Quillback

That's just great - I spent 3 years taking Spanish in high school, what a waste of time.

I am fairly intense with my fishing whether it be for bass or bluegills. I don't see myself fishing any more intensely in a tourney, but I would probably fish differently than I do "fun fishing". And If I really wanted to compete in a tourney, I'd spend more time prior to, looking for fish. Not fishing, but finding fish, noting the location, then moving on. Of course, that would lead to more burning of the petrol.

I am an early morning guy myself and I do believe there is a bite to be had early right now. Later in the day if the wind picks up I think that can produce a bite too. These bluebird type days where there is no wind at all, I think you're better off getting out early.

I have to admit that if I was on the ground, under a truck and one of those things came after ,me, I'd be a little freaked out too. It was a big spider.

Good job on finding and catching the elusive White river yellow perch. Makes me wonder how well they will do in the White, hopefully not too well as they can get over populated. Thinking back to when I lived in Massachusetts, I can't remember there being any of them in the swifter trout type streams, but sluggish rivers like the Charles had bunches of them.

Yep. hang in there Oneshot!

Glad you can make it - Friday night fry sounds like a plan. The guys apparently loved your bream fillets last year as they were gone by the time I got back.

First time I have seen a "Wart Hawg".

Thanks for the info, been thinking about breaking out the Ned.

Kind of an inspiration for my title. And that is now an OLD song, I think it came out when I was in high school. @Johnsfolly

Had a close encounter today, thought Vernon would enjoy this. @vernon This afternoon I went out for a walk at one of the parks here in Bella Vista. It has an out of service access road that goes uphill at a fairly steep incline, leads to the top of an earthen dam that backs up a lake called Loch Lomond. I will do about 3 miles and will walk up and down that hill a few times to get my heart going. There's a gravel road that runs the length of the dam, maybe about a 1/2 mile in length. I'll walk it to one end then back to the other end. The tire tracks are gravel with some old blacktop, there's grass in the middle of the road and about a 10 foot strip on each side. The sides and side strips are kept mowed, but on the lake side of the dam it is chunk rock with weedy type vegetation and on the land side of the dam it is basically a steep slope covered with thick, weedy growth. So I am walking the dam today and see a big spider cross the track in front of me. I would get close to it as I want to check it out and the darn thing would come after me, it would kind of hop a few inches at a time coming towards my foot. I have never seen a spider that aggressive before. It did let me get close enough to get a good look at it, and darned if it didn't have some baby spiders riding on its back. Never seen this before, so when I got home I did a search on "spiders with babies on back" and it turns out it was a wolf spider. According to the experts it is the only spider in the US that carries its babies around like that. I didn't squash it, couldn't kill a mama with her babies, and I had some respect for a critter that would take on something that outweighs it probably about 10,000 times. So now about the snake - I start walking down the trail again, and maybe get about 100 yards, hear something move in the grass, look down and a bit to my right and see a snake dart into the weeds. It couldn't have been more than a couple of feet from my leg when it seemed to almost jump up and zip into the weeds. I only got about a 1 second look at it, but I am convinced it was a cottonmouth. Had that fat body with a skinny short tail section and the skin coloration those things have. And it was a good sized one, I'm guessing at least 3 feet long and bulky. I was fortunate it didn't go for my leg, because I never saw it until it took off. And it was pretty cool today, I think it was about 60 degrees when I saw that snake, but it sure didn't act sluggish at all. It must've been out in the short grass sunning itself until I came along. I have spend a lot of time outdoors and have seen some venomous snakes, but never have I had one that close to me (that I know of) where I thought it could've got me if it had wanted to. One more step and I would've been within inches.

It would not surprise me at all, I used to do good this time of year.

Here's what I have for a roster. Looks like probably 11 confirmed for lodging with a couple of possibles. Couple of regulars I haven't heard from yet and I will reach out to. Looks like we will again need the two lodges. Myself - Staying Phil and guest - probably staying N9BOW - staying off site Daryk Campbell SR - Staying Jester HK and Brandon FMC staying John's Folly - Possibly staying GotMuddy - Staying Little Red - Staying Terrierman +2 possibly 4 - all staying Ham - Staying off site Wounded One - Staying off site Seth - Staying Zigjigman - Staying Total cost of the lodging for both places is 1800, which with 11 stayers works out to $163 each. I'm sure we'll get a few more, but that's where it is at right now.

Haven't thrown a spoon on TR in a while, may have to start.

Yes, Big M is upper part of the lake, it takes me about an hour to get there from Bella Vista. Water temp was 70 first thing in the morning.

Hard to call, pretty neat coloration for sure.

Shad is great for blues, used to net them in Grand, then slow troll one off a bottom walker. Haven't done it in 10 years or so, but it really worked, especially this time of year.

As mentioned in the other thread, add in some Wheaties. Stuff is like glue.

That's some pretty good fishing, you have those jigs dialed in.

Well I have to report the bad when it happens, and today it was bad, caught 5 bass, 4 dinks and a 15" smallmouth. Jigs and worms, for what it is worth. Missed a few solid thumps which didn't help. Beautiful day, well except for the cold, foggy start. Monarch butterflies are moving south, saw quite a few crossing the lake. Saw a few eagles and some deer. Great day to be fishing, but not much catching going on, at least for me.

Cool, any day a person can catch a couple of three pound bass on Beaver is a good day!

Glad to hear you will make it Brett. Les won't be able to ,make it and I am thinking he provided the fryer last year? So we probably need yours. I can get the oil.

My fall striper fishing experience is limited. I like Evergreen SB's in size 125 mainly because they cast a mile. Fall fish seem shy of them for some reason however, they eat them up in the spring. They make a smaller SB, a 105, I might try that this fall if I do any striper fishing. I talked to a guy several times last fall that was fishing some of the same areas I was - he had some days where he tore them up on an Alabama rig. Here's the bait that worked for me last fall, it's a tail spinner, weighs about an ounce, casts a mile, but it is a fairly small profile. I like to rip it though surfacing fish, pause, rip it again. You can also let it go deep if you want. It is made by Lunkerhunt.

I was hoping you'd get more replies, kind of curious myself about what is working. You'd think a buzz bait would be worth fishing, squarebill too. I caught some bass on Table Rock this week on a 1/8 oz shaky head with a 6" worm, that may be worth a shot. I would look for banks with wind on them. Might try a spinner bait with the water up like it is.

Had a buddies dog get hit by a rattler when we were chukar hunting in Washington. My dog was right next to her when she got hit, but he didn't get bit. We were three miles from the truck, so we had to walk back and so did the dogs. By the time we got to the truck, the side of that dogs face was badly swollen. Then we had a 45 minute drive to the vet, vet had some old anti-venom, injected her and she recovered well. I remember the vet saying something like they had stopped producing anti-venom, but he still had some in stock. I suppose if the dog survived that walk and the drive she probably would've made it anyway. Only would see snakes out there the first couple of weeks of bird season, then it would get too cold for them after a couple of weeks. Only saw a few, but it was always in the back of your mind that they were out there.