abkeenan

That's fine. I try to at least give information on the boards here to genuinely help people catch more fish or have a more successful time on the water. Take it or leave it and I am not always 100% right but I share my experiences, good or bad. To me time on the water holds more value above all else and if I can help someone, even just a little, that's worthwhile. I know I've learned a ton from the Ozark Anglers community here on the boards. I've taken way more than I have given. This is a GREAT place to learn, share and expand your knowledge. You on the other hand would rather interject your negativity on just about every single post you've ever made here. You offer very little value to the OA boards, unless condemning things and people is of value....which to you I guess it is.

Nice dam fish indeed.

Probably couldn't find someone to wrap it on their dime I take it???? lol. Just kidding Token Dem. I have never used anything over a Cara level. So, unlike Old Plug, I can't comment on something I've never used and can't draw any direct comparisons. I can't justify paying $500-600 for a rod but I won't bash anyone that can afford it. Whatever you want to spend your money on is your prerogative, it's YOUR money. I don't look down on anyone that uses Ugly Sticks from a 14' john boat with a 1945 model, lime green 25 horse 'Rude hanging off the back. Just like I don't poo poo a guy using Steez and Loomis combos, running a fully loaded 2018 21' Ranger with a 250 on it, dual power poles and sporting four 12" graphs. Too each their own.

Always like getting the accidental bonus 13-16" bass on the panfish gear while fishing for crappie or blue gill. 5 foot ultralight with 4lb test....always fun.

I buy all my Tatulas on Ebay. They have some sellers there that other online retailers like BPS, Tackle Warehouse, etc. can't even touch. Can get the CT's for $100 and the SV for $140. Same holds true if you likes Lew's or Shimano's reels too.

Also, if you remember back a few years ago on TR, BASS Elite Mark Menendez did the same thing. Can't recall if there was a fog, low light conditions or what but he beached THE CRAP out of his rig right there in front of Chateau/Moonshine Beach. He was a good 20+ feet up on that gravel bar. Again a case of using electronics for navigation instead of your eyes/brain.

Driving too fast and recklessly for starters. Probably paying more attention to his GPS unit for navigation than looking where he is actually going with his own two eyes.

It's been almost a week since my last cast on TR but when I was there I caught A LOT more fish in the clear water than I did the dirty stuff. Not sure the reason but bites were hard to come by in Long Creek that had maybe 2 feet of visibility. Whereas around the dam you'd catch 3-4 fish per stop on windblown secondary points. Clarity there was closer to 8 feet if I had to guess. Couple of weeks and that Top Dollar should be going for you. Good luck.

The Michael Porter Jr. thing, so Mizzou, isn't it? Finally get a top recruit and plays 2 minutes first game and that's it for the entire regular season. Comes back to look awful for one game in the SEC tournament and then look even worse against FSU in the one and done dance. Off to the NBA and thanks for nuthin'. It's the life of a Mizzou fan. We are a comedy of tragedies. Probably why we have a Shakespeare's Pizza in Columbia as it's very fitting to the culture of cruelty that is University of Missouri. That said it flat out sucks that the Mizzoutagues don't still do battle against the Kanspulets. One of the best rivalries in all of sports IMO. Even if Mizzou is the one always drinking the poison, I still enjoy the theater on the court/gridiron. Cuonzo did a good job. We went from a complete joke to playing competitive games and making it to the field of 64. Can't argue or complain about that. I don't think he is a very good X's and O's coach (never did figure out how to inbound the ball, break a press, close a team out the last 2 minutes of a game, put a shock collar on Tilmon every time he committed a foul or shoot Geist with a tranquilizer dart anytime he would dribble to a sideline/corner and pick up his dribble). But the man can recruit, so give me the talent over the technical, in the end. I don't have to ban you from MY cove. God hates a KU fan. Come in there and see what happens. Good luck today. Gonna need it versus Nova. Should be a great game.

Keitech is just as good as the grub. But they are just more $$$ to lose which is why grubs are a better option for kids (or even adults). Surprised he didn't catch more on the Keitech when they are eating swimming baits (jerker, a-rig, spinnerbait). That stinks. Maybe your grandson can visit again in month or two when the topwater is really going. Easy and exciting fishing.

Not sure the age of your grandson but if he is still a little booger I'd give a 4" grub on a 1/4oz jighead a shot. Not sure what area of the lake you are fishing but if its in the more clear to dingy green stuff with relatively high visibility it's a good play. For the Big Bass Tournament just last week they were eating both the A-Rig and Jerkbait around the dam to KC. If they are eating those they should also eat a swimming c-tail grub. Any of the shad colors will work (White, Smoke, Salt n Pepper, Silver Glitter, etc) and any brand is good (GYCB, Kalin's, BPS all are fine). Figure out how they want it (scrubbed on the bottom, just off the bottom or count down to the depth they're at and reel SLOW). Hard to beat for numbers and really easy for young angers to catch'em. Don't need to set the hook either (benefit for little people too), just reel into them and they are 90% of the time hooked. Gonna lose quite a few heads in the trees but that's part of the game. I would also recommend throwing it on spinning gear. Good luck and thanks for taking a kid fishing. My grandfather is the one who got me hooked on fishing at a young age and 30 years later I enjoy it just as much now as I did then.

