straw hat

You know Zarra, I like the your idea of carrying a "persuader". And the way I run I could stand to use a cane! lol I will probably get me a hickory staff and until then I might carry a can of pepper spray. Minnowhooker; No I wasn't at CC, we fished the Ruark Bluff area. I know what you mean about CC though. I have seen and heard a lot of problems there. Meat a guy yesterday that had had his vehicle broken into at that location. I forgot to mention in my post that the water temperature was 47!! I am sure it will be a lot colder next weekend after this weather hits.

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. We buried my 94 year old mother about 2 weeks ago. When you go home for Christmas be sure to pull your parents to the side and thank them for all they did to raise you. Teach you right from wrong and how to show respect to others and so much more. I always told my mother how much she ment to me and how much I appreciated all she had done for me. Now that brings me great comfort that she new how I felt. Merry Christmas to all and Happy New Year. Be careful if you are driving. Now the important struff. FISHING!!! lol Hit the lake today and I really couldn't buy a bite from a crappie. We only had three keepers (all my wifes) by 2:30 or so. A bite started up shortly after that and we wound up with a total of 9 (Yes, once again all were caught by my wife) YEESSSHH!! I managed to catch 3 walleye, one white and about a dozen largemouth.ALL SHORT!! All were from 28 to 34 feet in 30 to 40 feet of water. Now just before this bite started my wife and I heard a loud banging noise up by our truck. We both went running up the bank to see a guy in an old white pick-up trying to break into the back of the truck. As I was approaching my toe got stuck under a root and I fall like a bag of wet potatoes!! I then hit the ground with my left side of my face plowing up a foot of dirt and rocks!!! That man thought that if I was tough enough to plow ozark dirt with my face I was too tough for him!! (lol What a crock!!) He jumped in his pick up and took off. Even at my age I strick fear into evildoers!! lol The left side of my face now looks like I took a left hook from George Foremen!! The preacher is gonna be wondering about that bruise tomorrow!

Thanks gtnby.

I am planning a bassin' trip to the Kimberling City area the end of next week and wonder if any of you guys know what the water temp has been in that area recently? Any info would help and be appreciated..

I can tell you have not been on the rivers for a while inshore. They are just as busy as the lakes from April to Octovber. The last time I went on a river was the Niangua and it was a Wed., we must have seen up to 200 canoes. There were so many people you couldn't hardly wet a line.

It really hasn't effected my wife's and my trips yet but.... It will in the future. In the last three years the amount of return that you will get from Social Security has been reduced 3 times by the federal government. These reductions ONLY effect those who will be retiring not those who have already retired. This means that those (including my wife) who will be retiring soon will get substantially less than they would have if they retired 4 years ago. Even though her pay has went up for the last 3 years her estimated amount she will get at retirement has went down 30%!!! In addition, 4 years ago they changed the law concerning retirement age for social security from 65 to 67 for her age group, so now she has to work 2 years longer AND there is a bill in congress to change the full retirement age to 72 istead of 67!!! All of that will make things tighter on the elderly.

Bill, I think that what trouynet was getting at was that things are about to change. Many major economists are projecting that by the end of this year we will be in a major recession or even a depression. Two top econimists have predicted that we will be in the same state as Greece and Spain. That is 25% unemployment. We have the "fiscal cliff" approaching Jan. 1st as well as two large debt payments soon afterward. I am not smart enough to know if they are right but there are a lot of itchy econimists right now!!!

Tx

Good Job MH. How deep were they? Gonna try to hit it on Saturday.

A good point exiledguide!! All those larger fish I mentioned from the 70's were on the way home in a livewell or headed to the taxidermist!. What a shame.

I fished TR back in the 70's and still fish it from time to time during primarily the winter months (I am allergic to tourists lol). I saw a number of 9 to 11 lb bass caught in the 70's (say 6 to 8) but I simply don't see them any more. I am sure some are still caught, maybe I am just unaware of them. I firmly believe that the number of 5 to 8 lbers are just as common as before if not more common. Still one of the top 10 bass lakes in the USA to me.

Some good info there Clayton. Even an old goat like me found it interesting, especially the partys on crocheting. lol

Great report '2short. A real shame that the dee is a waste.

As a husband and a fisherman you got to love this!! Diary.doc

Great job cfc!!! They are usually up in there in Sept and Oct. but I sure couldn't find them then. Welcome to the site!! Look forward to seeing more stringers like that one.

Any time targa! Good luck!!

Two or three 3/0 split shot.

I use slip bobbers set to the desired depth. I use two hooks about a foot and a half apart and a minnow on each one. Use a light bobber, this time of year the bite is a little light.

You hit it right on Targa!! Minnows at 24 foot on bluffs along the old river channel in the main lake. On normal years they are usually around 30 feet so don't be afraid to try deeper. They have also been holding real tight to the bluffs so don;t be afraid to "scrap" the bluffs with your minnows. Good luck to you and your wife.

It must just be the places I am fishing. Yea the temp had dropped to 52 where I was. I noticed the next few days are suppose to be relatively warm so maybe that temp drop will slow down some. Thanks for the response.

Another trip and this time managed to squeek out a limit. They were a little shallower, 20 to 25 feet. I noticed one thing though, 97% of those crappie we have been catching have been black crappie. Very very few white crappie. Any white crappie have been under 7 inches and not many of those. That is very unusual for us with this fall bluff fishing. I was wondering, Dutch have you noticed the same thing? Maybe the white crappie went to Florida for the winter. lol Just can't find them.

I have replaced the carpet on my pontoon boat twice and I have to admit that it is a pain. The last time I decided to use a specialorder marine coating from Sherwin Williams. Once the old carpet is removed (glue and all) it simply paints on. It has been in my boat 4 years now and it is vertually industructible. The only bad thing is that it not soft like carpet so it transmits sound. If interested send me a pm and I will send you details.

My internet has been down or I would have responded earlier. No blues have been stocked in Table Rock. Rangerman got it right on the flatties. They should be hot for another 3 weeks or so depending on the weather. I hope longer than that because I have a trip planned for around Dec. 12th. Great fishing to you and be sure to let us know how you do.

Caught 8 more channels over the weekend on Stockton. Nothing really big but they are still on the bluffs. 25 to 32' deep.

Now "cold", that is a dirty 4 letter word. lol