Don House

I was fishing the 86 Hwy Bridge in the Long Creek Area or Dam Area and had a 19.5 Bow on a drop shot worm? Seen it a few other times, I think they are coming up from Roaring River area... Happens Enjoy Capt. Don

NT, don't make this such a big thing! I too came from fishing the northern Missouri lakes where deep was 20 feet, now I spend all of my time catching fish in 20 to 40 feet of water suspended over a 100 feet of water. You have to get rid of this deep water thing that is what I explain to all of my clients, fishing deep is as easy as fishing in 3 feet of water, you just have to get your mind right and just go fishing. Drop shot fishing is a suspended type of fishing most of the time and even more during the summer time on the rock. The rig is easy to put together here are the parts.. 1) Line used. I use no more than good old mono in a 6 - 8 pound test or if I'm really wanting to feel things I use a Fluorocarbon line but not a must. Most leaders for drop shot fishing are about 2 - 3 feet long 2) Drop Shot Hook, Size Number 2. Now take your leader and your hook, the knot used for these is a paulamar knot (Sorry if it is spelled wrong) tie your hook right in the middle of your leader. You should have 2 tag ends of your leader now and your drop shot hook is in the middle. Pull the two end apart and hold tight, look and see which way the hook is pointing, which ever end allows the hook to point up, the other end needs to be the weight end. 3) Weight. Sizes 1/4 to 3/8 ounce bell drop shot weight with a swivel on the end. Go down tag end about 8 - 12 inches and tie on your weight. 4) Barrel Swivel. On the open end of the leader tie on a good barrel swivel, then attach main line to swivel. This barrel swivel stop the rig from spinning under water. Now you have the basic drop shot rig. We fish this rig vertical or straight down and best to start out with night crawlers, get out there on some main lake points or bridge pillars, open your bail and drop this rig down, count out to 20 then stop the rig and close your bail. Hold it still with your rod tip down, if no bite then bring back up and start all over but this time count to 30, fish for a little bit and then bring up your rig two turns of your reel, repeat steps up or down until you get a bite. Now we could be here all day discussing rods, reels, Electronics, types of bites, types of bait live or plastic so on and so on. Now is where you need to get a guide and go out for a day, what you can learn to 4 - 8 hours well worth the money and is something you can use for years to come. Welcome down to the rock it is a great place to call home! Good Fishing Capt. Don

Nice post Mr. B! DAM / INDIAN POINT / LONG CREEK Only thing I have to add you need to start looking deep, alot of my fish over the last few days were suspended over 100 plus feet of water in the Dam / Indian Point Area, look for that magical 26 foot range and you will find the fish, deeper fish over 30 feet were alittle harder to get the bite, but when you did they were alot bigger fish. Did get into some top water action today but little bass, but our bigger fish came on the grub until the sun came up, then it was over and on to drop shot fishing crawlers. So Bill is right get out there early, I start at 5:30am every morning and I need to be out there at 5:00am! Once again Nice Report Bill! Good Fishing Everyone Capt. Don

Went out this morning out of State Park Ramp, started close to the ramp and really got into some fish, all on points in about 25 feet of water on the grub. White Salt and Pepper seemed to be the ticket slowed rolled from shallow to deep, SM and Spots total 15 fish with 4 keepers in the first hour! Had alot of fish busting but found they were all small fish, went back out deeper on points and had a few good keepers on drop shot, then went over to the 86 Hwy Bridge and found some more in 35 feet of water, even had one really good Rainbow in the 2 pound range on a night crawler, total for the day 25 shorts, 8 keepers and one Rainbow! All in All fun day on the water and did not get wet. Good Fishing Everyone Capt. Don

Big Bird, Bill is one of the best guides here on both lakes. A Very nice and easy to fish with gentleman, I would highly recommend him to anyone.. Go Have fun! Good Fishing Capt. Don

Bill, we did just about the same, alot of fish, too many to keep count of, we were coming up towards your end but we seen about 25 boats go that way so we went back towards the DAM, we had fish from 6:00am to 2:00pm, even in the really bad wind, points, docks, bridges, brush piles, roll off's did not seem to matter fish were there all on drop shot plastic and live.. Good Fishing Everyone Capt. Don

Once again I guess I should just keep my mouth shut, This is a LOVE / HATE Relationship with this site from now on I'll just stick to giving out free information, that should make everyone happy...

