CaptainJoe

All Winter long, we have read Fishing Report after Fishing Report documenting large shad fish kills. We have discussed, read, and witnessed a significant shad kill all this Winter. The recent FLW broadcast repeatedly reported that Table Rock Lake experienced the worst shad kill in a long time. Bill Babler posted report after report saying that he was seeing dead shad everywhere. Spring is now here. We are now reading and experiencing large bass catches on a multitude of baits. The majority of these baits catching the most bass are shad-type baits. Why is this occurring? Are the bass shallow and concentrated and easier to catch? Are the bass more aggressive this year then in previous years? Here is one theory. I believe that the bass are eating our baits because of a lack of forage. The shad are just beginning to spawn and until the shad hatch, the bass will continue to eat just about anything we throw. If you throw shad-type baits, you will catch even more bass. This is just my theory.....what do you think?

Nice job Donna and Snakem. When I get all done teasing a bed fish, I throw a little white BPS Tender Tube in there and that is what normally gets it done for me. Tight lines!

Great job and nice fish.

One week and they should keep coming for the next 4-6 weeks.

Hit the Rock today. Fished the dam area. Water temp: 62-65. Air Temp: 47-66. Wind: 5-10 East. Skies: Cloudy in a.m. Partly Cloudy in p.m. Water: light stain. Fish on the beds everywhere. Caught about a dozen keepers using a shakey head, split shot, 5" grub on a 1/4 oz. darter head, and a zara spook in the back of creeks. Here is a photo of the two biggest keepers. The big largemouth weighed in at 5.6 pounds.

Being a former Simi Valley resident, don't spend too much time throwing the trout imitators and big swimbaits. They have not worked for me. Table Rock fish do not have trout as their main forage like CA lakes and the fish are Northern not Florida bass. The Robo Worms (Aarons Magic) work, but the zipper worms have not. I have Moorpark clients (former friends) coming out on Thursday for a two-day trip on Friday and Saturday. Good luck!

Good job, Techo. Thanks for the report. Love them redfins.

My experience is that rude boaters come in two forms: 1. those that don't know the proper lake etiquette. 2. those that don't care. If you do not say anything, they will continue to do it, whether it is out of ignorance or rudeness. I will politely tell them that their actions are not appropriate lake etiquette. I let them know when they are violating a no wake zone. I let them know that it is not polite to pull directly in front of someone and start fishing. I inform them to give other boats at least 100 yards. I have found that if you talk to the people in a nice way, they will at least listen to what I am saying. If we keep quiet, their actions will continue. If enough of us talked to the people, the less problems we will have. The ignorant may listen. The rude probably not. But, I try. I have never had anyone tell me to "go to $%#@." Maybe because I am 6'4" and weigh a few pounds. Most apologize, others just say ok. We, as the experience boaters and fisherman, need to educate the inexperienced and other heathens. Nobody else will do it. My $.02.

I was out today as well. Looked for you Don, but did not see ya. Found 66 degree water and banks loaded with beds in Long Creek area around the MO/AR border. I played with them all day. All fish caught were Spots.

I know that I am a little biased since Ulrich Marine in Branson West is my sponsor. But, they are my sponsor because they do a great job for a reasonable cost. They have professionally handled all of my marine needs. They have extensive experience with Mercury and I trust that they can diagnose and fix your problems. Tell Fred Ulrich Joe sent you. See their Internet Link below my signature. Good luck!!!!

What were the water temperatures? Thanks!

The wind is your friend. Yea, I went in around 1:30 pm, but you are correct: You had to be in the wind to get bit. Hope you had a good day today. The wind was bad mid-morning, but seemed to calm down in the mid-afternoon. I spent the day cleaning the pontoon.

I had two leaking McSticks. Called and talked to Sid. Sent two Norman Flake to them and received two different colors back. They are having some issues.

Water Temp: 47-49 Air Temp: 59-81 Wind: SSW 15-20 w/25 mph gusts Water: Clear This pattern is still working. Swimming a 5" Salt/Pepper or Smoke Grub on a 1/4 oz. Darter Jig Head through the trees on channel swings in the Dam Area. Give it a 10-count and S-L-O-W-L-Y reel it in. Fish are hitting the jig around the 20' depth. Today was the first time that a largemouth hit the bait. Loved the weather. The sun felt so good and it also felt good to fish without 10 pounds of winter clothes surrounding me.

Been reading your discussions and wanted to jump in and just share some thoughts with you. Regarding the FL Bass, be careful what you wish for. I spent almost 28 years in CA and fished all of the major big fish lakes: Casitas, Castaic, Cachuma, Naci, Dixon, etc. The reports that have been posted here regarding that FL bass are harder to catch are true. All the stories and photos you see of the big ones, there are 1,000's of other non-photos of ZERO fish. It is very difficult to catch these fish. They spook so easy. In the Summer, it is not uncommon for many fisherman to catch shad and buy crayfish and dropshot them just to better their chances to get a bite. For most fisherman out there, you catch them during the spawn and the rest of the year is very difficult. I was blanked so many times in CA, but rarely get blanked here. Don't take a chance and upset the great fisheries that you already have. If you want some lunkers, go on a road trip and hit Falcon, Fork, Amistad, etc.. You will also cause more fishing pressure to your lake. If FL or hybrids are introduced and you start to grow above average fish, more fisherman will come to our lakes. In CA on Lake Castaic, 250 boats a day fish that small 29 miles of shoreline lake. Yes, 29 miles of shoreline. When boat 251 comes to the gate to pay their $24/day entrance fee, they have to wait for one of the other 250 boats already on the water to come in. When on the water, you must traverse the lake counterclockwise and speed is limited to 35 mph. Now, you can guess why I am here. All of those lakes out there have tremendous fishing pressure. Invite FL or FL hybrids and you will be inviting hybrid fisherman from unknown parts of MO and elsewhere. I also believe that their are no problems with the spots in our lakes. I believe that they do not directly compete with the LM or SM. The largemouth wait for the bait to come to them and the spots go after them. The SM are usually in very different areas. I believe that they all coexist quite nicely. When it may be difficult to catch one species, you can count of some of the other two to jump on your line.

