OzarkFishman

I haven't been able to piece together any long outings, but I have had a lot of success with my fly rod the past few weeks. Mainly panfish and ozark bass. Throw small plastics or fly fish and you will slay the small bass and panfish (and occasionally get a big surprise). Good Luck, OzarkFishman

That sounds like a plan ... next summer. I only get up there once or twice a year and this year it is going to be once. I will definitely hit you up next year when I make it up there. Good luck the rest of the summer and into the fall. OzarkFishman

I agree totally with the 7/0 hooks ... make sure they are octopus so that the hook point is offset from the shank (better hook-ups). I usually catch my big ones in the 8 - 12 foot range, but depth is relative to the surrounding depth. Keep catching, OzarkFishman

That is definitely a nice bass. I plan on getting back on Springfield Lake sometime next week. Been busy being busy, which doesn't leave much time to fish. I will be throwing plastics, jigs and topwater. Good job, OzarkFishman

The big catfish (at least in my experience) stay closer to the channel. I usually look for flats that roll up out of the channel. If you are restricted to the dock, then I would go with the smallest bluegill/sunfish you can catch (2 - 3 inches) and lip hook it with a circle hook. Hope this helps a little, OzarkFishman

I set either 2 or 3 hooks on each jug. If I have 3, then I set them at 4, 10, and 16 feet (like you said the 10 usually catches the most). If I set two, then I set them at 6 and 16 feet. Good Luck, OzarkFishman

Got to the lake around 4:30 on Friday (34 mile marker on Osage arm). Started getting the jugs all set up with swivels, leader, hooks and the weight at the bottom. My dad and some buddies had been there a while and had already caught some bait. Went out and set them and then enjoyed the typical night at the lake (plenty to eat, nice weather, a boat ride, etc.). When we went to check in the morning, we ended up with a 5, 8 and 10 pounder. Almost all of the rest of the hooks were empty. I had a feeling about what the problem was (the bait was too big). I am a fan of using live bluegill or green sunfish. Usually 3 - 4 inches are perfect, but when we baited up Friday night almost all of them were getting close to 5 inches. Here is my theory, a catfish comes by gets most of the fish in its mouth just not enough to get the hook set (I use 7/0 octopus circle hooks). Luckily we had brought a few baitfish with us and we put smaller bait on the jug that had produced the 10 pounder. Then, it was off to find SMALL bait (2.5 - 3.5 inches). We were gone for maybe 2 hours (checking a couple of other jugs and catching bait). When we returned to that same jug there was a 14+ pounder on it. We rebaited all the jugs. We then checked the jugs one last time about 6 Saturday night (rough, rough, rough water). It was so rough that we couldn't even bait a few of the jugs (safety first when fishing set lines). Next morning, we went out and brought in all the jugs and a few more catfish (the same jug that had the 10 and 14 had another 10). Location is key and each time I go, I find out more about the feeding habits of these fish. We ended up catching 65 pounds of blues (the biggest was the 14+ pounder). It could have been a lot better, maybe the big mommas were spawning. Still a great weekend. OzarkFishman

Let me try to digress yet again. Flytyer ... bringing up Catch-22 is incredibly coincidental for me ... I haven't talked about the idea of Catch-22 in years, but I brought it up in my class a few days ago. The class I am teaching is an overall math class full of incoming 7th and 8th graders. After the word Catch-22 was stated the whole class looked at me dumbfounded. I had to then explain what that meant (which was a nice way to work in cross-curricular instruction). I agree with Flysmallie that this thread really didn't have to go "all political", but it did and that's that. Hope you all have a great day and a great weekend. I know I will ... I plan on swimming in some POOP, eating some POOP filled fish and hopefully finding some TP for my cornholio (I don't have to quote Beavis, since I didn't say bunghole ) OzarkFishman

I second that Trout Commander. Seriously, no comments on the cornholio comment ... I mean cornholio and POOP go hand in hand (pun intended).

I agree ... POOP has to be one of my top 20 all time words. I want to say it is in my top 10, but that would make me immature But, don't forget about cornholio (who doesn't like a Beavis and Butthead reference ... kicking it back to the 90s)!!

Man, I thought I was going to the lake for a bunch of tasty catfish ... now you are telling me I am eating poop. Oh well, I can already here the frying pan popping Don't really have anything intelligent to add to this thread, but it definitely won't stop me from eating some fish out of there. I would think the bad stuff would be cooked out of it anyway. So ... (more concerned tone) is it worse to swim in the water OR eat fish out of the water???????

Heading down this weekend. Any updates on the catfish OR bass bite (are the blues still doing their baby thing)? Thanks, OzarkFishman

Thanks guys. The big trailer is probably as much a reason for the success as the big jig. I am going to put on the biggest trailer I can find in my collection. Thanks again, OzarkFishman

When you say big jigs ... do you mean 9/16 OR more like 3/4 up to a full ounce? Thanks for the tips ... most people are very tight-lipped about bass fishing on LOZ. OzarkFishman

There is a detailed description (with pictures) in the last topic written by rps (stockton day on tr).

