught fish. One of the first nights I was there I ended up catching a 3# KY, a 2# white bass and a real nice #3 SM (that broke the tip off my rod landing him!!) caught them all in about a 30 minute span. Maybe tournaments are different? My running lights dont seem to attract too many bugs, But... I made the mistake of bringing along a fluorescent lantern one night, and BUGS everywhere!!! Whackem... have you tried getting your boat up on plane, trim it out then bringing your speed back to 30? or does it fall back off plane? wonder if some creative weight placement might help? i.e. put some of the heavy stuff in the nose.

I always keep one of those 1Million candle power handheld spotlights, comes in real handy when its one of those dark nights when the water blends in with the land. Also saved my butt a couple years back when we came across a houseboat just west of the KC bridge with NO lights on at all. probably came within 50 feet (way too close by my standards... even in the daylight) of slamming into it, Im just glad I was only running 20-25 mph. If I was running any faster I probably wouldnt have seen it in time. Im sure I get laughed at by the "regulars" who could probably run up and down TR all night doing 60mph while blindfolded, but I dont roll that way, so laugh all you want.

Those big boats dont go real fast, but they do throw a huge wake and are a real threat to capsize small boats. I dont know if there will ever be a limit on size, cant see that happening. And I dont really know of a way to reduce their wake... short of just putting around at 5mph. I guess its something we all have to live with, so the best you can do is learn how your boat handles the big waves and be prepared, or just outrun them and duck in a cove so you dont have to deal with it. I dont mean to sound like safety sam here, but earlier this year I was fishing over on Beaver lake on a guided striper trip and there was an accident where the local sheriff was searching for a missing man after two boats collided. I believe they never found his body. But I guess my point is... It dont hurt to actualy wear that life jacket, In my boat they are handy and readily accessible, but in an accident you would never have the time to get one put on. I think that will change.

Nice reports, Ill be down in a week to try it out myself. Think Ill stay away from the trees when its blowing though! lol

^^ LOL Yeah its getting to be that time of year, Lots of these on the lake too...

Well, all the things you mention, im good to go. I work for an aircraft manufacturer so Im aware of a lot of the things you are talking about. Especially because in a plane you cant just pull over and replace a fuse. In my boat, all three batteries are secured and strapped, no obvious leaks from anything, wires all tied up and insulated, nothing loose that can bounce around and cause problems. I also carry two fire extinguishers. Probably after the end of this boating season I will install new carpeting, When I strip it out I will see if I can get access to the tank, it seems to have a outline on the floor where it was covered over the last time carpet was installed. In the meantime I will re-check the fuel line to the engine and filter. Thanks for the tips!

