Quillback

Didn't get to the lake until 11 AM, had some stuff to take care of in the early AM. Still pretty cold when I got there, mid forties and temps increased a bit as the day went on. Water temp was around 67. My plan was to fish the dam area for smallies which is what I started out doing, throwing cranks, jigs and the shaky head worm. 2 hours later all I had was a couple of bumps and no fish in the boat so I headed up Indian to see if I could find some fish up there. Was tossing the jig when I noticed a bunch of fish on the sonar suspended in 30 FOW. Only thing I had available for suspenders was a jerkbait, so started tossing it and working it hard, no pauses like I would use in cold water jerk tossing. Started getting spotted bass on it, very location dependent, when you could find them, they'd bite, but finding them was difficult and when I did find them, they'd usually be moving. Put 10 spots in the boat, no big ones, 12-15" fish. Did manage to catch one smallie on a crank for the last fish of the day. Had a double on the Pointer 95.

Yeah I hear you on the road funding, personally I think they should do 2 separate initiatives, one for road construction/maintenance and one for further funding for the state patrol. Too late for that obviously.

How much is the proposed increase in gas taxes? I am not a MO resident, but do sometimes buy fuel there.

That's pretty neat, looks like a great place to visit. I saw a fly fishing show a couple of years ago where they fished for browns in Iceland. The fishing looked to be pretty good. I remember them saying something like the browns there are pure strain, they haven't interbred with hatchery browns brought in from somewhere else. Maybe you can smuggle a bag of fingerlings past customs and put them in Taney? 😃

When I lived and fished in Massachusetts, many of the ponds looked just like that picture, just full of pads. Used to drag the Ol' Johnson Silver Spoon with a white Uncle Josh trailer across the pads, when I hit and edge or a hole in the pads, I'd let I drop and flutter down. Never was a numbers game, but used to get some nice fish doing that.

OK, thanks. Doesn't look like much breeze in the forecast for tomorrow, but seems like it always blows a little harder than the forecast.

Just needs a little wind:

Did you have wind for the crank bite? Might go over to Beaver and fish the dam end, would love to see the smallies hitting cranks.

Couple of cold days coming up, like seeing the water temp drop.

You've said that before when you've created a false alias for yourself, it's kind of sad you feel a need to lie about that. Carp need a better spokesman, because you are not it.

Did some ice fishing when I lived in the north. Bare minimum you'll need something to cut a hole in the ice, something to scoop the chips out of the hole you made, and your fishing gear. I had an ice chisel, or spud, you can get them online at a lot of places, do a search. In my opinion the heavier the better, get one with a strap. If you're fishing in NW MO you're probably never going to chop through more than 8 inches of ice and a chisel can get the job done pretty quickly. I always targeted panfish and would make several holes in the area I wanted to fish and would move from spot to spot, I always targeted panfish with a little ice jig tipped with a wax worm. You can buy special ice fishing rods but I always used a 5 foot light spinning rod. Be careful and check ice thickness, I always liked 4" minimum of hard ice.

I am itching to get out there, had to babysit the dog this week, his stitches come out Monday, so I'll have time to fish once again.

Rain gear time this morning. Nothing like taking the dog for a stroll on a cold, rainy morning.

Didn't know those things existed.

Who is "he"? Are you in Nebraska or NY?

I say the same thing when I am out on Table Rock on a Tuesday and every point and cove has a boat or two fishing it. "Does anybody work anymore?"

Hey Fishlover, just curious what school it is that you are attending that has that freshwater management major? Are you the only one in your class that is doing this survey, or are others?

Plenty of carp in the lakes around here, those of us who are actually on the lakes know this, no need for protection or creel limits. As someone who is on these lakes at least once a week, I can tell you there is almost no rod and reel fishing for the carp, so bow fishing is the best way to manage them. Yeah I agree, stick to CT as that is where there does seem to be a sport fishery for them.

43 degrees here in Bella Vista this morning. Had to turn the heat on. I like it for the fishing, but would have been nice to have a bit of a transition between summer and winter.

Watched out the window for 10 minutes, counted 54 fly by in those 10 minutes.

Just had a bunch fly by the front yard, maybe 40-50 monarchs, not all in one big cluster but 2 or 3 at a time, went on for 10 minutes or so, just saw a couple more. Must have been hunkered down while the front was moving through. There's another one.

Nice one! I talked to a friend that fished a club tourney on Tuesday, some limits were caught, and several nice smallmouth in the 3+ range were weighed in. Things are looking up!

Ok, here is what I have so far as attendance and needing lodging: Myself Terrierman +1 JestersHK and Fmcbrandon and possibly one other BH Mreed81andbuddy JF ZigJigMan Brett Ham (staying at home). That gives us 13 for lodging, I am assuming Les will show. I am going to PM Phil and see if he and Duane are coming.

That is one sharp looking boat! Congrats!

Very nice, congrats!