Quillback

You're probably not going to get many replies because if anyone has a bank fishing spot that consistently produces walleye they aren't going to mention it on a public forum. There's quite a bit of bank access at the Viney park and at Big M. I believe Viney is now open, saw a boat launch there yesterday, and a few cars driving around. It would help to have waders, or I guess you could wet wade, but the weather looks to be a bit cool the next few days. I'd say the odds of catching a walleye at either location are pretty slim, but there's probably a few around as there are shad in the areas mentioned. Certainly there are bass to be caught. You could poke around on the upper White below the AR state line, there is some bank access here and there. Make sure and check the regs if you fish in the trout areas.

Very nice - saw some shad spawning on Table Rock this morning (they actually laid eggs on my motor and transom) - I bet those shad you see up on the bank are spawning.

Got out this morning with OA member Muddy Water. We launched at about 0530, it was cold and foggy. Foggy enough that we did not get too far from Big M, couldn't get to where I wanted to go in that fog. It worried me that we couldn't get to the good spot, but we found the top water bite anyway, and it was a pretty darned good one. Not sure exactly how many fish we got, I did count mine, but I didn't count Muddy's. We probably got between 50-60 in 5 hours of fishing. Maybe 40 on top water and another dozen or so on Keitechs and other paddle tail baits and a couple of c-rig fish. 4 or 5 largemouth that were between 2 -3 lbs., a bunch of 14-16 inch spots, and a smallie (on a c-rigged UV Speed Craw) that was just short of 4 lbs. That double above is a mean that was a little over 17" and the spot was about 16". If we would have put very bite in the boat, we would've caught over a 100. Just a great morning. We also caught a half dozen white bass on top of everything else. Mr. Babler is right about that Keitech, I was using the 3.3" on one of Dave's 1/8 oz Ned heads. Only thing I would change is maybe use one with a #1 hook instead of a #2 for those smaller 3.3 Keitechs. Only drawback to the Keitechs is they are so darned soft. Hard to get more that 2-3 bass out of one. Fish were out in the main lake off a point, and we got a few off a cove point that was near 60 FOW. Water temp was 71. Shad are spawning - how do I know that? Well, while we fishing off the point, there were a bunch of shad hanging around the motor and the transom splashing around. Got back to the ramp, and as I was wiping down the boat, noticed that there were small fish eggs sticking to the transom and the motor. Never have had shad spawn on the boat, but I guess there is a first time for everything.

Excellent Bill, thanks for the tips!

I'll post a report in a minute, but the top water action this morning was great. Cold and foggy for sure, but they were biting. Don't know if they'll bite tomorrow, but sure wouldn't hurt to get out and try.

I'm convinced Dave's are the best. And the price is right.

Curious if anyone has tried out that new Lew's Ned rig rod?

That's some good fishing! I need to clone myself so I can fish Beaver and Table Rock at the same time.

Slippery, it is stained green in that area around Viney. I'm going to estimate about 2-3 feet of visibility.

I sure would like to get out there again tomorrow, but I have to take the dog to the vet, Thursday I have a dentist apt, so I hope to get out there again Friday. Hopefully Babler hasn't sore mouthed them all by then.

I have not put a brown fish in the boat lately. Had a couple come off that I think were brown.

Out early on the lake again today, the bass aren't in as thick in the top water spot as they were the last couple of trips. More of a sporadic, scattered bite, spent some time moving around on the trolling motor and moving to a couple of different locations. Did get some top water fish, and one of the was a 4.5 lb. LM on the Havana. Caught a few on the buck tail jig, threw the buck tail around when the fish would stop busting top water shad. Fish are just scattered over deep water, when you can get on them they'll bite, but they keep moving so it is tough to stay on them. Caught some Ned fish, c-rig fish, and one on a wobblehead. Never could get a good thin going on anything, just kept fishing different stuff and I'd pick one up here and there. Hooked a walleye that got off at the boat on a 5XD. He was a good one, 5lbs. maybe. Hooked what looked to be about a 3lb. smallie on the Havana, he jumped about 3 feet in the air and threw it. When I looked at the lure, that fish had somehow managed to detach the front treble and take it with him. Lost a good spot at the boat that I bet would've gone at least 3 lbs. He went airborn and threw the buck tail. One of those days. The daily mean mouth:

I have never caught one on TR, but maybe they just aren't that numerous up the White river. They are my own personal gizzard shad. (Ham will understand).

Congrats!

I don't think those fish have spawned yet. I certainly did catch some that look like post spawners. My guesstimate is that about 50% of the fish in that area have spawned.

I have to leave the house by about 0415.

Just looked at the Accuweather forecast and it doesn't look too bad except for today and Wednesday. But you know how it goes with weather forecasts around here. We need some rain here in NWA as long as it is not accompanied by hail and twisters.

I think about once a year.

Good deal, I found a few Ned fish shallow yesterday, didn't fish the Ned much, but they were biting it when I did.

When I lived in WA State, I smoked some of the salmon I caught. Linguine with a smoked salmon Alfredo sauce is another good one.

Well if we are going to THINK about purchases, check out this new one from Megabass. MUST-RESIST-URGE-TO-PURCHASE.

No I haven't. Don't tempt me to purchase more tackle. But, I do like the idea of 3 trebles instead of two. Way too many fish miss the Havana or Spook. I think it is that left-right-left motion that confuses them.

Got out early, launched around 0530 and fished until noon. There was still a good early top water bite at the same cove mouth I have been fishing the last few times out. Caught them on the Rapala wake bait and the walk-the-dog. That bite died once the sun got up over the hill, so decided to fish a cove that had some bass in it last time I fished. Not so good today, got a couple of 13" largemouth on the speed craw on a wobblehead and that was it. Fished out to the point at the cove mouth, decided to walk the dog a bit as there were some shad on top, and as I rounded the point, a school of bass came out of nowhere and started busting shad on top. They were about 30 feet away, and there I was with a top water in hand and ready to go. First cast caught a largemouth in the 2.5 - 3 lb. range, released it, made another cast and caught one that could have been it's twin. Caught a 12" spot on the next cast and then it was over. They were out deep, running those shad in 50 FOW. Fished a few other locations, running the wobble head and Ned and picked up around 10 bass doing that. Ended up with 35 bass and one 20" (released) walleye. Had 6-8 keeper sized bass.

Those are some good representatives of those species. Really nice walleye!

I have a bird story. About 20 years ago myself and a couple of buddies were fishing for Chinook salmon on a guide trip out of Bamfield BC. We were trolling anchovies off downriggers. The guide re-baited one of the lines with an anchovy, dropped it behind the boat, let it go back about 50 feet before clipping the line to the downrigger ball. Well a seagull grabbed the anchovy before the guide got it clipped to the downrigger ball and the gull got hooked. The guide just went ahead and dropped the ball down, which hauled the gull underwater, he brought it back up after a minute and reeled in the half-dead and dazed gull. Made it a lot easier to unhook the gull, but the gull was pretty dazed and just sitting on the water sort of flapping it's wings weakly and we continued to move away from it trolling. Well a bunch of gulls flew in and started harassing the still dazed would be bait stealer, flying around it, squawking, and diving on it. All of a sudden an eagle comes swooping in, scattering all the other gulls, and grabs the dazed gull and flies off with it. Pretty neat to see, but I did feel sorry for that gull. His day did not end well.