Quillback

Everything I've read from the fisheries biologists says that stripers will not negatively impact black bass populations. That being said, if the local guys don't want them in the lake then they should not be stocked.

Yep, she read about the great fishing in the Holiday island area and is thinking of taking up golf also. Mild winters are a bonus.

They are looking good, and I agree that we should see thme playing in the post-season. I wonder if Albert is thinking he should have stayed in SL?

Let's hope they are on the way back, sure would be nice to have some public land hunting closer to home than Kansas or Nebraska. My pointer is a year old now, I'm looking forward to this fall!

I'd give Bella Vista marine a call (they're actually in Bentonville), they treated me fairly and I see their mechanic on WIndsor quite a bit test driving boats. He's been there several years at least, so I'm assuming he's pretty experienced. But I've only had work done one time there.

Nice smallie.

Didn't know that, too bad, I believe they had been around for quite a while. I'll have to go somewhere else to get my Yamilube.

Waymack Marine has a good reputation. I've taken my Yamaha in to Bella Vista marine for routine service, they did a good job for a reasonable price.

Thanks Bill, I'll check out their site. I'm always on the lookout for good jigs.

Thanks for the report, pardon my ignorance, but who is Jason? Does he sell those jigs online?

I tried black when I used to troll for crappie, it would catch a fish every once in a while, but it was not my favorite color for crappie.

Excellent, that's some good eats!

I get those emails also, it's great to see they are keeping the lakes at an optimum nutrient level to promote a healthy environment for the fish.

I hear you on the wallet damage, dangerous place for me to walk into.

There was what could have been an AR record striper caught in Bull, but the fellow that weighed it did not weigh it on a certified scale and no AGFC employee was there to witness the weight, so it was DQ'd. They did finally weigh it a day or so later on a certified scale and with an AGFC witness, but by that time it had lost weight and weighed less than the record. I read this in a write-up in the AR Dem-Gazette a couple of weeks ago, so I apologize if the details are a little sketchy.

I'm not going, but it will be interesting to hear how big the biggest one is. Seems that lately no one in a tourney can break the 6 lb. mark.

Nice piggie! Congrats!

Yeah Stumper I'm with you on knowing where on the lake they are, we'll all have to keep out eyes open when the run the footage to see if we can figure out where they were fishing. Between all of us Beaver fishermen we should be able to recognize some of the spots. I'm glad they're gone too, I'm not anti-tournament but lately there's just been too many big tourneys on Beaver.

I go for the best of both worlds, Daichi Deathtraps on jerkbaits, some topwaters, and minnow type lures, the KVD Mustad Ultrapoints on cranks that are banging off cover.

Some great fish you got up at that end of the lake, Bill. I'm going to be fishing that area myself a little more this summer.

ROGERS, Ark. – Coming in to this event David Dudley of Lynchburg, Va., had career winnings of $2.9 million dollars – the most of any professional angler on the FLW Tour. Dudley widened that gap today by winning the FLW Tour Major bass fishing tournament on Beaver Lake. The $125,000 victory has pushed him over the $3 million mark. Dudley weighed in a five-bass limit worth 16 pounds, 9 ounces to win the tournament, besting the best bass fishing pros in the tournament. Dudley weighed in 20 bass totaling 54 pounds, 7 ounces during four days of competition fishing. He edged out a man who had previously won this event in 2007, Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn., who weighed in five bass today totaling 17 pounds, 8 ounces. Morgan’s four-day total of 53-15 was good enough for second place – and a $35,000 check. “Winning a tournament like this really drives me,” said Dudley, who now has 32 top-10 finishes and six victories in FLW competition. “Me and Glenn (Browne) are good friends, but when he said on stage yesterday that there were only three anglers in contention to win and he didn’t mention my name, well, it really fueled my fire. So thank you, Glenn Browne. What I did today was like hitting two grand slams in the last inning of a baseball game. I just kept plucking away at it. It’s a passion for me. “You really just have to go out there and catch as much as you can,” Dudley continued. “You can’t worry about what the other guy is doing. Fishing is so much of a mental game; you have to be mentally tough. It’s not about the skill, it’s about the decisions. It’s not like I’m a better angler than anybody out there. It’s the decisions that we make that separate us.” Dudley used his decision-making skills today to leap from fourth place after Saturday’s weigh-in into the top spot. He caught most of his fish this week on an umbrella rig, but changed his strategy this afternoon after having a slow morning. “I was catching them all week on the umbrella rig, but around 1 p.m. I realized that if I wanted to win I was going to need to switch it up,” he said. “I went to a steep bank that I had caught a couple off of this week using a wacky worm, and the wind was blowing pretty good against it. I made the decision to switch back to the wacky worm and I just worked my way down that bank. I caught four or five keepers and culled a couple of times, and it just seemed to turn on for me. Everywhere I stopped I caught a big one. I ended up only weighing in one on the umbrella rig today.” Despite the umbrella rig being a key part of Dudley’s success throughout the week, he knows that it was not the only factor in his victory. “That rig is something that we are all still learning about,” said Dudley. “It’s gotten a bad name because some people say that it mistreats the fish, but it doesn’t do any of that. It’s a lure that is going to catch some fish, but it does not dominate. Of my 20 bass that I weighed in, only 13 of them came on the umbrella rig. Seven of my fish came on different lures. The umbrella rig is a tool, not a cure-all tool. I believe the key decision to my tournament was not going after the spotted bass. I had a legit 10 to 12 schools located, and it was very tempting. I knew I couldn’t rely on them, though, because they would not have had the weight that helped me get to this spot today.” Moments after his emotional victory, Dudley was already looking ahead to the next FLW Tour event on the Potomac River. “I’m really looking forward to the Potomac, that’s for sure. I really love tidal rivers and I love the current. The Potomac is a very healthy fishery right now, so all of you Fantasy Fishing players out there better pick some good power fishermen.” The remaining top 10 pros finished the tournament in: 3rd: Luke Clausen, Spokane, Wash., 20 bass, 53-9, $30,000 4th: Scott Canterbury, Springville, Ala., 20 bass, 52-13, $25,000 5rd: Glenn Browne, Ocala, Fla., 20 bass, 51-14, $20,000 6th: Jay Yelas, Corvallis, Ore., 20 bass, 50-5, $17,000 7th: Charlie Evans, Gilbertsville, Ky., 20 bass, 46-10, $16,000 8th: Jacob Powroznik, Prince George, Va., 20 bass, 45-14, $15,000 9th: Kelley Jaye, Dadeville, Ala., 19 bass, 40-2, $14,000 10th: Brad Rightnour, Mingoville, Pa., 17 bass, 38-12, $13,000 Overall there were 46 bass weighing 115 pounds even caught by pros Sunday. The catch included eight five-bass limits. Chad Pipkens of Holt, Mich., won the co-angler division and $25,000 Saturday with a three-day total of nine bass weighing 22-15 followed by Todd Lee of Jasper, Ala., in second place with 10 bass weighing 18-14 worth $7,500. In FLW Tour Major tournaments, pros and co-anglers are competing for valuable points that could help them qualify for the 2012 Forrest Wood Cup. The top 35 pro and co-anglers in the point standings from the six FLW Tour Major tournaments will qualify.

