motoman

That sounds like a cool event Phil!:-).......any pix?

- All the smallies we caught were pretty lean. The kentuckys had some bellies on them. Not sure if they were eggs or not though. I would have to guess we were catching a bunch of males, looking to move up?........but that's just a guess. - Either way; they were not thrilled to be coming up to the boat. (Haha)........so they were a blast to catch!:-) - And be sure to keep us posted how you do!:-)

That's how it's done KU!.......good job on getting out a bit deeper. I certainly owe to a few other guys myself over the years, for helping me figure stuff out down there!:-)........and I'm a firm believer Table Rock is definitely a different 'animal' when it comes to bass fishing. I've always done better out a bit deeper myself. Glad the boards could help!:-) - Those goggle eye can be deceiving when you first hook into 'em. I always think they're a black bass of some sort; until I hop them in the boat. I hear they're good eating though?:-)

You said it Dave, no real major adjustments since last time. But I didn't post anything then, cause you were still down and did a much better job with catching and reports than myself. - Jmes, you hit the nail on the head. Patience, patience, patience!:-)........although it was dead slow, I'd much rather fish like we did throwing the Ned's rig, vs. the drag bite. - One side note too.......you can't fish that Ned rig slow enough. And for Cripes sake.......don't 'fish lazy'.........what I mean by that is don't just let the line hang off the side of the boat, drag your bait on the bottom and let the wind dictate your speed. The odds of the wind moving you slow enough are slim to none. - A couple guys we were down with a few weeks ago insist on doing that every year..........and every year.........complain about not catching.:-( - They're not good listeners.:-(.......or maybe just good complainers!

- I agree with yah there Dave; that seemed to be the case. I guess I shouldn't be so hard on them; as we've chatted about......The Rock can be a harsh mistress!(haha)......but I sure feel bad for the guys i see struggling......and when I try and reach out and offer a little friendly advice, only to be snubbed!?!??........it leaves me scratching my head.:-( - I just saw the top ten results of that tourney; and I recognize/kinda-sorta know a few of those guys in the top ten. Some good sticks in the likes of Eustlers, Maloney, Satterfield. - That looks like a well organized tourney. The buddy of mine that was down with me; who just started fishing a few years ago; is a darn good stick for a rookie. A fast learner who will grind out a long day of fishing and never skip a beat........no matter how tough it gets!:-)(very upbeat too:-) - He's been dying to fish a big tourney with me. Looks like a good cause and a good number of boats. May have to look into that for next year.:-)

As always, good report bill!:-)........I was grumbling at the thought of a drag bite......glad we didn't need it. That's a tough one for me to stick with.:-(

- Ahhh, that explains it Jason. Stinks those guys were struggling. I was more than eager to offer suggestions to those interested.:-(.......but I surei understand how frustrating it can be tourney day, late in the afternoon.:-( - I'm TERRIBLY sorry to hear about you loss Jason. That's difficult stuff indeed.:-(........I lost my father almost a year to the day last week; we were Very close, so I do feel for yah.:-(.......I'll be thinking about yah!;-).......I shot you a PM too.

I can't explain why; but for us: - Kimberling City = minimal Grub action, Maximum Ned Rig - Dam Area = Maximum Grub action, minimum Ned Rig - Water temps near the dam were around 65, Kimberling City 58 (but Ive been told my fish finder temp readings have been wrong before:-(

Had to come back home this morning, so we only had a couple hours to fish. Hit the water about 7:30, fished until 9:00. - Stayed in KC and fished chunk rock/pea gravel shoreline. Held boat in 30+ feet of water, about 3 cast lengths from shore. Throwing PB&J Ned rig in towards shore at 45 degree angle; most bites in about 20 feet of water. - When youre not moving the bait, Let it sit for 10+ seconds on bottom (at least) then sssslllllowwwlllyyy drag it towards the boat. Then let it sit, Or as my buddy and I joked about, "let your pot soak"(Deadliest Catch TV show reference.:-P) - Caught about 11 in the hour and a half. 3 keepers, couple nice fat kantucks and a long, lean 2.5 pound smallie. - Had to put the boat on the trailer and head home.:-( - Hope this helps!:-).......good luck.

