Fishinokie1

Don't need to appologize on being a proud father! I have 4 girls under the age of 8. Yup, gonna buy stock in a toilet paper company. Took my 8 year old fishing for a couple of hours Thusday over at the docks at Springfield lake. Cold, windy and muddy made for a short trip. She did catch her first catfish. I could go the rest of my life and never catch another fish just so I could watch my kids get that excited look on their face every time their bobber goes under. It makes a dad feel good when you ask your daughter what she wants to do after her last day of school an she says.....GO FISHING DAD!

If I fish from the pier, I go and pull an all nighter. The pier in Gulf Shores holds a ton of fish. I used a small crappie rig to catch these bait fish called LY's or poggies. They are like a saltwater shad. For some reason, the big red fish like the heads of these things. I was out on the pier last May and a guy I was fishing with caught a 41" bull red using a LY head. There is a picture at the check in gate of a guy who actually caught a sail fish off the pier..... If you fish off this, about 100 yards off the end to the left there is a man made reef that holds everything from snapper to drum. If I am fishing the surf, I would get up around 5 and fish until the beaches started to get crowded, then I would go back as the sun started to set. The are we stay at is down on the Eastern end of Orange Beach, but still gets crowded. I am still a novice even though I have been doing it for years. I believe there is always more to learn when talking about fishing. I live off NN behind Lamberts as well. I live in Turnberry Estates off 13th st. Zap me an email or give me a shout. 417-827-5673 I work crazy hours and leave my phone in my office most of the time, but leave me a message. Doug

I have been fishing down there for the past 6 years and before that out in South Carolina around Kiawah Island. I have used everything from cut pieces of squid, sand fleas, and shrimp. Live shrimp works great, but is expensive. The past few years my budget was tighter so I would go to Wal Mart and buy frozen medium size shrimp. Don't buy them in the fishing department, go over in the grocery aisle and buy the peel and eat kind. I have caught everything from bull reds, spec. trout, pompano, sharks and stingrays. I use two different rigs. I take along my 10' surf rod rigged with 30lb mono and a 7' spinning rod with 15lb mono. Depending on the surf you could use a 1oz to 3oz pyramid weight and circle hooks. If you want to zap me an email at dj_thoma@comcast.net. If you live close I have a pvc sand rod holder you can take with you. They don't cost much, but why buy one if you don't have to. They opened the new pier in Gulf Shores. It costs around $5 to get on and fish. I buy the 5 day license. Very reasonable. Therr is a huge fine for bringing in sharks up onto the pier also.

I went out last week to Fellows without doing my homework first. This is the time of year you can get out there early and load up on the whites hitting the shad on the banks. So I get into my truck at 3:30 am to go to my favorite early morning spot on the culvert..... yup.... it is under about 3' of water. Said a few "kind" words, got back into my truck and went to find a good cup of coffee and some breakfast. There are not many choices out there for a fella at 3:30 - 4:00 am to get a good meal out in the sticks around Fellows lake. Oh well, that is what I get for not checking it out ahead of time. It was that or stay home and help get the kids up and ready for school.

Thanks, the little store in Fair Play only sells worms now. I stopped in there the other day. Sounds like everyone agrees that Don's is the place to go. I will check them out. Thanks for all of the great info guys!

Wondering if anyone has been out to the dock at Fellows in the past few days. Did not want to drive all the way up there and find it unfishable. My daughter has her last day of school today and I told her I would take her fishing. Was going to go up to Stockton, but the winds are too much to go up there. Any info would be appreciated...

Happy bday Huck! Nothin like taking the kids fishing. On the circle hooks, they work great. I use them wen I surf fish for pompano an sharks. They set themselves and are very strong. They seem to hold bait better too.

Sounds like this Don fella has it figured out..... minnows and beer. Is that called a buzz bait???? Thanks for the directions Huck.

