J-Doc

My favorites that really gets my blood boiling...... The moron on the jet-skis that purposely rides up close to a dock at 3/4 to full throttle and then drives off like they were outrunning a tsunami. Creates havoc for those of us trying to load and or tied up to the doc making our boat bash against the dock. As well as havoc for the late comers trying to launch and haven't started their motor since last summer when they didn't winterize or drain the gas of the tanks and they wonder why it's not starting. The moron in the big $50,000 wave maker (ski boat) that comes pulling up to the dock at 3/4 to wide open throttle with the obnoxiously bad taste in music (usually gangster rap). He proceeds to within 50ft of the dock before shutting down the USS STUPID and then creates a 4-6ft tall wake that slams the dock and other boats that are beached (usually us bass boats because the dock is full) and the poor schmuck trying to launch his pontoon boat (see above where Cooter Brown is trying to start the motor on old gas from last year) This is the typical 10AM to 5PM scenario at Hickory Creek public launch. GOSH I love no wake zones now.....

Launched at Prairie Creek Water temp varied around 64 degrees Water clarity was stained and visibility was limited between 1-2ft Wind varied between 5-12mph? Boat traffic was CRAZY considering the water is still in the 60’s. Yuppies on wake boards are already out and fishing traffic is increasing. So yesterday was my birthday. I don't celebrate getting older. Getting older just sucks after 25 . I planned on staying home due to rising water, post frontal conditions, moon phase, etc. Then my son who does not enjoy fishing and never wants to go any more (got burned out early I think) surprised me and asked me to take him out! I was shocked! I think his younger sister of 3yrs wanting me to take her out has his interest up. LOL! We started at the mouth of a main lake cove and started fishing between docks on laydowns and any cover we could find. I expected a tough bite and I was right but it turned out better than I had planned. I brought crappie gear and live crappie minnows hoping that would coax a bite out of something. IT DID! My son got his first largemouth about 3lbs on a live minnow on the first cast! After that, he was as hooked as the fish. He told me last night, “there’s something addictive about that feeling you get when a fish is on the line. It’s so peaceful out there on the lake too”. Yep! He’s got the bug now and Dad couldn’t be happier! We fished our way to the back bouncing between docks and cover. Then we went into a pocket and found scads of fish “selectively” feeding when they felt like it. Several top water bites chasing shad. Why I didn’t throw a topwater bait is beyond me. Probably could have loaded up but I was sticking with the live minnows and a secret artificial bait (that will remain secret) that’s perfect for a youngster. It’s a fish catcher when fish are finicky and don’t want but whatever it is they are feeding on. I’ve had luck with it in the past and so did my son. We caught 8 total but lost a few at the boat (one of which was my fault). We had 2 good 3-4lb keeper largemouth, a really nice 14” crappie on a free-lined minnow with a split shot on the line, and a random white bass. Funny story…. I was trying to teach my son how to set the hook. Those crappie hooks need a good solid hookset in a tough LM bass mouth because they are so small of a hook. I had just rebaited my hook and cast out. I said, “watch, this is how you set the hook”. When I did, a 3lb LM was on the line and I never even knew he was there. The rod loaded and the fight was on with a 12ft crappie pole! He said, “Show off!” Made me wonder how many fish we missed just because we didn’t feel the bite. We ended up keeping our catch (as I typically catch and release) but I owed some fresh fish to a friend of mine. I attached a photo below. I couldn’t get my son to hold the fish so I’m taking baby steps. Step 1, get him fishing. Step two, get him to bait his hook, step 3, get him to land is on fish! Hahaha! Overall, I had the ABSOLUTE BEST BIRTHDAY GIFT of all. My son wanted to go fishing and he didn’t want to leave. “One more fish Dad!! One more fish!” Best Day Ever!

This should explain it all....... "Jet-ski owner" "Ski-boat Owner" Nuff said......

Thanks for the update. Sounds like the rising water will shut down the bite for a few days.

I'm goint to launch at the 412 bridge and slowly work my way up and fish along the way. My little tri-hull is pretty heavy but she can draft pretty shallow. I'm more worried about damaging the lower unit of my motor than the boat getting too shallow. How far up do you think I can get Sunday? Neils Bluff maybe? I've never fished this far up river before and my graph doesn't have accurate depth that far up river (on my GPS map that is). I figure once it gets to 8ft, I'll come off plane (a VERY SLOW plane that is) and just trim the motor up and idle my way up to a few spots I know about.

It would have been my best day ever on Beaver. I'd say it was a really good trip to catch that many fish in that short of a time with a lot of them over 3lbs.

The wise one has spoken..... (Insert sound of Chineese gong here)

Ssshhhhhhh!!!!! Man......don't tell everyone!!

Hey, I didn't spend all my time looking at a graph. I want a more defined countour map. Using my "new fangled gadget" I have found fish in 1ft drops or bowl shaped holes in feeding/spawing flats and marked them on my GPS map. If I had a more defined contour map, I could put patterns together faster and fish the "fish" vs. fishing open water. :-)

58 views on this thread so far. Man you're supposed to keep these secrets to yourself (and me)!!! BAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Somebody has a case of the Mondays! LOL!!! For the record, I've been trying to get the settings adjusted since I got the new graph. I'm good now. All I want is a more detailed contour map of Beaver Lake. I have the file, I just need a Navionics card to put the file into the graph. I wasn't "driving around the lake watching the graph. I was fishing.....well most of the time and it did help me find some fish. I just couldn't get a bite. Why the "new fangled gadget"? Because it will show me contours in my home lake thatI never new existed and help me find fish. I already have the map on my phone and it's helped explain why I found fish in a small 1ft drop that created a cup or bowl shape on a feed flat. I have that spot marked on my GPS for future use. Looks like in time, I'll be better off with my "fancy gadget".

