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Oops, I said bell sinker! I meant egg sinker! You could use the brass C-rig types, but they are pretty pricey! I have used bell sinkers for a drop-shot rig, but I much prefer the drop-shot weights that you just run the line through and pull tight into the clasp!

I usually tie mine about 12"-16" above the weight. Even if the fish are holding tight to the bottom, you probably don't want the weight much closer than that. I've seen guys tie the hook 2-3' above the weight, but I've never tried it? If the fish are suspended over deeper water, then I guess it it really doesn't matter where it's tied, as long as it's not too close! It's where you put the bait that matters, the weight is simply to get it there! It seems like most folks around here fish it straight down, but if you were going to fan-cast it in an area and drag it, you might want to put the hook higher on the line? I know a guy who fishes it that way in the Spring with a fish doctor, kind of like a backwards C-rig? But I seem to do just as well with a regular old split-shot rig. I tried his method, using a small bell sinker smeared with vaseline (helps sliding over the rocks) on the end, with the hook tied up about 12". crimp a very small split shot below the bell sinker to hold it on. Didn't seem to catch any more fish, but it did hang up less, and when it did, I could just pull the weight off and re-tie anonther one. Also kept the line above the hook from getting nicked up by the rock as it tends to do with the split shot. Certainly easier to cast longer distances!

Really interesting day on the Lake for me! Didn't go out until 9:00 AM, and quickly realized that the trolling motor was going to get a workout! That wind was howlin ! Hit a couple spots on the main lake and decided that if I was fishin for fun, I wasn't gonna have any, bouncin like a bobber with spray coming over the bow! Headed for a sheltered spot along Plaster's bluff, and hit a bonanza of smallies! Caught 20 or more on Eakin's, FB jig and rig from one little cut. Only 4 were keeps, but they were all sassy and fat! Sitting there in the relatively calm water, catchin fish, with the turkeys chattering in the background, it was as nice a time as I've had on the Lake in a while! Decided to head down the bluff, and almost ran into a deer swimming aimlessly in the middle of the Lake. With all of the boats buzzing across Point 7, I decided to give the young buck a hand, so I ran alongside him and steered him over to shore. He was so tired, he could barely get himself up on shore. I decided to drop a line right where I stopped, in 40'. Got to the bottom, gave the drop shot worm a jiggle and tap, tap. Figured it was a good K, but after I got him up, it turned out to be a 4.2 LM. Some folks from Colorado were puttin along in a pontoon and they decided to watch me while I was fighting this fish. After I got him in, I raised him up to show them and they all clapped and cheered! They came over and we chatted a bit. Nice folks! By 1 Pm, the rain was annoying, so I headed back to the dock. Can't remember a more enjoyable 4 hours on the water?

By now, most of you have probably seen those wire and mesh lumbar support things. I bought one at Branson Landing last year and love it in my truck! Saw them at walgreen's 2 for $10, so I got one for the bass boat and one for the pontoon. They are great! Really makes it more comfy on the long rides, especially when it's rough! Makes it easier for us old guys to get up out of the seat, too. And keeps the back cooler on the hot days. Would probably also work well for those that fish on a traditional folding-type seat? Although not sure if seat would still fold down all the way with this thing attached? It has elastic straps in the back that will slip over the back of your seat, chair, whatever. On my boats, I just wedge it in the crease and it stays there just fine. Hasn't helped my fishing any, but it sure makes gettin there nicer!

Bill, With the cool-down this week, do you figure the fish will move up a bit? Can't seem to find any good Largemouths in the last week or so? Smallies seem to be in about 15-25 off the gravel, or a bit shallower with some wind.

Dates vary every year? We sometimes see them in mid to late October, and have seen them stay as late as March, sometimes April. We see them every year up in Fisher Creek! (just Northwest of Hwy 13 bridge) I usually see a pair that hangs out just inside of the main lake point south of Arrowhead Dock, which is directly across the Lake from Kimberling Inn and Ahoy's. They fly over the house all of the time, and they love to sit on top of a big tree not more than 150 feet from my deck. Not sure where they roost, but they seem to go back and forth between the bridge and the back of Fisher and Brushy Creek coves. Was on the dock one morning and had one swoop down after a fish right in front of our dock and take off back to the North up into Fisher. What a sight! There are many other places on the lake to see them, and I'm sure some others will chime in on their favorite spots!