That's a bummer. On the bright side if the water is high enough they can probably now retrieve Ike's boat he beached up in that tree a couple years ago.

Hahaha. Touche. And God didn't give them to us.....we had to make them by blocking the rivers in his original blueprint. Destructive creatures are we humans. Pathetic that Loyola has double the amount of Final Four appearances as Mizzou.............Loyola now has TWO. We stink.

While talking gear, I'll piggyback and mention a reel. I've been a Daiwa Tatula guy since they came out about 5 years ago. Started trying to switch all my reels to them since. Over 50% of my dozen or so combos now sport various models in the Tatutla line. I recently purchased the Tatula SV and it is the best model in the Tatula series as well as the best reel I've ever owned. I own the original Tatula's and Type R's but the SV is even better. Honest to God it's nearly IMPOSSIBLE to backlash. So anyone in the market for a reel in the $150ish dollar range I would highly recommend this reel. If purchasing a reel for a youngster getting into fishing this would be a great reel to keep them from picking out their reel during the baitcaster learning process.

Not one thing in Kansas that makes it worthwhile to settle. Which is why we tried to burn it to the ground and call it a day in the first place. If it weren't for the fact that Super Dave produces the best Ned Heads there, we'd have already taken a torch to that State again.

I have their 7'9" MH A-Rig/Swimbait model. For $100 it's a nice rod with nice components. I throw big swimbaits, A-Rigs and 130 size ploppers on it and really like it. Being serious here, if you are older and the aches and pains keep you from throwing some baits this rod would be a nice tool for you. The big long handle on it takes the pressure off the wrists and hands and allows you to use larger muscle groups to throw the lure. Makes for a relatively stress-free lob cast. Rod is also pretty light considering it's almost an 8 footer.

I also spoke to the winner, Chad, at the dock on the first hour weigh in on Sunday. Said the same thing as everyone else. RC in the Cape Fair area. Super nice guy and I believed him. I also stuck around after the tournament and heard him speak momentarily on stage. Said that him and his partner where just covering different zones with him covering the shallower part with the crawler and the partner out deeper. Said he threw the Crawler up into 4 FOW and cranked it down and the 7.55 ate it. Also said that the fish only had the back hook in her and when they had her in the net the treble was just about bent straight out and he felt lucky to have gotten her to the boat.

Lots of guys do just as you describe there. Fish the James or Kings in the morning then trailer over to Long Creek to weigh what they have an then finish the day fishing Long Creek or around the dam. Spoke to a guy on the water in Long around noon who had two 5's in the box coming from Viola that had just put in to fish the afternoon near the weigh in and then cash in his fish.

Wow. That's a bum deal. Sounds like a real issue that Lew's needs to address with their guide vendor. I'd go back up there again and possibly see if I couldn't return that 3rd one and maybe pay up the difference to a better model of theirs.

I'll chime in as I am a $100-150 rod guy myself. I own 3 of the mentioned brands in Duckett, Lew's and Falcon. As was mentioned previously it's going to be really hard to have a spinnerbait rod that also acts as an A-Rig rod. I have a BuCoo SR "Super Duty" model which is a 7'5" XH that is great for A-Rigs, Ploppers and anything else in the 1-3oz range. You COULD get away with throwing a spinnerbait on it but it would be pretty stiff for that application. Do-able but not ideal. Keep in mind Falcons rating are always a bit light compared to other brands. Their XH is more of a H, MH more of a M, etc.

Sorry to hear about that Arch. If I were you I'd take a Q-Tip and run it through all the line guides on the rod to see if it snags anything. If so you know there is a burr or something there that is shredding your line. Then I would do that same on the line guide on reel to see if maybe that isn't the culprit. Would seem odd that all 3 rods are doing it unless it's an entire production batch of bad rods.

Thanks Mike. Hope you guys caught them. I know we did pretty well on an A-Rig (brother) and Jerker (me) on the windblown pockets across from the Belle.

Not sure. The BBT staff would have to answer that as they see everything coming in. In the two hours I weighed in I did see a couple SM and K's weighed in but not many. Guy at the tanks next to me had a beautifully marked K. Would have been lucky to break 3lbs but was a typical football. Really hard to cash on a bronze fish or butterball spot.

Funny. Didn't receive a text to gain granted access to said no name cove. Hmmmm.