Quillback

Had to go back today after yesterday's good fishing. Not as good today, wind had switched around to the north and it blew pretty good all morning, but really got going about 10 AM. Fish were biting, but really light, missed the first 5 bites before I got a 10" LM to start the day. Had several suspect bites that I never could determine if I was on a piece of wood or rock or it it was a fish, had a few other bites where the line would just kinda flex a bit in a weird way and dang if it wasn't a fish. Just a weird day overall as far as bites. Caught 17, with only 2 keepers. No keeper largemouth today. All on the Ned rig. Fish seemed to be a little deeper today, 15-20 FOW. Rocks and wood. Got a couple of bags of Berkely Maxscent Lil' troopers. Basically a 2.5" craw. Whatever it is they are made of, seems to be very soft and flexible, might work pretty good on a shroom head with a #2 hook. They are small, that 2.5" length includes the claws. Speaking of small baits, a little craw claw came out of one of the spots I caught. It was tiny, smaller than the little claws of these baits. Saw a school of tiny shad swimming on top in front of the boat, those dudes might have been an inch long. Happened to catch a 13" spotted bass right then, brought it back through the school, and those dudes disappeared in a flash. Kinda funny, but then again, I am easily amused. Came back to the ramp today, and a tow truck was backed down the ramp, one of those trucks with the flat bed that tilts down to the ground. The guy was winching a wrecked pontoon onto the bed, it worked, first time I've seen that.

I was kinda glad to get out of the wind.

Nope, I am watching football this weekend. Good luck, post some pics!

Dang, that is a hoss!

Nice fish! I will have a grub tied on next time out. Saw a few come up on top today myself.

They were biting the Ned today. Don't know why, but they were up in 10-20 FOW and just about everywhere I stopped to fish, except gravel. I caught 27, 8 keepers. Dragging the Ned on a 1/8 oz head on the bottom. I thought that maybe the dads were up shallow and the bass were after them, but I only saw one with antennas waving out from it's gullet. But I didn't check a lot of fish either. Didn't see many shad, so I don't know what was going on. Maybe the fish think it is March, because that is what it fished like today. Wind started blowing about 10 AM, and it made it tough for me to detect bites and get good hook sets. Would've been nice to have spot lock, would've caught some more. Mostly main channel fish, found one good bank on an entrance to a cove. Left at 1230, they were still biting, but the wind was making me crazy trying to fish the Ned. Tried some cranking and a bit of jerking, but not one bite on the treble hook stuff. Never saw another boat until I left, then saw one fishing a bank and a kayak in the Big M cove. There were three rigs parked at Big M. WT43-45 Kind of a dark pic for some reason, but a pretty little smallmouth. This one has his winter spots on: Fat spot, this is the time of year when they get fat and healthy: Meanmouth (I think): Best one of the day:

I've had thoughts about moving to somewhere around Mountain Home myself someday. All the lakes around here are getting hammered with fishing pressure and in the summer the rec traffic is getting bad too.

This ought to put some vegetation on the banks too. It all gets killed off when the lake is high all spring so when it goes down then we have however much bank was covered by 10 feet of water that is nothing but gravel or rock.

Cross the border into OK and they do well, Eucha and Spavinaw have them too. Was doing a bit of reading on them, supposedly they do better in clear water than dingy. That doesn't seem to fit the mold around here.

Great news, sure is good to get out of the hospital!

I have never caught a drum on TR, and that was the first one my buddy has caught there and he fishes that lake a lot. I caught a 15 lber. on Beaver a few years ago, still have the pic. Caught it on a Ned rig, and it did pull, thought it was a striper.

Very cool - don't know much about that particular bass strain, but assumed they didn't get very big.

AGFC habitat crews busy at Beaver - News

Was curious as to the water temp, still hanging above 50 looks like. Friend of mine caught a drum yesterday that he estimates was in the 25 lb. range on an ice jig.

I have seen some boats out at Beaver using downriggers for stripers, and some using side-planers. You'd think trolling with flashers or dodgers for stripers would work, but I have never seen anyone using any of that stuff. Still have some salmon stuff myself, have a bunch of Silver Horde plugs, they were my go to plug to troll in Puget Sound.

I was over at the local Wally World this AM, browsed the fishing section and they had a bunch in that color you are describing. They were floaters, which of course can be modified to suspend if that is what you want. I picked up a suspender in color Purple Darter, it's kind of like the one Dave shows in this thread except it is 4.5". $5.27. Only thing I don't like is that they are made in China. Hard to get anything domestically produced in the fishing world these days.

Thanks for the report Edwin. Been too darned cold and windy for me lately, but next week looks like it might have the kind of weather I need to get out there. Interesting that the WT is still in the low 50's, but might drop some with today's cold AM.

I have some, had one of my best jerk bait days ever on one of the Bella Vista lakes throwing an Elite 8. Found a school of big fish that were in 20 FOW and they were loving that Rogue. Haven't thrown one much since then, but should. Another positive is they are relatively inexpensive.

Really nice fish, and that fish has some character!

Well had the itch to go fishing today, but didn't want to fish out of the boat with temps in the 30's and with a north wind blowing so I banked it on Beaver lake down by the dam. Caught 3 smallies on the Ned rig, first one of the year is the first, 2nd one is the second. Third one was a 10" doinker. Lost a good puller, had some weight, but never saw it.

Speaking of disappearing golf balls, one of the trails I get my exercise walks on parallels a stretch of one of the local courses. I can usually get a ball or three that are laying around near the trail, I've probably found a couple hundred. Some of them are just laying there in the short grass, all I can figure is that people hit them, lose sight of them and then can't find them or don't bother to look for them. Saves me some money for the few times I golf as I am a complete hack and usually hit several deep into the woods when I play. And no way I'm going into the AR woods in the summer time dressed in shorts looking for a ball.

There's a legal term for your situation "Adverse Possession". Not sure if it applies in your case, but that is where you need a lawyer. In Missouri, as in other states, an individual who openly inhabits an otherwise neglected piece of property for a certain period of time may legally obtain title. This is called "adverse possession" and it's essentially a loophole in the law, closely related to trespassing. Basically, once the statute of limitations has run out, the legitimate property owner loses his or her right to force the "squatter" off of the property. In fact, adverse possession is often referred to as "squatter's rights." Missouri Adverse Possession Laws - FindLaw

Haven't gone yet, thought about it yesterday afternoon. I need better weather to get motivated.

Here's a link to some info: How do Polarized Lenses Work? (goodeyes.com) Inexpensive polarized sunglasses differ from more expensive lenses in significant ways. Cheaper sunglasses may only have a thin chemical laminate on one side of the lens. The thin layer may only provide minimal benefit and the thin layer can be rubbed or scratched off easily. You may also notice aberrations in your lenses, as these are usually mass produced stamped out lenses that are lower quality. Higher quality options have film laminated between two layers of lens material. Encasing the laminate protects it from being scratched and provides additional benefits. The thicker the polarizing film, the more protective the lens is against glare. I've always had the lenses with the laminate on the outside. The biggest hazard I have encountered, if you leave them on the dashboard in the sun on a hot day it will distort the laminate. I'm guessing the high end lenses use the laminate between the lens material, if I was going to purchase high end polarized glasses, I would research the product to see if that is the case.