abkeenan

Welcome to the forum and thank you for sharing. I will be fishing the same water come Sat and Sunday. Will be two idiots (Brother and I) in an older navy, silver and red Nitro with a 150 merc on the back. Anyone out and see me come over and I'll give you some baits that aren't working.

QB, Missile Baits is fast becoming one of my favorite companies out there. Their prices are in the middle of the road per pack with the other brands but their plastic is so soft it is unreal. Really imparts a lively action on the baits. Hate to give up one of my new go to baits but the D-Bomb is "the bomb" for me. I frickin' lovem' and so do the fish. They are fantastic on a wobblehead.

I will be down for a short trip fishing just Saturday and some on Sunday. I wanted to get in on the buzzbait/topwater bite I was hearing about the last 2 weeks or so but seems that might have already dried up and the window has closed. Looks like the old jig + trailer standby will get the call to arms this weekend. Well, that and the spoon.

It is strange as when you think of Missouri rivers and streams you think smallmouth. So one would assume that up the river arms on Table Rock you would find the smallies but that is not the case. We have them all down here by the dam where it is somewhat rare to hook into a largemouth for the most part. They are here but I would say 75% or more of my fish are combination of smallies and spots. Maybe there is more current near the dam when they pull water hence the smallies like more current and prefer to stick around the general dam vicinity????? I really have no idea. Would like to know the reasons why the demographics of fish shift to one area of the lake. I know that during the Oakley Big Bass Tournament that the OVERWHELMING majority of fish weighed in for checks come from down in Long Creek and up the James River arm. Guys are looking for the bigger largies so they run up the river arms. Would like to hear why this is from a biologist or someone in the field that could explain this phenomenon.

I think Dave gets pretty busy with coaching football, basketball and playing Dr. Frankenstein in the basement with his tackle making. Last time I was talking to him he was trying to get a way to harness electric during thunderstorms out in Kansas. Either that or he is still crying about Duke losing last March Madness. That doesn't leave him much time to field 500 questions a week regarding the Ned Rig.

Very nice rods and very nice prices. If I didn't have more than I already should I'd be all over these. Good luck with your sale.

Can't go wrong with either. Although the G series of Curado was a flop by Shimano standards which is why after only 1 year Shimano completely scrapped the G series and now have the new I models out.

If you are looking for older and discontinued baits the 2 best sources I have found is Ebay and BassBoatCentral. BBC is probably the biggest fishing site on the internet and between the 100,000+ there you can find about everything. If you make a post asking you might be able to find someone who has some they are willing to part with. You'd be amazed at what you can find there just by asking around.

Capt Joe, Don't know how many listings you have for your boat online but may I suggest trying BassBoatCentral? I think they have a fee that is pretty reasonable and there are about 1,000 more eyes on that site than here at Ozark Anglers. Maybe shoot Babler or Don House a PM as I have seen there boats on BBC for sale so they could tell you more than I could. I see guys on there who will drive across quite a few states to buy a boat....you never know and I thought I would just give a shout out. Also, don't know if you have this boat on Craigslist but again there are a TON more people searching for boats there than here. Just beware of scammers, low ball offers and lots of tire kickers. Unfortunately that is just the nature of the beast when it comes to selling stuff on Craigslist. Again good luck with the sale of this boat. -Brett

Wow. That is about the nicest Ranger I have ever seen considering the year. Thing looks immaculate. Good luck with your sale! -Brett

If you decide to split I'd take all the cranks for $60 shipped. Let me know.

There is? I thought the only 2 ways to catch TR bass was using dynamite and the ned rig?

Since I made up my own I got to chose which hooks I wanted to put on them. I put Daiichi death traps on the small jigging spoons and then with the 3.5" and 5" spoons used a combination of owner ST-36's and VMC sure sets (ones with the one longer hook on the treble). Will be giving them a go when I get down there in a few weeks. All of them are good hooks.

I get my spoons from LurePartsOnline and make my own. I invested about $70 bucks and have more spoons (flutter and jigging) than Bill's clients could lose in a year or in the upholstery in the back of his seat of his the Phoenix.

Man, I would say that jerk baits for me have the highest landing percentage. I RARELY ever lose a fish on a jerker. When I get them to the boat they usually have more than just one treble all up in their face. Crank baits I still have a good percentage landed for whatever reason and don't lose many fish on them. Topwater for whatever reason seems to be a whole different deal....quite a few fish come unbuttoned on them. Maybe because the way a bass feeds on topwater is in a slashing, swiping motion and they don't fully inhale the bait? No idea but ya I lose way more topwater fish than I do anything else.

Also the 5th pic down that big headed skinny largie looks to have a sore on its tail????? Surely that can't still be from fanning a bed from months ago?????

Aren't you used to that being a life long Royals fan? LOL. Sorry, I had to do it! But ya the Royals are falling on their faces which is a shame because even though I am still bitter about '85 I am pulling for you guys and your fan base to at least get a little taste of playoff baseball. You guys deserve as least a playoff birth after almost 30 years of misery. Catching fish like that though I'm sure soothes the pain over a losing weekend by the Royals. Again well done and always appreciate photo's to go along with report.

Not bad considering Royals fan's never succeed in anything....lol. Just kidding, half of my friends are from KC and thus big Royals and Chiefs fans. Congrats on the success. Looks like you caught them in a multitude of ways which is impressive. For the first time at the "Rock" you guys really did well and that is something to hang your hat on...even if it is ugly. lol. Thanks for the report and the great pics.

That might be true sub-surface but I have seen it a million times where a bass misses a shad on the surface and miss the same shad a half a dozen or more times before they get it. Don't know if it is the light distortion near the surface of the water or what but they miss top water baits pretty dang often and it's by no fault of the fisherman. I mean what can you really do different when working a spook in the walk the dog fashion and they miss it? Get sharper hooks?

Wonder if throwing a spinner bait or shallow running square bill or something might not have improved on hookups Quill? I am not a big buzz bait guy but these reports the last couple of weeks have peaked my interest and would love to get in on it.

Agreed. No reason at all this can't be held at the Long Creek Marina.

Unless it's in mint condition or still in the unopened box it isn't that valuable. They go for about $15-30 tops on Ebay. They are somewhat rare but they don't go for high dollars like the craw patterns do. It's a neat color though.

Awesome report. Been awhile since I have been at "the right place at the right time" like that. Congrats. Hopefully a sign of things to come for the fall.

I would disagree about the Coors bit.....too watered down for me. Budweiser at least has some flavor for a "light beer" if you want to call Budweiser "light". But ya Left Hand Brewing makes some good stuff. I like going to Dirt Cheap, Friar Tucks or other places that allow you to "mix and match a 6 pack" and you can try a few different styles of beer.

If you are drinking in quantity Budweiser is the King of Beers. Easy drinking. If you are drinking for taste then ya there are much better options out there with any of the smaller micro brews that focus on flavor and not the bottom dollar like the AB's, Miller and Coors. I'm a big hefeweizen guy myself.