Fisherfriend

I got a late on Sat the 13th arrived from Columbia at about 9:00-9:30. No water through the flood gates but they appeared to be letting some through for power generation. It was fairly crowded, I counted about 25 boats in the water. Things started out pretty slow. I was able to dip up a dozen or so shad on the bank by the turbines but couldn't get anything interested in them except for a gar that I managed to actually hook and get to the boat. I moved over to the cove, picked up few small crappie, a few bluegills, a small-ish largemouth. I was pretty much on my way back to the ramp and saw a single boat over by the pilings almost straight across from the ramp. The caught a few what looked like crappie while I was pointed in their direction. I figured what the heck and tied up to one of the pilings near the bank at what I hope was a respectful distance, maybe 20-30 yards. The current at the bank was just starting to curl back upstream so from where I was, it was almost coming straight at me from the main downstream current. I caught a few black bass on an oversize black and chartreuse crappie tube jig and then a few more on a small white twister-tail jig. That got hung up and when I opened my tackle box I saw an already rigged Mr Twister shad-shaped soft bait in pearl on a large-ish ball jig. That's when things really heated up. I must have caught 25 large-mouth, small-mouth and hybrid bass from that one spot. Three different times I had to straighten out a bent hook just from hauling'em in. Nothing trophy sized but the action was great! I would cast straight out about as far as I could given the line size (12 lb) and the small lure, count ten seconds and start a medium retrieve. It's the sort of day that makes up for a lot of slow fishing. Expect I'll try it again this coming weeked.

Thanks Seth and rangerman for the replies. Next time I'll try over by the turbines. I've fished there before but never with much success. I am usually there by myself, it's little tricky to run the boat and cast. It's sort of like driving while talking on the cell phone while pouring a cup of coffee while fiddling with the radio. I saw several guys fill their bait buckets with shad. One had a cast net, the other used a long-handled net to just scoop them out right up on the bank just below the turbines. Does anyone fish for hybrids with live bait or were they probably using them for catfish? Also, next time I go I'll pack some heavier road runners just in case. Thanks again, it's great to be able to share what I know in return for what all you folks know.

Hello All, My last post described the tailwaters as low as I haver ever seen it. That was on May 2. On May 10th it was as about as high as I have ever seen it with 12 of 13 floodgates open and water cascading over the spillways. I got there about 7:00 and the morning was cool enough that there was quite a bit of fog rolling off of the spillway. It made everything look eerie and beautiful. There were very few boats out all day, not sure if they thought the water was too high or if they were all treating their mother to a Mother's Day brunch. I wasn't quite sure how to approach the high water from a fishing standpoint. All my usual favorite places were barely recognizable. There were some wicked currents around the cove making it a little problematic. Using a leadhead jig with a small white twistertail, I caught a few small-ish crappie hiding right up on the bank in submerged brush. I caught a nice smallmouth on a chartreuse crappie thunder (the very same thing I caught a very nice smallmouth on two weeks ago...hmmm, makes you wonder). The best luck I had was fishing near the 75 yard line just about lined up with the end of the first spillway on the south side. I anchored in what seemed like the calmest spot between the heavy downstream current and the clockwise swirl around the cove. It took a while but I eventually caught 5 or 6 hybrid bass in the 3 lb range. They were pretty much all in the seam between the currents. I caught one with a buck tail slab spoon but all the rest were on a 3/8 oz white roadrunner with a 4" white curly tail grub. The current was hard to figure out. If I let the lure drop a little, it would start moving in a totally different direction than the surface current and then change directions again when it dropped a little deeper. I'm still looking to hook up one of those big hybrids. Any suggestions? Also, anybody been to the old lock and dam near Mari-Osa? Wondering what the fishing is like there with the water up.

Headed out early Saturday, May 2nd. The water was lower than I have ever seen it although keep in mind I've only been there a half-dozen times or so. I was surprised because I thought with all the rain SURELY they would be running a lot of water. Didn't they know I would be fishing? Apparently not. Both the big "submergered" island and a smaller one between it and the dam were exposed. The pilings on the souwest bank were almost completely out of the water. Does anyone know if there is a water level gauge visible from a boat there. It would be easier to describe if I could say just where the water was on a gauge. Fishing was so-so. I caught probably 20-25 small crappie and a 2 1/2 lb hybrid off the point in the cove. All of them were on a small white twister-tail sort of jig. At the same place I also caught a nice smallmouth (+/- 3 lbs) on a chartreuse crappie thunder jig with my 12' crappie rod on 4 lb test line (I thought of you, ozarkgunner). A little later I moved to the 75 yard line and started tossing a white 7/8 oz Bomber slab spoon. I'm not sure what I hooked but it felt huge. I had a pretty good bite, tried to set it but didn't. I kept reeling, felt another lighter tap, kept reeling, then Wham! Whatever it was hit like a freight train and took off. Somewhere near the boat it shook loose. I never did see it. It's the sort of thing that will probably have me there next week. Makes me curious as to what it was. The only other fish I caught was spoonbill that I accidently tailhooked with the slab spoon. I wasn't sure when the season closed so I thought I'd better turn him loose. I've never been snagging and so don't have a lot to compare it to but it seemed pretty good size to me. I didn't try to haul him into the boat for an accurate measure but I'm guessing 36-40 inches from tail to the base of his snout or spoonbill or whatever you call it. Anyone have any news about the old lock and dam just upstream from the Mari-Osa access? It's about 45 minutes closer to me than Bagnell but I haven't had as much luck there as I have at the dam.

Thanks Seth, I was using a silver Bomber Slab Spoon mostly. I tried shallow, deep, fast, slow, vertical jigging, you name it. As I said, I finally caught one hybrid in the 4 lb range or so. I also tried a smaller silver kastmaster, no luck. And a silver rat-l-trap, no luck. I'm curious, what do most people use for hybrids there below the dam? I used the heavier Slab Spoon mostly because it looked on my graph as though most fish were holding at about 18-22 feet and I wanted something that could get to that depth quickly. I've heard about but never seen anyone use a rig with heavy weight at the terminal end and a leader tied 18-24" up the line from that with a crankbait on the end of the leader. Do you have any experience with that sort of thing? On a general note, I live in Columbia and very few of the people I know that fish go down to the Bagnell tailwaters. It's great to be able to communicate with others about their fishing experience and try to learn from them. I am happy to share whatever information I have as well but at this point I think I'm learning more than I'm teaching. Just wanted to say thank you to the owner, moderator, contributors for all the information.

Thanks Creek Wader, although somehow I suspect their water discharge priorities don't include my fishing schedule. It should, of course......... I've only been below the dam there a few times so I don't really have a lot to compare the water flow to. Never been there when the floodgates are open. I was reading 44-45° so I'm guessing it's a little cold yet. Any idea how big the hybrids get there? FYI - I'd like to think if I was going to lie about my fishing, I could do better than one bass, one crappie, one hybrid! LOL Thanks again for the info

That was pretty much my experience Saturday also. Nobody I talked to was doing well. The only fish I saw being caught were were a few crappie just off the southwest bank. I managed to catch one largemouth, one crappie and one halfway decent hybrid bass. I want to know the phone number you call to order water dishcharge at the dam. Seems like early Saturday morning would have been a perfect time to let some water out. Maybe next weekend.