abkeenan

Ehhh. Looks like the Jackall Mikey with a prop.

Good deal Dave. Looking forward to Part Deux. I know where to get my Ned heads but where do I get some cargo pantshorts?

For Strike King I am talking about sharpness, tensile strength and whatever coating they use on their black nickel finish. They aren't that sticky sharp, they are too soft and bend out too easily and they rust out and break off. This is in comparison to other hooks used by other manufacturers. I get it that they are $5 baits and in order to turn a profit margin you probably can't have premium hooks on the baits. I get that. But I am also not going to lose fish by not swapping out hooks or rings where I see the need. Like I said not all baits need an upgrade but some do IMO.

Gotcha. I know the ramp. Doesn't change anything though. I am still calling someone to get that clown off the ramp.

I'll say this, I've seen were swapping out hooks FOR SURE matters. I think it's the most important on topwater baits myself. For instance, if you are fishing the silver hooks on a zara spook and not swapping them out you are doing yourself a disservice by not doing so. Fish at times swipe at a bait either because they just flat out miss or because they aren't intending to eat it. If you have substandard hooks you aren't going to get those fish. You swap out to a death trap, owner stinger or gammy's and those fish are going to make it to the boat. They might be hooked in the side or get a face full but they are coming aboard. I will gladly pay an extra 2, 3 or 4 bucks to upgrade hooks and rings to up my chance to land more fish and perhaps a fish of a lifetime. I don't do this on all baits just some. Another thing to consider when purchasing a bait that is 5 bucks to a bait that is 8-10 is the hardware that comes stock on them. A reason I like Spro baits a lot as they come with the best components and no need to swap anything out. Someone said they swap out Lucky Craft hooks which I wouldn't do as they have nice hooks and rings. Strike King, although they make nice baits and I like them, their hooks leave something to be desired.

Are you freakin' kidding me? Someone parked in ON the ramp at 86 blocking anyone from launching and loading? If that were me I'm not driving to Moonshine and someone is getting an authority called on their arse. Surprised that the park attendant's or someone else staying at the park had not seen that and called a park ranger, game warden ,tow truck, water patrol or police. SOMEONE that can rectify the situation. That is a load of crap. Person should have just kept driving before they decided to throw it in park in the middle of the ramp. Kinda off the topic but 86 used to (maybe 4+ years ago?) have two ramps one on each side of the courtesy dock and then they went and screwed it all up royally for no reason. Cut it down to one side and then dumped about 50,000 tons of chunk rock on the other side of the ramp. No clue as to why the COE did that but then again I don't understand a lot of things that they do. Oh yeah and nice report M&M!

Our place in in Beardsley. It probably gets more boating traffic than any other creek arm in the dam area or possibly the entire lake. It just sets up well for tubing, skiing, etc. If you want to fish it, it had better be early (before 7 or 8am) or late (after 9pm) or just suck it up and deal with it. Anytime in between those times and there is nowhere to run and hide for fisherman. Jake's Creek is another one that is not fishable during those peak boating times for it is another favorite of the waker's.

Very nice report. Congrats!

Yep. They are worth the $150 MSRP but at $95ish bucks they are killer. I like them just as well as my Curado E. When I was down last week, was fishing at night and forgot what combo I had in my hand at one point and couldn't tell the difference between the Tatty and Curado E if it weren't for the different handle grips. The Curado E's still go for like $150 used and almost $200 new as they are one of the best reels Shimano ever put out. Not sure if the Tatula's will have the staying power and durability as the Curado E but as of right now I don't have a preference of one over the other. The Tattys are that good IMO. I also have a Revros spinner and like others have said it's a nice reel for $50. Daiwa seems like a master at machining metal much like Shimano. Everything they are putting out is a well meshed product. No play in the gears or anti reverse and things like that. I can't even imagine their super high end stuff if their low to mid range price point products are this good. Babler did let me throw his Steez gear when we went out with him last year and that stuff is just on another level.

Great report. That first K is a real beast. Congrats.

Makes sense.

I would stick with Daiwa if I were getting another egg beater (or baitcaster for that matter). I have a Plueger Supreme MGX which I really like but I feel like Daiwa is putting out the best products these days. They have A MILLION reels at various price points so something for everyone's budget from low-mid-high end stuff. I think Babler said he is a big fan of the Procyon. I can't say enough about the Daiwa Tatula. I wouldn't have any issues of having an entire fleet of them as my only baitcaster. Can be had brand new for around $90 from Sportsman Outfitters or Ebay and for that price the things are awesome. I hate to admit it but I like them better than my Lew's.

