MOBass

There is a bunch of good water in Indian. Start at the back of pockets and work your way out or start out on the points and work in. Make note of where you start catching them and the rinse and repeat at the next spot. The wife will probably clean your clock if she is fishing a ned or dragging a doctor.

Splitshot/turd Grub Wart TX rig lizard Beyond that it would based on conditions. High skies fluke, overcast topwater, windy spinnerbait. Might throw a Ned in the mix.

I found a new rack and dual cable system that should drop in for not a horrible price. I checked on line and found them all priced close to what I found this one at. Hope to get it Friday and install on Saturday. I would rather be fishing, but will feel better when this is done.

I checked their site and found a rotary helm and cable. I shot them an email to see if they have any rack and dual cable systems. Looks like they are a good place for odds and ends stuff. Thanks for sharing it.

I'll check them out. I believe the cables are permantely mounted to the rack though from what I could cipher out on the Teleflex/SeaStar site.

Steering is starting to get tight and I tried the cheap route....take the steering cables off the motor, clean, and re lube. Motor swings free with the cables off so I know that is not the tight point. Helm is good, cables though, yeah they are getting to that point that they need to go. Any recommendations for a local shop that has just the rack and cables? I found a few complete systems with helm, but would prefer not to pay North of $400 for a kit that has a helm that I won't use.

Slow roll, steady wind, bulging?

The biggest thing to do is fish the conditions and don't get hung up on dock talk. Pay attention to water color, bank composition, wind, ect... This time of year I have a split shot, grub, wart, square bill, and spinner bait. I tend to throw the last three and my partner bats clean up with a split shot rig. This year I'll try the ned, should work about like the split shot, maybe better, maybe not. Hmmm...I haven't messed with top water this time of year. May give it a go. It's free to try so I might as well.

Got it. Going to give it a go and see if I can catch a cheap fix. Kinda want a new toy though.

Shake down day for the boat after a long winter nap. Bow fish finder connection shook loose and couldn't fix it on the water. Was off more than on so spent a couple hours flying blind. Went into Long Creek all the way to Cricket Creek Marina looking for whites. Got nothin'. Run back towards the 86 bridge and the fish finder starts working just as I get disgusted and stow the rods. Break out the wart and split shot rig. Missed a couple on the wart while watching the finder to see if it glitched again. My dad got a solid smallmouth draggin' the turd. Decided to get off the water before anything else broke, someone got hurt, or the storm hit. Going to tear the bow open and fix the connection Sunday and try to hit it again next week to make sure it's all better. Be safe out there.

As mentioned creek arms warm faster than the rest of the lake. I throw a stick-o a lot. Texas or Wacky rigged. A 7" blue fleck worm around docks is pretty solid. In the summer when the weeds start growing I have caught some fish throwing a buzz bait on the edges. There are some bluff banks that can be really good. Look for the old gold mine facade if it is still there. Decent bank for whatever reason. You can go bear hunting also. Tie on a big trout colored swim bait. I have seen some guys throwing a rigs also. There are some big bass and some trophy browns. Don't expect any numbers, but you may catch a toad with the big stuff.

Whatever part of the lake you choose take a moment to look at the conditions. Wind direction, water tempature, composition of the bank/bottom, cover, structure. Learn to evaluate the conditions to narrow things down. Don't get hung up on fishing a particular spot. Explore, try different things, fish do nothing banks, it's your boat so fish your strengths or what you like. Don't get hung up on dock talk. If the fish are eating X and you only have Y figure out how to make things work. Most any of the big creek arms with give you plenty of variety. Venture out on the main lake also. Do you have good electronics? If so take time to drive around and learn what is out there. All of the above took me almost a decade to figure out. I am a slow learner, don't be a slow learner.

On topic...pretty good stack about 2ish. Great price. Off topic...The heaviest micro crankin is pretty sick. I have visions of A rigs and swim baits.

I fished the docks in front of Branson Landing with my dad and son on Sunday and caught a bunch throwing just about anything in the tackle box. Spoon, spinning, crappie jig.... Pros-Good fishing, close to places to eat. Cons-No seating, no shade.

In the 90's a pay lake in California was touting 'Brownbows' being stocked and that is what got me thinking about a hybrid. I found one reference to hybrids being produced at a fish farm, but no pictures. Interesting looking fish whatever it is.

Any thoughts on it being a 'brownbow'? Not likely to happen in the controlled enviorment of the hatchery, but you never know.

Take the road by the hatchery down to outlet 2. You'll see a pavilion next to the parking lot. Not sure on what time everyone else is getting there. I am leaning towards 9 myself, but will probably wake up and be down there earlier.

There is a pavilion near outlet 2 with some tables. Usually a mix of tasty stuff from sweet to savory. I believe I will bring chicken wings and buffalo chicken dip with crackers. I'll try to remember an extension cord and power strip also. What time are folks showing up?

I arrived to see what looked to be one running at about 10:30AM, donned the waders, and headed in. I started a bit below outlet 2 and just worked my way down. Scud about 3' below an indicator and caught a few and missed a bunch because I was day dreaming. Pro tip, when the indicator takes off against the current it is probably a fish. I messed around with a glo ball and various scuds, no love on the glo ball, and all of the scud flavors worked equally. Weather was really nice for December and not many people.

I'm in. Chicken wings, buffalo chicken dip and crackers, maybe something sweet also. I can bring some extension cords also if anyone needs to plug stuff in.

You guys are making it tough for me to give up Table Rock and go fish trout on Sunday. I need a day with a lot of bites and Taney can do that, but man I want to catch a few more bass before the year is out. Decisions, decisions.

A lot of folks get hung up with hammering the bank. They see all the TV shows with guys pounding away at shallow cover and believe that is the only way to do it. When they roll up to Table Rock they don't adjust for the fact that the water is clear and deep, that the fish are more likely to relate to deep structure, and the latest and greatest bait they saw on the show shot in Florida isn't going to cut it. In this age of information there is really no reason to be unprepared when fishing a new body of water. A quick search on google yields a plethora of good, current information. Someone following a bit of the information given could at least get on a few fish. It amazes me that someone would not take advantage of local knowledge while on the water. That guy could have asked a few questions and made some adjustment that would have put him and his wife on at least a few fish. Strange people out there in the world. Oh well. I need to clean up tackle and get ready for a week of vacation in October. Maybe a few fish will get shallow and I can throw a crank and spinnerbait.

It is hard to understand would motivates people to do some of the things that I have seen or hear reported happening on the water. There is something about being on the lake that causes people to take leave of their senses. Why would someone who in their everyday life would take care not to put themselves in danger feel that it is acceptable to, among other things, operate a boat at night will pulling someone behind it. That would be like towing someone on a skateboard behind a car at night into a parking lot with no lights. It amazes me Darwin does not take more of a toll. Thankfully no one was hurt this time around. It is unfortunate that it won't be the last time something like this happens.

I believe I am going to etch some big numbers on my trolling motor shaft. I figure that something that makes it apparent the motor is easy to identify will give the tweakers pause. I may tinker with swapping out the t knob on the trolling motor bracket to something that requires a tool to get the motor off the bracket.

Fish from o dark thirty until jet ski and then put it on the trailer and go play in the water with the kids. It will be sporty out there this weekend, especially Sunday and Monday as they look to have the best weather. There might be a swim beach around the corner at Long Creek. There is also a little beach area next to the Big Cedar marina if you are stay there.