Quillback

Yeah looked like a neat place to visit and fish.

Used to see them grab dragon flies mid-air in the lilley pad filled lakes of Massachusetts (made for some good popping bug action on a fly rod), but haven't seen it on any of the Ozarkian impoundments.

For sure that is a factor. Look at what the city of Grove did to bring the Elites to Grand.

Beaver could serve as an example I suppose, there are a ton of tournaments running out of Prairie Creek and that's the main release point. Beaver has gotten a bad rep as a tournament lake in spite of the fact that the FLW guys did fairly well their last 2 tournaments. As far as I know however, there are no FLW or Elite series events scheduled for Beaver. It's not a facilities issue (PC has a huge parking lot and a recently built weigh in facility for tournaments), and there are tons of restaurants and hotels in the Rogers/Bentonville area. A couple of years ago one of the FLW pros did well fishing in Prairie creek, maybe a mile away from the ramp. But he didn't win. However i don't think the reason they aren't coming back in the forseeable future is because of the fish relocation thing. I don't think that matters at all. AGFC did do a black bass stocking a few years ago where they kept some big fish caught in tourneys to use for brood stock and released the fingerlings produced into the lake. I haven't seen any follow up on that from AGFC to know if it was a success or not. AGFC came out with a new website recently, visually it is impressive, but if you're looking for detailed information like fish stocking info (except for trout stocking in urban lakes) it is not there anymore (used to be available on the old site). Hard to know what the heck they are doing to support fisheries as it to know what the heck the Russian KGB is up to.

I have Dobyns Champions 704 and 705 CB rods (composites, not the fiberglass rods). 704 works well for smaller top waters, 705 for the bigger ones like full sized spooks, YM Havanas etc., They are 7 foot models, I can throw a spook as far as you would want. Lightweight you can fish them all day, and they are fun to use to catch 2 pound spotted bass, but have enough back bone to handle stripers. Great crankbait and spinner bait rods. my main complaint with these rods are the guide inserts, have had a couple break on me. They have discontinued the model I have so hopefully the new model has better guides. Used 704's and 705's pop up frequently on BBC. Dobyns is pretty good at supporting their product. I have called them a couple of times and have gotten one of the Dobyns brothers to talk to each time.

Bruins lost their last 2 games to TB and the other Florida team. That does concern me, I am worried they will fall flat on their face in the first round. Yeah that Vegas team is intriguing, not a fan of that team, but if they win the Cup that would be something.

I know nothing about that area myself, but I have seen a video or two of people steelhead fishing in Ohio lake Erie tributaries.

Bruins play Toronto tonight, looking forward to it. I watched more Bruins games this year that I have at anytime since 35 years ago when I lived in the Boston area. Maybe about 10 games total. Hard for me to know other teams capabilities when there are so many teams in the NHL now and you don't see them play. Sure is a much better game to watch on the big flat screen with HD than it was in the old days of poor antenna reception and tube TV. Go Bruins!

I know a jighead you could buy for that $2.00. Man, that's funny - making a trip to the P.O. would tick me off more that coughing up the $2. I am jealous of that T-shirt however, I have quite a collection being that is my standard uniform now that I am retired. Make sure you bring it to the next Jig fest so we can all admire it. I'm sure we can create a sort of modeling runway for you.

Did they film that commercial on that private lake that Bill Dance does his show on? Dang those are some dumb bass.

Always thought they didn't produce until fall, but if they come in May, I'll have to give them a shot next year.

Yeah I have had to cover my broccoli plants twice this spring and may have to do it again this weekend. But they have survived so far. When do you get sprouts from the Brussel sprout plants if you plant them in the spring? Never have grown them myself.