Funny how a lake can fish different depending on where you are. My comment before is only speaking for conditions near the dam areas. Up the White, James or Kings could be totally different (and is). I'll be looking forward to that fall plopper bite as well. I had some success 2 years ago on a buzzbait which is a fun bite. Plopper should be a better "Mouse Trap" (Bablerism) as I like the ability to stop it and let it sit which you obviously can't do with a buzzer.

I believe you are right. The dingy water conditions just never allowed for a topwater bite. All the rain, flooding and washout into the lake in December really put the kibosh on the topwater stuff. Same can be said for the jerkbait as well. Visibility just didn't set up for either one of those bites. Add in the RAPID warm up in water temps the last month and voila you have a fizzled out topwater bite. Seems like the water temps went from the 60s straight to the 80s skipping over the sweet spot for typical good topwater on TR from 65-75 degrees.

Been awhile since we have had a Walter report from you RPS. Nice job on the toothy ones. I would like to give trolling for walleyes a shot down here around the dam as some neighbors have sworn there are some good ones trolling around the islands from Pt 2 to the 86 Bridge. I've never done it but when the bass turn off mid-day and the lake lice are out might be a good time to give it a shot.

No worries. We were wrapping up our trip as well. I'm sure we will run into one another soon enough.....just better not be in my cove again.

It's because I know that I have to leave the next day.......

I can't be much of help as I am not a River Rat like some of the other guys here. Just keep tabs on the forum to see what guys are catching bass on. Different sections of the lake fish differently from day to day or week to week. There is usually a James River report thrown up here in the forum once or twice a week. Good luck and hopefully someone will chime in with help in that area of the lake.

Skeeters and other flying pesky critters were not a problem. Not sure how long that will last but like I said it was very pleasant on Sat night. Just enough breeze to keep the bugs at bay and also keep you somewhat cool.

The gall right?! Although he seemed to have lost his tan from the evening before and probably his green card as well.

Brother and I were able to get away and come down for a short weekend trip. Saturday morning tried a little of everything (plopper, spook, jig, ned, 10" worm, 10XD, spoon) with very little success. Spent a good amount of time trying to spoon docks but they weren't having it. Not even one bite on the spoon thus Saturday morning/day was a bust. I have a habit of trying to force feed fish on what I WANT them to eat...not what THEY want to eat. However, Sat night the flip switched around 9pm and ran into a pretty good jig bite. Our fish were in 18-26 feet of water and on mostly ledge rock locations. Gravel points and run-outs didn't yield much and I never did see much on the graph at those locations when snooping around on the big motor during the day. Fish were all very healthy (especially the Kentucky's sponsored by Butterball). Big girl bit at 11:30 in 26 FOT and was released swimming to fight another day. She went 5 and I believe 22" maybe 23. Need to get one of those hog trough measuring boards. Was a good night on the water with a million stars and saw a few meteors as well. Very pleasant night. Thermocline looked to be setting up in spots as you could see a definitive line but it isn't solid or locked in yet I don't believe. Was wavering around 28 feet + or - in most locations from what I could tell. Surface temps around the dam were 85.3 to almost touching 87 degrees. Water patrol was out pulling plenty of people over in the early evening for being morons. Was good to see their presence. Had a guy go between myself and the bank on plane over that shallow drop-off point coming out of Jake's Branch across from 86 while pulling two little girls on a tube. It was the worst case I've ever experienced as far as passing between myself and the bank. Lower unit must have been inches from it's demise. Guy literally cut that point maybe 10 yards from the bank. I made a motion to go around me before he got to us but he returned the signal as if I was supposed around him at speed while on the troller and my line out. Glad the two girls weren't hurt.....at that point...as he made his way towards State Park. I also finally caught Alex Heitman red handed dredging my cove with a crank and had a brief visit. Good to see another forum member even if he made like Greg Hackney and was fishing an off-limits area.....MY COVE. My advice would be to get out early, get off early and get out at night. Tight lines and stay safe. Some pics of the better/dumb ones:

Agree to disagree.

You will like them. Like I said they are super soft and I especially like how collapsible they are with the ribbing which makes for a good hookup percentage.Also very easy to skin hook perfectly with the ribbing design as well. Has a bulky profile look but not a lot of plastic for the hook to fight though. Big fan of them what can I say. They also sell in 25 count packs (in select colors) which make them even cheaper and you don't need to haul a whole bunch of packages around. Lots of guys run the menace grub and other stuff when the wobble head bite is going. I run the D-Bomb pretty much exclusively.

I don't think color matters much at night. I typically use darker colors but remember you are after a pea brained fish with a one track mind. They will feed opportunistically at night on anything that swims past their face. Hard to beat a 10" worm in purple, plum or black/red at night.