Zach Beach

Nick, I might be a little late with this but I fish around the 50mm every fall with my dad for whites. We usually find them this time of year in the backs of coves with the wind blowing in them and shad. I say usually because this year we found most of the whites on main and secondary points. We were using white mepps spinners, tennessee shad colored grups, and blade baits. We did really well with the blade baits. We actually caught some strippers on a main lake point in about 10 to 15 of water around dusk. Here are some pictures.

Dr. Bucket Mouth, You don't have to give too many details, but what were you catching those hybrids with? I have fished LOZ for my entire life and have never caught so many nice hybrids like that in one day.

I fished for a little bit on Saturday and Sunday for Crappie and caught a bunch of them. They were mostly in about 4 feet of water. I only fished for about 2 hours each day and caught about 20 to 25 each day. I was throwing a black and chartreuse curly tail on a 1/16th oz. jig. They all came around docks with brush.

It could be a big snapping turtle. I don't see otters down there very often. I did almost the same thing but had my crappie on a stringer. I went back later in the day to clean them and they were all gone.

Sorry in a hurry, I ment Troutfiend1985.

Chesnut, What lake do you see the hybrids chasing the shad? I have only caught some in Bluestem. I caught some smaller ones on chicken liver under a bobber and landed about a 6 pounder on a shiner under a bobber. I have yet to catch them in any other lake and have most of my luck with the chicken liver. I would rather catch them on a lure but can't seem to find what they want. If the lakes weren't frozen over I would be out there as much as possible trying to catch some of the trout they have stocked.

Yeah Cricket I wasn't sure if it was your nickname or an actual spot on a map. I know my dad and I come up with our own names for the coves on LOZ. I won't be going down anytime soon since Deer season is starting and then Thanksgiving is coming up, but maybe sometime in December. That's if your not a fair weather fisherman. I know I've been called an idiot for going out in some nasty weather. Sometimes those end up being the best days to fish.

I have the Sedona and the Symmetry and are both good reels. If I had to pick one I would go with the Symmetry. The bail and the housing on the sedona after a few years became a little loose. Other than that it still works great. I don't know if it is the ball bearing amounts or what but the symmetry is a little smoother IMO. I also have some pflueger reels that are similar to the symmetry but don't have the fluid drive. I have noticed that if you don't keep up on lubing the pflueger every once in a while it won't reel as smooth. With the symmetry you don't have that problem since the gear are inclosed in the gear lube. I think that the symmetry is just a little better constructed than the sedona, and other brands reels. It's no stella but honestly who has that kind of money to spend on a reel. I'm not Al Lindner.

I appreciate the information on the definition of the lures. I have another question for you, where is the suzy hole? I have only been down there twice and I am just a little familiar with the place. I am also looking forward to going down there and being able to have more room along the bank than last time. I was down there three weeks ago and there wasn't a lot of room along the banks to fish. Since I'm new to fly fishing at times I need some extra room to cast my fly out there. I'm what you call a rookie. I was too worried about snagging a fellow fisherman than actually getting the fly out there. I like Bennet Springs and all it has to offer, I just don't care for the amount of people that are there.

My question is if using dry flies during the winter months work well, or do they stick the bottom too much to get them to the surface? Then my second question is about what , by definition, is exactly considered a fly. For instance would a marabou jig be considered a fly even if it is 1/16th. What about a kastmaster with a single hook or a mepps spiner with a single hook? I'm just looking for a little clarification before I go down there and get in trouble for being a dumb***. I would appreciate the insight.

We are the knights that say NI.

I was down there from last thursday to sunday. Fished mostly around the 48mm area. Found the whites in the backs of only certain coves. There were shad all over the backs of ever large cove we went to but the whites weren't active in every cove. Saturday was the slowest day out of them all. We didn't start to really catch them until later in the day. We were using black in-line spinners, throwing them wherever we saw the shad flicking. Later in the days we also started to see them busting the water. We also went up below the Truman dam area. Had a slow start but ended up catching some nice hybrids in the current along one of the shores. The biggest one was a five pounder. We were catching them on a jig dragging it behind the boat. They weren't hitting it hard. It felt more like a crappie thump, but once they took off you knew you definately didn't have a crappie. If my dad gets the picture of one of them developed I can scan it and post it on the site.

I'm planning on being up on that part of the lake thursday or friday. Was wondering if with the recent rains that they have been running the water hard? Also wondering if anyone has been fishing that area lately and what they were catching? We were wanting to go up there and see if we couldn't catch any whites or walleyes.

