Quillback

I have a buddy (OA member Jeb) that took the training to get certified. He did it on Beaver lake. He said on the clear end of the lake, they didn't see very many fish, but he did say that you can sit still, pick up a couple of pebbles, click them together and a smallmouth or two will show up to take a look. After hearing that, whenever I am using a c-rig for smallies, I always rig it with a brass clicker and bead, and I'll shake it to call them in. Jeb did say that mid-lake visibility is not good, you dive down to 20 feet or so and it's tough to see, further than a couple of feet away. After seeing the post on underwater drones, that may be the way to go to check out bass habitat.

And if 14 lb. walleye were so abundant that you could jump in the water and easily find one, then we probably need some spearfishing harvest because us rod and reel types apparently can't figure them out. 😜

It will never effect Bull or Beaver.

Yak rods - good idea from a marketing perspective. Are the fiberglass spinning rods targeted towards light cranks?

Yep, plenty of opportunity out there. And the last thing that I worry about is divers. It's fishing around all the rec traffic that makes me crazy. As far as buffalo and passenger pigeons, they were wiped out or nearly so, by commercial hunting. And as far as bison are concerned, the days of huge herds roaming the west were over once ranching and farming became established.

Good stuff, always fun to see people catching fish!

I am not in favor of any kind of illegal fishing/hunting activity. And if divers are following the regs, I have no problem with it. And divers are not the reason for the lack of abundance of 20 lb walleye or 10 lb. bass.

Walleye are pretty much a put and take fishery, AGFC stocks them in Beaver and TR (well last time I saw a stocking report they did). Most rod and reel people will keep them, as I do at times. I would bet the number taken by divers spearfishing is negligible compared to rod and reel numbers.

I agree with what Dan says. I saw quite a few striper fishermen near the dam last week, that's usually a sign that the stripers are in the area. Walleye population is pretty good this year, I'm sure if you target them, you'll get some.

Picked a good weekend as far as the weather, you might even get a bit chilly out there tonight.

Actually it's all about carp and the bowfishing of them. The bream in general are underfished in these highland impoundments.

I might have to keep one sometime. I have heard if you ice them down right away, they come out OK.

On sale! https://chasing-innovation.com/buy/gladius/gladius-advanced-pro?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIiaWxt7iK3AIVi8pkCh3ORwCmEAQYAiABEgIcmvD_BwE

Sounds pretty neat, except for the price. It does concern me that this technology might make things just a little tougher on the fish, going to enable some serious "sight" fishing.

Come on November...

In the future, people will just talk in letters. "HRU" "PDG!" "RUGFT?" "YHICABO!"

We should send him a get well card.. 😄

I second Tim Hughes as a custom painter. I like his "Missouri Craw" pattern on a WW.

They are strong fish (drum), fun to catch, but I have to admit it is a bit of a letdown when you see them. I knew it wasn't a bass, but held out hope that it might be a big walleye or striper.

I launched at Indian Creek, but spent most of my time fishing the rocky banks between the launch and the dam. Got out early, started about 0545 and got off the water at 10 AM. Pretty good smallmouth bite, mostly 12-14 inch fish, but caught 4 that were above that keeper mark of 15". Zoom UV Speed craw on a 3/4 oz Carolina rig was what I caught them all on. Didn't catch any green fish. Did catch a drum that I estimate went 7-8 lbs. It was hooked in the right ventral (I think that's what it is called) fin which gave it some extra oomph on the fight. I don't think I caught a fish in anything shallower than 15 feet. They were around rocks, if I could feel my weight banging over rocks I was confident I'd find a bite. Quite a few boats fishing the deep water by the dam, I wasn't close enough to see what they were doing, but I bet they were striper fishing. If you get out early, the rec traffic isn't too bad. Surface temp 84-85.

Very nice! Lots of fun to catch those spots on the drop shot.

Excellent, I found some on Beaver this morning, same kind of pattern, deep and where you get one bite you usually get several. Not the quality you got, mostly 12-14" fish and a few keepers that were just over the keeper mark. All brown fish and all mine came on a c-rigged UV Speed Craw. Got off the water at 10:00 AM, no wind, hot, and the play boats were out.

Nice ones! That Hellgrammite looks interesting!

Yeah I sure didn't have him on my radar, but congrats to him!