abkeenan

I know that many guys here believe that fishing is much better when they are running water through the generators at the dam. That being said do you guys think that it is best WHILE they are running water or does it take a little time afterwards of them running water to get some current to start moving lake wide and then the fish to turn on? Forgive me if this is a dumb question but I tend to over think a lot of things and am always looking to learn or hear what more knowledgeable people have to say about things I don't know anything about.. -Brett

Maybe he was just referring to crawfish? I don't think freshwater shrimp live in Missouri or anywhere even close....but I could be wrong.

Necessity is the mother of invention. Don't know who coined that phrase but it couldn't be more true.

I agree. Was just saying sometimes old "wives tales" have no scientific support. Some of the home remedies that my grandparents have told me they did when they were young were just insane. I remember my grandfather he told me that he had the top of his foot peeled back when he got it smashed in between a loading dock and a truck and he said his parents slathered bacon grease in the wound. I can't imagine that being good. Just one of many examples that make no sense. On a fishing related note I have also heard that if the cows in the pasture are laying down during the day the fish aren't biting....not sure if that one is true or not. Would save me a lot of time if the cows could be a determining factor as to weather to stay home or get out on the water.

I have always thought the same thing. My grandfather told me that the flatheads will only go after live bait and that is why they taste better than the channels/blues/etc because those are more or a scavenger and will eat dead or rotten meat/fish. But there are a lot of "old timer" claims and tales that really have no factual/scientific proof just hearsay handed down through generations. Sometime true, sometimes not. Would like to hear from a biologists if it is true or not.

I always considered being in Long Creek once you passed Gage's Marina and the ramp there, but thats just me. I don't include Brushy as Long Creek...so guess the Brushy/Long Creek split is where it start for me. My 2 cents.

I always just stick to 1/4oz heads because I guess I am just lazy and want things made simple and the 1/4oz head is good for just about all depth ranges from 5' to 40' IMO. I have always done well on the Buckeye Stand-Ups but am now trying out the YUM Pumpkin'ED Standup Jig as I like the bigger hook + EWG options and also a large variety of weights. I fish a 5" YUM Dinger 95% of the time on the shakey head as I just love the simplicity, baits usually last 5-10 fish per bait, I have confidence in it and it flat out catches fish. The reason I am probably gonna switch to the YUM head is because I have had quite a few instances of setting the hook and coming back with 1/2 a Dinger and it is ripped RIGHT at the hook bend. If the fish would have bit another 1/4 inch towards the head I would have stuck it. I believe a 4/0 round bend comes on the 1/4oz Buckeye pro models so I got some YUM heads that are 6/0 EWG's in 1/4oz and I also got 5/8oz w/ 6/0 hooks to play around with this summer with monster 10"+ worms. I think I will have more hook ups by making this switch to a little larger hook. I always throw mine on my 7'M Cara spinning rod with 8# Yozuri Hybrid or P-Line Fluroclear (both good co-poly lines). As far as locations go I will throw them anywhere as they work everywhere.

Read Bablers reports as well as some of the others that have recently been posted. Tells just about everything that is going on on TR right now. From the gist I get just from reading reports is to get out on the water around 4:30AM and fish til they quit biting or the boaters are out in full force which is around 9-10ish from what I am picking up. Deep diving cranks and big swimbaits it what Bill and some others have mentioned and as the sun gets up they might switch to bottom type baits and plastics (drop shot, shakey head, tubes, etc). Long gradual runouts/points and then dropoffs into the channel are the locations I am hearing are best right now. Topwater is apparently a no go as of now but I always have one at the ready in case of that "blow up" situation that could happen at any given moment either being whites or blacks, so I would say have that on standby. I think it was bill who said that instead of using topwater to throw at the blowups that he was having better luck with a spoon and letting it drop down to them. Good luck and just keep reading the reports that are posted pretty much daily.

