J-Doc

Yep I remember. The controversy and all. :-) Thus why I mention it. :-) I didn't think there was a stocking program on Table Rock so all the stripers came from Beaver Lake. If there is a stocking program, I'd like to know more about it. I'll be making more trips to the Rock! Lol

Awesome story. Glad he's okay. If it was weighed before gutting, another Arkansas striper would have made a new state record. Lol!! Sorry. Could resist. :-) Actually I thought there were no stripers in Table Rock? He must have been one of few spilling over from the White River out of Beaver Lake.

While I appreciate the question directed towards me..... I have no clue. This lake is a curve ball almost daily. I rely on seasonal patterns to start with and then rely heavily on my electronics. I have hi end electronics now and I generally won't stop and fish an area unless I see bait or fish on side scan or sonar. I almost always see fish on sonar. Once discover a depth or pattern, I can isolate that depth and similar spots. I try to anyway. As for whites vs blacks......no clue. Really. They are all crappie to me. lol

Still selling it...... Throw me an offer.

Sounds like a great trip to me. Beautiful country down there. I bet those bass got trapped in those pools or just refused to leave. Nice report!!

Yeah I know that feeling a little too well. :-/ I bet it works well for slip bobbers. Plus with the right amount of drag you can reel down and set the hook like Bill Dance! Lol!

How do you like the rod on the left? That's the low end B&M. I saw them but they seemed a bit too limber to me. I hesitated trying one. I'm curious though as they are super affordable at less than $20. And that's a darker color than ibwpuld have thought of using. I'll have to try something like that.

Better to have a crappie Friday than a catty Friday. :-)

Cool deal. Wish I could have gone. I'd like to put my new B&M poles to some good hookset work.

Guess they know what they want. I'm familiar with fish like that. Lol

After 15-20ft, I don't think color is as big a factor as vibration is always a factor. I've learned recently that a kinked line or small fray will give off vibration. Lose the kink or fray and you start catching fish again. Bass jigs in 60ft. I gotta do that one day.

Those are not cracks in the prop by the way. It's a reflection of the prop blades. It's that shiny..... It's only satin finish but looks remarkable.

Below is more information on the prop. Almost new 21 pitch LASER II 3-blade prop for Mercury outboard (may fit other outboards as well). Prop is a 13-1/4” diameter, right hand rotation (part #48-899006).

Not funny.........

Not Swepco if that's the plant you're thinking of. On a. shutdown.

Yes. Yes it does. I wasn't accustomed to it yet. It's like I woke up and it was winter. I just now come out of Jimmy Buffet mode. Lol

Guys.... I've gotten the word from my prop guy who finally returned from his hunting trip. He recommneded I go with a 19 vs. the 21 I have currently. I realize this time of year no one is buying props as Black Friday and Christmas is on their minds. So make an offer. Reasonable offers will be considered.

Quantum from Wal-Mart for $20. Working good for me. Lol! I've got some higher end spinning reels and the thing I look for is anti-reverse. If you cannot reel backwards at all (not even a smidge), it's a decent product. I've had some in the past that would allow the reel handle to roll backwards without the anti-reverse switch flipped. Only a slight amount of movement but it was slack and I didn't like it. I think it's the Shimano Sahara thats about $25-35. Nice reels. I have about 2 or 3 of them and they are nice quality for the price. Anything else is just show-boating and overkill to me. I've broke and lost too much stuff to buy GLoomis and other overpriced gear. You do get what you pay for but I can feel a bite just as well on lower priced rods. I've held both in my hand and fished with both. I'll take the affordable stuff. But that's just me.

I've got two. One is the Sam Heaton Supersensitive and the other is the Bucks Original jig pole. I was using the Bucks Original at the time. They would be a real hoot catching big white bass with them. :-)

Oh I could do that. I've done it in my old boat. Chili will wash out in case of spills. Lol!!

It's an 8ft B&M graphite jig pole. For crappie. Yep, I had to set the hook VERY well. That bass hit the jig so hard I reacted out of reflex. Then the rod bent over like one of those chrome trucker girls on a mudflap. Lol!!

Farts are only allowed while standing. Never on the seats or carpet. And yes she stays clean. I freaked when I got a muddy footprint on the carpet and cleaned it immediately. Lol

Spoken by the man who actually caught a banana while trolling. As if that's even possible.....and you found a way. Lol The one banana in the entire lake and you caught it. Come to think of it, it explains why my side scan east working yesterday. You got a hex on you. Go fish in Feathers&Fins boat again before you get in my boat again. Lol!!

Oh there will be a replica mount made for the next 15"+ crappie that I catch. I already have an idea on what I want for a crappie mount.

Yakfm and I braved the elements for a very brief run out on the lake. I saw one Ranger boat scooting (and I mean scooting) across the lake. That's the only traffic we saw. Must have been due to the game? Or the fact that it's flippin' cold outside. We tried our luck briefly in one area and saw fish but most were down on the bottom and you can troll that area all day long and maybe get one or two so we tried another area where I had been told were lots of fish arcs on the graph recently. That area panned out and the first spot we went to I found fish in the middle of a cut and relating to bait. Tried a dock, not takers. Tried a couple of brush piles, nothing. Went back to my marks and we were able to stay on fish without a lot of boat drift so that was to our advantage. Not expecting to catch anything in only a 2-3hr trip or have a lot of luck with post cold front conditions and having such a short trip, I was excited to catch this little guy. I was going for crappie but catching this rascal on an 8ft B&M crappie pole was a real hoot. Just a 1/16oz jig and a small swimbait worked off the bottom. Best part is..........I beat ole' "hot-stick" (Yakfm) and that will probably never ever happen again! So I'm taking full pleasure and full bragging right opportunities. Seeing how rare of an opportunity it is. LOL! The formula for a great day on the lake right now is as follows: [Great coffee + Good Friends] x [Warm gear + wool socks] divided by bragging rights (squared) = a good trip In the end, it's the experience of it all and not how many or how big. I know we would have caught more but it started sleeting and we needed to be off water and loaded before dark. I just wish I had gone out sooner. We might have found a pattern with better fish. Still.......it's a good day and I'm looking forward to more. NOTE: A ruler was used in the making of this photo. All bragging rights are at the sole discretion of the user known as J-Doc and all that entitles. Any imbelishemnet or question of the size of this fish is without question and should be accepted as unaltered fact and no photoshop was used in the making of this photo. It's a tiny little 12.5" bass and nothing else. It's by no means a bragging fish as there are 10,000 more like them in Beaver Lake however the bragging rights are still implied and sole expressed by J-Doc as he did in fact beat YAKFM on this date of 11/15/2014.