Quillback

Rumor has it that the Pro Blue color worked well at Beaver for the FLW.

Eric - sent you a PM.

My opinion is that the chances of these fish successfully spawning with wild salmon is extremely unlikely. I'm also curious why TU doesn't seem to be opposed to stocking triploid trout in freshwater lakes all over the Pacific Northwest. Maybe there's another agenda at work here.

Wow, that is one heck of a spot! Congrats!

I'm signing the petition, first I see no reason to let the feds walk away from their obligation to mitigate the impact of the dams and secondly because I enjoy the White river trout fishery.

ROGERS, Ark. (March 6, 2011) – Chevy pro Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N.C., caught a five-bass limit weighing 13 pounds, 15 ounces Sunday to win $125,000 at the Walmart FLW Tour presented by Straight Talk on Beaver Lake with a four-day catch of 18 bass weighing 54-8. “I don’t want to slow down,” said Thrift, who is the reigning Walmart FLW Tour Angler of the Year and has posted seven top-10 finishes and two wins in the last eight events dating back to the 2009 Forrest Wood Cup. “I want to catch them everywhere I go. That’s my goal. “After yesterday when I caught a big bag I thought I might have a chance (to win),” Thrift added. “As slow as it started today I thought it was over. I didn’t think there was any way I was going to catch a big bag. And lo and behold I pulled into Prairie Creek landing 10 minutes before weigh-in and threw my jerkbait beside a cedar tree. It’s sinking down through there and my line jumps and I catch a 3 ½- or 4-pounder five minutes before weigh-in. So that’s definitely what did it for me. I culled a 12-inch (spotted bass) with it.” That 12-inch fish was the only cull of the day for Thrift on Sunday, as he caught only six keepers on the last day of competition. Thrift said he began the tournament catching fish on a translucent jerkbait with a blue back around timber on points and was having some success, but was tipped off by fellow North Carolina competitor Matt Arey that the fish seemed to prefer a fast retrieve, which bucks the notion that jerkbaits should be slowed down in colder water temperatures. “I took it down the lake the third day to where I’d been catching them,” Thrift said. “I was in 4 feet of water jerking the jerkbait just as hard as I could jerk it and they were knocking the paint off of it. It was ridiculous. “But today with the sun and no wind I had to slow down a lot,” Thrift said. “I caught one big one shallow first thing on that jerkbait jerking it real fast and all the rest of them I caught on cedar trees.” Thrift said he changed the stock jerkbait hooks to larger hooks that would make the bait sink slowly. He said he would twitch the bait up to a tree and then dead-stick it and let the bait fall by the tree for 20 to 30 seconds (15 to 20 feet) before the strike would come. Thrift said this method produced eight bass from one cedar tree. Thrift’s winning setup consisted of a 6-foot, 6-inch Damiki Dark Angel medium-heavy rod, a rod Thrift called “hands-down the best jerkbait rod” he’s ever thrown. Thrift relied on an Abu Garcia Revo reel and 10-pound Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon to finish out his rig. “I’ve had fished wrapped up in trees all week and bumping rocks and docks,” Thrift said. “That line is ridiculous strong to be 10-pound line.” Thrift said he also caught two of his weigh fish during the tournament on a bluegill-colored Damiki DC-200 crankbait. Thrift opened the tournament in 36th place Thursday with three bass weighing 8-11. On Friday he added another five bass weighing 11-6 to move to 16th place. He then caught five bass weighing 20-8 Saturday to make the crucial top-10 cut in second place. The catch gave Thrift the win by a 2-pound, 2-ounce margin over Stacey King of Reeds Spring, Mo., who caught a total of 19 bass weighing 52-6 and earned $35,000. “I fished three patterns primarily,” said King, who posted his highest finish in an FLW Tour event. “I had been catching a few fish on a jerkbait just like some of the other guys, then on a cloudy, windy day I caught them on a (Storm) Wiggle Wart a lot. Now, when it was sunny and bright I was fishing a little Cordell Super Shad that’s not even made any more. I fished them for 35 or 40 years and that’s what I caught most of them today on.” King said his baits were shad colored with the exception of a green craw Wiggle Wart. King said his Wiggle Wart fish were scattered on steep banks and in creeks and his other fish were found on steep secondary points in coves that featured cedar trees. “I’ve fished Beaver for many years on and off,” King said. “I don’t fish over here very much, but I have fished here a lot over the years. It fit my program pretty well.” The remaining top 10 pros finished the tournament in: 3rd: EverStart pro Ron Shuffield, Bismarck, Ark., 16 bass, 49-4, $30,000 4th: Pickens Plan pro Randy Blaukat, Joplin, Mo., 20 bass, 48-8, $25,000 5th: Matt Arey, Shelby, N.C., 20 bass, 48-4, $20,000 6th: AMP Energy pro Stetson Blaylock, Benton, Ark., 15 bass, 43-10, $17,000 7th: Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes pro Dave Lefebre, Union City, Pa., 19 bass, 42-12, $16,000 8th: Walmart pro Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 20 bass, 42-11, $15,000 9th: Castrol pro David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 18 bass, 37-4, $14,000 10th: National Guard pro Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 16 bass, 35-9, $13,000