Sure sorry to hear about your reels! I have a Curado that has never had a problem, and a BP reel I received as a gift that must be made by Shimano, as it looks almost identical? The only thing I can think of is that if you are cupping the left side of reel with your left hand, then possibly you end up 'twisting' the housing as you set the hook? That would explain why that piece would break off. Certainly the reel should be able to withstand that, though! I never really thought about where my hands were when I set the hook? After simulating it, I realized that I have only my thumb and forefinger actually on the reel, middle finger under the reel and the other 2 fingers wrapped under the rod at the reel seat. It didn't seem as though I was putting any stress on the piece you mentioned? I had an old Shakespeare reel that literally broke into pieces on a hook set. I wrote a letter to them and they sent me a newer version of the same reel AND a new rod!

Just looked up the Eugene Bend knot! Duh! It is the same one that I've been tying for years! We always just called it the "quick knot"?

Sounds like a new product opportunity to me? A circle hook with a bit of a shank below the eye to hold the worm, lizard, etc? The tough part would be feeding it on the hook and turning the point back in. Or how about those hooks with the separate little barbed piece attached to the eye that you stick in the top of the worm? Why couldn't you put that on a circle hook?

That looks like a good one! I still use the old "quick knot" on light line. Seems to be pretty similar?

I was chasin some whites this morning in the light rain, and as I was pulling up the trolling motor to leave I noticed some "shelf rock" at the mouth of the cove. I remembered your post and tied on an Eakin's jig with a twin tail chompers. Just as I pulled the jig off of the first ledge it got slammed! Great fight with a big smallie. My measuring board only goes to 18", and she hung over the end a good 4-5". She was fat and thick! I'm guessing close to 5 lbs? Here's a terrible picture from my cell phone. Doesn't do this beauty justice! Thanks for the great tip!

Fished between Gobbler Mountain and Mill Creek early Saturday. Few shorts on topwater, and a couple small keeper K's on FB jig. Lost a nice LM around a dock. About 9:30, I ran into a huge school of whites around Hoot Owl and caught all I wanted in the 10-14" range. Was about worn out by the whites, when something nailed my spoon as soon as it hit the water. A 4 lb+ smallie was in there feeding with the whites and made a perfect ending to the morning!

The weather forecast may make the Lake a bit less crowded than usual? Are the whites still running? Haven't been out this week? Any other reports or predictions?

An old guy on our dock never would fish a jerkbait because he said "it's too much like work"! He'd say, "If I wanted a workout, I'd go to the friggin gym" He would take the magnum size wiggle wart and weight it down with those adhesive metal strips golfers use to weight their clubs. He'd put the strips on the belly and get it to where it was almost "neutral" at rest, with just a very slight upward rise. He'd cast it out, reel hard to get it down and then use his reel handle to give it the jerks and pauses. Don't know the name of the color, but it had a silver bill and body, with a bright green back and a red or orange belly. He would use a red magic marker to color up the metal strips. It was goofy lookin, but he caught fish like a son-of-a-gun with it. Another one of his contraptions was a big silver/black floating Rapala. He removed the back treble and tied about 2 or 3 feet of line to the split ring with a white "doll fly" on the end. (for you younger guys, a doll fly is basically a crappie jig made with hair or feathers) If he saw surface action, he would cast that rig into it and almost always got hooked up. I saw him catch a Kentucky on the Rapala, with a white bass hooked up on the doll fly at the same time! Unfotunately, he passed away last Fall, but he always believed that you "gotta show em sumpin different".

The Corps rules are pretty clear. First, you must have a vegetative permit to cut ANYTHING, including grass, on Corps land, and only if it fronts property that you own! The permit only gives you the right to mow a maximum of 200' from your house. On trees, you can't cut anything that is more than 2" in diameter at a point 4.5' high. This guy has brass ones! Most people use the old copper nail approach,(eventually kills tree, especially cedars) or cut them off at the ground, cover it with dirt and haul off the tree or burn it. Had a neighbor get caught . He was fined $11,000 and couldn't touch the land for 10 years! The 10 years just came up, and they rejected the application for a new permit. Don't mess with the Corps! They desperately need the funding right now and they will fine your booty in a heartbeat!

Maybe those fish knew something? If this weather keeps up, and the water temps keep droppin, the ole jerkbait might be the deal!

Not thinking this is any kind of pattern, but I hooked 2 nice LM this morning at about 9:30. Both were over 4, I'm guessing? First one might have been closer to 5. Just got my BPS order yesterday. Needed some spoons, and also got a few X-Raps. They're back-ordered on the Olive Green (my favorite), but they had the Gold, which is what I ended up with. Thought I'd screw around with the new jerkbaits just to see the action, depth, etc. Never even cranked up the big motor. Just trolled about 50 ' from dock and started throwing it. Second cast, got the bigger of the two and the other one 2-3 casts later. Made about a dozen more casts, that was it. It was just inside a main lake point with chunk rock. Sitting in 18-20' throwing just short of bank. Had some honey-do's, so had to go back up to the house. Jerkbait in August? Who'd a thunk it?

