Quillback

Should've known I can't sneak a bream reference past you. 🙂

Good stuff, glad to see you folks are getting time to get outdoors. Last time I saw my uncle he was telling me about how he was a kid, my grandpa would take him over to Reelfoot. There was no bridge then, so they'd drive from Kennett and take a ferry over the Mississippi and then drive over to Reelfoot. They'd get there in the evening, fish all night at some dockhouse deal where they had lights over the water, then they'd take their boat out in the morning, fish all day, then head home in the evening with a cooler full of crappie and bream. No sleep except a nap of the ferry on the way back. Just like my uncle remembers that stuff from the 50's, your son will remember the day you had for the rest of his life, which is pretty cool.

Had to go back one more time, the fish were still where they were last week, 30-40 feet deep off the gravel where it nears the channel. Zoom Finesse worms caught all my drop shot fish. I caught a few dinks, one 17" walleye and one keeper spot on the jerkbait, but with the flat calm this morning the jerker just wasn't working too well. Caught a little over 30 bass total, only one largemouth, the rest being spots. 6 Keepers, but no bigguns. Flat calm and cloudy for most of the morning. They really liked Old Purple today. A keeper largemouth - they have been few and far between. Yet one more 17" walleye on the jerker. I have caught more sub-legal walleye this year than I think in the last 10 years combined.

Very nice, that's a lot more fish than I am seeing in the places I have been deep fishing.

Way to go guys!

I cast it out, let it sink to the bottom, then using my rod, I'll drag it, with the rod parallel to the water. If I lose bottom contact, I'll stop until the weight makes bottom contact. Majority of my bites come that way, I'll get one every once in a while that will hit it on the drop, some times if I see fish under the boat I'll drag it until it is vertical and then see if they'll bite it then. If I see them under the boat suspended I'll reel it up slowly through them. All that being said, 90% of my bites are coming on the drag. The fish really seem to like a worm too, Zoom Finesse worm, GY Thin Senko in green pumpkin have been the ones that have worked best for me. I don't know how much longer the drop shot is going to work, never has been a cold water bait for me.

Anyone fishing it?

Yessir that is Table Rock. I have a +1 JR in the Northern Secret too, I haven't thrown the JB's a lot so far because I just haven't been that confident in them, but today they were working OK, so I may be throwing them some more.

I always enjoy reading your reports and those of others on this lake, I just never comment because I don't fish it.

I was out there today too, 3 spots and 3 short walleye on the 110 JR, then I caught another 17 spots deep on the drop shot. 3 keepers, but none over 16". Had one good fish on the Junior, I was working it pretty fast, it just stopped, I was working it some trees and for a split second, thought I had snagged a tree, then felt a couple of heavy head shakes and it started moving off pulling drag and then it was off. AAAIIIIIIYEEE!!! I hate when that happens, it is still bugging me, dadgumit! I saw WT of 62.

I use a spinning rod for the smaller JB's, like a Pointer 78 or a 110 JR. I really like my ALX Zolo Spin/skip. 6'9", fairly fast tip. Caught 3 short walleye and 3 spots today on the 110 JR before I switched out to the deep fish. For bigger JB's and deep divers I now like my ALX Zolo Kelly Jaye JB rod (bait caster). It has a bit of a faster tip than some of the other JB rods out there which I like. I don't like a soft tip like you get in a crank bait type rod, my personal preference is for something with a stout tip, it seems every one likes something a little different.

Nice, love those fat spots!

That's great you got some birds. I have stomped around at Bois Darc with the dog and we didn't see nuthin.

It was a little over 60 first thing when I launched in the Big M cove, but later in the day it was 63 out in the lake.

Cool, hope you get into some. I want the jerker to work for me, but so far it hasn't.

Buddy of mine ran into a couple of guys from Las Vegas, here to practice for the Big Event at the boat launch. They had a little boo-boo, launched without the plug. They got it fixed and into the fog they went. Saw a couple of guys out graphing in a Tracker, first spot I was at, they came by idling about a long cast distance between me and the bank, they putted around the area for a while, and I pulled up and went down the lake about a mile, and about an hour later, here they come, and they did the same thing, idled by, this time a little closer, graphing. No big deal, they were on the opposite side of where the fish were, but I wonder if they too are practicing for the Big One.

Forecast was so nice I had to go back again. Early fog but once it burned off and warmed up it was a great fall day in the Ozarks. Last I looked, tomorrow looks to be nice, so get out and catch some fish while it lasts! Not a lot different from yesterday, caught a few more fish, had a couple over 20 with 4 keepers. All spotted bass. Dragging the drop shot in that 25-40 range, but it seems 30-35 is the sweet spot. They really liked the Slim Senko over the other stuff I tried. Downside of the Senko is they are soft and don't last too long, but sometimes you gotta make some sacrifices to catch fish. Went through 2 bags of Senkos today. Blue sky, flat calm, and a fish stuck in the snout.

Yessir, using a 1/4 oz weight, it gets down there in a few seconds. I bet they would hit a Ned, but even for a Ned head such as myself, that's just too deep for me to fish the little guy.

Sorry, I'll delete some PM's.

Nope, there was a kayak that put in the same time I did, that was the only boat I saw until about 11 AM, then for the rest of the day saw a pontoon and 3 bass boats.

Man that is a long way to haul a boat, but good for them if that's what they want to do.

Never met him, but certainly enjoyed watching him fish, he was, in his way, different than the other pros. Sorry to hear of his passing.

Cold morning today, with some thick fog thrown in. Hung around Big M for a while working the bank while waiting for the fog to clear. The bank was not good to me. After wasting two hours, and the fog clearing a bit, I was able to motor over to the deep spot where they have been. It was a bit slow and some biters weren't that dedicated by got a few working the drop shot in 25-40 FOW. I'm making a cast, letting it sink to the bottom and slowly dragging it back. Fish Doctor and Slim Senko both work, but I give a nod to the Senko today being a bit better. Missed probably more bites than I caught fish. Later left and went to another deep spot and found a few more on the drop shot. I'm mainly fishing deep gravel flats near the channel. Ended the day with 13 spots and one smallie. 4 of the spots were keepers. Spoke with someone that caught a 5-15 largemouth today, and whose best 5 were estimated at 16. or so. Can't say where or else they may send Guido to have a little "talk" with me. Since there were complaints to management about the lack of pictures in my last report, here ya go:

That's assuming they all show, one of the qualifying tourneys was out west, I have to wonder how many of them will pull their boat out here for this.