Huck, can't say I have been lucky enough to hook into one that will pull me around, but have landed some nice bass in this thing. The only bad thing about tubes is it puts you closer to the snakes. When it gets warmer, I lose the waders. Nothin' like a water moccasin swimming by then dissapear under the water. Can almost hear the music from "Jaws"

Joe Crighton looked kind of rough from the past few days rain. Should go down pretty quick if the rain lets up. I have never catfished down there. Usualy wade it for smallies. If you go, let me know how you do with the cats.

Thanks for the info! Taking my oldest daughter fishing Friday, and want to throw out some minnows. Can't go wrong with live bait when fishing with young kids. I caught some nice crappie on Tuesday over in the Masters area using jigs, but think minnows would be easier for her to use. If anyone is wondering, the fishing dock at Masters is hard to get to right now. The walk way is under about a foot of water. I drove down there to look at it yesterday.

Does anyone know if there is anywhere to buy minnows around the Bolivar area. I like to fish out at Masters, but have not been able to find a good bait shop.

The water better than what I expected. You could still see about 2' down. I like the Masters area because it is kind of out of the wind. The point right off to the left of the ramp is great. It goes out about 40 yards or so. Last year I caught some nice walley on this point.

Went to Masters area yesterday to see if there were any crappie still hanging around. Took my float tube to get up into the flooded brush. Found several crappie still up in the thick brush vertical jigging a red/white 1/16 oz grub. Had to hunt for them, but they are in there. All fish were caught in the backs of the brush. I fished the outer edge with no luck. You have to drop your jig right down in the middle of the thick stuff to find them, but it will pay off. You might want to bring an extra supply of jigs too... Most were short in the 8-9" range, but did find some keepers with the biggest one being 13". Also caught 3 bass with two of them keeper size. All fsh were released for someone else to enjoy another day. Just enjoyed the day and the sun. If you tube fish like myself, now is the perfect time to take advantage of the high water and use your tube to get back into the areas where others can't get to. One last note, always wear your life vest when fishing from a tube... I never go without it

Your best bet is to cast for bass using larger sinner baits. Muskie are usually caught by accident while bass fishing. To specifically Target them, you would need a boat

I waded out there this morning for a couple of hours just past the bridge. Caught 6 smallies and a couple of bluegill. Two of the smallies came on a small blue and black spinner bait, and the rest were all caught on a small white/red mepps spinner. Had several misses too that followed the bait right up to me. They are typical small river smallies with the largest around 12". The water was moving pretty good from last nights rain. Next time out I am taking the fly rod with me.

I hit Grand every April with my father. He lives 20' from the water near Honey Creak. From the second week in April to first week of May they are on fire. The lake is still low, but is coming up a few inches each day. Got some reports from indoor fishing dock, they are still catching them in about 12' - 15'. Another week of warmer weather and they will start moving into the shallows. Right with them come the whites!

If you are fishing from the bank, there are a couple of nice brush piles that you can hit from the dock, and another that is down the trail off of the point. That one is about 20' out from the bank.

Fellows has a good population of Whites as well. When the water warms up here in the next couple of weeks they will start getting active. I have had a lot of luck in the very early morning hours when they are chasing the shad right along the bank by the bridge. There are also some very nice walley in Fellows too. The water is not quite warm enough yet. Once spring is in full swing, you will start seeing more posts on here for Fellows.

There are a few fish to be found out there in NC. Grab your waders and head to the coast this spring and fish the beaches! Great Blue fish and shark fishing. I used to vacation on the Carolina coast ever year. Great black tip shark fishing from the beaches! They have a few more teeth than the whites you used to show off to me from your driveway, but fun as heck to catch. 12' surf rod and some squid or shrimp and you can catch them all day long. It looked like you had a good showing Sunday at your open house. Am I getting new neighbors anytime soon? Kids still look for your dog.

Congrats!! That is awesome. One you catch one, you will be hooked for life. Nothing like fresh walleye in the pan. mmmmmm

The masters area I have found to be a great area with the long shallow point right by the ramp. I caught my first Stockton walleye off that point. Soft plastics and jigs worked well in this area

Light bulb theads on the light post

Thanks for the info! Will have to head out there and give them a try.

So does this mean now when a cartoon character gets an idea it will take longer for his bulb to light up?