With the heat of summer coming on, more kids off for the summer and all the summer pleasure boaters out there the night fishing option is going to be more popular and I read this on another fishing site and thought I would share as it clearly comes from experience and has some good tips for people not accustomed to night fishing and even those that are could probably learn a thing or two from this gentlemans post: "I've been night fishing for almost 30 years here in Tennessee. I've done it all ... and seen most of it. If you want advice ... here it is: Buy a headlight. Now. A handheld spotlight is USELESS. They glare back in your eyes, and you have to use one of your hands to hold it. Remember this: In the dark, things happen in a hurry. You might need that other hand for holding onto the wheel in an emergency. Get a headlight from Stan Sloan (Jeffs Docking Lights) and use the bracket from T&H Marine that bolts onto the rubrail. It allows adequate adjustment, but won't move when tightened up. I was fishing Watts Bar one night several years ago and was moving to another spot. When I broke the boat over onto plane, I flipped on the headlight. There were FIVE CANOES about 15 yards from me. They were filled up with Boy Scouts. This was about 2:00am. Luckliy, I missed them, but I swamped one of them. When I turned around and saw what had almost happened, I started shaking in the seat. I could have killed one or several of those kids. They were out with their scoutmasterwith NO LIGHTS on the canoes or anything. Needless to say, I gave the scoutmaster an earful. What I should have done, was turn on the light before I started moving the boat. I've done that since then. Get a headlight. You can't seriously fish without a blacklight. Some of the biggest fish I have caught were strikes that I never felt, but I saw the line twitch. Don't get the ones with suction cups. When they fly off the gunnel you'll either lose them, or (even worse) they'll be tethered by the cord and will bang chunks out of your gelcoat before you can get stopped. (Don't ask me how I know this) And it's also nice to see your line and know where the bait is before you jerk to set the hook. That "thump" that you felt might have been a twig that is about 5 feet from the boat. Worm weights & 1/2 oz spinnerbaits HURT when you get them back in your face. Old School: Stan Sloan lights with receptacles that mount on your gunnels. The lights just plug into the holes and will stay put. New School: LED lights in the rubrail. Either way, get blacklights. Like has already been said, cut the clutter to a minimum. Have a place for everything and keep it there. Nothing is worse than snagging a rod and flipping it into the water, or the sound of graphite crushing when you put your foot onto one. And there should be NO CORDS in the boat. EVER. If you think a fire is bad in the daytime, try having one at night when you pinch a cord under a compartment lid and don't know it until it's too late. (Don't ask me how I know about that one, either) No corded lights (no spotlight, remember?) or other wires lying out. Keep your baits simple. Plastics, spinnerbaits, jigs, grubs. I don't allow treble hooks in my boat at night. Silly? Not when poor visibility causes you to jerk when you shouldn't have and the bait comes flying back to you at Mach1. (Don't even think about asking ....) Handheld flashlight that is rubber coated and about 1" in diameter. AA or even AAA size will do fine. No cap lights, or those things that you wear on your head. I keep my flashlight on my jacket pocket when not is use and put it in my mouth when I need it (rubber coated, remember?). Trust me, you can better manipulate the light to where you need it with the light in your mouth than you can by having to move your head left and right and up and down. If you think that's silly ... just try it before you laugh it off. And if you should need to see something in the floor of the boat or on a nearby bank (like the bait you wrapped around that stickup) it does a good job for that. I've never seen one of those cap lights that was anywhere near as versatile as a simple small flashlight. A good pair of rainpants and a good comfortable jacket. Not for the rain ... but for the DEW. I've been out on nights when the temps were 65-70 and got COLD. When the dew starts to fall, you get wet. A simple 4mph breeze will chill you to the bone if you are wet. If you don't believe me, just go a few nights without these 2 items. I think you'll change your mind when you start shaking and it's 70 degrees. Not an "item" but find out what RPM you can run your boat with the nose just broken over ... in other words, how slow can you go and still stay on plane without struggling? That's your top speed. I know ... some people run 50-60 mph at night and have had no problems. Whatever. Remember, things happen quickly in the dark. Your response time is small. I've seen whole trees, plastic 55 gal drums, crossties, sheets of plywood, anchored boats with no navigation lights, and (yes) canoes full of kids. Stuff floats around. It happens. You do NOT want to hit anything in the dark. Run your minimum speed and keep that headlight on (most of the time). I have heard that in some states it is illegal to run with a headlight on. Maybe so, but in 30 years of fishing here I have never been stopped or questioned by the LEOs for running a headlight. Of course, common courtesy is to be used by not blinding approaching boats, etc. But remember that the headlight might just save your (or someone else's) life. Use the thing ... and go slow. I could go on and on, but that's just some of the basics. After all these years, I've learned a lot and made a lot of mistakes. Nowadays, I can night fish and not give it a second thought. You learn and apply. If you are careless, you pay the price. Be careful. Wear a PFD. Go slow. And above all else, use your head."

Nuts!

Dang. I am always too late for great deals.

Bill I will take all of them if they are still available.

Bill I will take all of them if they aren't already spoken for.

I think the most rare one from what I have heard and seen is the Red Prism Craw. I saw one (have only seen 2) go for $900 on eBay.

I am also a drop shot novice as I give up on it quickly if I don't get much action and don't particularly like it. I have one question, are you always just dropping it straight down vertically or do you ever cast it out like you would a texas rig/split shot/carolina rig/jig and just work it back to the boat?

