Quillback

If you're in Branson West, you're not too far from JWM trailer in Reeds Spring. Drop in and talk to Bill, that guy knows boat trailers like no one else. He is a busy guy, but he'll talk to you.

I've got a dually trailer, the front bearing might be a little warm, but never hot. The rear bearing/wheels will get hot if I brake a lot. I've got some long downhill stretches and I've learned to slow down and downshift to keep off the brakes. So the rear wheels will be warm when I get to where I'm going but not hot. My trailer is now 11 years old and I've had one bearing seal fail and I tow a lot. I have Vault bearings. Had bearing buddies on my saltwater boat, had that trailer for 13-14 years, never had a bearing failure and I towed it a lot too and in and out of saltwater every time I launched. Never noticed those bearings getting hot, but didn't have trailer brakes. I got the bearings repacked every two years. Everything else on the trailer wants to break, I have replaced both leaf springs, turned out they were defective made in China deals, so the trailer company paid for them, but it would've been nice if they had pro-actively issued some kind of recall. Had a brake line go out, had the hydraulic surge piston deal fail another time, and have replaced the bunks. I've probably forgotten something, but I think that's been it. Boat and motor (OptiPop) have been fine, replaced the battery charger 6 or 7 years ago. Can't kill that Fortrexx trolling motor. It is getting pretty beat up, but just keeps going.

Nice, it is always good to get a fish that fights hard and provides some good fillets!

Hey, catch a Bruins/Panthers game while you are down there.

I agree with Dutch, beautiful area to fish. Not a lot of other fishermen either, but that will change soon when the campgrounds all open and the stripers start showing up on this end of the lake.

That's pretty neat to hook tarpon from the bank. How big are they?

They are bagging them for sure. Might have time to watch the coverage today. I bet there will be a lot of people on that lake today.

Fished with Dutch today. Early AM start and we were off the water about 1230. We caught numbers, 30 smallmouth, only 5 of which were better than 15", biggest one was close to 3 lbs. We didn't do much good back in the wood in Indian, main lake rocky banks were our best fishing. Almost all came on Keitechs tossed at the banks. Very little top water activity despite calm waters. Dutch caught a keeper sized walleye right off the bat and that was the last walleye we saw. WT 59 early.

Only one I can think of with a dock is Rocky Branch. It is about 4-5 miles east of Prairie Creek as the crow flies. You have to drive across the HWY 12 bridge to tow your boat there.

Well drop by the OA tourney at Campbell Point on the 20th and say hi.

They had an article in the latest BassMaster magazine about fishing the canals. They caught some interesting fish, knifefish and a different kind of snakehead. Sounded like a lot of fun, with miles and miles of canals to fish.

Congrats on the retirement!

Man that looks tasty. I am jealous of that Guinness glass.

Group of guys from Bella Vista have a weekly Tuesday big fish tourney. They launched out of Eagle Rock today, The winner caught a 3.6 smalls, and got another one on the same lure as a bonus. Chrome Rattletrap - something I'd never think to throw right now.

It probably warmed up by the time we left, I forgot to check it. The air temp was 45 this morning and a little cooler yesterday AM. Yesterday on Beaver it was 58 when I left.

Fished with Dutch today. It was a day of bites, but quantity over quality. We caught 45 bass, and had at least that many bites that we missed. Mainly a bunch of bank running male spotted bass. Dutch caught a keeper smallie and that was our only keeper. We caught some on the Surge Shad early, then the rest of the days on Ned rigs, shaky heads and Keitechs. A couple in a cove, but the rest were on main channel, chunky/gravelly rock with some timber around. Wind started blowing around 11 AM, we left a little after noon. WT 60 when we launched.

When you gotta haul a bird out on the ATV, that is a big bird!

Nice bird Marty! I know nothing about turkey weight, is a 21 lber. a good one?

Exchanged some texts with Richard Cross about going gill fishing. I'm ready to catch a few.

Got to the ramp just as it was getting light. Saw some fish coming up on top chasing shad, that were a long cast off the bank. Grabbed a rod off the deck, walked down to the bank, cast the Keitech at them and got an immediate bite. Turned out to be white bass, caught 3 on 3 casts then they moved away. Got the boat in the water, dropped the TM and fished the area around the dock, caught some smallmouth, one on top, a small striper and a keeper walleye. Once the sun cleared the trees that bite ended, but it was fun for a bit. fished some of the banks around the main basin and a few places back in Indian Creek, caught a fish here and there, mostly smallmouth. Also caught another keeper walleye. Only a few bites near the bank, most of my bites were in 20 feet of water. Looked around a bit for some beds, did not see any. Keitechs were my best bait, with a couple on the Ned. WT 58

Man, I've been fortunate to never get caught out in hail like that. Yikes!

Thought it would take at least 8 lbs. to win. I see one of the Keenans got on the board.

How are the legs doing?

That is pretty neat, I have always wanted to catch those shad.

Kelly Jordan is in a good spot, in the lead with 2 fish left to fill a limit.