I haven't seen the ones using a cinder block and bamboo. It sounds very similar to the other one, so I don't see why it would be any different. I put a total of five in the lake by our dock. They don't take very long to make them. It takes longer for the concrete to set up then it takes to put them together. Doing it yourself is also cheaper than buying the one that Bill Dance makes. It would be quicker to use that one but I think they cost around 40 to 50 dollars. They weren't worth the price for me. I think that the only reason that PVC is used instead of bamboo on most is because it won't let your hook sink into it as easy and they are suppose to last for a long time.

Had a chance to fish the Flathead River in Whitefish, Montana this last weekend, it was amazing. The scenery was spectacular with the snow capped mountains right beside the river. No one else on that section of the river. The guides in town told me that it was off limits to them, so I would pretty much have the river all to myself. I caught some nice rainbows around 18" and a couple of cutthroats. I would definately recommend this place.

I have made some of these PVC trees and dropped them by our dock. I use buckets as the base with concrete though. They have been in the water for 2 years and have seem to work pretty good. I have lost a lure on them yet. The lures do get snagged on them once in awhile but with just a little tug they pull right off. We had some trees in there before but they have fallen apart over the years and the crappie seem to of vanished. After I put the PVC trees in they have since been hanging around our dock. Even in the heat of summer and the tree were only in about 15 feet of water. IMO they make crappie beds.

I really appreciate all of the information. I thought before the leader and tippet should of only been about 3 feet long. My thinking was that the fly should be close to the fly line so you could see the strike and see where your fly is landing. I also didn't think that with two to three knots in the line that you could cast the line without it hanging up on the guides. There will probably be a lot of trial and error, mostly error, on my part. Another question I have is since I'll be fishing at Bennett do you think that I should use a dry fly that floats or a sinking one, or does it depend on how the fish are bitting that day? I have been done there only once before but I used my ultra light spinning rod with some 1/32 once jigs. I was just thinking that it would be more fun to catch them on a fly rod and have to pull them in using my hand instead of using a reel. That is unless I get lucky and get ahold of a lunker.

After looking at both the Cabelas and Albright I looked at Bass pros Fly rods. They are a little more expensive for their combos but I live only 5 minutes from them and 40 minutes from a Cabelas. Has anyone used the BPS fly rods and if so are they a good rod or are they like the one you can buy at walmart for 20 dollars? I know I'm asking a lot of questions but I just don't want to get stuck with a rod that I don't like and can't cast.

Thank you all for the information. I was looking at the albright website and was a little confused on the line size and weight size. Are these set up like other fishing rods. Such as in there is an ultra light compared to a med/heavy rod, like a 3wt to a 7wt. And is the weight size is the size of the line that the rod is supposed to be able to handle. I am also confused on how the line is set up. I know it goes backer then the floating line but I get confused after that. I can't believe how much of a discount that the albright website is giving. If any of you had a choice would you go to Cabela's or get one at that website?

I'm looking to buy a fly rod for a weekend down at Bennet Springs. I have never used a fly rod before but would really like to learn. Wondering what would be a could combo kit for a beginner to buy or should I buy the rod and reel separate? I am not looking to spend 250 dollars on the pair. Then if I was to buy them separate, what size of backing, line and tippet should I buy?

Went up to Rainy Creek and found some whites chasing shad, but they weren't in the shallows. We only found them on the secondary points in about 15 feet of water. We noticed that in this one indent all of a sudden there were a bunch of shad on the top of the water. Then the whites started busting the water. It only happened a few times and they were for short periods of time. Later we went back down near the 48 mm and found them on wind swept shore lines with a slow tapper into the main channel. We could only get them to bite if we were burning the lure. Saw more of them on the fish finder in deeper water but couldn't get them to do anything. The only ones that were active were the ones in the shallower water.

Isn't it funny the things that you can forget about or ignore when the fishing is good, like a hurt back or brutal cold.

I'm headed down to the 49 mm this weekend and wondering if anyone has been seeing the whites surfacing? Might make a run up to Rainy Creek and see if they are in the back of the cove yet chasing the shad. Thanks in advance for the info.

I know that spoonbill like to run up the rivers to spawn in the shallows, also know some people that snag the Marais Des Cygnes. Once they spawn they move back down the rivers to find deep holes, either in a lake or the deepest hole they can find on the river. So its quite possible that it was a spoonbill, or maybe just a gar. Kind of depends on the size of the nose of the fish, if you got a good look at it or not.

With Taney being such a great fishery I wonder why, if Triploid Browns have been stocked, some of them haven't grown to enormous sizes. From what I've read they devote all of their time to eating instead of once a year to spawning. So shouldn't there have been some monsters caught. I would like to read that article if you can find it again Phil. I do know that there are big browns caught all the time and that there is no easy way to tell the difference between a triploid and a diploid. I'm just wondering why no one's caught a freakishly big brown. I also think that if they do stock them (rainbows or browns) that they should be tagged or have one of their fins clipped.