Shuffield Leads FLW Tour Bass Fishing Event on Beaver Lake ROGERS, Ark. (March 5, 2011) –EverStart pro Ron Shuffield of Bismarck, Ark., caught a five-bass limit weighing 18 pounds, 10 ounces Saturday to capture the lead at the Walmart FLW Tour on Beaver Lake and advanced to the top 10 as the crucial No. 1 seed. With a three-day catch of 13 bass weighing 41-6,he now holds a 13-ounce lead in the tournament going into the final day of competition. “It was frigid, it was windy, it was cloudy and it was the kind of day going in that I thought was an opportunity to catch a pretty good sack of fish,” said Shuffield, who is looking for his first FLW Tour win. “These fish in the northern lakes, especially in the clear water where I’m fishing, tend to bite a little bit better in these conditions than they do on a bright, clear bluebird day. So I was optimistic. “I had a new area that I practiced in but had not fished during the event,” Shuffield added. “It had all the ingredients of what I was looking for. And I could tell it hadn’t been touched.” Shuffield said he had most of his weigh fish caught by 9:18 a.m. He said he culled “once or twice” during the course of the day and spent the majority of the day looking for particular structure and types of pockets for Sunday’s competition. “I’m trying to fish new water every day,” Shuffield said. “I’m not trying to do much repeat stuff at all. These fish are trying to move into their spawn areas, so they’re staging halfway to the backs of the coves. But they’re on really weird stuff. Some of them are suspended under boat docks in 30 feet of water. One will be on a laydown tree and one will be on a rock formation that’s isolated all by itself. That’s the kind of stuff these fish are keying on.” Shuffield said he’s keeping three rods ready on the deck of his boat. One has a Storm Wiggle Wart tied on and the other two feature jerkbaits. He said he finds the random objects he wants to target then approaches the structure with both types of baits to trigger strikes. Despite the water temperatures, Shuffield said he’s using a moderate retrieve for the baits. “The fish are pretty quick to react,” Shuffield said. “They’ve seen so many jerkbaits this week in competition that I think they’re really kind of shying away from it. Each day I’ve caught a few more fish on the Wiggle Wart – especially some better quality largemouth.” Chevy pro Bryan Thrift of Shelby, N.C., advanced to the final round of 10 pros in the No. 2 spot with a three-day total of 13 bass weighing 40-9. “I’d been catching some fish off of some shallow places and I knew with it being cloudy and windy that the fish should still be up shallow where I was catching them,” said Thrift, who is the reigning Walmart FLW Tour Angler of the Year. “And that’s what I’m doing. I’m running a shallow pattern and catching them in 10 feet of water or less and throwing a jerkbait and having a good time.” Thrift said he caught a total of 20 fish during the course of the day, including seven keepers, and most of them came during the early part of the day. Thrift said he’s staying in one area and running “just a couple of hundred yards here and there.” “The wind helped me a lot,” Thrift said. “I definitely need the wind blowing in on the banks. I think that helps them get up shallow a lot better. “Me and Ron are both catching big fish, so I’m just ready to get out there tomorrow and see how it goes,” Thrift added. Rounding out the top 10 pros and advancing to the final day of competition are: 3rd: Stacey King, Reeds Spring, Mo., 14 bass, 35-10 4th: Matt Arey, Shelby, N.C., 15 bass, 35-10 5th: Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes pro Dave Lefebre, Union City, Pa., 14 bass, 33-12 6th: Pickens Plan pro Randy Blaukat, Joplin, Mo., 15 bass, 33-11 7th: