J-Doc

I do not know the water temp other than....it's cold. I would assume mid-to-upper 40's if not lower 40's after today. I did snap these two photos and checked the water clarity. Roughly 6-8" visibility at the ramp. Not a boat trailer in the lot so no one was crazy enough to venture out. Not even a wet trail from the ramp where someone had left earlier. I dropped a white Road Runner with a fluorescent orange/red head to see what the visibility was. It was quickly engulfed into the muddy chocolate colored water. Made a few casts at the ramp and headed back to town. For those wondering, no. You're not missing anything today.

Capt Ozzie and my 14yr old son'so 60-70lb class tarpon. He caught it all by himself and it was a BATTLE!! They are a MUST on an anglers bucket list. Majestic fish with power that is unreal. And the way they jump completely out of the water is AWESOME!!

This is an easy one. For Tarpon, Captain Ozzie Lessenger. I've used him twice and between me and my son, we have 4 tarpon between 60-90lbs and my son lost a big one over 120 because he didn't reel fast enough. He can also put you on redfish or snook. For other species or the same, Captain Ozzie Fisher is also a great guide and has been seen on Bass2Billfish tv show numerous times. He is a great guide. Both operate out of the Sanibel Captiva Islands I believe. And you should visit the islands if you have not been there. Lunch at the Bubble Room is a real treat and so is the Mucky Duck as it sitstands right on the beach. You can even throw a cast net right off the beach for pitch pilchards and catch trophy sized snook off the beaches that have less people. Man.....now I wish I was there. Lol!

Wind chills between 3 and 13 tomorrow. I don't even want to get out of the house!! But I have to work so I'll catch up on work where it's warm inside.

Yeah I looked at tomorrow's high of 29 degrees. Nope, I'll stay home. I can tough the cold. I just prefer not too. Especially if it's not even sunny. Smallmouth might get up on a flat in sunny weather with a little wind. That could be fun but.....cloudy and cold, no thanks. I can tough it out, I just don't think it would be productive enough to justify the effort.

Just watched Zonas Awesome Fishing Show where they were hammering smallmouth. You guys are killing me. I'll probably be at the dam tomorrow chasing smallmouth now. I can't take it. I tried to let the boat rest this weekend but it's YOUR fault. Lol!

Jeb was that you replacing bunk boards at PC last week? If so, I apologize for not introducing myself and saying hi. I didn't think about it until I was shoving off and I recognized the boat. Thought that might have been you. I was in the red Ranger aluminum rig. If not you..... Nevermind. Lol

You're not helping! I was planning on working this weekend and getting caught up. I know better than to go chase bass after a cold front. But now I have images of flipping baits pockets and points. Evil you are...

I won't be on the lake this weekend. Probably not next weekend either. No point in going really. The striper bite is very sporadic and hard to pin point in a day's time. And the next day it's completely different. I could go play with bass near the dam I guess. But I'd much rather catch a 40lb beast.

That's an awesome story. Cool that a pro would take the time and freely give away such information.

Gotcha beat....... Mine is in the negatives. I aim for 0-2. I try to keep things in perspective. Honestly, I don't think I would have a "lavish" item. Years ago, I would have MANY but today, I think I would set my family up with a good cushion, move somewhere remote and do what I could to help my church and it's missionaries. I don't need $200million.

Oh.......I saw some of those "good reading" threads. ;-) Did not mean to stir up an old pot. I think it's comical that people get so worked up about a fish. I don't care for catfish for multiple reasons but fishing is fishing. I'll catch anything on the end of a line. I typically release bass (because they taste like crap to me) and to make the bass guys happy. Crappie.... I'll fight you for it. Striper is going home. Walleye......eh? Depends on how big. I don't care for walleye more now that I've had crappie and striper prepared in a particular fashion. Put some hollandaise sauce over skillet blackened crappie and I look like a dog eating his first meal in days!! No joke. So I was jokingly poking at the reason he was frowned upon for using a jet motor in shallow water. It's because people are protective of their preferred species. Balance and management is a necessity. That may require some harvesting to keep a balance and healthier population. Game management. Now..... Lets get back to the boat and how durable it is. What gauge is it? .100 aluminum? Or .125?

Because it effects trout. Trout are not expected in the waters shown in the video. Once you impact the sacred unicorns, people get mad and call you a destructive jet boater. ;-) I have nothing against trout. I don't target them but I have caught some before. People think bass anglers are protective of bass.....but i say trout anglers are far more protective of trout than bass anglers protect bass.

Thats what i was thinking. A swamp motor

what type of outboard is that?

Yeah I've seen that one. I have applied this but, if I don't get bites in 30mins, I pick up a plastic and get a hit. Then the wart stays on the deck. It's just a matter of leaving things that work at the house and dedicating a day to one or two presentations and saying you're not leaving till uou catch one on it and figure it out.

I admire folks that can master crankbaits (assuming thats what it was). I have plenty of cranks. I am just not that confident in them nor successful with them. THere are guys that can catch them all day long on those. I just don't have the physical endurance to chunk and wind cranks all day (deep divers especially). I'm a worm or jig guy myself. :-) Efficient "winders" can really catch a good batch.

Yep. Seems there is a group that stays dialed in and knows the lake better than anyone. I recognize names on various tournaments and folks are fairly consistent. So a weekend angler with little tournament experience like myself.. I'm just donating to the winnings. You have to start somewhere yes. But to do it all the time and never place? No thanks. I spend enough money on my fishing hobbit as it is. ;-) That and my ADHD just can't stay focused long enough to stay on a pattern. Lol! I probably overstated my opinion on this already. I'll leave now. Lol!

I agree and that's kind of my plan also. With more heavy rain in the forcast, I'm not going back out for a couple weeks. It's not worth adding the hours on my motor right now. I'm already up to 150 and it's just over a year old. ;-)

^^ I could see that. His Dad is also a jerkbait master. That's really some stiff competition. He's on his way to a pro tour I bet. Heard he's been on fire lately.

Didn't find any I guess?

PC changed almost overnight this weekend. It got muddier somehow. Current draw most likely because there was no sudden surge of inflow. I hear ya on the lower end. It is one of the reasons I do think fish tournaments on Beaver. Someone always dials them in and just blasts away with a good bag. I cannot compete with that. I'll admit it. Some guys just have a knowledge of the lake I'll never know I guess. I typically stay closer to PC and Rocky Branch areas. I know I can catch bass there.

Didn't think about it at the time (being first for 2016). But this 14" chunker was good to me. Spin head with modified swimbait. Slow rolled on flooded grass.

Yesterday was pretty decent considering the given conditions. Today.......completely different. I went again because I had found both bait and some good striper marks yesterday afternoon. Today......the cove full of bait that blacked out my graph had dispersed and the stripers were nowhere to be found. Moved to different location, dropped bait, saw good marks, watched my bait get a bit nervou and nothing. Wind died down and it was a ghost town. I was the last person to leave Prairie Creek and the water was flat calm. Not even a ripple on the water. Something caused the water to become dirtier than yesterday and the fish had moved out in masses. Even though I was not bass fishing, I did not see much activity on the HDS10 on the banks or offshore. So......unless you have cabin fever, I'd say try another day when things stabilize a bit more. I don't think I'm going back again for at least a few weeks with more rain in the forcast.

For me, it would be like leading a horse to water.