Quillback

Ouch, that would not be good.

Memorial Day weekend. Starts 5 PM on the Friday and runs until 8 AM Tuesday. Anytime during that time frame including nights.

Fished from 0600 until noon. There was a topwater bite early, caught a few on a 4" Yozuri pencil popper, scattered fish chasing shad, didn't see any schooling activity. Had a drought after the topwater bite tailed off, caught one here and there, but nothing consistent and had a stretch where I bet I had 10 bites and only boated 2 of them - this was on a 3.8 Keitech swimming it off the bank out into 20 FOW. Keitech bite picked up a bit later in the morning until I left at noon. They got active chasing shad, again they were scattered, but if you could get on them they would bite. Finished the day with a couple of smallmouth that were right up on a gravel bank with a stiff wind blowing in. Caught 20 bass, 9 or 10 keepers, but no large keepers, biggest was a 17" largemouth. Gizzard shad are spawning, had some chasing the Keitech, they'd tap it sometimes but just couldn't get it.

Yep, they will have to run water.

Submit all you want, let's see some Hawgs!

Nice, I need to get one myself.

Looks like 2-3" over a week? Shouldn't be too bad I hope. Newport gauge is all important to understanding how they manage water. Right now it is a little above 18' which is where they are trying to "regulate" to. On May 14 that regulation level drops to 12 feet or possibly 14 feet. I don't see how they are going to be releasing any significant water anytime soon with the forcasted rain unless they are forced to by flooding rains. From 1 December through 14 April - Regulate to 21 feet except, if a natural rise exceeding 21 feet occurs, regulate to the lesser of the observed crest or 24 feet. · From 15 April through 7 May - Regulate to 14 feet except, regulate to 21 feet, from 15 April through 30 April, and 18 feet, from 1 May through 14 May, if the four-lake system storage exceeds 50% full. · From 8 May through 30 November - Regulate to 12 feet except, regulate to 14 feet from 15 May through 30 November, if the 4-lake system storage exceeds 70% full. · Release a minimum of firm power and in extreme cases zero if a significant reduction in critical downstream flood conditions is possible. · Prorate the flood control releases between Bull Shoals and Norfork to maintain equal percentages of available flood control storage in NF and the BV-TR-BS. · Release a maximum of 32,500 cfs from BS and 10,500 cfs from NF subject to a 50,000 cfs flow limit at Batesville.

Nice fat fish. Yeah you can't let the knuckleheads ruin your day.

That is one goofy looking fish. I'm thinking 12 inches long but weighs 3 lbs.

Some frost on the roof tops, but none on the ground.

Made some rule changes, please review if you plan on participating.

Made some rule changes, please review if you plan on participating.

Made some rule changes, please review if you plan on participating.

Made some rule addition, please review if you plan on participating.

Made a few rule additions, please read if you are participating.

I have updated the rules to include additional rules decided upon by the panel of judges.

I am fine, kind of an old man slow motion fall onto the carpet. And in all seriousness I blame Minnkota for a bad design on their lift cables.

Something else that happened to me yesterday on Beaver. My STEEL trolling motor lift cable snapped, this isn't the lousy nylon one that comes with a Fortrex, but the lousy STEEL Minnkota replacement cable that I put in after the lousy nylon one snapped. Just finished installing a TH Marine steel replacement cable. I think I am going to start replacing them every 2 years as a PM procedure, falling backwards into the cockpit is not good. Again, I have to wonder, coincidence, or is it the 'Vernon Effect'?

Talked to my buddy Ken today, he kept some of the stripers we caught yesterday and cleaned them. What was interesting is that he said they appeared to have not spawned, females had egg sacks and the males had sperm sacks. I thought that was interesting that these fish would still not have spawned by now and that they are still down by the dam.

Something I'll keep in the bac of my mind and maybe try it this fall.

Fall planting might be worth a shot. I planted some broccoli seed once in early August, the time it is recommended to plant it here for a fall crop. It came up fine, but cutworms got every one of them. When would you plant the Choy seeds for a fall crop?

Never have tried the Choy. Did you plant it as seed?

I don't fish squarebills enough. But when it is on, it's a fun way to fish. I like the ghost colors if the water is clear.

Text of an email I received from them: District 1 biologists collected adult Black Crappie, Redear and Bluegill Sunfish from Beaver Lake to stocked into the nursery pond to produce fish that will eventually be stocked back into the lake. The nursery ponds allows adult fish to spawn and the young fish safety from predator's to help with successful growth. The pond will be fertilized to provide ample food for the young fish and the pond will be released in late summer or early fall. Staff finished the collections on March 5th and Redear and Bluegill are very close to spawning, by being present in shallow water and appearing full of eggs. Fishing should be good right now for these tasty fish!

Vernon you are scaring me, this bad weather arriving at the same time you do can't be a coincidence. I had to turn the heat back on last night for crying out loud! Anyway, hoping you find some good fishing!