Barbie dream catch N.C. man lands state record catfish on 3-year-old's Barbie fishing rod By Sam Eifling ESPNOutdoors.com (Archive) Updated: August 22, 2008, 9:06 PM ET Comment Email Print Share All David Hayes meant to do was cast for his granddaughter. Instead he wound up landing a 21-pound channel catfish — a North Carolina state record — on her Barbie fishing pole. His 3-year-old granddaughter, Alyssa, was the one actually fishing at Hayes' one-acre pond behind his house in Wilkes County, N.C., on Aug. 5. Hayes was just baiting her pink rod and reel with crickets, casting, and handing the rig to the little girl, who was making a fine day's work of catching bluegill. Courtesy N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission David Hayes and granddaughter Alyssa, 3, pose with the state record channel catfish landed with her Barbie fishing pole. He threw a cricket out. "She said, 'Papa, hold my fishing rod. I've got to go potty,'" Hayes said in a phone interview. As the girl walked the few feet back to the house with her grandmother, Hayes dutifully held the rod. Then — boom. "The fish hit the cricket, and the fight was on, pretty much," he said. "I didn't think I could hold that fish with a 2-foot rod." The fish made a run, and Hayes managed to turn it. A second time, the fish made a break for it, and Hayes again steered it back toward the bank. He didn't know at the time the fish was more than 21 pounds — handily more than the 18-pound, 5-ounce previous state record set a year ago. He just knew the fish was big. When Alyssa returned, he told her, "Wait 'til you see what I have on the other end of this thing." He managed finally to maneuver the fish back to the dock. All was in hand until the little girl saw the monster fish. "She started dancing and squealing like a 3-year-old will," Hayes said. The fish freaked. It made a 30-yard run — Hayes thought surely the rod would snap — and swam for a few minutes before simply giving up. "I tired him out, I reckon," Hayes said. The Hayes family has a cookout behind the house every year at which family and friends will catch some nice catfish — solid 15-pounders — out of the 15-foot-deep pond. But nothing like this behemoth. Hayes looked up the state record and gave a call to a fisheries biologist neighbor of his who told him to get the fish to a certified scale. When the fish registered 21 pounds, 1 ounce on a scale at nearby Thurmond Grocery, Hayes knew he had a record fish. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission sent fisheries biologist Kin Hodges to verify that the fish was a channel cat rather than, say, a blue catfish. Hodges' professional opinion of the fish: "It was just a pig." At 32 inches long and 22½ inches around, it was longer and nearly bigger around than the length of the rod that caught it. "He thought it was funny more than anything," Hodges said. "He was just amazed at the size of the fish he caught on that little kiddie rod. If you would have told anybody that you could catch a fish like that on this rod, they'd have laughed at you." Hayes, a 33-year employee of a textile company where he dyes yarn, isn't confident his record will last. The wildlife commission only recently vacated a state channel catfish record set in 1971 when a magazine turned up photos showing that it was actually a flathead. So it's a young record he broke. Hayes himself caught a 23-pounder a few years back that, at the time, wouldn't have been close to the official record. Now, though, that fish would top this one. Hodges was more optimistic. "Twenty-one pounds, that could stick around awhile," the biologist said. "That's a good-sized channel catfish. We'll just have to see." In any event, Hayes and his grandkids are enjoying their 15 minutes. When the wildlife commission announced the official record this week, the media came calling. On Thursday, when a news crew came to interview the family, Alyssa's 2-year-old sister, Samantha, caught a bluegill. And Alyssa, ignoring the pressure of rolling news cameras, landed herself a trophy 1-pound bass.

We had a similar accident here this weekend... boat fire Not exactly sure what the cause was, but it had to be fuel related. My question is, I have a 97 Glastron GS205 with the tank in the belly, exactly how would I go about checking the integrity of the fill line, and line to the engine without tearing the floor out of the boat? is it even possible to check?

Another rookie here... Like Quillback said in another post, We caught them up in the river trolling shad. Im not familiar with the lake at all but I believe we were close to Goshen. We found a decent bite sometime around 7 or 8 am, then it turned off pretty much till about 1pm. Not sure when they are done in the river, but you would think it would have to be soon. I would also think that if you dont have shad, any large shad imitation swimbait would also work.

Can I borrow the kid for a week in June???? Joking Nice fish!

Thanks, 5 K I think this is our 5th or 6th year staying at Lone Pine, and I still dont know the names of all the coves and spots. But Im getting better! One thing I am good at.... catching the bait! I can sit on the dock and catch 70-80 sunfish in no time at all! I guess you can say im the bait master.

Martin, Yeah we are right across the lake from cow creek, we have run our trotlines there a couple years ago and only caught one flathead all week. And yeah we maintain them, also have metal tags with our names on each line, and removed when we leave. I dont think I have heard of spring branch? where would that be?

Martin, What part of the lake are you trotlining? Ill be there in a month with my family. Im not much into trotline action, but some of the other guys in the family are. We are staying on the west side of DD point. I dont think we are picking the right places to set them up, but ???? We usually locate them in the back of coves kinda out of the way so we hopefully dont bother anyone. We check them several times a day, and at least once at night. We also bait them with sunfish. This year I might try trapping some crawdads to put on the lines. any trotline tips you could share would be appreciated. thanks!

SK, yes it was a long boat ride, way up the river. Had to go thru an area called Horseshoe bend, the Sherriff was slowing everyone down because there was a boating accident and were looking for a body. Hope they find the person, RIP. And yeah... already scheming... er planning the next trip! lol

We ended up having a great time! Took all day to get limited out, we were hitting them pretty good then the bite turned off. Then it took awhile for them to turn on again. All in all it was a lot of fun. We didnt catch anything over 15lbs. but since we were striper rookies, a 15 lb'er was a bunch of fun though! a few pics... My son Zach and his "Happy" fish My nephew Mike The limit... and the Crew...