Quillback

Watched the 3rd Oklahoma episode last night, where they fished Fort Gibson. They were catching them pretty good, with several 4-5 lb. fish. Oklahoma has some pretty good bass fishing, but tends to get over looked on the national scene. Anyone know when they filmed those Oklahoma shows? I think it was early fall, but that's just a guess.

Those things take the fun out of fishing Carolina rigs. I'm sure it's just a matter of time until they show up in Table Rock.

And from what I hear, they don't taste good either. However a dead groundhog is a good groundhog.

Well my buddy John caught a 5.5 lb. bass today on the Ned rig, right off the chunk rock bank you can see in the background. We caught 17 or so, not a lot of fish, but decent quality, had 3 or 4 largemouth keepers besides the one above, and several spots in the 15-16" range. Spots were really fat, they are feeding up on something, couldn't see any craw antennas in their mouths, so it may be shad they are eating. Almost all came on the Ned, John got one on a finesse jig. We tossed some jerk baits and grubs for a bit, but the Ned seemed to be the only thing that interested them. Most of our fish came on main channel points and chunk rock banks. Except for the big one, they seemed to like some wood nearby. Did venture up the Kings to Viola for a bit, caught maybe 8 or so, all spots, on steep banks. Kings is stained to a pea green color. Water temps were anywhere from 39-43.

The odds have to be hugely against, first having a successful spawn and then one getting to that size.

I never stopped from the night before.

Naturally spawned (not stocked) Tiger trout caught in the Little Red - page 5 of the attached PDF. Caught one yet Ham? Fish notes.pdf

In the orange for sure - I do have a bag that I have 5 worms left in that are the more subtle orange with a lot of GP - I'm saving those for early spring, worked well last year.

Durn things were becoming Orange with a GP stripe on top. I quit buying them, they make work, but I have no confidence in an orange worm.

Did you relocate some to Eagle Rock? We need more brown fish in the "dirty water".

Not a lot of work if you don't make the heads. I can see where making the heads can keep a guy busy, but some guys do that stuff as a hobby.

Keep it a secret - I don't want anyone in that area fishing Neds. Just kidding of course, let him know. He may not fish it anyway, some people just don't like to fish the Ned. Nothing wrong with that of course.

Thank you.

Just doing a test.

I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but an expensive reel with gummed up spool bearings will cast like a dog. Keeping a reel clean and well lubed can really help when it comes to casting distance.

Certainly anything posted on April one should be subject to extreme scrutiny. I tell myself that all the time, but somehow still will fall for something.

Yeah I remember reading something from the AGFC that they estimated that about 20% of the walleye that made it to catchable size in Beaver were naturally reproduced. That's a recollection from memory which may be faulty.

The weed guards help to lessen snags for me. Still do get snagged up, and usually I'll lose at least 2 or 3 rigs a day. But, I don't hesitate to throw them at anything, brushpiles, cedar trees, I'll throw it in there. Only exception is dock cables, I'll try and avoid those, freaking things are lure magnets and line frayers.

That's a good day this time of year, I've talked to several people out on the water this weekend that were getting skunked. There's always a few guys out there that are catching the heck out of them, but most of us are having to work hard to get fish. Seems when you can find them, they'll bite, but finding them is hard, and you can find them on a point back in a creek like you did, and then fish 10 other points like that and not get a bite. Just hard to figure out.

I sure didn't go over to K dock to fish for walleye, but you did fake me out. I'd be a little careful about posting fake reports, doesn't do much for the integrity of the forum - I realize this is a one-time deal, but I'm hoping it does not encourage others to do so.

Welcome!

I'm a bass fisherman and I usually release walleye. I like fried fish, but not 5 times a week. I just hope the folks out there who fill the freezer with fillets eat them before they get freezer burn. And if you want fish to eat, these big lakes have an over abundance of big bluegill, they are easy to catch and good to eat. Never understood why those who fish for food don't go after those gills.

I agree with you Ham, if you can find them, you can usually get a few out of that spot. My usual winter "milk run" spots just haven't been holding fish like they have the last couple of winters.

I launched at about 0930 thinking that the bite would be better on a warm afternoon, than a cold morning. It did not go as I planned. First bank I fished, which I chose because I had caught a few keepers off of it a couple of days ago, again was a producer. Caught 3 largemouth, all keepers, had another one that got off half-way to the boat that was pulling harder than any of the keepers I had boated. All were Ned rig fish in about 10 FOW. Passed up and down that bank a couple of times after that, throwing a hair jig, jerker, and a tube, but no more bites. Motored down the lake, caught a short bass on a chunk rock bank on the Ned, moved to a cove mouth with deep trees and caught three more shorts on a grub slow rolled in 30-35 FOW, and those were the last fish I caught. I didn't get a bite from noon until I left at about 3:30 PM. So much for that warm afternoon bite idea. Talked to Mr. Babler and also to Mr. Duck and his buddy, always good to see some fellow OAF's out on the water. Water temps were 39-43 on average, appeared to warm up about a degree by afternoon.

Dang, they have KVD himself making an appearance!