Assuming color makes a difference, what colors do you guys like? I've had pretty good results with X-Rap in Olive Green, which resembles the Chrome Shad Mc Stick. The Gold X-rap has some great color to it, and for whatever reason it seems to work better on a faster retrieve? But, I've probably caught the most on a good ole Silver/Black rogue. I wish the X-Rap would go a bit deeper, but you can shave the bill and/or weight it to get it down another foot or two.

Didn't notice it as a problem? The rig pretty much falls straight and the worm doesn't "helicopter" or spin on the fall like a Texas-rigged worm on the drop shot. I used to get line twist using a regular split shot rig, but I've been putting a small black barrel swivel just above the split shot, which not only eliminates line twist, but seems to cause less hang-ups on the rocks. I guess because the split shot can rotate a bit and work itself free? Stay tuned for my next experiment, which will be a baby fluke on the drop shot.

I was goofing around on our dock last Friday, and was dangling a conventional drop shot rig around the outside corners and inside stalls. Hooked up a monster, but he threw the bait as he jumped between a boat and the dock! Caught 2 other nice keeps doing the same thing, and they all hit it on the fall. I decided to experiment a bit, so I replaced the teardrop-style weight with a small split shot and hooked the worm wacky-style, which slowed the fall considerably. Bang, bang, bang! 3 nice fish, including a huge smallie. Decided to try other docks and took the boat out and hit other deep-water docks near points . Caught fish on all 4 docks I tried, and had 4 or 5 keeps and another big boy that broke me off around a cable. I was using a Zoom finesse worm in Watermelon Candy, spinning outfit and 8 lb Silver thread. Was in 6-20' depth and was fishing Fisher Creek, White Branch and Schooner Creek areas. Tried it again the next day. Not as good, as it was mostly overcast that day. Haven't been out since, but will definitely give it another try on a sunny day!

Great post about fishing the bridge! I've fished it for 30+ years and this gives me another tactic. I've often fished crawlers , spoons, grubs and drop shots straight down next to the piers with great success. Sometimes a weighted white fluke will work, too. I just clamp a split shot about a third of the way down the hook shank and leave the hook slightly exposed at the top. Or you can poke a length of solder wire into the nose to give it the extra weight. Just cast it out and let it flutter down. I've caught some nice fish that took it in less than 10' when the graph shows them holding in 30' or more. Tried the fluke on the drop shot, but the action just isn't the same! I often use a drop shot with a watermelon candy Zoom worm , put my boat right next to the pier, and cast it out the same distance as the depth they are holding. The just let the bait "pendulum" back to the boat. Sometimes a small jig crawled or stair-stepped down the North bluff is a good deal! I can see the bridge from my deck, so I'll have the binos on you! I'm on the West side, so please face East when nature calls! Pic below was taken from the end of my dock.

Here's another way to cook up Whites. Cut out the red line of meat, and then cut remainder of filets into 1"-1 1/2" squares. Soak pieces in a pan or bowl of milk in the fridge for at least a couple hours. Rinse off, pat dry and give the milk to your cat! Dip pieces in fresh milk or milk/egg mixture and then coat with your favorite batter. (Is Dixie brand still around? There's another cajun mix that's really good, can't remember the name?) Put pieces in a Fry Daddy or deep pan with oil. They fry up real quick and taste great. I think soaking in milk and frying the smaller pieces seems to extract the 'fishy" flavor? Some hush puppies and cole slaw on the side, and I like a splash of Frank's Hot Sauce on the fish. MMM, MMM good!

6,000 drowned septic tanks? Where? On the rivers?

Call Tom Blake at Blake's Econolift. 888-779-5721 or 417-464-2111 Tom has done 3 lifts for me ( bass boat, jetskis and pontoon.) Service is great, prices are fair and Tom's a first-class guy! Does what he says he will do, and shows up when he says he will! He won't sell you what you don't need and he sometimes has some great deals on used lifts.

Also recommend Schooner Creek Resort. http://www.schoonercreekresort.com/ Great location for getting out and about for groceries, dinner, etc . It's only about 2 or 3 blocks off of Hwy 13 and there's a Harter House (great grocery store with excellent meat) just down the road. It's in a "no wake" cove and has plenty of room options. If you are planning on a guide, Bill Beck lives right across the street. http://www.tablerockguideservice.com/