Sorry this is late too......I repeatedly tried posting it while I was down there; but also could not.:-( - 5/7 Kimberling City and The Dam area - Got a late start tuesday morning and hit the water about 7:30. Fog was just burning off, no wind......so there was a glassy surface. Tried and tried the Redfin.......no love.:-(.......same report as prior day. Ned rig with PB&J Zman soft stick baits. Accept no substitutes! :-)........caught one about every 10-15 minutes or so. About half of our fish were keepers this morning. - Same report as yesterday; until things slowed down around noon. We decided to head to Danna's for some BBQ for lunch. MMmmmm.......good stuff. Similar to 'Bandanas' back home........but I digress.:-) - Back on the water about 2:00, and headed for some of the coves by the dam. Thought we would see what was doing up there, since johndarin posted such a great report. (Thanks buddy!:-) - I have NEVER been up by the dam, but figured it was worth a shot. Ive had an older, slower boat with a smaller fuel tank, until this year. and thats a bit of haul from KC........So i had NO clue where to go, except follow what johdarin suggested. - Different water, different technique than kimberling City.......So, We picked a cove across from the Branson Belle, slightly to the south, but we could see the Belle the whole time we were fishing. Went about halfway back into the cove, grabbed a south shoreline with some timber, in betwixt other boats. Which there was a surprising amount of boats up there compared to around Kimberling City?!?!?! - Held the boat in 35'ish feet of water, throwing a smoke/red and smoke/purple flake grub, on jigheads under 1/4 ounce. Smoke/purple flake XPS was Most productive. We kept the boat parallel to the shoreline and for whatever reason, diagonal casts towards shore, thru submerged, standing timber was most productive. We would count down, or let it hit bottom, then ssssssllllllowwwlllyyy reel it in. Painfully slowly reel it in. Just enough to get the tail moving. Good mix of kantucks and smallies. About half were keepers. Averaging a fish every 10-15 minutes again; until about 5:30'ish.......Had to get back and leave them. Water is CRAZY clear up there. Could make out silhouettes of bottom structure in 30 feet of water! (Vs. 10+ feet in KC area) - I couldn't believe all the boats working the shoreline by the dam......guys were fishing between us and the shore.......and grumbling about there results. Again, I tried offering suggestions......few were interested.:-( - We had MUCH better luck getting the grub down deep, where you couldn't see it. If we could see it, we would occasionally have fish fire up out of the murky deep and chase it down. So I would recommend ssssllllowwww rolling it in the depths........where you can't see it.:-) - Good luck!:-)

Sorry this is a bit late; I tried repeatedly posting this while I was down there, but was unable.:-( - 5/6 Kimberling city report - Got a late start on the water Monday about 10:00am. Fished a pea gravel secondary pocket we typically do well in; scrubbing a grub, and throwing the Ned rig......no love. - Moved up to a chunk rock shoreline with a little pea gravel, closer to main channel and secondary point. Had the boat in about 25+, about 3 cast lengths from shore. Overcast with 10+ mph wind. Caught most on Ned rig in about 15 feet of water at a rate of about a fish every 10-15 minutes. PB&J color was best on Ned rig, only a couple fish on smoke colored grub. Following Dave's (dtrs) info he posts on the boards here, re:size/brand/technique to the letter! Ole Dave and his Ned rig advise are spot on, thanks buddy!:-) - After a few hours, the clouds started to break up, fish slowly moved out deeper. Moved the boat out to 35+, catching them in the 25 feet range......but not as frequently. Working the bait dead slow.(same as above). Bite tapered off as the sun got brighter late afternoon/early evening. Mixed bag of kantucks and smallies. Good mix of keepers and some just shy of that. Forecast is high sun and NO wind Tuesday. I have my concerns.:-) - Some other boaters came by fishing, asked how they did, they'd been out all day and one fish.......and those boys we're rather grumpy. I saw their rods and they were clearly the super, manly 'power' fisherman. Told them our numbers; they were surprised. They asked what we were throwing, I broke the ice in conversation by telling them finesse soft plastics.......as I knew that would go over like a lead ballon. (Seeing the mucho, machismo stuff they had tied on) Sure enough.......I was met with a "bbbaahhh.......I can't throw that little $h!t."...... And they idled away. Oh well.......like the saying goes.......'you can lead a horse to water.':-)