Whack'em, forget about ping speed with a Humminbird, that is a setting for those other guys... Sensitivity settings are the same on a Humminbird Unit.. Chart Speed is up to you faster the more information, slow the better you can see everything.. I prefer faster which is like real time!! Chart Speed really comes into play with my Side Imaging and that is a whole another thing!! Good Fishing Capt. Don

I just went ahead and raised my Half Day rates to $265.00 seems like I'm doing alot more of these, with gas at 3.80 and 4.00 in two weeks so I was told, it is time to raise to help just alittle bit.. I would like to see a bunch of us guides get together and discuss rates as a whole, that would be nice.. Later Capt. Don

Humminbird, I don't know nothing about no Stinking Humminbirds... Ok here we go, First only really two things I need to do on these, 1) Set your Sensitivity up, the factory setting is 80% play with this.. When I drop shot, I set mine to 90% in open water, lower when I on a bridge pillar or dock.. Play with it to find the best setting and it will change.. 2) Set your lower limits. This setting is two settings below as the sensitivity setting, If I'm marking fish on the bottom at 32 feet then I set it for 32 feet. If the fish are suspended in say 35 feet and the boat is in 100 feet, I will set this to 40 feet and not worry about what is below that. The closer you set the the lower limits to where the fish are the better you will see your rig going down.. You should see three lines going down the graph, 1) Swivel at the top, 2) Hook and Worm in the Middle, 3) Weight on the bottom. When you find a fish line then drop this down to where the 2) Line is right at the fish line, now that bait is right in the fish view or even right in his face.. Hang on.. 3) Finding the sweet spot. If your transducer is mounted on your trolling motor then there is a sweet spot on it, this is where when you drop your rig down in the right spot you should see the rig go down the screen with no problems, all graphs have this, I have found that if I take my rig on both sides of the trolling motor and release it just ahead of the trolling motor I have no problems seeing everything, this is something you will need to play with to find the best spot on your unit. Play with these 3 things and the drop shot will come to life for you, if you have any questions or something is not working drop me an email or give me a call, love to help you out.. By the way we fished Saturday and Sunday and had the same results with fish and the jerks in the big boats, some of these guys are unreal and just plan old rude, we had two passes on Sunday that were close to 20 feet with a wake boarder, so close as to wash water over the nose of my big boat.. My Clients showed him he was number one a few times.. Good Fishing Capt. Don Good Fishing

skeeter, these are made by JackAll Brother Tackle Co. Just put up a post about a local Jackall Dealership in Springfield... Try them they do work.. Good Fishing Capt. Don

Bill nice day, I guess I need to get off the main lake and head up the rivers... We caught alot of small fish, but nothing like you are talking about! Must have been a blast! I also had a day like that three week ago, fish were on, but I was supposed to start to remodel house and went fishing instead, just had a blast, but when I got home it was a long night, but worth it... Hope you have a great holiday weekend at the lodge. Good Fishing Don

Fishin Freak, I throwing the ten shad and Aurora Black colors. The Mikey Jr works just like a red fin, runs on top, double jointed and does not need any adjustments and run through the water with ease. These baits are much better than the red fin baits all in all, I used to buy three red fins and two would not work out of the box, so I started looking for a new version. They are computer designed and constructed for max performance and hooks that are unreal out of the box, but the price also tells the story, about the same as Lucky Craft.. And yes I throw the Bonnie 95 and the Mud Sucker alot they will start to work well when these fish get in schools really good.. The Bonnie 95 is the only spook type bait that I can put on a clients line and they can walk the dog like a pro... Goes back to the way these baits are designed and built, well worth the money... Good Fishing Capt. Don

