Dutch

The water is clear now and 49° in the James. The Flat is gin clear and 47°. With 4 days of rain predicted that is all subject to change and those little studs may be all the way to Spfld lake dam by the end of the week with warm water and current to draw them.

I was down there today. I fished from Peach Orchard to McCord bend. I caught several but most were dink males on the prespawn run. I did catch 10-15 2 year old females that were in good shape and will spawn in a couple of weeks if they are left in the water.

OK with that jet learn where Rolly Blunks or McCord Bend are at Galena. You can launch there and go up or down.

I for one don't ever start my spring white bass fishing before Christmas.

Stay away from cheap house brand of Wally world reels. Go for Shimano, Daiwa, or Abu. Like stated $100 and up will give you a dependable reel that will last 30 years if you treat it right. Personally, I am part of the Shimano posse and recommend that you buy a Citica. While you are buying get yourself a few sizes of casting plugs and some cheap Excell line. Have fun and learn to pick out the backlashes.

White bass are like a group of teenage boys. They will do anything and don't stay in one place very long. When active they will hit like their black cousins will hit anything that moves. There are no right or wrong baits just baits that work at different depths. I have caught them on stuff as small as 1/80 oz and as large as Zara Spooks. Good baits to have along are: jigging spoons in a couple of sizes, bucktail jigs in several sizes and colors, grubs with several sizes of jig heads as well as a few inline spinners and some lipless cranks. White, chartreuse and silver are standard colors but anything under the rainbow will work on some days. When you refer to the James and your motor, anything goes below Springfield lake if the water is deep enough for you to run. I have been to Galena with a 225 when the water was up.

And sometimes 55 gallon drums of concrete to hold everything in place.

If I were doing it on Table Rock, I'd be swimming them in the timber along creek channels with a 5" single tail grub on a 1/8 to 1/4 oz head.

You shouldn't have to do any typing of wpts if you use a good conversion program or an excell spreadsheet file.

I run Merc DI oil in my Opti and get it at Sport Boats USA in Ozark.

Personally I buy my line from 1500 yds to 3000 spools and have for many many years. I keep it in a dark temp and humidity controlled place (bedroom closet)in a brown paper sack. I had put some on that had been on the shelf for a couple of years and it worked just fine.

You never know what that place will have. I was in there one day and they had 2 of the latest model St Croix Avids for $80 each. They were $160 each across the lot. So I got a bargin on a couple of Christmas gifts.

I don't have any first hand knowledge since my unit is too big for either of those ponds. I use to launch and use the tmotor but not any more. I just go to the big ponds.

I was told that Spfd police are the ones that now oversee the legality of boats on Fellows and Spfd lake. They are totally restricted to 40 and 6 hp respectively. You can not even launch a boat with a bigger motor attached to it unless you want to take a chance on a citation.

Water too cold. Wait a few weeks or maybe even days if it warms up.

Check out stay in charge

The last I heard Pfleuger had the contract on most of the BPS reels.

Carl, Mike or Sharon all know their stuff. In your price range the Shimano Citica is one heck of a reel. I have been in several of the BPS stores. Just yesterday I was in the one in Council Bluffs Iowa. You could put it in the Spfd store and you wouldn't be able to find it for three days.

Buck tail jigs for me from 1/16 to 1/2 oz.

I don't use them often and will never use all of them up. I checked BPS and they are getting $4 per pack. I'll take $2.50 per pack + what ever it would cost for flat rate shippiing. If someone wants all of them I'll throw in what ever I have in opened packs. These are regular and baby brush hogs.

perzactly. Well spoken.

I fished from Beaver Creek to Yocum today. All over the water was 39° and the fishing was less than good.

For you to be able to tell about your buddy's setup you need to know the age and power of the tmotor, the age and reserve capacity of the batteries, and the size of his charger. I have been running an onboard 3 bank with an 82# thrust tmotor for 8 years. I have a 15 amp charger with 200 reserve amp batteries. Sometimes I fish every day for 2-3 weeks in the wind. My batteries are always ready to go the next morning.

I would have more money in my pocket and not be nearly as mad if I had stayed home today. I fished all over the lower lake and didn't get a bite. I fished all the way out to 65'. The shad are suspended 20' off the bottom in lots of places. I could see 6 fish on top of one brush pile and I guess they were carp because they wouldn't look at anything I put down there. Stockton and I are close to a divorce I just don't know which one will get the kids.

Brand is not my concern. Shape color size are what I look for. Some stuff of theirs I buy and some I don't. Their plastics are just fine imo but I'll stick with major brands for hard baits and I make my own jigs, spoon, and spinnerbaits.