Quillback

Excellent, good to see you and the boys had a great day!

Started out by motoring up to the Kings, picked up a few spots in the Kings on the Ned off steep bluff type banks, not a real good bite, but a fish here and there. Decided to work my way back towards Big M, fishing coves and main channel structure. Found some decent fishing, almost like a pre-spawn bite - picked some up in coves, gravel points, and windy banks, most were shallow, but there could be a bite anywhere from 5 to 20 FOW. Caught a few north of 20, with a few decent LM's, biggest was 3 lbs. and spots in the 13-15" range. It was a fun day, one of those days where I hated to leave. All of them were on the Ned, except one jerk bait bass. Water temps 46-48.

Very nice!

Thank you for the Christmas wishes and I hope you have a safe and happy Christmas!

Yes good luck Addiction - And to all a Merry Christmas!

Yeah, sadly I think it is just a matter of time.

Saw this on another board, thought you folks that fish Bull might find this interesting: #31 Yesterday, 04:27 PM Zebra Mussels The zebra mussels were first found in the Lead Hill Area (Elbow Creek) in 2007. There are many speculations about how they got there. I have my own idea but I won’t be elaborate because again it would be merely anecdotal and not based on facts. However, shortly after that they were found in Lake Taneycomo and above Tucker Hollow in Bull Shoals. So I suspect they had been around the area for a few years before that. Unfortunately, they are here now. 2014 was a banner year for them. The cooler than average summer (for the most part) and stable water conditions during the late spring and summer made for perfect breeding conditions. Combine that with an expanding population and you got trouble!! We spent a lot of time diving this summer. The numbers of zebra mussels are much higher from Lead Hill and above. Frankly it is scary on the bottom in the 10 to 20 foot zone. As you move down lake, their numbers are not as high but they are still very numerous. We get a lot of questions about what are the impacts of the zebra mussels and what are we (AGFC) going to do about it. First to the impacts of the zebra mussels. We have been telling everyone that we are not going to speculate on the impacts of the zebra mussels until the population stops spreading and equalizes out. Again, we would be merely speculating at this point and we do not want to sound all dome and gloom. I know that is odd coming from a government agency. The zebra mussels really took off in Lake of the Ozarks when they were first discovered there. It was all doom and gloom then. However, that population actually reached equilibrium and then crashed. They are unfortunately making a rebound in the last couple of years but not at the numbers when they were first found. I suspect that will occur at Bull Shoals at some point in the future. Now to control of zebra mussel. There is a hot new biological pesticide called Zequanox, It works but it is only 80 to 99% effective. For a one time treatment on Bull Shoals Lake it would cost between 95 and 499 million dollars. If I was guessing, I would say it would likely be closer to the larger number. So that is out of the picture. Blue Catfish, Redear Sunfish, and Drum will feed on Zebra Mussel but that isn’t their first choice. We currently stock 44,000 blue catfish each year and have been doing that for many years. We have stocked redear sunfish in the past. I have requested them to be stocked in 2015. Drum will likely be our best friend at this point. They will feed on the ZM the most. However, you must remember that zebra mussels are very prolific. One female can produce between 10,000 and 50,000 veligers (young ZM) during each spawn event. Each female can spawn 4 to 5 times each year. So you can see that predators have a hard time keeps up with that rate of spawning. Someone mentioned drawdown. Bull Shoals Boat Dock found them as deep as 60 to 80 foot this year in the boat dock cove. So it would have to be a massive draw down. Also the adults can unattach themselves from rocks and move to deeper water. The best scenario would be a hot dry summer where the water level did get very low and then a very high water year the next year. That is my hope!! We have shut down the Pot Shoals Facility on Bull Shoals Lake. We did not want to take the chance of spreading the mussels to other water bodies. This will not impact the stocking of fish in Bull Shoals and so far hasn’t impacted the fish stocking around the state. Basscat is right about strict regulations about drain, clean, and dry. This is most important for boat or docks that have stayed in the water for an extended period of time. Any extended stay in infested waters allows adults to attach to the boat or equipment. If you are fishing for the day, I recommend making sure that your boat is drained of all water. The days of fishing both lakes in the same day are becoming much harder. You need to always fish Bull last. As sportsmen, we need to do the best we can not to spread ZM. I realize that we can’t sway everyone that enters and leaves our lakes to use best judgment practices to stop the spread but we can at least control our one local water. That allows us to know that we are not contributing to the spread of the ZM. Are they in Lake Norfork? We have not had any confirm finding of them in the lake. That doesn’t mean they are not there. We did spend a lot of time underwater in Norfork too. We also stay in touch with a lot of the divers in the area who keep a look out for them. We do plan on conducting veligers tows in May and June around the marinas to see if we can find veligers. However this is like finding a needle in a haystack. Are they in Table Rock? Again there have been no confirmed findings. We do meet with MDC every year to discuss issues with the White River Lakes. They had some very, very, very (I could keep going) close calls this past two years. They have luckily stopped or had citizen report boats that have been incrusted with adults. These are usually house boats that stay in an infected water body for an extend period of time. Those boats do get quarantined for 21 days. Zebra Mussels are going to be something that we will have to continue to deal with in the future of Bull Shoals Lake. We need to figure out how to adapt to them in the lake because they are not going away in the near future. I know Earl and Jim know how to get ahold of me but anyone else is welcome to contact me on here or at jtrisley@agfc.state.ar.us.

Excellent!

Cut it out, you guys are making me hungry.

Yep, Bo, it as a pleasure to meet you and chat with you guys for a bit. I had a good numbers day on the spotted bass, 23 total, all spots, except one 12" smallie - but only 3 may have been keeper sized. All except one came on the Ned, fished 15-30 feet deep off bluffs and chunk rock banks. Fishing it slow and maintaining bottom contact. Here's Bo and his crew dealing with a triple header - would have been a quadruple, except his dog lost one at the boat. Watched them for about 5 minutes and they were catching them. .

Good deal , thanks for the report!

Here's a list of MO House reps, click on their name for their email. Probably would not hurt to shoot your rep an email and let them know what you think. And it's House Joint Resolution 8, right? Make sure you reference that in your email. http://house.mo.gov/member.aspx?year=2014

And when you pull up to the box on an early summer morning with high humidity (before the attendants are in the shack), all the pay envelopes are wet and stuck together.

Yep, Little Cleo is a good one.

Really hard to beat the jigs.

January 24 - Hogs coming to Missouri.

After reading this, next keeper walleye I catch is coming home with me.

Some great pics, thanks for sharing!

Uh-oh, word has even reached the antique shops on the Warts.

I stand corrected - thanks for the update.

Not a bad day for this time of year, and a nice, healthy TR largemouth that Champ is holding. Sorry about the hands, sometimes I get those kinds of cuts on the outside edge of my index finger, and when using the spinning reel, the line will get in there, and yes it does sting. Haven't had it happen this year, guess I need to do more fishing!

You are certainly welcome to bring some beverages - I've said to everyone to bring their own, but good to have some extras in case someone forgets.

Come on down, open to all registered OAF members.

Looks very tasty!

I've got a Powell Endurance 795 that is rated up to 3 oz and works well for tossing the rig. I also use 65 lb braid. Hook, Line and Sinker used to carry and still may carry jigheads that use a relatively light wire, might have been Bass-X brand. If you got them hung up in wood, you could pull it out as the hook would straighten before the braid would break. Some people that throw the rig are now Texas rigging their baits with EWG hooks, less snaggy and you can slow roll it near the bottom. All that being said, I have not thrown the rig this year at all.