Quillback

Ol' Monster - R.I.P.

Fished from daylight until 11 AM. The early morning Ol' Monster bite did not happen for me today, wasted valuable early morning fishing time throwing one around and not getting a bite. No bites either on the Zoom Trick worm. Switched to a 3/8 oz GP/Orange jig and caught some fish on it, 8 or 9 total, mostly LM's that were a bit north or south of the 15" mark, nothing over 2 lbs, fishing steep chunk banks. Water temp was 84 when I left.

We talk about doing a spring trip to Sardis, but timing the whole thing is always a challenge. We caught enough fish in the 2 mornings we fished, plenty for a couple of fish fries, and cleaning fish is no fun on a hot day.

I'm all for having safe, modern schools with concerned, dedicated teachers. And I also believe that having concerned, involved parents like Justin is very important for kids to have success in school. But what do you do with kids that walk out of the school at the end of the day and head out to a bad home? And if 50-70% of the students in some communities are in a bad home life situation, how can the schools fix that? Or to put it differently, how will spending more money on schools fix a bad home? Or a bad community? I think too much of the focus is on the schools somehow fixing societal issues. What we need, in some cases, are better communities. Easier said than done of course.

Hey Creekfreak - was that you holding the 7 lb. LM caught in the Elk in the sports section of the Benton County newspaper? I'm thinking it must have been you as I wouldn't think there are too many 7 lbers coming out of the Elk. If so, congrats again!

I've read similar stuff, and, in general, during the summer after the thermocline forms, the stripers will be at the dam end of the lake. Not that I'm a striper expert by any means, but you have to start somewhere. I'd also take F&F's advice, do a little scouting, see if you can spot some guides, find that general area where they'e fishing.

I was in the Memphis area this week for a couple of days and had discussions with folks about the Memphis school system. Unfortunately the public system in Memphis is broken and seemingly can't be fixed. Folks get tired of trying to work within the system and fix things and decide rather than gambling with their child's future and leaving them in the public schools, they pay the money and send their kids to private schools. Another thing to ponder is the ballot initiative that passed in CA last year that imposed a state income surtax on high income earners. Money raised is earmarked for public schools. It turns out that 50% of that money is given to teachers in the form of raises and pension funding. Hopefully by the time the pigs are done feeding at the trough, there will be something left for the students.

I've heard that the Indian creek channel near the Lost Bridge North ramp is producing some stripers. Might be a guide boat or 2 in that area in the evenings or early morning.

New line of hard baits from GYCB. I expected them to be high priced, but they're reasonable. They claim the cranks are meant to be fished in cover and will come through it well. Hard to say until I've fished them or other have. http://www.tackletour.com/reviewicast13yamamoto.html

What is the dollars per student spent at the 2 schools. I'd want to see what that is before I'd say more funding is the answer. Maybe it is, but I've always thought motivation received at home is more effective at producing a better student.

Striper fishing can be tough this time of year, especially during the day. Send F&F a PM and see if he has any timely tips for you.

I'm curious as to what happens to the teachers at the school that lost it's accreditation. Do they move with the students?

When the top water bite is going strong on Table Rock, I bet you could catch a bass or two on it.

I throw a c-rig quite a bit on TR, but up in the White river channel where the water clarity is somewhat stained. I use 1/2 or 3/8 oz weights, and FC mainline. Just check frequently for abrasion. I've started using Mojo weights for my sinker, they are very good at coming through cover and rocky bottoms.

Fished Sardis lake in Mississippi this Tuesday and Wednesday mornings with my uncle. The target was crappie and our method was trolling Bandit 300's. We did fair, 10 keeper crappie Tuesday morning, and 16 on Wednesday. The minimum length to keep is 11" this year on Sardis, but our average size was good with many of the fish in the 13-14" range, only had a few that needed to be measured to see if they hit the keeper mark.

Seems inevitable, assuming the MO herd does as well as the AR herd.

Sounds like the estimates I do when I catch a nice fish. Always add a few inches and a couple of pounds when estimating.

OP, did you take it home and eat it? The gar that is.

Looks like a green sunfish to me also, and a very nice one.

Somebody must be fishing it, too far for me to drive.

Dayum you're good!

Be interesting to hear what happens. Only thing that would cause concern that if it does become open to the public, is there will be a tremendous amount of fishing pressure.

That's a big ol" bass for the Elk. Congrats!

Jerry has a good eye. What's it weigh?

LOL