National Guard pro Justin Lucas, Guntersville, Ala., 14 bass, 33-6 8th: AMP Energy pro Stetson Blaylock, Benton, Ark., 10 bass, 31-13 9th: Walmart pro Wesley Strader, Spring City, Tenn., 15 bass, 31-12 10th: Castrol pro David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 14 bass, 31-4 Finishing in 11th through 20th are: 11th: Shad Schenck, Waynetown, Ind., 12 bass, 31-0, $12,500 12th: Brad Roberts, Nancy, Ky., 15 bass, 30-11, $12,500 13th: Nick Larson, Ball Ground, Ga., 12 bass, 30-9, $12,666.67 14th: Shane Long, Sarcoxie, Mo., 15 bass, 30-4, $12,500 15th: Roy Hawk, Salt Lake City, Utah, 11 bass, 29-9, $12,500 16th: Sean Hoernke, The Woodlands, Texas, 14 bass, 29-1, $12,000 17th: Todd Auten, Lake Wylie, S.C., eight bass, 26-5, $12,000 18th: Bo Cross, Knoxville, Tenn., 11 bass, 24-12, $12,000 19th: Walmart pro George Cochran, Hot Springs, Ark., nine bass, 22-10, $12,000 20th: National Guard pro Mark Rose, Marion, Ark., 10 bass, 22-7, $12,000 Overall there were 76 bass weighing 192 pounds, 14 ounces caught by pros Saturday. The catch included 11 five-bass limits. Pros are competing for a top award of up to $125,000 this week plus valuable points in the hope of qualifying for the Forrest Wood Cup. This year’s Cup will be in Hot Springs, Ark., Aug. 11-14 on Lake Ouachitawhere pros are competing for a top prize of $600,000. Pro anglers are also vying for the 2011 Walmart FLW Tour Angler of the Year that will be determined by the most points accumulated over the six Tour Majors with the winner receiving $100,000 for their accomplishment. Keeton Blaylock of Benton, Ark., won the Co-angler Division and $20,000 Saturday with a three-day total of nine bass weighing 23 pounds, 6 ounces followed by Mark Horton of Nicholasville, Ky., in second place with eight bass weighing 18-0 worth $7,500. “I had practiced in the dirty water the whole practice,” Blaylock said. “I wanted my pro to go to dirty water today, but I ended up winning it in the clear (water). “I mean, to go out the first day and catch 12 or 13 keepers and think everybody else is doing it … ,” Blaylock added. “I came in and everybody else hadn’t caught them and I knew the Lord had blessed me so much.” Blaylock said he fished a swimbait on a jighead during the three days of competition. He fished the bait through trees or whatever cover he was presented and fared well on the swimbait except on the final day of competition where he failed to land a fish. In fact, he said he had only one bite Saturday and broke that fish off and lost it. Rounding out the top 10 co-anglers are: 3rd: Brandon Hunter, Benton, Ky., seven bass, 17-10, $5,000 4th: Philip Jarabeck, Lynchburg, Va., five bass, 16-15, $4,125 5th: Moo Bae, West Friendship, Md., six bass, 15-7, $3,000 6th: Van Foster Jr., Dalton, Ga., nine bass, 14-13, $2,500 7th: Mark Shelton, Fayetteville, Ark., seven bass, 14-11, $2,000 8th: Brian Wilson, Somerset, Ky., five bass, 14-8, $1,800 9th: Brock Bertrand, Fayetteville, Ark., six bass, 14-4, $1,700 10th: Ronnie Lawson, Hollister, Mo., five bass, 13-15, $1,600 Overall there were 19 bass weighing 40 pounds, 10 ounces caught by co-anglers Saturday. The catch included no five-bass limits. Co-anglers are fishing for a top award of $25,000 this week plus valuable points that could help them qualify for the 2011 Forrest Wood Cup.The Walmart FLW Tour Co-angler of the Year will be determined by the most points accumulated over the six Tour Majors and the winner will receive a new Ranger 198VX with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard. The top 10 pros will take off at 7 Sunday morning from Prairie Creek Park located at 9300 N. Park Rd. in Rogers. Sunday’s final weigh-in will be held at the John Q. Hammons Center located at 3303 Pinnacle Hills Pkwy. in Rogers, beginning at 4 p.m.

