bobby b.

Can someone tell which ramps are open in the SK area? Kings River? or other access points like old roap beds? Thanks Bob

Fish Bork - Thanks for the reply regarding depth and speed. Bob

I'm new to the area. How deep and how fast is the water from Deleware to Shelvin? I have a 17 ft aluminum canoe with a small motor. Could I run this area part way down and then motor back up or is it too fast and shallow? Thanks

Techo - Excellent questions and I will be researching as well over the coming days. Understand that I am as cheap as it comes. In fact I was kidding Rick that I may be installing $4000 of fish locators on a $3000 1980 Cajun boat. (It is in excellent condition though and I am very fond of it). Here is what I know so far. The Humminbirds have a "real time" side bar (as does my new Eagle 642i) that one uses to see your bait drop and the fish approach and take it. It's like playing a video game. I have not been able to make my new Eagle do this but still working on it and will be calling the Lowrance tech very soon. The Humminbird also can side shoot 220 ft across in order to quickly locate structure plus do some other cool things that my Eagle can't. Rick says it all in the software and being an engineer I believe this. Thus it is just a matter of time before Lowrance does this as well. More to follow.

Recall that I am new to the lake, just finished building a house and therefore have had little time to fish. This together with the clear water of TR and my very average fishing skills, have made it hard for me to catch fish (except the spawn and the first few minutes of daylight post spawn). Thus I took my fish guided fishing trip this Saturday. It wasn’t really a guided trip but rather a fishing lesson in drop shot. Rick LaPoint offers a 10 hour drop shot course that a friend and I took and it was worth every penny. We caught approximately 25 fish with 10 health keepers. Even the shorts were just short – 14 7/8. All were returned to the water. Given the weather Saturday, this was a very good day. 25% of the time on the water is an actual lesson and the remainder fishing. The new Humminbird locators are definitely superior to the Lowrance/Eagle products. I am confidence that even I can catch fish (on the drop shot) with one of these Humminbirds. I have a brand new Eagle 642i with the 07 Navonics chip for sale. Any interest? I strongly recommend this to course to all who need help with the drop shot. Rick was a good teacher and enjoyable to spend the day with.

What's the issue with the tranducers? Why do they blow out? Thanks

A couple of weeks ago, I was motoring on the lake near Indian Point heading back to the house. I saw a big bird in the distance. From the wing beats I could tell it was not a goose. I guessed it to be a cormorant. As I continued it appeared we were on a collision course. The bird was approahing at a 45 degree angle. Our paths intersected and I could have raised up out of my seat and pulled the beard off of the turkey as it passed directly over my head. Amazing.

Just read this thread and am disappointed to hear about the Lowrance not repairing older units. I have been using Eagle for years. I just bought and installed an Eagle Fish Elite 642gps i and think its great. I've done allot of research on these and believe that the Eagle and Lowrance product is the same (they change one or two features between the two brands - on my unit the difference is the way the zoom feature works) I like the 642i as the transducer is the same as the Fishmark 480 which I already had and thus I can switch the unit between two different boats that I have. Also the internal GPS is great as it too is available on either boat when I switch. The color screen is also mcuh better than the mono. I'll never buy a mono again. Also bought a 2007 Hot maps card - it works great. Total price with the card and tax = $720.00

Put in at Bridgeport and fished for whites up near Blunk on Monday. As I am new to TR, this was my first time running the James this far up. Met and talked to some nice local guys. Fishing was slow but I learned allot. I will put in further up from now on - Charlies probably as I understand Lilley broke a trailer light at Blunks. The ramp looked OK from the water but maybe its not. Did catch some whites and a nice LM. Whites were small - not like what I experienced on the Kings the days before. Had to come back to KC for some work Tuesday and Wed. (today) but am ready to come back down as soon as I hear something favorable regarding the Whites or the Crappie, particularly up the James as I liked it up there. So what the word up the James or Long Creek or the Kings?

Got it I think - I'll try tomorrow. Thanks

Sam - I'm new to the area and trying to learn. Where do the whites spawn - these places you are talking about are not on my maps. Can you explain a bit for a new guy? Is this area boatable with a John boat and/or how do you get to the area you walk in to????? Thanks

Fished Sat. afternoon out of Cricket - water near Yocum was dingy, water the other side of Cricket was clear - only caught 4 slabs but they were nice - caught in the clear water in about 8 ft of water - caught two short bass - all on black/white swimming minnows - didn't see others catching fish. How about anyone else fishing for crappie on this part of the lake??????????

Several afternoons last week I saw whites busting the shad about 1/4 mile up from the Viola ramp and did the same thing - threw a black/gold rogue as that was what was on one of my lines - took two whites and one LM in about 5 casts. Since I am new to TR, didn't know if this was a fluke or not. I did see boats trolling this area - assumed it was for the whites.

Lilley - I caught two whites about that zize on the Kings last week.

These worked for me yesterday.

Fished from Viola to the Island in the p.m. - one 4 lb and one short on the TR spinnerbait. These fish were pretty close to the back - one on a main point the other on a transition from the bluffs. I'm new to TR but learning - this forum helps the new guys more than you could know. I'm fishing were you guys report success and learned of the TR colored spinner from this forum. Temps were 55 - 56 degrees near Viola. I fished for just a bit where we have a place up near the darn before going the the Kings River. Temps are 50 near the darn. One more day to fish before heading back to KC. I'm very appreciative of this website.

Fished the Kings from Viola to Jackie Hollow in the p.m. Caught a 5 lb LM and a couple nice whites. Fished a craw wiggle wart and a black/gold stick. Talked to a guy leaving as I was putting in, who said he caught a limit a keepers (LM) on craw crankbaits. Weather was nice but the wind died in mid afternoon.

Are there public boat access ramps somewhere in the middle of the Kings - say somewhere between 86 and the mouth of the river? thanks

Fished downstream of Lookout until the water came on in mid-afternoon, then boated up to Outlet 1 and drifted - did very well on Scuds. Most importantly, when we got up to the MDC ramp, the Fire Department was there and a rescue boat was unloading at the ramp. We were told that there was a report (the guys on the rescue boat called it a 3rd party report) of a person in the water. we helped them look for a while - I found a wading boot across from KOA. The Corp turned off the water apparently at the FD request. Apparently it was not clear if a person was in the water or not. Does anyone know how this turned out?

A bunch of us are coming to fish Sat - Monday with boats but prefer wading. Any recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks

Regarding the 35 degree transducer discussed by SKMO, the Eagle Fish Mark 480 unit as well as many other Eagle units come standard with a 20 degree transducer yet they claim a 60 degree capability by making some adjustments to the unit. Does anyone know how and if this 60 degree thing works?

In looking for these at BPS and Cabelas catalogs, both stores have sales on these - $99.00. Closer examination reveils that the units on sale are the 2006 model which advertises 1 ft contours. Is the 2007 version much improved over the 2006 version?

Hello - I'm new to this forum. We have recently built a house on the lake south of Branson West (off of Talking Rocks Rd). Hope to semi retire there in a couple of years. I find the clear water of TR harder to fish than Truman. At any rate, a few questions. What color of jerk baits are best in these upcoming weeks. Normally I would expect to try to get these down to 5 ft or so. How does the clear water affect this type of fishing? Go deeper? From reading some post on this forum, it seems that the bass action is better up towards SK rather than the darn area. Any comments in this regard? Looking for some help. Thx Bob