Quillback

Crazy weather this spring.

Gates at Beaver are partially open, James and Kings are both shooting up. Looks like they are letting out 9,000 CFS from Table Rock, but there might be double that coming into the lake.

Kind of like one of those octagon UFC matches - nobody getting out until the fight is over.

Coming down now here in Bella Vista. It ended the terrible 8 hour drought we just suffered through, 😃

The smallmouth in Beaver get back at the stripers by eating shad. They are out there with the stripers, makes them hard to target.

Hey, Royals took two out of three. Caglione looked good first game, not too good the next two. He really had some issues facing left handers. But on the other hand, he seems to have energized the Royals offense.

Looks like the guessers are saying tonight and tomorrow is when the real rain is coming. Heck, we may see 930. On the bright side, the fry will have plenty of cover to hide in. Looked at the 10 day - Thursday next week another round could move in.

Buddy of mine cleaned a striper he caught in Beaver, he said it was full of dads.

Nasty looking front just moved through here, rained hard, but not for long as the front is moving quickly.

I think I see a musky. Congrats on a great trip!

You did better than me, I mainly went today to chase stripers, didn't see much activity, had a couple of blowups and that was it. Caught a few smallies on top, a few on jigs, totaled 10, hit the road at 1100. Tuesday one of my buddies was out and the stripers were lighting it up. He caught 7 on top waters. They turn on and off, one day good, the next bad. If you pick the right day, it's a lot of fun. Seems to be the days where it is cloudy, the bite is not good, get a sunny morning and it's good. I believe it is because the sun will bring the shad up to feed.

It's been a rainy day, nothing heavy but on and off all day long. Super humid to boot.

Cool, congrats!

Not much here also.

Royals scored some runs last night, they were down 7-2 and I thought they were done as their offense has been anemic this season. Debut of Jac Caglione who hit the ball well but ended up 0-5.

Norfork Nursery Pond Back in Action with Redear Sunfish After a five-year hiatus, the Norfork Nursery Pond is once again poised to raise fish for Norfork Lake. This small, six-acre pond, established in 1963, has historically supplemented the natural reproduction of various game fish species for Norfork Lake. Operations were suspended in 2020 due to a collapsed pipe that drains the pond into Norfork Lake. With the collapsed section of pipe now repaired, biologists are cautiously optimistic that the nursery pond can resume its role in providing supplemental stockings for Norfork Lake. In early May, biologists and hatchery personnel took the first significant step, stocking 463 adult Redear Sunfish (broodstock) into the Norfork Nursery Pond. Over the next few weeks, these adult fish will spawn, producing the next generation of Redear Sunfish destined for Norfork Lake. In this protected environment, free from fish predators or anglers, these young-of-the-year Redear Sunfish will grow undisturbed until they are ready for stocking into Norfork Lake in early fall. The favorable conditions of the nursery pond provide an ideal setting for these young fish to thrive before their release into the larger body of water. Redear Sunfish are a popular panfish, also commonly called "Shellcrackers" due to their appetite for mussels and snails. Known for their delicious white meat and spirited fight, they're a favorite among anglers. Late spring is an excellent time to catch Redear Sunfish, often successfully reeled in using baits such as red wiggler worms, crickets, small jigs, or even fly-fishing gear. Beyond their appeal to anglers, Redear Sunfish are crucial for a healthy aquatic ecosystem. Their diet of snails and other bottom-dwelling invertebrates helps control snail populations, which can, in turn, mitigate the spread of parasites such as yellow grubs that might affect other fish species in the lake.

I bet it fought hard!

I saw some video just a couple of days ago of that place, lots of water moving.

Dutch and I hit the lake early this AM, we chased the smallies and had a few striper drive byes. A decent early bite, some top water action early, Dutch got a couple of early fish on a Keitech, then we pretty much fished jigs. We caught almost 20 smallmouth between the two of us, and a couple of small stripers. They shut the flood gates early this morning and that seemed to put the shad up top. Scattered stripers everywhere down by the dam, I had 4 or 5 striper sized blowups on my top water, but only 2 of them touched the plug, and they did not get hooked. Surface water temp had jumped to 75 by the time we left. Fish stopped biting about 10 AM.

I need something to take pics (birds, wildlife) when I'm out fishing. Trouble is you usually don't get much time to get a shot.

Gotta fight to keep the old man out. Keep fishing and hunting!

In the 20 years I have been here, I don't remember a spring like this one. A few nice days, then 3-4 days of rain, repeat and repeat and repeat... Eventually it will be summer and 95 degrees every day for 3 months. 😃

Looks to be zero water coming out of Bull today.

Here's some interesting reading on reels. It will give you some ideas on what's out there. Best BFS Reels for 2025 | Tackle Warehouse

What do you recommend for a lens for bird photos?