ROGERS, Ark. – Coming into day three at the FLW Tour Major on Beaver Lake the largest stringer that had been weighed in for the bass fishing tournament was a nice 16-pound, 3-ounce bag weighed in Friday by J.T. Kenney. That weight was shattered on Saturday as Kenney’s fellow pro Scott Canterbury wowed the Rogers, Ark., crowd with a huge 19-pound, 11-ounce stringer of Beaver Lake bass. He now leads a full field of bass pros as they fish for a top cash award of up to $125,000. The Springville, Ala., native weighed in a five-bass limit Saturday vaulting him from 13th place yesterday into the top spot. After three days of fishing, Canterbury has weighed in 15 bass totaling 42 pounds, 5 ounces. He now holds a slim 12-ounce lead over Luke Clausen of Spokane, Wash., who caught five bass today weighing 14-5. Clausen has weighed in 15 bass totaling 41-9 after the first three days. “Man, it was an absolutely awesome day today,” said Canterbury, who has career earnings of more than $500,000 on the FLW Tour. “I have not changed anything, and I’m fishing the exact same way that I did on day one and day two. I was just blessed today. Every time I moved, I caught them. Every time I changed baits, I caught them. When I switched to bigger lures, I caught bigger fish. It was one of those days where everything that I did just worked out for me.” Canterbury said that he covered a lot of water Saturday, and plans on doing the same Sunday. “I started today in Prairie Creek and just started catching them right off of the bat,” Canterbury said. “Then I went way up the river and had some good bites up there as well. I’m really just looking for the transition banks and fishing the shallow cover. I was throwing so much different stuff today. I was power fishing. I threw the Alabama rig. I was throwing a big jig. I fished some topwaters. I was throwing a squarebill-crankbait. I’m just covering as much water as I can and trying different lures. I caught nine keepers on the day today. I feel like I’m around some fish – it’s just all about getting the big bites, though. Luckily that happened for me today, and I’m hoping I can do it again tomorrow.” After his success on day three, Canterbury said he has no plans of altering his strategy heading into the fourth and final day. “My plan for day four is to just keep doing the same thing. It’s just how I like to fish,” he continued. “I’ve got a good chance to catch some big fish tomorrow, but you never really know. I feel good about my chances, but this is still Beaver Lake. I only weighed in 8 pounds on the second day, and I’ve zeroed here before. I feel like I’m around a lot of fish but it’s all about getting those bites. Hopefully I can make that happen and everything goes good for me on day four and I can finish this thing off.” Rounding out the top 10 pros and advancing to the final day or competition on Beaver Lake are: 3rd: Glenn Browne, Ocala, Fla., 15 bass, 39-0 4th: David Dudley, Lynchburg, Va., 15 bass, 37-14 5th: Andy Morgan, Dayton, Tenn., 15 bass, 36-7 6th: Jay Yelas, Corvallis, Ore., 15 bass, 36-5 7th: Kelley Jaye, Dadeville, Ala., 15 bass, 35-8 8th: Charlie Evans, Gilbertsville, Ky., 15 bass, 35-7 9th: Brad Rightnour, Mingoville, Pa., 15 bass, 34-8 10th: Jacob Powroznik, Prince George, Va., 15 bass, 34-6

I was reading the fishing report in the Benton County Daily Record this Thursday and there was a paragraph in there stating someone had caught a 100 Lb. Blue on shad while striper fishing. No pictures, names or any other info. Anyone else heard this from another source? I know there's 100 + lb. blues caught in the big rivers but never heard of one that big coming out of a lake around here.

Funny thing on the Day 2 standings, 2 guys from the Pacific Northwest leading and the next 2 are from Florida. You'd think the local guys would have an advantage, but there's only one guy left from AR or MO in the top 20 and he's from West Memphis. Standings are pretty tightly bunched also. Big bass so far are barely breaking 5 lbs., I would have thought a 6-7 lb. fish would have been caught by now.

Yep we were fishing Lake Windsor in BV, the fish were biting plastics really well, just one of those days where you can do no wrong.