Well guy's went back out today and well it was slow for me, fished from point 6 to just about Baxter area and back.. What fish we did catch were on topwater early (red fin) and then the grub (Watermelon with red flakes) as the day went on.. We had maybe 6 fish total with a only 2 keepers.. I did find a large amount of fish suspended at 25 feet hanging out in the deeper water but could not get that bite??? Once again the basic drop shot fish they would swim up and look it over then swim away, tried about 20 worms colors and still no luck.. These fish will turn on here soon again, but in really deep water.. Best I can say is fish the points out much deeper, today I had the boat out in the 50 foot range and was throwing shallow and dragging it back to the boat. Topwater bite today from 5:30am - 6:30am on the sides of the main lake points. Well until next time out stop by and say hello even if I do have clients love to meet everyone who is on this site! Good Fishing Everyone Capt. Don

Fishing has slowed this last week, but fish are still being caught on Grubs, Tubes, C-Rigs and even trolling crankbaits seem to be producing fish. But a far cry from the fishing fun of the last few weeks on the Rock. I'm like Mr. Babler I just waiting for the deep water bite to get going, and it is getting close. Had a trip out of Big Cedar yesterday, fished from Hwy86 bridge to DAM and back. Fish were on the main lake points but in much deeper water around the 35-45 feet range, some suspended and some on the bottom. Bottom fish were the ones eating the tube and grub slow rolled along the bottom, there was no bite, fish just loaded up on the bait, tube seems to be my best bait for bigger fish dragged alone the bottom in deep water, grub is still catching fish but is about to come to an end. Fish are eating good since all of these baits were deep in there mouth, and with alittle kind care released back in the water without the hook still in there mouth. 5 keeper size and a few shorts and really good smallmouth in the 4 pound range. Suspended fish will eat a drop shot worm if you find the right group of fish. Even had a few fish on night crawlers on a Drop Shot rig this week but out in very deep water. So things are starting to change, I hear there is a very good bite on these same baits in the evening time frame with the full moon, so you might want to give that a try. Shallow water fishing, well I have not found it myself, this boat of mine is way to big to get back in the flooded bushes, but I understand the floating worm and floating senko is producing well up shallows with fish still on the beds along with shakey jigs. Also still a good topwater bite out deep early in the mornings on cloudy days, or when fog has moved in on clear morning, no to little wind seems to be the best. I'm still using a My Jackall baits and having good successes on both the spook type and the redfin type baits, slow is still the key! It really is alot of fun, you can see the fish coming after the bait, just keep moving the bait and don't jerk allow the fish to suck in the bait, been catching about 90% of my topwater fish this way the other 10% are blowups. Have a another trip out in the morning from Point 6 to up the James or White, not sure which way I will go, but need to try some fresh water, will give a report on our finds this week. Good Fishing Everyone Capt. Don

Went back out this morning in the pouring rain?? Why I don't know, just to see if my fish were still there I guess.. And Yep they were, 7 fish from 6:30 to 9:30am all keepers SM and Spots on a grub and a tube. Be back out rest of this week and next week everyday will let you guys know how it was. Going out of State Park in the AM myself, stop by and say hello if you see the big blue boat.. Good Fishing Everyone Capt. Don

We were using a Mikey Jr a red fin type bait from Jackall, no spooks because they were crushing the Mikey Jr. It's just red fin time!! Good Fishing Capt. Don

Daddy, fish it every year, opening day is like open day of deer season people everywhere.. James River Cape Fair area from Virgin Bluff to as far as you can go for snagging. This year early season was from Bridgeport to Past Flat Creek then the rains and everyone was going up about 5 miles past Flat creek to the flats (Sorry I can't remember there name) and really snagging nice spoonbills way into April. Best launch site I would say is cape fair ramp and camp grounds. Easy access and not too far away from the snagging area up river. Good Fishing Capt. Don

