Tfsh4bass

I wondered what was going it...just seemed a little out of the norm and the reunion weekend makes sense. I like to run & gun and that was hard on the body yesterday.

It worked really good from 5:30 to 10 and then with the boat traffic I altered my plan. I caught a ton of fish on a swim jig around the flooded bushes on main lake flats and flat points...the traffic always creates a mudline on those kind of banks and I like to get up there when the water is in the bushes. Didn't catch anything over 3 but caught a bunch. I picked my swimbait back up around 6 and caught a few more on it before leaving around 7.

I have never fished the Shell Knob to M area this time of year and I was a little surprised by the number of ski boats, cruisers and cigar boats up there...holy cow it was rough but the fish didn't seem to mind.

Thank you! 5-8 is good for me...Joe Bald was maybe a foot yesterday and no good for swimbait. I have gotten lazy these days and like to throw single hooks I caught them really good on a crank yesterday around Joe Bald but after almost getting hooked 3 different times by crazy smallmouth I ran to Kimberling and threw swimbait...caught a bunch (including better quality) and never came close to wearing the bait.

Was the water pretty clear up there...thinking about fishing Shell Knob to M tomorrow and want to throw a swimbait all day

Was down there yesterday and it was pretty dirty from Mill Creek to Perkins Hollow

Not sure but the James River down by Nixa was out of the banks and muddy

I just can't get myself to pull the trigger on the tournament thing but the Mill Creek group is a great group of guys and a good circuit. I am enjoying fishing for fun and I fish a lot more now and try a lot of different bodies of water...can't give it up.

Yep, lots of ways to do things...back in the day when I fished night tournaments won some bank on 1/4oz jigs on 10lb test especially in the April/May time. I just throw single spins now because I enjoy the bite lol

I see both sides of the argument but I have fished some very good bass lakes that have stripers...Quachita, Norfork, Toledo Bend, Pickwick, etc and they seem to co-exists pretty good in there. Guess we will see here in a few years because right now Bull is as good as any lake around. Concerning Beaver it has gotten better the last few years. I usually only go over to striper fish but have caught some good bass the last few years. The FLW boys caught them decent this year with most guys in the top 10 having a 3lb average...with help from the A-Rig including a guy throwing one with 10 swimbaits on it.

My buddy and I had 7 keeper walleye (only kept 3) and 19 keeper crappie (only kept 12)...never fished deeper than 12 feet with most of them coming 3-7. Some decent crappie moved up between 1-3pm and were right on the bank...other than that mostly just fan casted spawning pockets. Of the 12 crappie we kept only 2 had eggs and they weren't ready to spawn yet. I don't fish Stockton a lot but it is such a great lake...caught smallmouth, largemouth, spots, crappie, walleye, catfish and drum on an all day bite.

6.83 Redfin but I did see one 6+ messing around on a bed earlier this week

Haha...me and those fish get along well. I have visions of flipping a jig in buck brush and watching a 14 come out of it BUT I am good with my southern Arkansas and Texas trips to get my fix.

Well, we need to work on that and some Florida strain bass stocking in Bull and TRock

I hate May tournaments for that reason...always wanted May to be catch-n-release only for bass in Misssouri but that won't happen unless I win the Powerball

Concerning gloves I have a pair of the neoprene Glacier gloves that are very good...I don't fish in them much but they are very tight fitting and warm. Great report Bill! My last 5 trips have been to Table Rock so I think I am headed to Bull or Norfork next.

I have had my best trips the last few weeks fishing creek pockets that have timber that runs about half way back then turns to pea gravel....pocket has to have good depth. I basically fish the last 50 feet of timber and the first 50 feet without it looking for stagers/feeders and move on. I tend to fish shallower than I should but these fish usually don't make me pause the jerkbait as long and you know if they are there. I haven't caught anything over 4 this way but have had a few 15-18lb bags....that should change this weekend with the warmer temps.

Rick had 5 that weighed 28lbs in a Feb tournament back in 99...there were a lot of big bags before the fish kill but mostly 4lb+ averages winning tournaments and I don't remember many multiple 5lb averages even before the fish kill. My partner and I had a 30lb saick with 6 back in the day in one of the early season big buddy deals...we had a 9.62 kicker. I am never surprised by a team popping a big sack because it is usually the team that catches really good ones and then gets an 8-9lber. Table Rock and Bull are both very good right now but that Arig makes a difference and it triggers quality fish to bite that might not hit a stickbait or single swim bait...part of it and if it is legal it is legal. Bill do you think without the Arig there would have been 8 teams over 20lbs at the OMTT?

Back in the day I was fishing a buddy deal in early Spring and I watched a couple guys (known dock flippers) idle up to a dock and drop the old syle underwater camera and then idled to the next one...finally on the 4th dock they turned around and started fishing. I told my partner I guess you don't waste time that way lol

No they don't...been sticks for a long time No worries and I wasn't taking it as being argumentutive. I was just going off what Bill said because I never saw a tournament boat where I was so I had no clue what they were throwing. Also, I don't care what anyone throws if it is legal...just don't care for it myself.

My comment was based off what Bill said...and I am not saying the Arig catches fish for them because you have to be around fish. I was saying that rig is deadly and it is especially deadly when guys who know what they are doing throw it...those guys know what they are doing. Also, IMO tournament fishing doesn't make you a better fisherman time on the water does because you are always fishing against the fish not the guys in the tournament. I fished tournaments after I graduated college in 1992 up until 2003...all local buddy stuff, CPA, Heartland, BFL, Mill Creek, Cape Fair, etc. and I am 3 times the fisherman now because I fish around 80 times per year usually daylight to dark and spend a lot more time on the water.

Those are great bags for sure and it goes to show how deadly the A-Rig is when you put it in the hands of guys who know where they live. I have a buddy who fishes around 10 times a year who had a 5 and a 7 on Saturday throwing an A-Rig around the Baxter area...not sure he had caught a bass over 5 until he started using that thing. I had thought about fishing some tournaments again but I refuse to throw one so I won't waste my time or money fishing against it.

I keep my line pretty basic and throw Trilene Low-vis Green mono on most things...blades, swimbaits, cranks, etc. I throw H20 Fluro on most bottom stuff or jerkbaits. Concerning how hard you set the hook I think a lot depends on the cover you are fishing. If I am flipping bushes or heavy cover I jerk pretty hard to get the fish out of cover not necessarly for hook penetration.

I enjoyed the coverage and those guys know the hoopla is part of it if they want to grow the sport. Pretty amazing you had 25 pros on the same body of water and you had some guys catch 1 or 2 keepers while others caught 15-20...that is what makes it such a great sport.

I just used Bass Pro premium bass casting sinker which is basically a bell with flat bottom...you get 10 for $3.29. I probably don't have $12 invested and made up 10 a few weeks ago. http://www.basspro.com/Bass-Pro-Shops-Premium-Bass-Casting-Sinkers/product/16668/