Quillback

Fort Gibson, which would've been next week, has been postponed until September. Next up is Guntersville, June 21.

Yeah I quit years ago myself, but I did enjoy smoking. I have no desire to smoke now, except for an occasional urge to fire up a cigar when out fishing. And no way I'm spending $5 for a pack of cigarettes, that alone is a reason to quit. Smokers stink too, you don't notice it when you smoke, but when you quit, ugh.

I positively hate the phrase "grow the sport".

Wasn't too bad here in Bella Vista and it looks to be gone - probably going to park itself over your lodge and pour on you. (You have my sympathy).

Glad to hear you had a good trip with the boys. Just think, some day you'll be a cranky old man and the boys will have to put up with taking you in their boat. 😜

Yeah cheaters are going to cheat no matter what the format. But in this case they caught the guy. It might be easier to catch cheaters in a catch/photo/release than in a bring 5 back tourney. Big events like this Costa tourney, it's hard to think anyone would cheat - most of the participants are well known locally and some nationally and to get caught cheating would just ruin a persons reputation.

Well if it's thousands of dollars, isn't that the big leagues? Is the Costa tourney a big league event? And is tourney fishing saturated by cheaters to the point that a weigh, catch and release format can't work? Kayak fishermen seem to be able to pull it off, and there's some big money in some of those kayak tourneys.

Indeed, braid is bad stuff to toss in the lake, I've pulled out more than a few balls of it out of lakes while fishing. We all should take responsibility to do all we can to not leave any in the lake. As far as sensitivity, it's something you have to experience for yourself I guess - fish a shaky head with mono on a reel, then switch out that reel to one with braid and fish it (using the same rod), you will then understand. And I believe most people do not fill their spools with braid, put some cheap mono on as backing, then top it off with 50-75 yards of braid.

Yep, if I could make the rules I would put in place a weigh and release format during the spawn. Some of those spawned out LM's that are being hoisted on the stage don't look too healthy, they are skinny and beat up. Spawning puts a lot of stress on fish, then carting them around in a livewell all day and then waiting while 250 guys go through the weigh in process is not going to help those fish.

Just did some reading of what they were saying and I get the impression that a lot of them are sight fishing, or at least fishing in water where they see fish and beds. Could be if the James is colored up no one wants to go up there and fish "blind" so to speak. Looks like they are experiencing what a lot of the folks reporting here are experiencing, you can catch a lot of fish, a lot of keepers, but it's hard to catch a lot of big keepers. Also looks to be a lot of spawned out largemouth being weighed in.

This area has gone all in on the mountain bike stuff, we've got 40 miles of trails here in Bella Vista and they just added another 40 or so that isn't officially opened, but it's open. Bentonville has quite a few miles, and there's several obstacle course deals also. And there's the concrete trail that runs from Bella Vista to Fayetteville, I think it's about 50 miles. I won't be doing any mountain biking, but I hike the trails. Not much usage during the week, but get some traffic on the weekends.

Panfish are biting, catching one or two everyday while bass fishing.

Braid handles much better on a spinning reel than mono, no twist or snarls. Casts further, especially with light lures. Sensitivity (if you're looking for that) is much, much better than mono. The newer braids are good stuff, and this is from a guy that used to hate braid.

Traffic BTW, is pretty much a problem in the entire region, you won't have any traffic jams in downtown Pea Ridge, but you'll hit traffic if you need to go into Bentonville or Rogers, anywhere on the I-49 corridor for that matter.

Well you didn't win, but you got some nice fish on the Ned. Makes it a great day I think.

I don't know of any negatives, but I don't know a lot about either area as far as what it is like to live there.

For your ensemble to be complete you must have matching shoes. May I humbly suggest you pick up a pair of these:

I live in Bella Vista on the east side and it's 40 minutes to Prairie Creek and about the same to Indian Creek (COE parks on Beaver). Living in Pea Ridge would put you about 15-20 minutes closer to the lake. And if you lived in Prairie Creek you're 5 minutes away. If being close to Beaver is a big priority then I would probably not choose Bella Vista.

I used to be anti-braid, dig in issues, nasty birds nests, etc., but I have started using it again and I am really starting to like it. Better braids out there now, I don't have dig in issues, no snarls, and the stuff casts unbelievably well and is super sensitive. No more line twisting on a spinning reel either. Here's a link to the brand I've been using, only thing I don't like about this Sunline is the high viz dye runs out fairly quickly and you're left with line that is almost white. Functionally however it is great stuff. Don't know how it would work on a spincast. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Sunline_SX1_Braided_Line_Hi-Vis_Yellow/descpage-SXHV.html

No haven't been out to The Rock lately, between the weather and having stuff to do I just haven't had time to make the trip. I have pestered the largemouth in the local lakes a bit but that's been it. Sounds like the fishing has been great, good to hear you are getting into them!

Picked one of these up a couple of weeks ago, lightweight, fits snugly but doesn't feel too tight, fairly cool (temperature). Much more comfortable that any Buff I have worn and I've gone through a few. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Buff_Cool_Net_UV_Buffs/descpage-BCN.html

After seeing another goggle eye pic, I also think warmouth now.

Vernon sure did leave behind a mess. 😄

Caught a couple of these today fishing for bass here in Bella Vista. I believe it is a goggleye, but I have never seen one so darkly colored. What does the panel of experts say?

I was stationed in Germany back in the late 70's, never did do any fishing. I'd say the heck with the fishing and spend your free time sampling the local beer.