Quillback

Man has it rained today in Bella Vista, it stopped for a while late this morning into the afternoon, but it's coming down again. Had hail last might and again this monrning, but fortunately no damage except for a couple of broccoli plants that got beat up. If there's a bright side to this, it's that fish populations are up in Beaver because of the high water the last couple of years, looks like it will be another hight water spring, the graph for the water level is shooting straight up, water should be in the buck brush soon.

Yep, I did not mean to imply it was something you could use to get an exact weight, I have found it to be close however, but that's only using largemouth. And it can get you in the ballpark if you ain't got nothing to weight your fish . State of OK wildlife department keeps lake records for largest fish, just saw where a fellow caught an 11.4 lb. bass out of Lake Holdenville. Length 23.5, girth 20.5, ran it through the calculator and the calc said 11.09, so it was in the ball park.

Yeah it's a political furball, people that live on the lakes but don't fish want clear water, if there wasn't a fish in any of the lakes they would be happy. I'm hoping that they allow the fisheries biologist to manage the lakes, and just stay out of trying to give their "advice". Drove by Windsor today, ramps still closed, the water has reached the bottom of the ramp so I'm thinking by next weekend,or maybe the middle of the week, assuming it rains as predicted, the ramps will be open.

I caught a bass this winter with almost the same dimensions, it weighed 9.2 according to my scale. Here's an online fish calculator, that gives an estimate of 9.8 for a fish that's 25 long and 16 girth. I think you may have underestimated. Heck of a fish by any measure! http://www.bassresource.com/bassfishing/fishcalculator.html

I'm not sure what it means either, they used to dump fertilzer in the lakes but some of the non-fishermen who lived on the lakes did not like the pea green water color so they stopped fertilizing. We'll probably get something more specific soon as to what they'll be doing. Back in the fertilzer days Lomond had a pretty good shad population and some sizable bass so I'm hoping they come up something that will improve overall bass size. They have stocked threadfin shad in Lomond in each of the last 2 years, first year they either got eaten or died off during the winter, I haven't fished Lomond in a while I wonder if the shad made it this year.

Take it easy on the little fellers . Yeah there are a lot of those small bass, I'm strictly catch and release when it comes to bass, but you're right, on some of the lakes it would not hurt to harvest the some of the smaller ones. The lakes bio tells me that he has just gotten approval from the AR DNR to begin some sort of nutrient enhancement program for the lakes, in the long term that should help bass sizes improve.

Thanks for the heads up, I just need a day where the wind isn't blowing up a hurricane.

Yeah I could not tell where they were at either. They did not seem to be fishing bluffs at all. They were working the jerkbaits faster than I do usually, guess I learned something there. Some pretty nice bass were caught.

I hear there's some crappie to be caught in that lake, I bet you'll do well.

Thanks for that link. I did some research and as far as I can tell, High Octane gas, 89 or 91 can contain Ethanol.

Hey Birdwatcher, I've heard of that catfish bite in the rocks in June but never tried it - any general areas on the lake you would recommend? I have also heard shrimp beneath a float works well for the spawning cats, but again, just what I've heard.

At noon, according to today's paper.

There are whites that run in the Indian creek arm and the coves connecting to Indian creek, it's hit or miss this time of year, but hit it right and you can get into them. I would think that if you saw them in the Clifty arm last year they might be in there again this year. A friend of mine has been catching balck bass on topwaters lately, so you might want to bring some Redfins and walk the dog type lures. I like 1/8 oz white or chartreuse/white road runners for whites this time of year.

There are whites that run in the Indian creek arm and the coves connecting to Indian creek, it's hit or miss this time of year, but hit it right and you can get into them. I would think that if you saw them in the Clifty arm last year they might be in there again this year. A friend of mine has been catching balck bass on topwaters lately, so you might want to bring some Redfins and walk the dog type lures. I like 1/8 oz white or chartreuse/white road runners for whites this time of year.

Yeah Avalon has a lot of those little guys, but there are some big ones in there too. That wind was brutal this weekend, I did not go out, but I'll definitely get out this week, somewhere.

My guide won't take me out in this wind, he says this is the windiest spring he's ever seen. Maybe next week..

Thanks for the report, I have seen "Big Bass Battles", it's a great show.

If you're into trout, the fishing for them in Brittany is pretty good, just troll a small spoon around using your trolling motor.

I haven't been out on the lakes here in BV in more than a week, but they have been biting jerkbaits this winter, did real well in December and January. Last time I was out they were starting to move back into the coves, mostly small males, that was before the cold front, but now it's warmed up again so they're probably back in the coves if they ever left. They just closed the gates on Windsor to let it start filling after the drawdown, just depends on how much rain we get, but right now the ramps are closed, if you have a cartopper you could launch it and probably do well.

Good one! "Trey Hooks", "Fonda Hooks", "Javier Roe", LOL.

Those are some great fish Al! Thanks for the report. On a side note, I just got my 2011 BPS master catalog, love that artwork you did on the cover, very nice looking bass hooked on a jerkbait. I wish they would have made the BPS logo a little smaller

Yeah it would be great to have an annual Mizzou vs AR game, last few years AR has creampuffs on the schedule for the first 10 games or so, we could have some great regional rivalry games instead, AR vs Mizzou, AR vs Memphis, AR vs Kansas, and AR vs Wichita State. Or have an annual regional tournament before conference play begins.

Great day Bill, congrats on your PB at Table Rock!

Hey Stump Buumper, did you launch at the Hickory Creek marina? Just wondering if the corps ramp is reopened with the water coming up 3 feet in the last few weeks.

No disrespect to Mizzou or it's fans, but recruiting for that school is tougher than getting players to come to Arkansas, or Kansas for that matter.