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After going YEARS without hooking anyone I have had a minor hooking pandemic break out in my boat the last 2 seasons. The most recent being my daughter putting one into the side of my nephews head…the line trick works every time and every time we have been able to continue fishing. Knowledge every angler needs. And great report! I haven’t had a great Topwater bite like that in a couple years- just haven’t timed it right. I might have to make a trip over this week.

Wait- what’s going on? I loved Bill’s posts! What happened?

We were over fishing Wed - Friday AM. Water temp up the White was low 70’s. Fished from Rock Creek area down to shell knob. Water is clear above the Kings. Below the Kings it gets dirty and that was not good for us. Wednesay was cloudy before a nasty storm, Thursday bluebird sky and little wind. Today it was blowing hard. We had 4 guys in 2 boats and caught over 150 fish but we did work for them. We fished hard- until 8:30 Wednesday, fished from 5:30 to 8:30 yesterday and was on the water today at 5:45. Yesterday was a little tougher with no wind or clouds- but we kept and it and got them to bite. This morning was better with much better quality today with some wind. The fish are biting and they are biting in a lot of ways. Most consistent pattern for us was topwater- throwing either a pop-r, buzz toad (white), or spook in and around the bushes. Gotta get up in them. My boat did better closer to main lake areas and front of pockets. My brother’s boat did better in the back of pockets- but it needed to be flat- no steep stuff. Also caught some topwater fish off shore early but that bite wasn’t great and those fish were generally smaller. Should get better. Yesterday I caught a few on a 6 inch glide bait around docks- had to be bigger docks on deeper water. We caught them on a swimmers, on spoons, and jack hammers. Interestingly- our fish were a mix of post and pre-spawn. There are all fish in all phases right now. Basically- keep your lines wet, fish how you want, and you should be getting some bites right now.

I’m headed over next week and I have a spinnerbait ready to go- that should be good with some high water and hopefully a Shad spawn. I would also have a topwater like a pop-r ready. Ned rig and at 3.3 inch swimbait in a Shad color (I like the keitech 3.3 in pro blue Pearl) catch fish on that lake 365 days a year. I like a 1/4 oz jig head for it. and a wacky rig senko should work too… it’s doesn’t have to be complicated or overwhelming- there are 1,000’s of baits but a few things are dependable for getting bites- this time of year you can catch them a lot of ways.

Can’t go wrong with a swimbait on Beaver. 2.8 or 3.3 I. Pro blue Pearl or sexy Shad. Also a pop-r can be fun for the kids too. Light weight ned gets bites but can get hung up easily for a kiddo.

As others have said: you should be able to catch them a lot of different ways next week. I keep a top water and 2.8 or 3.3 swimbait tied on year round and those should be great. I don't love the Ned, but it catches fish all year long, can't go wrong there either. I have had great luck fishing just after the rain and I think its always better when cloudy and/or a little windy. BUT: don't freaking mess with lightening!

Quick trip over to Big M area this AM. On the water at about 7:15. Done at 11. Windy, cloudy, high 40’s- it was chilly. WT was 54-55. Caught 9 including a couple really fat spots and a keeper eye. Most all on a jerk bait (110 in Table Rock Shad) with a couple on a rock crawler. Old school fishing- no live scope so we were not looking at em…. We were mainly targeting transition areas and caught fish in almost every place we stopped- just didn’t find a bunch of them in one spot. If you find em right now it sure seems like they are eating.

Any whites back in Indian creek?

Took the girls out for a bit this AM. It was windy and directing traffic with multiple kids casting in the wind was a full time job. We stayed for just a couple of hours- 9 fish, mostly small spots but a couple of decent ones mixed in. I caught mine on a jerk bait and they all caught theirs on little swimmers. Everything we caught was in 10-15 near deeper water. WT was 55-56. Water is clear. Fish are biting for sure- gonna try to get back out this week and maybe be a little more serious about it- but thankful the girls enjoy going.

Buddy of mine caught some on the white this week too. If you're looking for Walters it is probably a good time to get on the water.

Guys- it’s time to upgrade my ancient electronics units. In 2019 I bought an 03 ranger with old Humminbird Helix 7’s on it. I’m not going to invest in FFS- I don’t want to dump all the money needed for that (batteries, new TM, plus the units) into this older boat… but it’s the boat I have and honestly I love it. So, I’m looking for the best options for “traditional” sonar. Want the console and bow unit to network together, want side scan…. I mainly fish TR and beaver so I spend a lot of time in deeper water looking for schooling fish. I know everyone has their own favorites here but would love to hear opinions.

I used to watch these pros fish and think “I can do that…”. (Not I could be a pro, but I could learn the technique they were using and replicate it in my own weekend warrior kinda way). By no means do I mean to diminish what kind of fisherman they were- I couldn’t be that good. BUT- it felt relatable, like I could learn something by watching them and be a little bit better myself. Not now. I watch them and think I could never do that- I don’t have $10,000 of electronics. And I would want to do that- I go to the lake to fish, not drive around for hours to find one. It’s like they are doing something completely different than the average Joe. I don’t blame them- that’s how you gotta play the game at this point. But I question if it’s good for the sport long term.

Headed that way on Friday. This report is timely- thank you. Hopefully the topwater action holds on for the rest of the week.

Nice report- as always. I am off work next week and headed over for a few days- first time in a while. Hopefully I can get there without injuring my truck or any wildlife and the water temperature will be down to get some fished grouped up a bit!

Dodged the weather for a couple hours on the water. Put in at the Eagle Rock parking lot at 7:15. Was sitting under a boat dock from 7:30 to about 8:30 while the rain and lightening pounded. But was good to fish after that! We didn’t venture past Viney just in case more storms rolled though. We were off the water at noon to avoid the next big band of rain. So, not a long day but the fishing was good when we were able to have lines in the water. It was cloudy and a good set up for top water and we stayed pretty committed to that (an Arashi top Vibe and Surge Shad were best) and a jackhammer. Fished Eagle Rock to Viney- caught 15 or so between the two of us with a lot of keeper sized K’, couple of nice smallies, and some LM. All our fish were on main lake stuff- we didn’t spend much time in creeks or pockets but when we were back there we just didn’t get bites. When we caught one on top water 3 or 4 fish followed it to the boat. Each school would give up a few fish then be gone- but it wasn’t too difficult to find another. Great time of year to be on the water of the weather would cooperate. Lots of ways to catch them right now. Also- my buddy had a rainbow trout follow his jackhammer all the way back to the boat. Wish we could have caught it.