Here is a link to the craw patterns I got done at Baitwerks: http://baitwerks.com/colorpatterns/craw-patterns/ I got 3 done in "Green Milo" and 3 done in "New Batey Craw 2". You have to have 3 baits or more done in the same color pattern to get the $8 per bait discount so that is what I did. Turn around time was pretty slow (6-8 weeks) but Dwayne does great work and I am happy with my baits. As far as the collecting goes eBay is the way to go. You can find stuff there at times that you never would be able to anywhere else. Prices vary as bidding just depends on who wants that bait and some guys have no problem over paying by 10X the value just as long as they get that bait to add to their collection so bidding can get pretty insane. Just gotta keep an eye out on the listing. About a month ago I got a Magnum Phantom Green craw NIB for like $15 including shipping and I was lucky to have found the listing first and it had a buy it now feature on the listing so I snapped it up. Good deals can be had if you just keep on it. BTW, I won't hold it against you that you are a Cub's fan. At this point I almost feel sorry for you guys....wait a second no I don't! But seriously I hope Epstein rights the ship there on the Northside because the rivalry the last 3-4 years hasn't been the same since the Cubbies have been borderline triple A material out on the field. Games are much more fun when both teams are competitive and legitimately hate one another.....the good ole days. lol.

Better get out the check book for the colors you are looking for in the wiggle wart model. You can find them on eBay if you keep on it. Used colors you are looking for go for around $10-20 a piece and NIP go around $20+. Phantom Craws guys go nuts over and are around $30+ for a NIP. The Missouri Craw SP-90...good luck. Not many out there and I see one on eBay that is worn pretty good at it has a starting bid at $45. Good luck. If you don't want to pay that kind of price I suggest getting some of the "beaters" off eBay that you can find for about $5 a piece and sometimes come in lots of 3+ and then having them custom painted. Just a thought as that is what I did and sent in 6 warts to Baitwerks who painted them how I wanted for $8 a lure. Sounds pricey but its cheaper that what these guys are paying for the "old school" colors.

Wow awesome pic and fish Gone Fishing. I am sure the young man won't forget that fish the rest of his life. What a TOAD! Congrats. Get a length and weight on that pig by chance?

Champ, check out this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5p5nufi7EY It has been in the news the last few days and I think it touches on the "positive reinforcement" issue and I think he does a great job in not sugar coating anything and wish we had more people that think as this man does.

They would have to add a thousand times the amount of Water Patrol they currently employ to have any sort of effect on the nonsense that goes on on the water. It comes down to people not knowing the rules/laws, not caring and more people on the lake = more incidents and more idiots. I will say that its not just the pleasure crafts and jet skiers either, many times it has been our own fellow bass fisherman that do idiotic things. I guess I would fall under Champs younger generation of careless people that have little to no respect for others and I won't even argue as it is mostly true. I am 31 and did get my butt blistered from time to time but it was somewhat a rare punishment, my father got the switch quite often and I am sure his father got it 5 times as much as my father. That is just how it is these days with child abuse, positive reinforcement and other child rearing techniques and some of the more effective yet taboo use of physical punishment has fallen by the wayside. I have already discussed with my soon to be wife that we are going to hand out "spankings" to our children (God willing) and physical punishment just because I don't like the way kids act these days and see misbehaved kids on a daily basis at stores and in general public and can't stand the sight of it. Kids now seem to have more authority as to what goes than the parents and its a real shame. Please don't lump us all in the "bad seeds" bin just because of the generation we happen to fall into, there are still a few "good apples" mixed in among us.

If you thought this was serious then you are one dense dude.

I never did hear what the winning fish was caught on or what part of the lake it was taken. Anyone know?

Nice fish Phil. Question: Is the color of a fish genetic or is it due to the amount of sunlight or lack there of that causes a fish to be light or dark? Can they change color throughout their life/year?

So since the A-Rig craze came about it got me to start questioning the importance of line being "invisible". Forever anglers have been using light line in an effort to keep the line as undetectable to fish as possible. Well now that the A-Rig catches fish and is hardly invisible with its wire part all over does this cause any of you guys to rethink the importance of line size and invisible properties? Not only are the rigs a monstrosity in the water with all the metal but more often than not are thrown on not so inconspicuous dark green braid. I for one will be switching to higher # test on just about all my gear just because I now do not think it matters as much as I used too "pre-A-Rig" days. I will go as heavy as I can get away with so to speak. The only thing now I think matters is just the diameter of the line and its effects on casting distance and how deep a crank or jerkbait will run. Other thoughts and opinions? Don't be afraid to totally disagree. Want some honest opinions good, bad or ugly.

Awesome report. I won't be able to get down there for atleast a month at the earliest so posts like this have to fulfill my "fix" until then. Thanks for sharing.