Guys, yes I think it is Bass fry also, I seen some today myself, we had this same discussion in my boat today as to what they were. My guess it would be some of the early spawner's and there fry are hatching. Not sure but a guess, maybe Mr. B can give his two cents on this one.. Next the point bite is still on as of today, it was not easy but once we put the puzzle together it paid off, with some good keeper fish all day long. We used our electronics to find the fish on the points, most in the morning 15 - 25 feet afternoon around 25 to 35 feet on the bottom or suspended in 15 - 20 feet. Baits of choice 5" Green Pepper Zoom Grub on a 3/8 ounce dart head, slow rolled back to the boat and don't let anyone tell you that you can't fish the grub with no wind, you can!! We did very well even with that light north wind in the afternoon. Next on the points and side of points topwater action with red fin type baits. With the great cloud cover today and calm winds early there were a number of fish coming up and busting shad on these same points. We were throwing right past the swirling fish and cranking back to the boat. All of this from State Park to K/C and back including Indian Point area. So now please save some points for us working guys and get out of the bushes you will like it! Good Fishing Everyone Capt. Don

Tracy, anytime buddy... Just glad you could get a few off of there, Anyway there has been a few times on Taney that you were nice enough to help me with what was going on, glad to help.. They where loaded on that point this morning we had 15 fish in 1 hours just on that point, all on grubs, then came back and caught 5 more in the Afternoon. Love that grub!! Alot of SM and Spots, all full of eggs and ready to move in.. Good Fishing See You on the Water... Capt. Don

Bill, man I understand I had one last year just like that, I tried everything and it was drop shot season, this guys wife was just catching fish and having a blast, but he was not and it made him a very unhappy person and all my fault! He made sure I knew it also. Lucky it was only a 4 hour trip, twice I almost took him back to the dock and said have a good day and forget the pay... Wife was great he was a grumpy old man, I took them back to the dock he bitched about everything and walked off, she left with him and then came running back down to the dock and tipped me and thanked me for the best day she has ever had and told me she was taking him home and apologized for him being such a jerk to me.. Strange day indeed!! But your right it is that time of year where you better know how to fish on the Rock, and I try every trip to talk the non-fishermen to go over and play with the silver fish.. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not.. I've been lucky this year so far, but try to put people on fish in 4 hours and then spend three hours getting baits out of the top of the trees.. Nature of the Beast!! Good Fishing Everyone.. Capt. D

Man that is good, tell me what ramp you will be at I would love to drink a cold one and watch that.. I have stories just like some of those we could go on for days... But your are right it will be a wild day Saturday and Sunday, I just can't wait to see all of the out of towner's trying to get to there boat docks!! That should be a hoot also!! Well lets us know what you see it would be a great form post!! Good Fishing Capt. Don House

Snake, yes I got it out had to pay a visit to the hospital and have it dug out of my hand.. Doctor gave a gift for leaving it in all day, two BIG horse pills a day for 10 days.. And yes it hurts... Just one of those things.. Glad to see you are using your graph now and it works.. Hope your day was as good as ours.. Talk to you later Capt. Don

Blue top white body... Or Silver flake with a white body.. Good Fishing Capt. Don

Went out today for a full day trip with another great group. Fished from DAM to Joe Bald area with very good success, found fish still staging in all parts of the lake. In the Morning fish were out in the deeper water from 25 - 30 feet on the bottom. By noon they had moved into the flooded brush line on the bank in 8 - 15 foot of water. Grub was the best but we started to play with new ways to get a bite and found some. We had fish on the shakey jig, 1/4 ounce with a green pumpkin worm. Casting toward the bank and crawling back to boat. Every bite on this was a swim away, so you have to watch your line. Fish will take it with no bite and swim away. Same bite was also on the grub, no bite they were just there and all that was left was line coming out of there mouth. Next was a pretty good top water bite, for about 2 hours with drizzle and no wind. Shad were busting everywhere in the 30 - 35 foot range. Casting right to the group with a red fin look alike bait and slow rolling back to the boat. Fish would just blowup on the bait. Talked with Eric Prey and he also had a good bite on the spook, I will let Eric tell you about that. We also has a few fish on a texas rigged worm in green pepper pitched up in the flooded bushes, plus a few on the split shot rig doing the same thing.. All in all fun day of catching with alot of SM and Spots our best 5 went 15 pounds with one nice 3.5 smallie and alot of other fish. Good Fishing Everyone.. Capt. Don