Quillback

I could not get on this morning.

I have heard they run up there also, I'd like to try it myself.

I used to troll with downriggers quite a bit in the Pacific NW. I had Scotty electrics with 4'adjustable booms. I had them for 12 years and never had a problem, besides replacing the cable due to saltwater corrosion. However Scotty electrics run about $400 apiece. Electrics were good for salmon fishing becuase when you hooked a fish you needed to get the downriggers balls out of the water because if they wrapped the mono on the cable it was goodbye fish. We also trolled at depths typically 100' to 150' so manually cranking up one or two downriggers when a fish was on added some unneeded excitement and stress. However I would imagine fishing the lakes around here you won't be fishing very deep so you could get by with manual riggers. I have had Cannon manuals before I got my Scotty's and they worked fine. Scotty also makes manual riggers, I'm sure they work fine also. I would think you could use 6-8 LB balls to troll with, the faster you troll, the heavier weight you need to keep your lure at the exact depth you are targeting.

It will be interesting to see how they do.

I plan oh fishing Beaver this spring (once I get a boat) and I won't be shy about posting results, good or bad.

I saw a fishing show a couple of weeks ago, I believe it was Infisherman, anyway the host was fishing Norfolk with a guide. It was winter time, can't remember exact month but I believe November or December. They were fishing at night tossing swimming plugs up against the bank and retrieving slowly. It was on the windy side of a point. They caught some nice stripers.

Sounds tasty!

Well seeing how the Razorbacks blew it (why did that kid try and field that punt?). I have to say it should be OSU vs Florida. In my opinion Michigan had their chance and they got beat by OSU. The championship game should be between two conference champions, no 2nd place teams allowed. We really need a playoff of some kind, but since there isn't one I guess we'll continue to have this kind of controversy every year.

Those are some nice slabs!

Got about an inch of ice and sleet with 3 inches of snow on top here in Bella Vista. It's 16 degrees outside right now, and to think it was 73 a couple of days ago. Went from Fall to Winter real fast.

The Tigers used Nolan Richardson's pressing defence to beat the Hawgs. The Hawgs couldn't handle it.

Thanks for the warning, it's supposed to be 65 here today and we'll be lucky if we see 35 tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to it.

I noticed in the "Ads by Google" section in the header that the "Fishing Hurts" website got a link in there. It's an entertaining read, in case the link is gone here's the URL. http://www.fishinghurts.com/feat-dogfish.asp?c=1509

That is a nice fish, congrats!

Pretty fish, almost looks like a Golden.

It's a good site, I would like to see more posts (reports) on warm water fishing, especially Beaver lake and the area around NW Arkansas, but that's a wish, not a criticism of what's being posted. I guess I'll just have to get out and make my own reports.

I would like to see more info as far as where to go, when to fish and what to use.

To throw in my 2 cents, I lived in the Pacific Northwest for 17 years and many of the same issues with fish habitat are similar to the issues are going on down here. What really scares the ranchers, power generators, developers and local politicians are Federal judges stepping in and dictating habitat and other requirements. This usually is a result of conservation or environmental groups bringing lawsuits in defence of "threatened" or "endangered" species. I have a book "Fishes of Arkansas" that shows species distribution in Arkansas watersheds, there are all kinds of unique minnow speices that are confined to individual river systems or even just small area of a specific stream. I would think that if any of those unique species were threatened with extinction due to development of pollution that a lawsuit could be brought against the offending parties. Unfortunately minnows aren't as glamorous as say slamon and steelhead in the Northwest so it's hard to get big conservation organizations interested in saving some obscure minnow species.

Great report, glad to hear you guys had a good time..nothing beats a bologna sandwich while you're out fishing.

I just moved to NW Arkansas, reading the fishing reports in the paper, they say Catfishing is good in Beaver. Anyone have a recommendation on where to fish for them from shore? I don't have a boat yet, but I would like to get out and catch a cat or two. Any other catfishing places here in NWA that anyone would recommend? Thanks in advance!

Yes thanks for the reports, I just moved to Bella Vista and once I get a boat I plan to get out and fish Beaver. Once I do get out there I will also post reports.

Good luck, it will be interesting to hear how you do.

Well I can understand that point, I wonder if angler opinion agreed with the biological reasons for the reg change on SWEPCO? It's a great place to introduce youngsters to bass fishing, and from the number of rigs I've seen in the parking lot on a Saturday morning it appears anglers aren't turned off by catching too many small bass. I would also argue that SWEPCO already contains a healthy population of trophy bass, I fear the end result will be a lake with a relatively small number of "trophy" bass and anything below 18" will also become scarce. Anyway I guess we'll find out, hopefully this change is for the better, it would be great to have a lake that has a good number of trophy sized bass.

I haven't fished for bass in SWEPCO since last November, but it was good then for bass of all sizes, we did get some smaller ones, but also caught several in the 2-5 lb range. Maybe this reg change will create an environment where there will be more larger fish, but I'm sceptical. I think it's a fine lake for bass fishing as it is and I don't see how this reg change will improve it.

Thanks for the report, once I get moved down to NW AR I'll have to give this lake a try.