Could you state your asking price for the whole lot? Thanks!

Yea, your description is not right. I would call Lowrance Tech Support. Your welcome...sorry I could not help better.

No, the cables in the raceway are all insulated, so that should not be an issue. At least is is not with mine, which is the same. At the bow, the trolling motor block, the wires are bare and that is what we moved to almost under the pedestal seat. We then wrapped the rest or the wires in carpet and zip tied them together. Is the HDS unit connected directly to the battery? Does you downscan screen look like this picture? If it does, this is normal, because all we are seeing is tree structure, no fish in this shot. This tree needs some lights and ornaments. Can you email me a copy of your screen shot?

Chris, I understand. You can call it the LSS Transducer and the skimmer or pod 83/200 transducer is a 2D transducer. And, yes the downscan feature uses the LSS transducer. I had some interference from my trolling motor wires/block being too close to the transducer cables and we (Ulrich Marine) and I separated them and the interference went away. Do you have another unit running? Do you have two LSS-1 units? If you have another non-HDS unit running, it may be causing the interference. Try turning it off. If you have two LSS-1 transducers, you need to have a network cable connecting the two LSS-1 routers together. This will eliminate any interference between the two units. Good luck

I am so confused. You are absolutely correct. I stand corrected. Wow, my first mistake this year. If I look at a stored waypoint, as you say, the lon/lat is stored and will show up the same on both units. I am going to edit my post and take that section out so others won't get confused. They will still see your post and your correction to my mistake, which is ok. Thanks!

Chris, I must be tired, but what is a "BB transducer" and "feedback on the BB." What does "BB" stand for. No, I am not having that problem. My noise rejection is off and my surface clarity is on low. I would not move the transducers further apart. I have my bow transducers mounted side-by-side on my trolling motor and I am not having any problems with that setup. Your problem is not normal and could be caused by: 1. Your 2D transducer is bad. 2. You are getting interference from some other electrical component in your boat. If you cannot resolve the problem, you can try two things: 1. If you have a Facebook account, go to the "Lowrance HDS" Group page and post your problem there. There are a few Lowrance Tech Support guys who monitor that page and will try to help you. 2. Call Lowrance Tech Support and talk to them personally. Here is a link to an OzarkAngelers thread showing my new jackplate installation using the Transducer Shield and Saver Bracket: ClickHere I also included a photo of my old jackplate installation using the bracket that came with the LSS-1 and a photo of my trolling motor instaltion using the Transducer Shield and Saver bracket. Sorry I could not pinpoint your problem exactly.

Great job, guys.

Motoman, On that particular screen shot, the GPS screen is not zoomed in. In the lower right hand corner, you can see that is set on .1 mile. I should be zoomed in to at least half that much (200' is ok) and the waypoints, of course, would not look so cluttered. Now, what you see on that shot is two things: The waypoints with the "TR" in front of a number are the MO Dept of Conservation planted brushpile locations I downloaded from their website and loaded into my Lowrance. All other waypoints you see are my personal locations where I have caught a decent keeper. The Red Stop sign was my old system. Below is my new system. My Lowrance unit can store 5,000 waypoints. So, what I do is setup a file for every lake that I fish. For example, I have a Table Rock Lake file that stores my waypoints, routes, and trails for Table Rock. I have one for the other lakes as well. So, If I plan to go to Bull Shoals, I save my Table Rock Lake file to a SD/MMC card, delete the file from my unit, and then load my Bull Shoals file. Result: Instead of a limit of 5,000 waypoints, I have 5,000 waypoints PER FILE. So, I can have 5,000 Table Rock Lake waypoints and 5,000 Bull Shoals lake waypoints, 5,000 Stockton, etc. So, I have no problem with placing a waypoint where I catch a decent keeper. But, I will not put more than three waypoints on any one spot. Three tells me that it is a good spot. That's my system.

Attached are some photos from my Lowrance HDS units. The first and second photo show my spoon being vertically jigged through the fish school. The third photo shows a school of bait fish being pursued. I really like the last photo. It not only demonstrates the Lowrance HDS Quad screen capability, but in the down image, you can clearly see the structure of a tree. In the 2D sonar image, which demonstrates the Down Scan Overlay Feature, you can see the fish (colored arches) in the tree.

Read the second Fishing Report from me....it is covering the Dam Area. The technique used is in the first Fishing Report from me. Sorry for the confusion, I will post separate reports in the future. Good luck!