abkeenan

I agree. Best fishing I've ever had on Table Rock was when the water was up in the trees in early May in 2011 maybe? Fish were just loaded in the tree line in about 5-12 feet of water. If there was a tree with green leaves in the water in that range it had fish in it. The percentage of 15-20" fish was crazy good too.

RPS, Not sure if you tried this but after typing a novel and accidentally deleting it hit the right click on the mouse and click "undo" and sometimes you can bring back what you typed. Just for future reference as I have done that before as well.

This was posted over on BBC the minute that Wired2Fish posted it on their site and here is a direct response from BCB Owner Rick Pierce (who is a sponsor member on BBC also): "Ladies and Gentlemen, I was required to establish a long term contract and this is not a normal sale. We have one Correct Craft staff member in this week to establish everything to get the business functioning. CEO Bill Yeargin will be leaving today and he will not return for a few weeks and then it is for a board tour. We operate Bass Cat and Yar-Craft every day from this point forwards with myself at the helm. We have no challenges in this decision and it make us secure for decades beyond. We have the same game plan, the same Owners Invitational, the same dealer meeting and we continue every day just as we have. We are very excited about what we have achieved in this and we look forward to being stronger, offering more and doing a better job all the way around in the future. Bass Cat holds 5 (five) JD Power and Associates awards for Customer Service and led the industry for 4 of those years setting JD Powers records, Correct Crafts largest subsidiary, Nautique, finished second to Bass Cat in those years and received 7 (seven) JD Power and Associates awards during every year of their segment. They have a similar understanding and have quality in mind. This is a great opportunity to secure Bass Cat and Yar-Craft with a heritage to grow on. Thank you, Rick Pierce"

He's gonna have to get a new trolling motor with an extra long shaft if he still wants to use that boat with the new height of his flippin' deck.

I order my burgers medium rare and same with my steaks. I live on the edge what can I say.

Glad to here you got some off the dock Alex. We have old brush piles under it and out in front of it in deeper water so they are always around. Grandfather used to feed the blue gill and whatnot pellets every day and we had a MASSIVE population of them under the dock which also used to attract the bigger fish (bass, cats). The piles are about 20+ years old now but they still hold fish. We really never fish our own cove (besides off the dock at times) because it gets pounded so hard by everyone else. We get TONS of turkey and deer up in yard especially in the AM's around daybreak. We are extremely lucky to have it.

ALL really good info Richy and others. Looks like I'll be throwing it on straight MONO or a co-poly. I recently started using P-Line CXX for night fishing because it has blue florescent in it for the black light and I am more than impressed with it. Stuff is crazy strong in the 17lb diameter I use.

This is what happens when you venture into Beardsley. I have my trebuchet in the yard and it's calibrated and dialed in pretty good as you can see. Come around my dock and start flipping my stalls and you'll consider what happened to that guy a warning shot.

Like Bill said stay out of Beardsley.

This is why I am a big fan of Missile Bait's D-Bomb. Plastic is very soft and supple and works better than anything I've used on a wobble head thus far. Durability would be the only draw back but I will gladly pay an extra couple of bucks to land extra fish I would otherwise swing on and miss.

The Rock is a real humbler at times. I think it's just about 2 weeks from busting loose based on typical years. Like Dave mentioned in another thread March can be a real bear especially in the clear areas of the lake around KC and the dam. In 2 weeks I bet you use the same game plan you had the past weekend with the same baits and you have quite a bit more success.

We set out traps for crawdads in about 15 feet deep in our dock slip every now and again and that is the only color we ever catch. They range in size anywhere from 4" to about 8" on average from claw tip to tail. I had some custom baits painted by Dwayne at Baitwerks a few years back and his "Batey Craw" is what I chose because it most closely resembles the pic you shared above. I also recently purchased some of your BPS pattern craw wiggle wart in the blue craw. I also used to catch craws by hand in the shallows when I was younger and only ever saw 2 type of species. The Long Pincerer Tim posted and a smaller brown/rusty and orange colored one that had smaller bulkier/meatier claw. Those were more rare and I hardly see them anymore. They also never really got over 3 or 4" long. Craw Patterns « Baitwerks.html

Very nice. Gotta love the McStick. Your son will now be hooked on jerkbaits.

Richy, Or anyone else for that matter that are big bait chuckers, What are your thought's on throwing them on straight braid? Or perhaps braid to a mono leader. I believe Matt at tactical bassin' does the braid to leader combo.