Looking at the day 3 results, looks like a handful of guys did well, but most of them really struggled.

It is cold and breezy this AM, I'm almost glad I don't have to fish for a living. Shad Schenk is leading, nver heard of him, but you gotta like a basser with a first name of Shad. Bohannan did not make the cut, I thought he would be a contender. I think I'll pull for Stacey King also. I saw Jimmy Houston's name on the list, didn't realize he still fished tourneys, unfortunately he did not make the cut either.

Here's a link to the day 1 results: http://www.flwoutdoors.com/bassfishing/flw/tournament/2011/6547/beaver-lake-professional-results/

Watched the weather forecast last night and the guy was predicting a "wintry mix" with temps in the 30's for next Saturday. But it seems no matter how tough the fishing is, some of those guys (FLW) will come in with good bags. They'll have great conditions to practice in this week.

Thanks for the report, great to see some folks catching those giant Texas bass.

Burks Wins Bass Fishing League Ozark Division On Table Rock Lake Boater David Burks of Fordland, Mo., won the Feb. 19 BFL Ozark Division tournament on Table Rock Lake to earn $3,842. Keith Sebastian of Rogersville, Mo., won the co-angler title at the BFL Ozark Division event to take home $1,921. WHAT: Boater David Burks of Fordland, Mo., caught a five-bass limit weighing 16 pounds, 5 ounces Feb. 19 to win $3,842 in the BFL Ozark Division tournament on Table Rock Lake. He was fishing near Indian Point in 80 feet of water using grubs and jerkbaits to haul in his limit. WHO: The remaining top10 anglers: 2nd: Chris Hughes, Springfield, Mo., five bass, 15-14, $1,921 3rd: Pat Klausen, Lincoln, Neb., five bass, 14-12, $1,282 4th: Scott Nelson, Lake Ozark, Mo., five bass, 13-14, $1,896* 5th: David McCormick, Lees Summit, Mo., five bass, 13-5, $768 6th: Donovan Hensley, Nixa, Mo., five bass, 13-4, $704 7th: Marcus Sykora, Osage Beach, Mo., three bass, 12-15, $640 8th: Matthew Jones, Spokane, Mo., five bass, 12-13, $576 9th: Tim Taylor, Nixa, Mo., five bass, 12-10, $512 10th: Michael Fiedler, Springfield, Mo., five bass, 12-7, $448 *Includes $1,000 Evinrude bonus WHAT: Keith Sebastian of Rogersville, Mo., caught four bass weighing 13 pounds, 1 ounce Feb. 19 to win $1,921 in the Co-angler Division. He was fishing shallow near mid-lake with Megabass in black and silver to bring in his catch. WHO: The remaining top10 co-anglers: 2nd: Jim Banks, Lamar, Mo., five bass, 12-11, $960 3rd: Dennis Meyer, Ballwin, Mo., four bass, 11-9, $641 4th: David Short, Washington, Mo., three bass, 9-5, $448 5th: Tony Burnham, Lincoln, Neb., four bass, 8-15, $384 6th: Dan Martinez, Lees Summit, Mo., four bass, 8-12, $352 7th: Tommy Lowery, Ofallon, Mo., three bass, 8-11, $320 8th: Derek Felton, Republic, Mo., four bass, 8-6, $288 9th: Dale Sandy, Springfield, Mo., three bass, 7-13, $256 10th: Scott Parsons, Bentonville, Ark., two bass, 7-12, $224 NOTES: The next BFL Ozark Division tournament is scheduled for March 19 on Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Mo. After the fifth Ozark Division tournament is complete, the top 40 boaters and 40 co-anglers based on point standings will qualify for the Nov. 3-5 Regional Championship on Lake Dardanelle in Russellville, Ark. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger 198VX with a 200-horsepower Evinrude or Mercury outboard and a Chevy pick-up, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger 198VX.

Sunday Arkansas Democrat Gazette had an article about the possible closure of the two federal hatcheries Greers and Norfolk, that supply the White and Norfolk tailwaters. The writer does believe the Feds are obligated to run these hatcheries as recompense for the damage caused to native fisheries when the dams were built. The owner of Gaston's resort was quoted as saying that the money he pays in federal taxes every year is enough to run the hatcheries, of course wuth a hatchery shutdown Gaston's and all the other White river resorts would go out of business, people come from all over the midwest to fish the White. The cost to run the hatcheries is approximately $1.5 million/year. The writer doubts (and quotes AR trout biologists) that a viable wild only trout population would be self supporting over the long run.

This is interesting, 8 cougars having a little party. Maybe they aren't so solitary? http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014261221_cougars18m.html

Me and JEB went out on Beaver on Tuesday and we caught absolutely NOTHING. We've had a bad day here and there, but I can't recall us ever being completely SKUNKED. Things should start improving with the warming weather, I'm looking forward to the good times starting soon. Roulez les bon temps!

I like the RC wake baits, but they ain't cheap. Maybe this will be a good thing and the RC stuff will be offered at the other tackle sites.

The Blue Bandit McRip, here's a pic of a 5.5 I picked up before the big freeze on Blue Bandit.

Gavin - Sent you a PM regarding the McSticks and IMA's.

Minus 10 degrees here in Bella Vista this morning. That will set the record for low cold for this date.

Ype getting pummeled here in Bella Vista, watching the weather last night, they were saying 3-5 inches, lol, more like 13-15!

Good to see the Pack win, as far as the halftime show, I did not watch it, I gave up on Super Bowl haltime shows about 20 years ago.

Depends on what they had to say..

Ironically there was a blurb in today's Benton Co. paper about Beaver levels, the corps spokesman says that any moisture provided by this storm will not have an effect on lake levels because of the need to generate electricity. He did not say anything about minimum flow. I have a heat pump myself and my bills are jumping.

A lot of electricity being used in this cold snap which looks to go through next Thursday.