Quillback

Good deal! I am going to start bringing MD with me and ice, even though I release all fish. But, I will do it for the bleeders. If I'm going to talk the talk, I gotta walk the walk.

I'm with you, bring it on! Number of pleasure boats out there should start dropping off once Labor Day is over. It's all good.

Maybe make that as part of the tourney rules during the summer, every boat has to have a bag of ice, some rejuvenate, and instructions on use.

I did not say all tourneys are bad. Absolutely there are some that do a great jo of taking care of their fish. And my hat is off to those that do. Just trying to understand how you could be against regulation changes that could help fish survival - I'm not talking about shutting down tourneys at all.

Good stuff Dan, thanks for the report.

Good stuff. Fish appear to be schooling now in the main lake. When you find them, like you did, it can lead to some fast and furious fishing.

Yeah, the entrance to Mill Creek (the one across from the mouth of the Kings), it's like a downhill ski slalom course to get between the buoys on your way in.

. Enforcement will be a huge problem without buoys. People can take the ticket to court and argue that they were not within a 100 feet. How can the LEO prove that they were unless there is a point of reference that shows where the 100' line is?

Thanks for the report 196, sounds like you had some great fishing. Sorry to hear about the dead fish. Donna pretty much sums up my feelings on the subject. Might not hurt to shoot an email to MDC, let them know what you see, not that I expect any enforcement action, as I don't know if any laws were broken, but there may need to be some regulation changes needed for summer tournaments. Fish kills like this aren't good for any of us, whether you are a fun or tourney fisherman. This is just wasteful and avoidable.

Ouch, that will cause wallet pain.

From what I have seen on the upper end of the lake, there are some shallow large mouth that might bite a top water. You've got to commit to it and work for those shallow fish. You might find some schoolers out in deep water, maybe off the end of docks that are over deep water.

Some of the other folks that have experience with spin jigs would have to chime in on that. About the only one I have thrown is a Road Runner that have the small Colorado type blade. Never have fished a Road Runner for the schoolers, but I bet it might work, especially as the shad they were feeding on were pretty small, one inch or so.

Speaking of Rogues - this was in today's Bass Blaster email: Here's what Ryan Wood and Turner Mason (from CO!) used to win the recent Bassmaster High School National Championship on Kentucky Lake. Ryan (@RyanWoodFishing) talking: > We completely turned the stereotypical Kentucky Lake fishing on its head and won on floating jerkbaits in less than 3'. ...Smithwick Floating Rogue in chrome/blue back in sunny conditions and golden bass in cloudy low-light conditions. > We fished them as fast and erratic as possible. We were fishing small pockets right off the main lake. We fished there because there was quick access to deep water and the fish were feeding shallow. We also avoided ledges because we didn't believe they would hold up for 3 days and that proved to be true. > Our final-day bag also consisted of 3 smallmouth and 2 largemouth that came out of 92-degree water that was 2' deep. The smallies were the three biggest fish in the bag. > I used a 6' 8" M-XF St. Croix Legend Elite spinning rod with a Pflueger Patriarch spinning reel. The line I used was 15-lb Stren Braid with a 20-lb Stren Monofilament leader. The leader was about 6-10" long just to keep the bait from fouling. We used mono to avoid the bait from being pulled down deeper than it needed to be like fluoro would do. The reason we used braid was the keep the action of the bait as crisp and quick as possible.

Rode in my buddy Jeb's boat today. We launched before daylight, hit a few locations, got a few bass here and there. We moved to another location, stumbled across one of those schools of bass that just about fill the sonar screen out in 30 FOW off a gravel bank. We probably got around 25 out of that school on drop shot plastics and spoons. Maybe 5 keepers, couple of LM's around 2.5 being the biggest. Had fun for a while until the school dispersed and it was back to the grind. Left about 11 AM. Big M courtesy dock is about out of the water, it is possible to use it, but you must approach it straight on, don't come in from the side by the launch, nice pile of rocks there could get your prop. I talked to the park attendants, they had opened a work order and they expected it would get fixed soon, but it may not be fixed this weekend.

That top 20 looks interesting, last thing I need is another jerk bait, but the Rogues do have a unique action. TW Labor Day sale is approaching.

I threw a few casts with one of mine, it runs straight, but haven't caught fish one on it yet. Certainly would be disappointing if it self destructs after one bass. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkXGGhuQs0o

I have thrown one a bit, they do get down deep, probably will need to be tuned and you might want to replace some of the hardware. All that being said, not a bad value when on sale and you're looking for a big, deep running jerk bait for your arsenal.

Good stuff, glad to see you got into them!

That is 2 boxes of bass catching dy-no-mite you got there!

It is good at times to set the rod down and take in the view.

Good write-up Ham. What's your estimate on size for the big bow?

Dan, you got it down for sure. That's some good fishing for August during the day.

Heck ya, can't wait for November.

Heck, I'm glad that Alex doesn't get specific on what crank he is using. Saves me money. Not too mention the frustration that happens when I drive over to Hook, Line, and Sinker, pull into the parking lot, (just in time to see Champ pulling out with a big smile on his face), walk into the store, and find that crank bait "X" is sold out.

Wow, that is a biggun for sure. I read somewhere that the genetics on hatchery rainbows are screwed up and that's why you might see spawners at any time of the year.