This is driving me nuts! I know I saw a website selling Navionics cards cheap and I believe they were blank cards but "Navionics" recongnized cards. You have to have a Navionics card and not just an SD card or the Navionics webstore will not recongize it (so says the FAQ on Navionics website). I have a hi-def chart of Beaver Lake that I downloaded from Lowrance's website but it doesn't work on my card because the unit will not recognize the file becasue it doesn't recognize that it has a Navionics SD card in it. I sure wish I could find the website that is selling the blank cards. Sure is cheaper to buy the one card and have the one lake I want on there vs. buying all the lakes in the south region that I'll never use.

Evening suck for me but.....since you work down the road from me, I bet we could hit the big end of the lake soon after work sometime. Especially for some night fishing when it warms up more.

I need a blank SD card only. Not the expensive loaded cards.

I found out the download won't work without a "Navionics" card. I found the card online and now I can't find it again. I should have saved it in my Favorites I guess. Anybody know of where you can buy the Navionics SD card? Then I cand download the maps I need.

Foe what you're going to use it for... DSI won't really help you. I think a for sonar graph is all you need and a charplotter combo is a great setup for a duck boat and crappie chaser. DEFINATELY a color graph if you can afford it over gray scale. I have all three (as you know) and I love my little color Lowrance graph up front. I have it setup well vs our last trip out. You can download beaver lake for free but the contours are at 10ft intervals and that doesn't help on the river end. You can buy a Navionics card without graphs on it for about $7 and then download Beaver for free. I'm in the process of this now. The better graph has 2-3ft intervals or something like that. Much better. See my photos for structure scan?(DSI). that's what you get on the lower end units. Fun pictures but sonar shows fish better and easier. That's why the large units have split screens with sonar and DSI together.

Oh....the 412 bridge. I remember that story. Didn't know there were note there.

quote name='Stump bumper' timestamp='1366768852' post='277408']There are supposed to be a lot of dumped cars just south of the route 12 bridge.

Yep. Very fishable. I don't recall the clarity but a vibrating bait or bright color would do well.......when they are biting that is. :-) They weren't biting for me that day. I spent more time retying baits and digging out backlash than I think I did fishing. Lol! It was one of those days.

Stump Bumper got it. Horseshoe Bend. It was right in between two areas I wanted to try. I ran up to Beaver Shores, down into the back of Monte Me and the up past Horseshoe Bend Marina and back to the dock on 6 gallons of gas. I've got the motor broke in so I was having fun driving the boat and....well I was pushing 5 grand most of the trip. :-) Felt too good to get the motor up to full speed again. Actually....the GPS was on. I used trackback to stop the graph which marked lovations and sometimes I would hit "stop graph". There's no secret spot or anything that is worth marking. Those shad balls are long gone from that spot by now. Maybe in the same cove but not exact location. Im just glad i got the structure scan to work mote like i expected. Its not as good as some of the more expensive graphs because it has less pixels but its a FAR sight better than my little Eagle unit thats black and white. I have a little cor Lowrance on the trolling motor that works great! Its a fine little graph. Picks up my dropshot easy. I discovered the puck transducer works better than the skimmer type for this. Hope to post more interesting pbotos again as they come along. I'd like to find an old bridge or car or something. :-) One day I'll try the dive site up near the dam. I heard there is an airplane, helicopter, and other stuff used for dive training.

Finally got the settings tweaked a bit on my Elite 5 dsi unit Sunday. I was able to take a few photos of some cool sonar shots. They are not as impressive as the photos I have seen online but for the price I paid for the unit, I'm tickled with the results. These photos are with 800khz scanning vs. the broader 455khz cone it can use. The 800 is a more "hi-def" range. Sorry for the glare. My phone had the flash turned on. School of shad with fish/shad below the school Big ball of shad Looked like a ball of small baitfish or shad next to a tree and some crappie to the left Cool photo showing underwater brush And a photo of my little boat. That's just an extra I threw in there.

I saw 40 on Beaver Sunday.... (On the graph) :-)

I think so. I lugged the a-rig many times yesterday morning and didn't get a bite. I think the rising water and cold front shut them down some yesterday. Besides..... there's enough bait in the lake now that none of them are starving. That and they've been carpet-bombed to death by a-rigs over the last month. Poor critters probably have an air-raid siren by now! Lol!

I tried watching Alabama for a min but when I put the trolling motor down to start watching, they pulled their's up and decided to run. That's what I get for trying to watch someone for the first time. They were throwing what appeared to be finesse a-rigs. Looked smaller than the full deal. Maybe the 3 bait unit with small swimbaits.

F&F...... I'm pretty sure its not legal to drag nets behind the boat and call it "fishing"! Lol!! J/k Over 300 fish must be a record....