Quillback

For sure. Bat coming out of nowhere and biting a person, that's winning a prize in the bad luck lottery.

It was a funny day. We had the bites, we just could not get them in the boat. They bit all morning, not a lot of bites, but one every once in a while. Was not a bad day for mid-July. Thanks for taking me buddy! Dutch once again with big fish of the day:

Maybe this one will work. The guy that got bit had to go to the ER and now is on some sort of shot regimen. Better safe than sorry (I think), Man bitten by bat at Beaver Lake

A bat assaulted a man sitting in a lawn chair by the lake. Hit and run attack, the bat flew off after delivering a bite. Beware if you plan on visiting Beaver Lake, that critter is still out there, somewhere... Northwest Arkansas man recounts surprise bat bite that led to rabies treatment | 5newsonline.com

I'm all ears myself.

Yep, or maybe a piece of appropriate length PVC pipe. Figure out a way to secure it with brackets or straps. Might have to get a little creative.

Here's one for JF @Johnsfolly Did you hear about the cowboy who wanted to adopt a weiner dog? He wanted to "Get a long, little doggy".

When I was a kid living in Massachusetts the local ponds were swarming with bullhead. People claimed they were good to eat, but I never kept one.

That's pretty neat. However, they need to stay away from my secret spots. 😀

My dad and his buddy Vince fished the streams around here. They would almost always used a black Zoom Trick Worm on a slider head. I fished with my dad once on Big Sugar when I was down here for Thanksgiving maybe close to 30 years ago. We fished Trick worms that day and did fairly well as I remember. We fished upstream, wet wading, to me, coming down from Washington, it was a little chilly, but I think my poor dad about froze to death. We'd throw that worm into likely cover, behind a stump, log or rock, and usually they'd hit it right away. If no bite, swim it back with the current and every once in a while, one would grab it when it was swimming. Another plastic the folks that fish the local streams use is a Zoom Tiny Brush Hog. The smaller Zoom Lizards are popular too. When I was stationed in Maryland, I fished the Potomac near Harpers Ferry. The river there is about a mile wide, but lots of rocky shallows with lots of place to wade. I always used Rooster Tails there. You could catch 30-50 smallies on a good day, but you'd be lucky to have one that went over 14 inches. I need to find some wading spots around here and do a little more stream fishing. It's fun catching those smallies in current.

It do get hot out there. I haven't camped in years, but I was always a cold weather camper, makes having a fire a lot more fun. I'll send you a PM as to where the top water striper bite was going on Monday. No guarantees they'll be there again, but it is a starting point.

A woman was seeking a large turkey for a family dinner. She looked up and down the aisle finding only smaller turkeys. She spotted a clerk putting out more turkeys. More 15 pound birds she noted. Disappointed, she asked the clerk, “Do they get any larger?” Clerk replied dryly…”No mam…they’re dead.”

Goggleye.

Fisheries biologists in north-central Arkansas recently evaluated Crooked Creek's sportfish populations from Pyatt to the Yellville access. Sampling revealed a healthy population of Smallmouth Bass, Largemouth Bass, Ozark Bass, and Longear Sunfish, including numerous quality-sized Smallmouth Bass! The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission maintains six designated public access points along the river, with the sections between Pyatt and Yellville representing the most popular floating sections. For optimal floating conditions, we advise checking the United States Geological Survey (USGS) real-time gage data. For an enjoyable float, we recommend targeting river gage levels between 11 and 12.5 feet. Always wear a life jacket and check weather conditions and the USGS gage station before your trip. Fishing Crooked Creek provides an excellent opportunity to enjoy the Arkansas outdoors this summer. We encourage you to explore a river or stream near you soon! Smallmouth Bass sampled on Crooked Creek

Hit the water early with Mr. Dutch this morning, we hung in there until about 11 AM. A little cloudy with a little bit of a breeze made for decent fishing conditions for this time of year. Good bite early, we caught several, mostly smallmouth, on the c-rigged craw. Got a bit slow after an hour or so and we picked some up fishing the banks with jigs, most fish were not right on the bank but out in 10-20 FOW. We caught 14 bass total, Dutch had a couple of keeper sized smallies and I caught a 3.5 largemouth on a jig. That bass came right before we left, things had gotten really slow and I picked that one up, (surprise!). It had a similar sized buddy that followed it to the boat. We did see a good amount of striper topwater activity early in one location. WT 86

When I lived in Washington, my next door neighbors were professional garage sale goers. Every weekend they'd hit the sales. They'd buy stuff, then turn around and resell it at a profit at their own garage sale. They knew antique glass and table ware too. Some of that stuff can be resold for $$ but you have to know what to look for. If I drive by one and see some fishing stuff, I'll stop and check it out, but I never find anything I want to buy. Once a year Bella Vista has a garage sale weekend. Lots of garage sales, streets get clogged with parked cars, cars driving around all over the place. I hate it, I'm always glad when it is over.

I've got a bunch of marabou jigs, I need to start fishing them. What weight do you recommend? How about retrieval, like a slow swim right off the bottom?

Tackle Warehouse 4th July sale is still on. They have Rebel Craws at 20% discount off the $7 regular price. Bomber cranks at TW are $3.99 regular price, there is a whole bunch of Bomber models to choose from. I bet you could find some that will work for your stream fishing. $50 order gets you free shipping. Sadly, nowadays $7 for a crank is about as cheap as they get with the exception of Bombers.

That is interesting. Any idea of when they'll stop pulling water out of TR at the rate they are now? 917? It's coming down at about 2 feet per week.

Nice haul!

CWD is a bad one for sure. I could go on and on about salmon research and restoration in the PAC NW. $1 billion per year is spent on the Columbia River system per year and it's been going on for something like 30 years. Salmon numbers have bottomed out and are not rebounding. It can't be turned off as people think the answers are right around the corner. I'd like to see the fish come back, but I don't see it happening. That money does provide income for people and businesses, doesn't do much for the fish. You can't swing a dead cat up there without hitting a biologist/fisheries researcher. The feds have them, the states have them, the tribes have them, and you've got consultants that are bios. Lawyers get some employment too; there are always lawsuits going on concerning fish. It's crazy.

I have personally witnessed Dutch throwing a Ned rig on his BFS setup - the distance he was getting was impressive.