While I know the Carolina rig, I have never seen the Lindy rig. That is the beauty of this site, I have been a member for going on 3 years now and I simply can't stop learning stuff. Even small differences in rigs and lures makes a huge difference (as you all know). If you ever stop learning, then you are dead or you have closed your mind and are as good as dead. Have a great day and thanks again guys and gals, OzarkFishman

What brand of float do you use? Do they slide or are they clamped on? What color tends to work better than others? I plan on jugging at LOZ in 2 weeks (both anchored and floating). When floating with the wind, it would be nice to catch some "wildcard" fish. Thanks in advance, OzarkFishman

Thanks.

When you all drift with jigs, do you use an indicator or bottom bounce? I know most probably use both techniques, but I was wondering which one produces more consistently. My guess would be bottom bouncing, but I have been wrong many times. Thanks, OzarkFishman

Thanks again, Fishinokie1. Your advice is priceless. I will get a hold of you once summer school lets out and maybe we can meet up and do a little fishing while we talk about ocean fishing. What are the main fish that I will be catching? I would like to research them, so that I know how to handle them and know whether they a good on the grill. Have a good one, OzarkFishman PS - I didn't even plan on fishing when this trip was booked. Did a little research and found that I am going to the perfect storm for pier and surf fishing. So, yes ... I am a lucky dog

This stuff is suppose to be the first line truly made for spinnning reels. From the Berkley website: "Not a Mono. Not a Braid. The Next Generation of Fishing line. NanoFil is made out of gel-spun polyethylene, much like a superline. This ultimate spinning reel fishing line consists of hundreds of Dyneema® nanofilaments that are molecularly linked and shaped into a unified filament fishing line. Dyneema, The World’s Strongest Fiber™, gives this line superline type strength and our uni-filament process makes it feel and handle like a smooth monofilament ■Our longest casting line! Anglers will experience exceptional casting distance and accuracy allowing them to cover more water and Catch More Fish! ■Zero stretch means superb sensitivity. Now you can feel everything from the lightest pickups to the jarring strikes. ■With an incredibly high strength/diameter ratio, this is the thinnest Berkley line yet meaning you can go lighter than ever before. ■Zero memory virtually eliminates line tangles, which means you spend less time untangling lines and more time fishing." Do you all think this is going to be all it is cracked up to be? I know I will try it out. They are definitely proud of their product ($19.95 for 150 yards).

All good points. I will admit I simple don't want to train my thumb, just like I have a hard time picking up the fly rod (which I have done the past 2 days). I find it easy to skip bait with my spinning rod and I also find it fairly easy to feather my line and smoothly close the bail upon landing (unless I need it open). FINAL ARGUMENT: It really doesn't matter ... both have strengths and weaknesses. If you want to learn both, then you can maximize your fishing ability and have the "best" reel for the application. I mainly river fish with smaller baits. As far as accuracy, I would argue that ...

Ness, I am with you. With modern technology, spinning reels can catch just as big of fish. Heck, look at the ocean fishing shows on TV ... a lot are spinning reels catching huge fish. Buy a baitcaster if you like, but I don't see how a baitcaster could outperform a spinning reel when getting under trees and making those tough river casts that need to be made (while sitting down most of the time). Of course, the only opinion that matters is yours and Ness and I kind of took this thing off track. Back to baitcasting ...

I finally broke away from the spinning reel and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. Took the waders to a place that I can catch bluegill and sunfish pretty easily (as long as accurate casts are made). Tied on a straight 8' Floroclear (8#) leader and a black wooly bugger with a little bit of red. After remembering that the cast should be smooth not forced, I was ready to catch some fish. This place has some good holding spots for panfish, but most of them are under trees OR between two overhanging trees. This means that stray casts will at the very least pick up some leaves, if not get caught in the trees. It was a challenge for a novice like me, but rewarding in the end. The first fish of the day (and most of the fish) came while letting the fly slowly fall next to cover. The longear below is that fish (my first fish on my first fly outfit)! After losing that fly to the tree monster, I tied on an olive wooly bugger and it was on. In the next 45 minutes I caught 9 more fish. Then, tree monster struck again (tried beating the tree monster, but he won by filling my waders with a little water ). I switched to a beadhead prince and picked up a nice bluegill, then it was time to leave. Thank you to all of you that have helped me through out this process. Have a great day, OzarkFishman

I know people are pretty tight-lipped about bass fishing on LOZ. Are you willing to share any information on the bass bite? Not looking for specifics, just a general direction. Thanks, OzarkFishman