Predator1

You want BIG HUGE GAR NOW....We fished Upper Bull Shoals in the shallows near KDOCK MARINA in the backs of flooded coves and timber...see thousands of carp and half as many gar. Although...straw hat and Zac Seale are right...I have also caught and seen on numerous occasions gar on the James that were 6' long and probably weighed at least 60-80lbs easy. We have also caught them in the DOG DEAD HOT SUMMER DAYS on Big Stick Baits. When the waters on the James get even shallower and they will. Then find the pools of water and sit back and watch. Cast out near the gar you spot...let your lure set still patiently waiting...barely twitch it maybe once or twice and don't move. The Gar heard it land there and now he sees it....he or she will begin to circle your lure and will strike at it side ways...BY ALL MEANS DO NOT JERK YOUR LURE AT THAT MOMENT. YOU MUST LET THE GAR TAKE OFF WITH THE LURE in the other direction. Once he is moving away from you with the lure...set the hook by pulling your rod side ways. This enables the HOOKS to latch on where the tinder piece of flesh connects his upper and lower jaw. If you hook him here. FISH ON...And man you talk about a great fight. He will ware out quicker than a spoonbill...but you want forget that fight they put up.

Brian...of those 35 bass...only 8 of them were keepers and we caught them in the first 3hours of the morning in the bushes.

I have not fished this part in some time now. I would say it would be correct that not one solitary person on this forum has fished this area in a long time.

Shreveport. I will always miss home....just not the humidity. This walleye fishing is all news to me. I am pretty sure the only fish with teeth in Louisiana was the GAR....I am a begginner when it comes to Walleye. Hopefully I get better cause I did not due so good on walleye this weekend.

Thanks straw hat....have you ever done well around the Cedar Ridge are at this time?

I remember the days of fishing even before school started. Our first hour ART teacher in High School sent us home to take a shower cause we smelled like fish on two occasions.

Have you sold you gun yet?

I have no idea myself...CALL UP THERE and ask JIM or his wife at the Marina..I did not see anyone catching any recently. That would be over the last 2 weeks.

On fellows you can not have over a 60HP and you will have to purchase a $25.00 Permit for your boat. Next year the permits go up to $35.00.

Your welcome. I am sure he will probably hit it in the morning. That would be cool to do that 3 days in a row. I wish he would move down here...he would make an excellent Tournament Partner...he has no problem catching BASS. Headed to Stockton this weekend for all species. Good Luck and SAFE Fishing.

Going to BP tomorrow night..BASS PRO....not British Petroleum.

That is awesome. I am thinking about getting a new rig to Bowfish with. The BOW I deer hunt with would probably be a little too much overkill. Nice Fish. I want make it back down till 2 weeks. Trying Walleye and Catfish at STOCKTON this weekend. Good Luck and Safe Fishing.

Just wanted to know if the SHAD are surfacing by the millions like they were last year. Catfishing this weekend with everything but the KITCHEN SINK. Anyone know, Thank you.

Thanks Bob...me too . Just finished packing after a long hard day at work. Sometimes that last day at work just takes too long before you head out on a mini vacation...got the family camping this weekend. Have you seen lots of shad surfacing like last year. Thanks, Charles

This morning at 730am my brother n law went to springfield lake and missed 3 strikes then he caught this HUGE BASS for the Second Day in a row on the BABY BASS ZARA SPOOK. He caught a few smaller ones with no pic's..his cell phone died..sorry bout that...HOWEVER THE POINT IS....You dont need a boat to catch HUGE BASS IN Springfield Lake. He was walking the park side shore when he caught this one.....These Fish are definitely shallow.

From Delaware Town to Hooten Town is a 12 Mile Float. From Shelvon Rock to Hooten Town is a six mile float. If the river is moving real fast you can get from Delaware to Shelvon Rock or Shelvon Rock to Hooten in just lesss than 2hours if you are continuously paddling. IF you slow paddle it will take 3-3 1/2 hours. We put in at SHELVON ROCK Saturday with a group of FAMILY and took alot of breaks and fished. It took us 10:00am till 4pm...... Hope that helps.