I rarely fish tournaments, but I know people who do fish them all the time. And those guys that fish them have fun doing it, I think asking why people like tournament fishing is like asking why do people like to play golf tournaments or bowling tournaments, some people like that level of competition and some of us are just happy going to the bowling alley and be bowling with our friends, just like I am happy to be out on the lake "fun" fishing. I enjoy fishing, even with the release boats, tournaments (or practice for them) going on, wake boats, leaf blowers and barking dogs, crows crapping on my truck at the ramp parking lot, getting stuck behind school buses on my way to and from the lake, or stuck behind some guy towing a 5th wheel up a steep hill, dead skunks in the road (stinking to high heaven) - there's always something. We like to complain about stuff, and certainly there are many things we'd like to change, but I fish because I enjoy the heck out of it. When I'm out on the lake I try my best to ignore the stuff that can aggravate me if I let it. There's plenty of bass in Table Rock, sure they are tough to find sometimes (Believe me I know that), but even on a tough day in August I can enjoy myself fishing (get out real early in the AM on those August days). Speaking of tourneys, the Elite series will be fishing Grand Lake, I think starting the 26th. Going to watch some live coverage.

Well they've been working better than my Ned stuff. And even a Ned head from a well known source costs me about $1 each when said and done. And I lose those too. Heck I lost 3 $2 heads yesterday, out $6 might have saved $3 with less expensive heads. But I know I can catch fish with that extra $3 and they'll stay hooked. When you look at the whole shebang of bass fishing out of a fiberglass boat, tow vehicle, electronics, gas, maintenance, etc., all that money it takes just to get out on the water, that extra $3 is insignificant. Time is valuable too, especially if you are working, we only have so many fine spring days in our lives to fish, I'm just not going to spend too much time trying to find a bit less expensive tackle to fish over something that is putting fish in the boat. With all that being said (see you got me into a semi-rant), I'll be all over it - I want a good quality 1/0 hook, decent bait keeper for those soft keitechs ( I glue them on, but the bait keeper helps), and painted head would be nice.

Big M launch is in a small cove and unless the wind is downright crazy, it is somewhat sheltered and you shouldn't have wind issues launching/loading. As of yesterday the courtesy dock is useable, but close to the bank as they haven't moved it out with the water level dropping 4 feet in the last week. So come straight in to the dock from the front, there are some rip rap rocks they placed on the side of the ramp this year so watch out for those, it is not much of a problem, but just be aware. Main channel will be white capping in spots, but you can find places that are somewhat sheltered from the wind to fish. Eagle Rock is another option, channel is narrower up there, there can be stretches where even on a windy day it won't be too bad. Don't know what the courtesy dock situation is there.

You guys keep talking like this and you're going to scare away the tourists.

Is that the place to go after you've drank a lot of coffee?

Congrats on some great fishing!

Hard thing is finding heads with a good 1/0 hook for those smaller baits. Tons of options out there with 3/0 hooks, but that is not what I want, unless I am going with bigger Keitechs. They will start eating 3.8's and 4.3's soon, maybe they are now, just haven't experimented much with bigger baits yet.

LOL, he insisted I take it. He's new to the Ozarkian bass scene, and even though I did explain to him the desirability of those old style WW's he didn't want it.

Forgot to mention, Mike snagged some line today, pulled about 40 of it in and son of a gun if it didn't have an original Wart tied on. One of those red craw/orange belly patterns. He didn't want it, so now it is mine.

Yep, I have always thought about why those bass stay deep all summer and I think Wrench has a good idea on that. Lot of pressure on obvious shallow spots too, those bass see a lot of baits.

Went back again today with a buddy, took two of us to catch around 50 today. Fish were a bit scattered today and they bite was slow until about 10 AM when they started showing up in sunny pockets and points. No really big fish, but we probably got a dozen of the 4 variations of Bass (Mean, smallies, spots and largies) that were over 15". Mike caught a smallie that was about 3 lbs. on a jig and that was our big fish. We caught some really nice, fat spots, some may have gone 2.5 lbs. Keitechs, in 3.3 and 2.8 were working and we got several Ned fish. Caught 2 nice crappie on a 2.8 on a 1/8 oz head, wish I could pattern those crappie but they are just random. Water temps were again in the 51-54 range. Saw 55 in one spot. A meanie and a smallie.

These - I like the 1/0 hook for smaller swim baits like the 2.8 and 3.3. Really sharp hook on these baits. Sold out for the most part, but I emailed Dirty Jigs and they said they just sent a big shipment to TW so they should show up soon. They say they can't keep up with demand. http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Dirty_Jigs_Matt_Stefan_Guppy_Swimbait_Jig_Head_3pk/descpage-DJSGH.html

Welcome! Springfield is not a bad place to live for a fisherman.