T-RockJaws

You might also want to try running a grub or even a spinner thru them. A lot of times, the bigger fish are a little lazy and wait for the dead shad to fall below the surface.

Put in at the bridge last night and headed up the white towards Big M a little way. Started out fishing a buzz bait and spook in a deep cut that had shad jumping all over it. Had a couple of hook ups, but nothing of any size. Started throwing some spinner baits and jigs in the same area, partner caught a fat little Kentucky on the jig that spit out about 10 shad on his way in to the boat. Had one nice little 14 and a half inche large mouth on a 7 inch tequila sunrise worm just before dark. After dark, stuck with a black spinner bait or a black and blue jig for quite a while. Had a few fish hit the spinner, but again nothing with much size. Partner had a couple shorts hit the jig as well. As it got a little later, I switched to a 4 inch black and blue salt craw. Picked up about 4 or 5 more shorts on it while my partner worked a big worm thru some brush piles. Big worm did not produce for him last night. For the most part, we kept the boat in about 20 feet of water getting as deep as 30 feet once in a while. Water temps ranged from about 78 to 81 degrees. Had a lot of fun with about 15 fish, they were just all short. 12 to 14 inches was the average fish for us last night. Good Luck!

If your boat and motor are going to be outside in the elements, I would also reccomend winterizing. If you want to fish all winter and can keep your boat in storage somewhere, you can get by as long as you make sure you drain all water out of your motor and live wells after each use.

I see the "being late" deal as very disrespectful. Regardless of what the event is, if there is a set time you need to make it by that time period. Plans have been made in preperation of the event and when you are late it changes the outcome as well as the mood of the individuals involved. If you cannot be on time, don't come at all.

Put in at Campbell Point on Saturday night for a small derby. Ran hard all the way up to the Eagle Rock area, fighting rough water and boat traffic all the way. Partner and I have been on fish in that area all summer. To say the least, the bite was tough. We only managed about 15 or so shorts and my partner had one 16 inch smallie. Water temp was in the mid 80's and we never got the boat in more than 35 feet of water. Fished primarily with big worms and craws. Most of the fish came on the craw, including the 16 inch smallie. We missed about 7 fish on the big worm that all felt like really good fish. You would set the hook and either feel it pull out right away, or get them about half way back to the boat and feel them pull out. It was a very discouraging night for us on the worm, they just were not eating it good enough to get the hook set well. We did at least catch a few in the 12 to 14 inch range and had some good bites. That is a step up from last Wednesday night when we fished for 4 hours to get about a hlf dozen bites and 4 short fish! Good luck out there!

Right now, it is a hit and miss game... Fished tourneys on both Wednesday and Saturday, both nights were extremely tuff nights with it only taking about 4 pounds to get in the money. Had a buddy fish Friday night and said it was a much better bite.

Not really a walleye fisherman, but can still tell you a little about the water conditions. The past week has been a little cooler with the nights getting down into the 60's and even mid 50's last night. With the cooler weather, the lake has really started to cool down quite a bit. Water temps last night in the Campbell Point general area were in the mid 80's. If this trend in weather holds for a while, you will see mid to upper 70 degree water temps soon. They have been pulling quite a bit of water as well and we are not getting any rain to replenish it, the lake level is currently in the 913 range and will likely fall into the 912 range in the next week or so. Hope this helps a little, good luck with your trip!

Left out of the bridge last night and headed down to the back of Mill creek to try and throw a buzz bait for a while. Nothing doing on the buzz bait, did not even see any shad balls in there this week. Went back to throwing some big worms and salt craws, but that really wasn't much better. We struggled all night just trying to find something that would get us a few bites. Had one 14.5 incher that hit a 10 inch black with blue fleck worm and a few more shorts on some 4 inch salt craws. Only missed maybe a total of 3 or 4 good bites on the big worm, they just did not seem to be very hungry for some reason last night. Good luck!

Glad to hear the surgery went well. I will keep you guys in my prayers!

Sam - you are forgetting about the Kings and the White river both of which have some excellent bass fishing across the state line. Pretty neat story, regardless of any fabrication that could have taken place!

Enjoy the trip Bill, can't wait to see some pics when you return!

That doesn't sound to me like the best way to practice... Hope they don't have any live amo!!!

By the way Wallin, that is a nice basket full of Eyes!

We have not had too much trouble stunning fish, keep in mind that the water the fish are coming from at 30 feet deep or more is a whole lot colder than the water on the surface. However, if you get the water too cold by adding too much ice, it can be as bad for the fish as anything. Too cold can kill them just as quick as if you had done nothing. Another good tip is to keep an eye on them in the livewell and fizz them at the first sign of them floating or swimming on their side.

When the water really gets to boiling at Cedar Branch, there is probably plenty of room there for 50 boats. Well, maybe not quite 50 but several anyway... As long as it is all in good fun, I don't mind sharing a little water! Just get out there and look around a little, this isn't the only place where the top water action gets good this time of year...

Fished out of the bridge last night. Headed down to Mill creek and started fishing in the back of the creek. Found some fish holding to a brush pile near a dock in about 12 to 18 feet of water. Was able to pull one keeper and a few shorts out. Had a few other "good" bites that we just could not get hooked up. We had a little action with a buzz bait and partner just missed a good 3 pounder on the buzz bait. Some of the shorts came on a DD22 crank bait and the keeper and some shorts came on an old monster worm in tequila sunrise color. At just before dark, we moved out to the main lake to fish some deeper brush piles. Throwing primarily a 12 inch worm in 35 to 40 foot of water, partner had a nice 4 pounder and another 16.5 inch large mouth. A couple more shorts and a few more "good" bites that we missed. Only fished about 3 diferent spots all night and for the most part, it seemed like we could not get bit if we were not coming over a brush pile. All in all a good night of fishing with about 12 to 15 shorts (none of the shorts were under 13 inches and still a lot of fun to catch) and 3 keepers that went 7.5 pounds total. You can find good quality fish about anywhere right now. Up shallow in the creeks or deep and in the brush or trees. Good luck!

Nice fish and nice report RPS. Hate to hear you are back to being a weekend warrior now, really enjoy reading your posts!

I cannot find any that are as easy to tune and run as true as the originals. Besides, I hate to buy things made in China, seems like everything is made in China these days and the quality is junk!!!

Sad thing is, the 7 game suspension will only equate to about 1 or maybe 2 starts for him since he is a pitcher. Should have gotten a lot more!

If you are in the market for a good steak or some prime rib, Gaskins Cabin between Holiday Island and Eureka Springs is a must. It is a little on the expensive side, but well worth it in my opinion. The next time you are looking for a nice evening out with your spouse, give them a try! http://www.gaskinscabin.com/

Not sure why, but the Cedar Branch area has always been one of the first to get a little top water action going in the late summer to fall time frame. It is a lot of fun, but I would not recommend it if you are just looking for keepers! Thanks for the report Eagle Rock...

At least the humididty isn't going to be quite so high the next few days, enjoy! Hopefully that trolling motor cable will be the last thing to go wrong this year, had to replace one of those myself a few weeks ago.

I believe these are about as close to the original as you will find though...

Thanks for the tip!

JDC - if you start saving $1.00 a day, you could have one by spring 2012...