Kazoo, I wouldn't take off the snap lock. They run fine as is. Might have to tweak the line tie if they run funky but that would be all you need to do with them. If you are anal, like most of us are here about wiggle warts, you can upgrade the hooks. Other than that tie it on and start crankin'.

Marshall didn't know what he signed up for if he drew McClelland running that far.

Good info Richy. Much appreciated. I am not even novice level when it comes to swimbaiting. I threw a 8" ABT Lures Banshee for about an hour or two last year but that's about it. This winter I got a R2S S-Waver 168 and also a 6" SPRO BBZ slow sink and plan on using them a lot more this year.

How dare you! If I see an extra hook hole in Sally, Jim, Charlie, Rusty, Pam, Jack, Sarah, Slim, Chunk, Ruben, Christine, Rachel or Giant Gina's mouth I swear Dave. Next time I'm down I won't even go to the house and drive straight to Schooner and troll 5 rods loaded with 5 arm A-Rig loaded with Ned Rigs and just dredge that creek dry. You'll have to motor west and make a feeble attempt catch one of the 5 fish still left in Aunt's Creek.

Yep. Dave has the Ned as dialed in as you are going to find. You won't find a better head for "Nedding" nor a better price on them. You don't even have to leave your house to get them either...shipped to your door. Give him a holler.

Kazoo, Welcome to the boards! You've come to the best place possible for this kind of info. Lots of guys will chime in to give you the best possible chance of having success on the water. Sounds like you have a good start with some of the baits you mentioned. You are also in a good area in my opinion. You have access to deep clear main lake water and points and also can run down into Long Creek (river arm) with typically more color/stain if you wish. Being from MI you are probably well versed in clear water fishing. First week of April you should be able to catch them in a variety of ways as fish will be in both pre spawn and some early spawners. Jerkbait should still be in play, as well as the wiggle wart. Jigs catch fish year round and a tube is also another bait that should be hot around when you come. Not sure if you are familiar with the "Ned Rig" but I would get familiarized with it if you are wanting to catch #'s of fish. If you are bringing kids the Ned is nearly impossible to beat. Swimming a grub would also be something I would 100% have on the deck as it is tried and true on Table Rock and you can cover water somewhat quicker than bouncing slower stuff along the bottom. Transition banks should be fruitful and points headed back to creeks, coves and pockets. If you find wood on those locations even better. You are picking a good time to come as their should be some aggressive feeding fish and defenders of beds. Hope this helps and more will be along to share info even better than I could provide.

Glad you mentioned that Richy. As of right now I don't have a dedicated swimbait rod setup. Have an all around rod I have been using for big flutter spoons, bigger soft swimbaits, bladed 3 arm A-Rigs and even the 1.5 to 2oz hard swimbaits. It's a 7' MH extra Fast Daiwa T rod with a Lew's 6.4:1 speed with 20lb fluoro. I know it's not the ideal setup by any means. Have been looking around at 7'6 MH moderate action rods or possibly fiberglass that can handle 1-3 or 4oz. What would you suggest?

Such an ENABLER Quill!

True. When time is limited it's hard to be borderline musky fishing with big 8"+ swimbaits with one fish every 10,000 casts vs throwing a ned or the likes which gets bit with regularity. Makes it even more difficult when I have someone in the back of the boat with the attention span of a gnat (brother).

I know. But I have this swimbait chucking fever right now. I suppose it's due to all the videos I've watched over the course of the winter (lots of Matt @ Tactial Bassin') and now that friggin' Richy sticks a 8.5 with one it's made it even WORSE. I almost wish it were illegal to post what you caught fish on here on OAF so I don't have to get one, two or ten of whatever he or she was using. How many sweet custom molds could you buy if you sold some of your pre rap WW hoard? Two can play this game.

Been looking at those High Power Gliding Gizzards. IMO the are the most realistic looking swimbait out there currently and they are hand made and hand tuned/weighted in a test pond before being sent to the buyer. I just don't know that I can pay $100 for a bait but if I were to pull the trigger that would be the one. Wait time to get one is a few months and there is a wait list. I just became friends with High Power Lures on facebook a few weeks ago. The bait monkey as REALLY gotten to me this year. If it gets any worse and I start buying Roman Made's I will have to commit myself to a mental health treatment facility.