Quillback

One of these days I want to make a trip to England. See the Imperial War Museum, HMS Victory, and the British Museum. Funny how emojis, that were designed for Japanese teenage girls, have become almost a language.

Good one you for taking them out. Do they really like to fish or did you have to twist their arms?

I knew as long as the game was close the Chiefs would pull it out in the end.

I knew as long as it was close, the Chiefs would win. Mahomes already talking about next year.

Either day is good for me to show up to eat, but there may be some holiday vacation conflict with the 4th following New Years on a Wednesday.

It's some kind of pigment thing. Melanosis (Black Spot, Blotchy Bass) | Missouri Department of Conservation (mo.gov)

I see what you're talking about, didn't realize it was closed. I'll remove my comment if that is the "cheap shot" you are referring to.

We are our own worst enemies. People are incapable of having civil discussions about politics on forums like this one. That's why every single forum that I can think of does not allow politics. I know of a couple that have hidden password protected political forums, TexasFishingForum being one, but there are guys there that get banned even in those hidden forums because they get downright nasty.

I have not seen a loon where I fish this winter. One of my favorite birds.

Time to put this one to sleep.

That's some great fishing!

I'm not mad at all, life is good.

No report needed.

Those topics do not go sideways to the degree that politics do. My 2 cents is that Phil should reopen the anything goes forum that is accessible only by PWD.

I've posted this before, but if for a good read about taking hoofed animals on a cross-county trip, check this book out: The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey by Rinker Buck | Goodreads

Yeah I wonder how he gets across the Big Muddy - has to be trailering, or ferry. He's a young guy, and I have to wonder how much he is winging it.

He was in Oklahoma, the brief shot of his horses shows one carrying a big rolled up something - saw the same thing on one of the pack horses (I thought they were mules, but that was a 60 MPH view), yesterday.

Did a little internet sleuthing - there's a guy by the name of Jake Horvath that is doing a cross-country horseback trip, he has three horses. He left Utah in September 2023 heading to New Jersey, then riding back to CA and then back to Utah. Can't find much info beyond that - but the guy I saw yesterday looked like him, I kid you not. If interested do a search on Jake Horvath Year of the Mustang. He is supposed to do updates on where he's at, but I can't find any.

You have to zig-zag to get through that part of the state. I do it to get to Table Rock. Taking 62 through Eureka Springs would not be a fun thing on horseback leading mules. But heck, I have no idea what the guy was up to.

Speaking of cowboys... Tuesday and Wednesday I went fishing over at Table Rock. On the way home Tuesday on HWY 72, heading eastbound, right before entering the battlefield park was a guy riding a horse and leading a couple of mules carrying stuff - going by at 60 MPH I couldn't get a detailed look. He was riding in the grass on the other side of the ditch by the road. My though at the time, it was a local doing some training for his mules. Wednesday, on my way home again I see the same guy with the same animals, but now he is just south of Seligman going north on HWY 37. Maybe 20 miles from where I saw him Tuesday. I can only speculate, but maybe he's on some kind of cross-country trip. If he stays on 37, I'm thinking he may be somewhere north of Cassville this afternoon. Didn't notice if he was wearing cowboy boots.

With the push for green energy you'd think they could refurb the generating equipment. It's not going to be profitable until they recapture the initial investment, but you'd think with the feds subsidizing all kinds of green energy stuff, that they could subsidize the work there.

The thing about clear water is the fish usually will not be shallow. If there is a steep drop off they might be close to the bank, but otherwise they'll be off the bank. But you can still catch them. Watch some of the videos out there where people fish clear lakes for smallmouth. They catch them fairly close to the boat and they aren't that stealthy, couple of guys standing up and fishing away, electronics pinging, trolling motor running. Stripers are spooky, but in that May-June time frame, if they are chasing shad, they kind of lose their minds and become easier to catch. The fishing on the lower end can be really good, you've just got to put your time in to figure things out.

Can you catch and release? Nothing wrong with keeping them, but some of those trout places make you keep every one you catch and then you pay for them.

I primarily fish the lower end of the lake, I target smallmouth, and in May-June may chase the stripers a bit. Right now, I primarily fish Keitech swimbaits and Ned rigs. I like a 2.8 Keitech on a 3/16 oz head or 1/8 oz. I use Dirty Jigs Guppy heads in those sizes that come with a 1/0 hook. That shorter shank 1/0 leaves plenty of swimbait body to kick at slow speed. I fish them near the bottom slowly this time of year. Any predator that swims in that lake will eat those swimbaits. I fish them on spinning gear, braid and a flouro leader. If I had to pick one color of Keitech to fish, I'd go with Sight Flash. Use Loctite gel to glue the swimbaits to the jighead, glue up a bunch the night before you go, you don't want to be messing with it in your boat while you are fishing. You mention top water, May-June is prime top water time for stripers. If I had to pick a spot to fish, it would be around point 5. That's a long run from Hickory, you might want to consider someplace like Lost Bridge South if you decide to fish the lower end of the lake. You can catch white bass, and black bass on top May-June on the lower end too. Get out before sunrise on calm or light wind days and look for striper activity. You want to have a top water setup that will allow you to cast far, and if you see stripers blowing up, get that lure on top of them as soon as you can. You can troll, with your electric TM, a Keitech if it gets tough to catch them on top. That 3.3 on a 1/4 oz head works fine for stripers, even though they are a small bait, big stripers will still eat them. I don't fish the river arms at all, I have a few times in the past, I'd probably toss a jig or shakey head if I was bass fishing up there that time of year. PM me your contact info, I have some friends that striper fish in May and I can probably at least get you in the general vicinity of some if they show themselves, if that's what you want to chase. Seems like things are different every year and you just have to get out on the water and get to know things.