Tfsh4bass

Probably so...usually every June I catch some throwing single spins at night but I haven't caught a ton cranking before especially around Indian. Pretty fun though and they were jacking it.

The cats were biting cranks...I caught 3 cranking Sat and 2 more on Sun that weekend

Just keepers so probably not...that bite is coming though and I usually get on some good ones the first couple weeks of June. Just about every fish I caught cranking were spitting up crawdads and I have done best lately with that pattern crank.

I fished around Baxter today and caught them pretty good from 5:30 to 7 fishing flats...caught 17 in that time with probably 10 being keepers but nothing over 3lbs. After that I just ran points with a crank and caught 11 more and left the lake around 11.

Thanks for the report and glad you caught them up there! Figures I fish shallow 99.9% of the time but just didn't think I could win the boat there. First thing in the morning I did fish shallow around the shad spawning but could only catch some upper 2's on fin. The rest of the time I searched for a big pig suspended in trees or over brush somewhere...which didn't work well.

Did you catch any size up shallow? I fished deeper than I usually do thinking that is what I needed to do to catch the boat winner but I just couldn't get on anything out there. On Saturday I moved up the last hour of the KVD but all I could catch was a few 2lbers so I just stayed out all day on Sun.

You weren't alone...I struggled to get bites all weekend fishing the KVD thing and only managed 5 fish on Sunday after catching 11 on Saturday but nothing over 3. I fished a little different because I figured you needed a 4lb to get a check and I threw DD22, big mop jig and 6" swimbait but still I just couldn't get bites or even bumped much. Traffic Sat was brutal and my only complaint with the KVD is the one weigh in site thing

I sent you a message OBBT...

Upper 6's or low 7's...will go with 7.04

I am a little different than some in that I think a football jig and jig in general is a little tougher technique to start off with. I have some buddies who haven't thrown them much and they lose more fish than they catch because they never even knew one was on there. I would go with soft plastics before I did a bulky jig. You can't go wrong with a smoke or white grub on 1/4oz head but my first choice would be to stock up on crankbaits. 7' Med rod with 12lb test and cover all the depth ranges with various size cranks...cast them out and reel them in. Not many times of year they won't hit one and keeps you a little more into it. Just my 2 cents.

My buddy does the same thing with crappie...I always joke with him and tell him that we can't really pattern those downrigger out in the middle of nowhere crappie

I have a buddy I take who doesn't fish real serious and you wouldn't believe the amount of fish he catches dragging a hula grub around. I will burn down a bank and he just lets that thing bounce away then all of sudden I hear "got one"...just cracks me up because I couldn't do it if I tried but he catches fish all the time and some good ones. He has however invested a small fortune in heads because he doesn't want me to go back and get it so he just breaks them off.

Back when I fished the Heartland Pro Am at one of the meetings the tournament director made a point about strolling...he said if you move your bait with the trolling motor or big motor in any way it is against tournament rules. Someone asked about dragging with the wind and he said I would prefer you move your bait with your reel...thought it was funny but still a loophole.

Guys have been doing it for years and I used to see them drag with the wind because it wasn't considered "trolling" if you didn't move your bait with the trolling motor. Strolling, the A-rig and the guys who flip docks with the fish cameras make tournament fishing a tough sell for me...just stick to fishing for fun.

All I know is I wish Table Rock would get stocked with 50 million Florida strain bass Concerning stripers they have been in Table Rock in small numbers for years and I caught two one day on a topwater around Baxter 8 years ago and have seen some huge ones way up the White....Baxter boat dock used to have some pics up of ones people had caught and there were several. I fished Norfork the other day and those bass sure don't care about stripers being in there with them and Norfork probably has a larger striper population per acre than Beaver. I fished Ouachita a few years ago and it was a great bass lake full of stripers. I can see both sides of the argument but they can coexist in my opinion.

I caught a rainbow on a jerkbait around Cow Creek a few years ago and another on a wiggle wart around Baxter. My buddy caught one on a deep little N around point 7. Few and far between but some make it down lake. Fishing on Table Rock is great along with Norfork and Bull Shoals plus Beaver has been producing some decent bass...great to see and one of the many reasons I have stayed in the area for over 40 years.

Obviously some have spawned but there will be another wave come up with this warming trend and full moon the first week of May

Thursday before the front I caught them really good on swimbaits and spinnerbaits around the 86 bridge area up shallow in the back 1/3 of pockets. I had been doing good on chunk rock but for whatever reason they wanted smaller rock yesterday. I caught 25ish yesterday with probably half being decent keepers...had one spot in the 3.5 range and a black close to 4lbs. Today was much tougher for me as I fished the Mill Creek area and caught 14 with 9 just keepers on a variety of baits...just couldn't get locked with the post front fish. Caught fish on spinnerbait, swimbait, football jig, shakey head and topwater but nothing felt like the bait for me today. Back 1/3 was still the best area for me though but the type of bank varied as much as my baits did.

I haven't thrown a senko but there are plenty of fish up shallow

Only fished the Indian Point area and it was far from clear...reddish brown tea colored but the fish didn't care

Another great trip yesterday fishing different water around Indian throwing FB jig, topwater and swimbait...a few more fish suspended with the sun so I got on them pretty good with swimbait but still caught plenty of the FB jig. Nothing over 4lbs but several good solid 3+ keepers during the day and then I night fished a little and ripped them on single spin. Just glad to get back on the water again.

FINALLY got the trailer part in yesterday morning the shop got me fixed up so I headed to the water to fish from 2 to 8 around Indian Point. I hadn't been on the lake in 3 weeks so like Champ said I just went junk fishing and actually had a great day. I started shallow with blade and swimbait in pockets and caught several shorts but I kept marking fish sitting in the 8-12 range on the bottom so I tied on a football jig (didn't have my warts with me or I probably would have tied that on) and just started hammering them in the pockets with that. Had one close to 6lbs and a couple in the 4lb range plus several other keepers. Probably half and half on the prespawn/spawn fish...some had bloody tails while others were as pretty as they could be with fat guts. I did that until around 5 then I tied on a top water and just started fishing chunk rock banks in pockets with that and caught several more doing that. Can honestly say I have never seen the water that color around Indian and the key seemed to find the pockets that were a little clearer. Keys were gravel mix with pole timber and the bigger ones were holding at the base of the trees. Just a great day and happy to fish again.

Great report and sounds like a new wave of fish that moved up. I have always said regardless of temps I think some fish just work off their own calendar. Waiting for the parts to fix my trailer is killing me...no fishing in almost 3 weeks is a record for me and I feel sorry for the fish when I get the boat fixed

Besides occassional dock flipping I will flip anytime the water is in the bushes regardless of time of year...just have to approach it differently depending on water clarity

Saw some video of the young kid who led after 2 days and I am pretty sure he was throwing a jerkbait in one video and a crank in another. Saw some other guys throwing a square bill though and Stacy looked like he was throwing a bigger deep bill crank. Shuffield was throwing some modified version of the A-Rig.