Quillback

That's an excellent day for the Beav! What was the water clarity in Clifty ad Rocky Branch?

I see that Tackle Warehouse has a daily special on a wake bait (they must read this forum ), never have tried this particular bait, but it looks like it could catch fish. It is a bit small, and only weighs 1/3 oz, but that could be a good thing. Like I need an excuse to buy more stuff from TW, but this looks tempting. http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Savage_Gear_Double_Wobble_Waker/descpage-SGDW.html#multiview

That's a good one for Beaver!

None of the lakes are "electric only", but the smaller lakes, Norwood, Rayburn, Avalon, and Brittany are no wake lakes. You can use your big motor on these lakes but no wake allowed.

I'll give you my 2 cents: As far as best lake for big bass - Hard to say, I saw a photo of a 12.5 lb. bass caught in Brittany this spring, Brittany certainly has some big bass and is not too bad for average size fish either. Windsor is a good lake for big bass, but getting any over 8 lbs. is tough, there are decent numbers of 4 - 7lb. bass in Windsor. Avalon also has some big bass, my personal best, 9.5 lbs. (approximately) came from Avalon. Lake Ann also has some good bass in the 4 - 7 lb. range. Numbers? You can catch a bunch of 10-12 inch bass on Avalon. Windsor and Ann are good for numbers and better average size. I have not fished Loch Lomond much in the last few years, but it has decent numbers of bass also. Crappie? Crappie fishing is tough in the BV lakes, lots of pressure. If you can go out and catch 6 keeper crappie in a day, you're doing darn good. If I had to choose a lake for crappie, I'd probably go to Avalon, lots of brush piles and they stocked several thousand fingerlings in there a couple of years ago and they should be around keepers sized by now. The lakes are fairly murky right now from the rains we received this spring, but unless there's a gully washer before you get here, they should be in great shape by the end of May. When you get close to coming down here, feel free to shoot me a PM and I'll tell you what's going on. Another option for your wife, if she likes panfish, is there are some good bluegills (8-10") in Lakes Ann, Windsor, and Loch Lomond. I like to use a #8 Eagle Claw longshank panfish hook, and a split shot (no bobber), use a redworm hooked one tijme through the middle, or a cricket and fish flats 6 -10 feet deep.

Started off fairly well, caught a spot on a wakebait and had a few blowups on a gravel point. Switched to c-rigging a lizard and picked up a few on it, then things got tough. Probably stayed with the lizard too long, I was trying to make them bite it and they just were not interested. Later on in the morning picked up a couple more on a trick worm and a couple on a weightless Damiki Stinger. Ended up with maybe a dozen total, mostly sub-legal spots. Talked to a fellow at the ramp and he said he did well as far as numbers fishing a minnow type topwater (he did not specify what it was exactly), but not many keepers. Saw about a dozen dead white bass scattered around, not all in one spot but in several miles there were some dead ones floating. Why that is I don't know. Lots, and I mean lots, of carp spawning right now, this would be a great time to be a bowfisher. I saw water temps that were 63-64 around noon before I left.

Here's a wakebait I fished today for the first time, picked up a spot and had a few strikes. I'm not saying that it is the best wakebait, but I like what I've seen so far. http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Custom-Painted-6th-Sense-Wake-X-2-2-Crankbait-Lure-/390497897935?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5aeb7d0dcf

I've seen those pontoons with the big motors on them, why anyone would want a pontoon with a 300 HP motor on it is beyond me. Pontoons are all about kicking back, relaxing, enjoying life. A 300 HP motor on a pontoon is just plain wrong.

Thanks for your reports and the technique info you have provided!

If you want to protect songbirds, focus on domestic cats.

I can't stay up past 9 PM but glad to hear you guys are getting them.

I have started to throw a little heavier sinker, 1/2 oz, but I've been using small baits like the Zoom Ultravibe craw. I plan on going tomorrow and I think I'm going to try some bigger baits, trick worms and lizards and fish them in the deeper water outside the beds and hope for some better fish. I'll probably just end up catching fewer smaller fish, but I'm going to give it a try.

That's another one, people fishing from ramps or from the courtesy dock. I don't mind them fishing, but what is aggravating is when they leave their lines in the water and get all huffy when you pull into the dock.

A 7.5 lb. wallie is a beast in my books, congrats on that!

I think the worst are pontoon boats trying to get on the trailer when there's a good crosswind blowing across the ramp. Not that I get mad at them for it, but that's a good way to tie up a ramp for a while.

Excellent, glad to see you got into them with your son!

Got a couple dozen today, maybe 10 around keeper size, but nothing over 16", mostly largemouth, couple of spots and a couple of smallies. Dragging a c-rig with a craw was my best bite, fishing water 5 -10 feet deep. I did get a half dozen or so fishing a Damiki Stinger weightless rigged Texas style. A stinger is a soft stickbait like a Senko, except the tail tapers down to a point. Throw it out there, twitch it a bit, let is sink, twitch, until you get it back to the boat. Stinger bite was good early in the back of coves, but once the sun came out they did not like it anymore and I had to go back to c-rigging. Got quite a few drive-byes on the Stinger, I think they were moving it away from beds and not really eating it. Water temp went from 57 early and was getting to 61 when I left about 2 PM. Water has cleared up quite a bit in the point 23 area, but going up the White from Big M the water still has a brownish color, with a couple of feet of viz, but it is fishable. Lots of folks out fishing today.

Nice, especially for a 25 year old boat.

Thanks for the info, I'm going out tomorrow AM and was concerned the latest rain might have murked up the water, but looks like that did not happen.

The Bella Vista POA and US Coast Guard Auxiliary is offering a free, and open to the public (you do not have to be a Bella Vista resident to attend) boat safety class, Saturday, May 4th at Riordan Hall, 3 Riordan Drive in Bella Vista. Class runs from 9 AM to 5 PM. BV boaters can receive a 10% discount on boat registration fees, and you may be eligible for a boat insurance discount upon completion of this class. To register (you must pre-register) send an email to safeboating4all@yahoo.com. I'm told there are about 25 seats left, so register soon.

Caught a couple of nice browns years ago on the White below Bull on Little Cleo spoons, can't remember the exact size, but shad sized ones, 2-3". Spray painted one side white, cast them up stream and try and imitate a shad that's been through the turbines and is dead or dying and rolling down the river in the current. Those browns also feed on sculpins heavily, might be worth trying the soft plastic Goby imitators (looks like a sculpin) that have hit the market in the last few years.

Ya'll are welcome, I plan to record it as I think I'll be out fishing tomorrow AM.

ESPN2 will show the Elite tourney on Bull tomorrow (Sunday) at 7 AM Central.

A couple of other local lakes, Grand Lake is #15 and Bull is #18. Beaver did not make the list.

Here's what the article says they used to rank the lakes: "Asking every states DNR to give us catch rates, population studies and stocking schedules for all the fisheries they managed. From there, we sent the list to B.A.S.S. Nation presidents and conservation directors to rank each of these bodies of water based on the tournaments they held. And then we had a panel of Elite Series pros, outdoor writers and industry professionals finalize the lakes list and rankings."