Quillback

Hard to make the extra 30 minute drive to Big M with Beaver fishing like it is.

Yesterday I fished with my buddy Mike. With it being ridiculously cold for April 4 we did a delayed launch at 11 AM to let the temps get above freezing. It stayed chilly out on the water all day with a brisk wind blowing. However, it was sunny and I am learning that when the water is cold, smallies like sunny banks with some breeze. The fishing was pretty darned good, took us a bit to figure things out, we started throwing Neds but the fish were just not biting them, we got 2 Ned fish in the first hour, and I decided to throw a Keitech, been hearing a lot of good reports coming out of Table Rock on Keitechs so decided to throw one. Caught a 2 lb. smallie on my first cast with it, then a 2 lb. spot on the next cast. I think I caught about 10 in a half hour before Mike decided it might be a good idea to throw a Keitech himself. We had a good bite on them for the rest of the day, as always some banks held multiple fish, some banks not. We slow rolled them, keeping them close to the bottom and doing a lot of reeling and pausing to let the bait drop. Bites came on the retrieve and on the drop. Color didn't seem real important, Rainbow Shad, and Sexy Shad being two good colors and we got bit on 1/4 and 3/8 oz heads. Final score was 35 bass, 2 stripers (one was 10 lbs.) and 2 walleye. Had a bunch of keeper sized bass, maybe 10 smallies and 10 spots that were in that 2-3 lb. range. No really big ones, but some nice fish. Best day for bass I have ever had in Indian Creek. Today I went by myself. Launched early, morning was gray and calm. The fish didn't like it. Never got into them at all like yesterday, but the bite did pick up a bit around 11 AM when the sun poked through the clouds and the wind picked up. I caught 10 bass, mostly smallies, several in the 15-17 inch range, all on Keitechs. No Ned bites at all which surprised me. Had a bit of a multi-species thing going, caught a hybrid, a drum, and a walleye. WT's were 50-52. I could see down about 14 feet in the dam area, Indian Creek is stained green. Smallies are just footballs right now. This post has been promoted to an article This post has been promoted to an article

I'll be walking the banks in a few weeks, looking for that Tim Hughes bait. That's some good fishing, and I'm with you hoping the weather doesn't turn out as bad as predicted. I am ready for warm spring weather.

That's a beast.

That is some awesome fishing, congrats!

A buddy of mine gave me a great deal on a GLX 803 jig and worm rod. It is the most sensitive rod I have and have ever fished. 3/8 oz is it's sweet spot. It's fun to fish. And yeah I could catch them on my old fiberglass Shakespeare spinning rod I have had since high school, it's probably 45 years old now. But that thing is a dog to fish. Rps has a casting rod he made for fishing 1/8 oz Neds. He let me cast it once, I could throw that little ned on it and it was as sensitive as you could want.

If you're looking for bang for your buck when it comes to prestige, a jersey with the right logos garners a lot more prestige than a high end rod.

Thanks Phil - I really need to delete some as most of them are average fish and no need to keep them forever. But, I'll keep it in mind and if I need to store more, I'll let you know.

Yep, thanks Phil for getting it fixed. My Gallery pics have been restored. I do need to do some deletions as there is a limit of 100 pics. And guys the Gallery is a good place to store pics, kind of like Photobucket for OA.

Used to use USGS topo maps when I lived in Washington state. Very useful in showing hiking trails, lakes and streams in the mountains.

Looks like the Gallery got cleaned out.

Thanks for the report, and welcome. I think catching those smallies and spots on light tackle is a hoot.

Same here.

I think most guys will throw a weightless fluke instead of a Trick Worm.

Yeah those are some fat browns, I have to wonder if once those triploids get big and start eating stocker rainbows that some monsters are going to start showing up.

We can always hope, but I would think that with all the bird watchers out there, if these birds still existed, they'd get spotted.

Sabine river is flooded, looks to be delayed at least a week if not cancelled. https://www.bassmaster.com/news/elite-sabine-river-delayed Mark Davis is getting a hip replacement, so I imagine he will be out for a while.

I think this is good news, at least for us lake fishermen.

That does sound like fun.

I'm in the "haven't thrown one yet" crowd. I also am curious as to how they do in our big Ozark impoundments.

Up two feet and still going, grrrrr....

Congrats RedcrawRK, that's pretty neat to win that event and your bass is the biggest one I can remember being caught for that event on Table Rock.

Golf a priority over fishing???

Well I just gave you a like for stylin' it in that leather jacket. A man's gotta look good when he is out on the water!