Good report Dudley; sounds like you guys had a good time.:-) - I'm a huge fan of any soft plastic in green pumpkin, then my next favorite is PB&J, then right behind that would be watermelon candy and watermelon red flake. Any/all of these colors have always been good to me. At least around the 13/up to Indian point area........and can assume they are just as good elsewhere on the lake. - Thanks for the report!:-)

I actually donated about 10+ pounds of old soft plastics to Brad VanRiette (bevanriette@gmail.com) Kansas BASS Nation Youth Director; last month.(and I got a shoutout in their newsletter too!:-) - I posted a request for someplace to send some extra baits, preferably a youth group......On another message board. And several people gave me Brads info. - They actually just had a youth tourney and they use them to make sure every kid goes home with something. - Just went through some more tackle; and I'll probably send more soon. I simply couldnt find anyplace local to donate them. I looked for info on Mike Webbs K.A.S.T., and for some reason, kept hitting dead ends.:-(

Gobbler mountain in KC area? - Yah, yah........I know........that's a stretch.:-(

Good thinking there ab!!......be sure and keep us posted on how the water test goes.:-)

- Amen brother!......that was a great read. Put a smile on my face.:-)

I agree with the above statements; and for one.....like it that way. LOZ can be challenging; but day in and day out, The Rock is definitely more of a challenge. And I hope it stays that way. - If only the rock was closer; Id fish it more often. But LOZ is half the drive from the St.Louis area, so I tend to hit LOZ a bit more throughout the year!:-( - But the challenge of the rock keeps ME coming back; and many others at bay.(from what I hear:-)

Great report bill!......and love the pix:-)........and anything that Dave gives you with the name 'Ned' in it.........will most definitely catch fish!;-)

- Great catching up with you too Dave!:-)......wish I coulda hung out with yah a bit more; maybe one of these days.:-) - Listen to ole Dave here folks; he'll set yah straight.;-) - A bit of a history lesson from me here, cause i just got back home myself, several hours north.......bbbbooooo!:-(.......... But, Dave's info above was spot on! We picked off a couple smallies right at the 3 pound mark. Which smallmouth like that,........I'll take 'em ALL day long!........so don't think for a minute that Ned rig is even remotely for small fish. - Thanks again Dave, you're the best my man!;-)

No problem there Quill:-) - I did forget to mention.........you had to be in the wind to catch 'em too.(ugh!) - And what stinks, is I have a new-to-me boat; and in my haste to get down here; I forgot to put my OAF stickers on the outboard!:-(........may have to run down and see Phil this morning for some more today while the monsoon passes.:-)

Good thought about running down to Bull. That would be cool to see what the big boys are up too.:-) - I musta missed your prior post; what kinda water temps you see midlake?(although......it may not mayter much, I believe the rain may mix things anyway:-P - Amen brother!.......I can handle the rain and stuff.......lightening?.......no thanks!:-(

Put in at cape fair public access about 2:00 PM. Fished until about 6:00. Wind was whipping under partly cloudy skies. air temp mid 70's I'd guess? Completely New water to us, my buddy wanted to fish. Not my preference, as i like the deep clear stuff; but i agreed. Water clarity was 2-3 feet. Saw water temps up to 68+. (Assuming my electronics are accurate) We caught a handful of short kantucks, throwing zoom finesse worms on 1/8 ounce Shakey heads, slow dragging them in 5-10 fow. - We're midlake now by the 13 bridge; water MUCH clearer.......for now.......after this rain predicted tonight/tomorrow.......we will see.:-)

Good report Dave!.......saw you when we pulled in tonight; I'll peek over and say howdy tomorrow.........fingers crossed the forecast is wrong.......but I doubt it.:-(

- Ooofff!......good point ab, I hadn't looked on eBay for custom painted baits in months. You're right, quite a few there. Das a lotta competition.:-(

eBay is a good way to sell them. But, be sure you are specific of the type of bait being painted; and possibly discuss the process of prep, painting, clearing, etc. otherwise, people may be hesitant; cause the concern may be they are just buying a fancy shelf decoration.