Dutch

Sounds great. Good for you Jeff.

Nice fish. Were you in the trophy area? What was the good bait?

I think we already are.

Big M was very busy today, lots of bow riders and toons along with more glitter sleds than I have ever seen in that area.

I’m glad you got to get out. How’s the curtesy and launch ramp with this high water. It’s good to know that the jig is finally working again. I like Ned but am ready for something else. Was there a swim bait bite? My wife is wanting to get out. The trip to Cape Fair wasn’t very enjoyable for her. With all of the derbies on the Rock and Stockton I think I will go up to your end of the lake in the morning hoping for fewer boats that way and some clear water.

What about you? After all you live right on the lake.

I want to go down to Stockton but it looks like the lake will be lousy with boats both Saturday and Sunday so I think I might go up the White to Big M or Eagle Rock.

Get you one of those electric gizmos that I see people riding around on in Springfield.

Fishing was tough for me. I fished 5 hours and caught 14 bass 1 crappie and 1 flathead. Most of the bass were largemouth with 4 spawned out keepers. I tried several different baits but they seemed to like the little guy best. Black blue, Alabama craw and new money all caught some. Top water, spinner baits, jerks got no attention. With all of the debris I probably should have used a frog.

I was down there yesterday. I went as far up as Bearden and as far down as Piney. There is still a lot of debris floating around. Clarity is maybe 2’.

We used to catch a lot from the bank next to the Power Site dam.

I used to find them in the backs of my young bulls. We would hold a coke bottle over the hole then hit it with the palm of the off hand. The “worble worm” would pop out of the bull into the bottle.

I heard several down in the Shell Knob area today.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I haven’t actually been on that part of Crane Creek since Ruth Hudson owned the land.

Is that the old store that is falling in on itself? I used to stop there but never knew his name.

It’s 4 above pool. I’m heading to Hartley in the am.

Yes some people still call it that. It’s like some people call Cedar Ridge Bonna.

It isn’t a corp ramp. It is a DNR ramp in Hartley Branch. It is where the state park marina was located before the tornado. It is just south and east of the 215 (mile long) bridge. It is an easy boat ride to any part of the Big Sac arm just like State Park is for the Little Sac. We plan to go back Friday and see if they are still around. With the lake continuing to rise, I expect many of them to be in the bushes.

Call Marine Repair Center 417-833-9191 and see if they have one.

I’ve only been in the mid region of the Big Sac. The water color is good. I am sure there is color up the creeks and river.

So do you make a plan and decide how much running you will do that day? If that is the case then you are a better planner than I am. I don’t even have a plan for the day except the launch site. I may go from Cape Fair up to Walnut Springs then decide to try School House. If that doesn’t work I have been known to head back to the river. A lot of the time service stations are not even open when I pull out. I actually feel uncomfortable any time I have less than a 1/2 tank.

You are correct. I’m lucky I got the year correct.

Since the latest report from Cape was 8” of visibility and still floating debris, I offered to bring my rig and meet Jeff at Big M. The weather guessers were wrong again. We had no fog and almost no wind. Fishing was sporadic with a few on top and a few on Ned. We never could get a consistent pattern; some were on points, some were just inside coves, some were back in the coves, some were on steep bluffy banks, some were in shallow gravely coves and some were in flat windy areas. The water temp ranged from 70-71°. The air was from 64-77°. It was cloudy all morning. Baits which produced were top waters, swim baits and Ned with Ned leading the way. We didn’t measure very many so I don’t know how many keepers we had. We did wind up with 32 counters. By my standards it was a good day.

Can you go into detail about this? Several thoughts are bouncing around in my head.

We were all over the Big M area today and I never heard any. We don’t have any here in Republic either.