My son said those leeches work real well in CANADA. Be careful crosssing the boarder. And we wish you a safe trip back.

Water felt great. We headed up river from the boat ramp. Fished blk/blue jig and blk/blue chigger-craw...caught a 6inch LM....he was with his 5 brothers and sisters Lots of small bass up where the James gets narrow. Fished back down river... had lots of little bass following and bump. Waited for the sun to get down lower and went straight to the lake..Caught SEVERAL BASS IN THE GRASS BEDS. They had been FEEDING ON CRAW-FISH AND SMALL BAIT FISH and ANYTHING ELSE THAT RESEMBLES THAT. We caught 5 bass in the 2-3lb range on THE LARGE SIZE Baby Bass Spooks and The Blk/Blu Jig w/Blk/Blu Chigger-craw. We had no luck on Senkos, Torpedoes, Chartreuse Spinner Baits or Chartreuse Crank baits...we tried..believe me...my arms a little sore. If I was to fish Springfield Lake Tomorrow...I would hit those Grass Beds like nobody's business. Anywhere in the Grass Beds where they come together at a point... were pay off spots. We caught them in the same places as last year at this time. Make them Spooks walk the dog and slow crawl your jig.. use 1/8 to 1/4 oz jig heads so they fall slower....the 1/2 oz did not work out for us. The water was pretty much calm...except for where all the bass kept hitting bait on top water. We could see lots of them..it is about 2ft deep in the grass with some spots at 3-5' deep holes. Did not get to make it to the rocky area closer to the park so I cant report on that. Hope this helps. Good Luck and Safe Fishing

Sorry about that. He caught it off the little dock at the end of the park. Where the new building is. The water is up around the little dock by the old boat ramp. See the new post for our trip this afternoon after work.

Nice fishing. I am sure that was an awesome day. I got lots of fishing stories, videos and pictures of fish from 1lb to 90lbs SINCE I stared fishing the OZARKS a few years ago. I am an old Louisiana Boy that only knew Southern Fishing...These MIDWEST FISH look just like them SOUTHERN FISH....Except the only fish in the South that have teeth are GAR. . We are staying at Cedar Ridge this weekend AT CAMP SITE A-36. Got family in from Colorado and California. We will be running jug lines, limb lines, trot lines and fishing for BASS, CRAPPIE AND BLUE GILL and YES FOR WALLEY. I caught MY FIRST WALLEYE on Upper Bull Shoals this past weekend Trolling Carolina Rig with Night Crawlers IN 60 FEET OF WATER. Dont want to troll that deep no more...took 45 minutes to revive that fish and caught 35 BaSS.. So I am looking forward to hopefully catching some keeper Walleye this weekend on Stockton to enjoy the TASTE. I have a BLUE COLORADO TRUCK and an ugly green 15'FLAT BOTTOM boat with BLUE 15HP ENVINRUDE. Most of the time it fills the freezer. See ya at the lake. Good luck and Safe Fishing. Charles

Question......has any of you ever tried to make your own planer boards?

Good morning everyone. My brother-n-law went this morning and caught a 20" LM on a Baby Bass Spook at 6:30am off one of the docks. Check out the Springfield Forum tonight. We will hit it hard as soon as I get off work today. Don't worry, we release all BASS.....Just so some day there will be a tournament on Springfield Lake.....I would not doubt it if the next state record came from here.....This fish he said was somewhat skinny...probably weighed in at 5-6lbs.....bet it weighed almost 8 when it had eggs. Good Luck and Safe Fishing.

Thanks Nitro96. I am headed to Springfield Lake this afternoon after work. My brother n law went this morning and caught a 20" LM on a Baby Bass Spook at 6:30am. Check out the Springfield Forum tonight.

I have not heard or seen anything on this thread so I guess we all have been fishing elsewhere. I guess I will have to check it out this week. Is it OK to take fish from the Rivers now?

Nice day. How do you keep leaches and does Tranthams Bait in Springfield Sell them for less?