J-Doc

16.18 won. No clue who or how. I suspect all way way up river.

I hear that. Why I launched at Beaver Shores and beat the "Armada" headed up river. Lol!! I only got two and missed a good one. All my spots didn't pan out and the fish I did find would not bite. So frustrating to watch fish live on a graph swim up to your bait and be highly interested and then swim down. Your body gets tensed up, waiting for the bite and then........nothing. So tired of that. Wish I knew what I was doing wrong so I could fix that :-/ No idea who won or what the weight was.

Figured you would fish the Polar Bear today. Not sure what the intial turnout was but by 2pm, there were only 25 or so rigs parked in the parking lot. My partner backed out so I fished by myself. Except on my own terms, without an entry fee. Lol!! Nice fish. I threw a jerk bait for a while today but couldn't get comfortable with it and stuck with plastics. They were getting bites.

Well the interest has been numerous a few weeks ago with lots of questions about it I heard. I bet the weather does reduce the number down to under 100. I was in it the last 2yrs. Planning on being in it this year as well. It's almost a tradition now. :-)

That's a great day. And two young guys to last that long is great!

My guess would be Swepco as an alternative. Most of the tournament guys will be on Beaver so traffic on Swepco would be far far less. Or I would hope it would anyway. But that lake can get super windy so it's harder in a kayak on windy days.

Coach, be advised that there will be a 200+ bass tourney new years day. And they will all be on the move desparately trying to find bass so lots pentax my around and wake creation. Possibly 250+ this year.... Launching out of Prairie Creek. The annual Polar Bear tournament.

So wish I had some of the old ones from my family like this. Nicely done. And Merry Christmas!!

We were idling under a no wake zone bridge. Smartly pants.....

"Biced".....HA!!! That's a good one. :-) There is so much more lake to see. So many other great locations. If you're around and available, we will make a river run for the whites. Yeah, that buoy jumped in front of me at the bridge. Lol!!

That's my report. Plain and simple. Met up with kjackson at Prairie Creek marina at 9am. Went to a spot where the striper bite was strong and bait was supposed to have been plentiful. But that ship had sailed. Almost no bait whatsoever and hardly a mark on the graph. A lot of boat traffic churning the area as well. So we abandoned the primary mission for massive stripers and went elsewhere. Found some around 50ft deep and snacking on shad. When I saw that, I didn't even drop a spoon. Without live bait, it wasn't worth it. That proved to be true elsewhere also when we found stripers. Trolled one of my favorite spots and found lots of fish marks on the graph. Fish were deep hugging bottom and our baits wouldn't get a bite. Switched to deeper diving baits and ticking bottom, still not bites. Tried jigging spoons and still nothing. Went to a waypoint where I marked the best numbers of fish and jigged spoons for at least half hour. Finally a fish in the boat. Well by fish, it had gills. It was a 6"-8" spotted bass. Got him on a $35 Diawa graphite rod. No expensive gear needed for me to feel a bite. That little rod works very well for spoons. Tried our hand at bass fishing. No bites, hardly any fish on the graph. Gave that up and went to another favorite area. Almost immediately found fish. Big arches, deep too. Based on size, I felt it was stripers. Dropped spoons on them for 45mins or more. Not a bite. Tried trolling the area, no bite. Finally ran towards shoreline and the graph started lighting up like fire flies. Massive school of hybrids. SURELY we can get both rods loaded up. Sadly, only one rod loaded up (mine). A nice hybrid was scooped into the boat. Turned around and trolled area again and the fish had moved. I've noticed whites & hybrids are always on the move. Never in the same place sitting still. Constant movement. Dropped some spoons on them and finally, another hybrid. Me again. Poor kjackson still no fish. I felt really bad for him. Super guy, deserved a good day catching fish that I know are there. I think he was doubting mine and F&F's descriptions of locations. But he saw the graph today. No doubt that fish are in the areas we visited. How to get them to bite in cold front conditions with bait being plentiful is another story. If anyone has a sure fire method on how to get cold front fish to bite when they are very much target locked on a very specific bait type, let me know. I'm all ears. At the end of the day, I got to spend a day with a great guy, had fun, somewhat managed to stay warm, and the new boat fished wonderfully.

There is no tendency to happen I'm creeks or main lake that I know of. I've seen both. It's completely dependent upon where the bait is. They were pushed into a flat from 8-20ft and moving around. Then the cold front came in and they moved out to 50ft towards main lake. Bait boils can happen pretty much anywhere.

Good man!! And I'm still mad and jealous....

Yes I know. My point was that their markup is already crazy as it was. They should be smart and adjust accordingly. I think you're correct and they probably will go up. That will only hurt Cabelas. Not the boat manufacturer.

I don't think they can go much higher. They are already about 20-30% markup. Ha!! I got mine at the recommended price by Ranger only because my salesman helped make that happen. Corporate (Cabelas) wanted a markup but they would never sell one with another dealer across town selling them at the suggested price. So the markup is already up there. If they ever want to sell any boats, they can't mark up too much or they won't sell what they have.

Nicely done. Yes. A sickness has begun. Throw the bait, Set the hook, Cue the Led Zeplin music and hang on!

I know that. I was just trying to save you the trouble of towing all the way over here. That and it will be fun. :-) Besides. I owe you a few trips. I wouldn't have gotten my boat if I had not looked into them for you about a year ago. LOL!

If he doesn't get a replica mount.......... I'll have to hunt him down and smack him. Mainly because I want one of those on my wall.

I hope that is the case.

I have an open seat and could use an experienced gent like yourself.........welcome to join.

You forgot an important item............. Don't send your friends pics of giant stripers when they are not there with you. It's just NOT funny....... Yes definately respect the kayakers. Having experienced wakes from ski boaters in a small jon-boat myself, this is a very un-nerving feeling to have your vessel feeling like it's going to tip over. Much less in water that's 50 degrees and falling. Hypothermia is no joke and death due to it is definately not worth the extra few minutes you could have saved going to your next fishing spot so if you see a small vessel........share the lake and give them some respect. They should be able to enjoy the same recreation you do in your big boat. We all want to share and help each other fishing. Well......I hope anyway. So be sure to watch out of the smaller vessels. For that matter, be nice to each other in big boats too. No one wants to be waked.

It wasn't towards you man. We had a discussion at the ramp just Friday and tried to take a photo of the tounge patch. I myself included have been guilty of thinking I was catching whites when I didn't know Tue difference between a small striper, a white, or a hybrid. Until I learned the small details, they all looked about the same to me a couple of years ago. In general, most anglers don't know the difference. Either because they never target any of the species or were just unaware of the differences. The tounge patches we have been seeing lately are so very close together (touching) that it's super hard to denote hybrid or white. The staggered stripes are the dead giveaway but the patch looks like one patch vs two. So we were discussing at the ramp and noting that a fella cold get himself in a ton of trouble if he wasn't extra carefull because even the warrden may argue the species. So..... Thus my joke. Definately not aimed at you. :-) Apologies for any confusion.

Sweet. Thanks!

I was at Lake Ouachita in central Arkansas yesterday. Found fish in only 25ft. Dropped a "doodle" on them and a few different spoons. No bites. Tried yo-yo jerking the spoon, swim up, short flicks of wrist, etc. I could not get a bite. Even tried small finesse hair jigs. Winter fishing can be rewarding and frustrating at the same time.

Ah thanks.