Daveinozark

are you able to park there still, on the north side of the bridge?

I sent an email as well, on behalf of those of us that want to fish and aren't looking for a party spot. I recommended posting and enforcing a ban on alcohol use. I continue to go back to that as being the problem here. Once it is no longer considered a party spot, the rest of us can enjoy the lake

when i was there 2 weekends ago, a local said that the deputy is not there to hassle fishermen climbing the dam. Sure enough, I know he saw me climbing it and didn't say anything to me. I think they are just after the rif raff. It may be a different story if someone with a fishing pole gets stopped, since it's not trespassing to fish the river, no matter what side of the dam you're on. Now carrying your 12-pack over the dam may be a different story, and I think it should be

if you're looking to keep something worth eating, try Springfield lake. there's tons of big crappie in there. Like the others said, release the small mouths

they have too much wiggle and I can't get the little ones deep enough. I'd rather slow crank a wiggle wart

thanks for checking in Al. we'll have to wait and see if they decide to re-post signs now or not. From what that prosecuter is stating goes against what you were saying on the use of the banks, so hopefully they don't have a case here. Not sure if the county owns under the bridge though, were people park. That may be key in this case.

I ran into Randy at Walmart a few times too he must live there

interesting if they can determine that the finley is non-navigable. I thought that was defined as being able to float a vessel. I think in this case, the question should be, is the parking under the 125 bridge considered a public access spot to the river or not. Since there are not any no parking signs, I feel that it is permitted to park except where posted. Therefore, the public should have access to the river and its banks without being prosecuted as trespassing. I'd challenge the home owners there that claim to have ownership of the banks - if someone gets hurt on "their property" would they then be held responsible and be willing to cover a persons' medical expenses through their home owners insurance? I bet not until they restrict that bridge from all parking and put up barb wire fencing, the public will still come. Heck, signs didn't keep people away. you're right though, the weekend is a different story. Check back in the afternoon on Memorial day. Bet you won't find a place to park I like to fish there because it is convenient and is actually a pretty good spot.

yep, I went to Linden last weekend with my inflatable. The signs are gone and so is the paint. I asked a local about it and he claimed that vandals took down the signs. he didn't sound believeable but he was there picking up trash so I'm betting he wasn't happy about it. I did see a cop walking around the area. He didn't stop me at all and I know he saw me climbing over the dam onto the bank to get back to my jeep. I finished up around 2:00 and when I got back to the jeep there was about a dozen other cars and tons of people there. As far as the fishing, I picked up 4 small smallmouths, 1 small largemouth and a very large crappie. I was surprised by the crappie. All caught on small white spinnerbait. I'm glad to see this spot open again but I hope the cop is a regular for the weekends there though. I wish they would prohibit alcohol, it may cut down on the antics and trash left behind.

wow, you trying to scare off everyone from finley? could it have been deer or cows or were they closer to the ground?

anywhere to park at Riverdale, or are you saying you're getting dropped off?

hey USMC, try in the park at the end of the road by the boathouse. That turnaround is a good transition spot where fish seem to hang out. Some crappie and perch hang out there too

thanks, and no worries, I don't keep anything I catch. Too much of a pain being so far from home won't get me out there much either

would you care to PM me with any parking spots other than Olga? I'm looking for wading spots too, since I only have an inflatable to use. anyplace closer to Linden?

where is it that you are parking? is it a long paddle to get there?

try a small white spinnerbait. I used a booyah pond magic over by the old Riverside Inn bridge and caught some. I wish they would figure out what they're doing with that bridge They should be going after anything they can fit in their mouths at this point.

gar have a long snout and come to surface occasionally, so you'd get a good look at them. Carp are tan color though and have sucker mouths.

there's Chrighton access. Also, Arofishing puts in on Hwy D. not sure if he's being dropped off or parking there though

I took my chances for a few hours on Linden lake Thursday morning. Plenty of no trespassing signs to walk past to get to the lake now. I still don't see how it is trespassing in the river bed and on the banks. Did fairly well with a small spinnerbait but struck out on crankbaits and top water. I ended up slowing it down with a plastic worm, weightless. Throwing it along the banks, the fish would grab it right away. If they don't grab it within a few seconds, reel in and repeat. A weightless lizard did well too. any one else brave enough to ignore the signs? one good thing is there is a lack of trash there now.

my experiences with that blue hole area is there are a lot of gar there. I've caught small large mouths and rock bass there but nothing decent. if nothing else, it's a nice spot to get out and work the current. I've only been there in the summer though

not sure if I replied, no way I'm looking through posts to find out

that one was fillet size, but it was the only one caught so I let it go. there was a lot of shad in that area the other day, but didn't see many fish jumping except for a few carp. the weeds are starting to grow in now too. I caught it on a 1/4 white booyah spinnerbait. That's my go too bait on Springfield lake. Tried a rattle trap, few wiggle warts, roadrunner, nothing except for a few misses. We'll see what the weather does

anyone ever eat the crappie out of springfield lake?

went out this morning around the boat house area. Noticed a lot of small frogs jumping around there. May need to break out the topwater there. only caught 1 crappie, but it was big

i prefer lures that won't get stuck, that's my biggest problem fishing from the banks. Definetly top water, other than winter time. 2nd choice is a spinnerbait, those do well for me without getting hung up. Third would be a weightless lizard, texas rigged. Last would be a crankbait that I don't care about losing. Rooster tails are good, but you can't cast them as far as a smaller spinnerbait.