Finally A Chance To Get Out Again ...........

[Stusmobile]

Woohoo, finally got a break from work today and got a chance to wet a line.

It started Sunday afternoon ... after a morning spent at work I decided to go scout out a couple of likely looking spots on Beaver lake. First stop was just off the bridge on route 12 ..... bland, no features showing, no fish showing but it had easy access and parking right at the waters edge so in the book it goes as a possible. Stop number 2 was at Prairie creek park, again it was very bland with no sign of fish and to top it off the only bank access open at the time was between the boat ramp and the swimming area ...ewwww, scratch that one. 3rd stop before home was Horseshoe Bend Park. Following a twisty road (dang I wish I still had an Alfa Romeo) I pull into the park to check the day access .... its pretty much the same deal as at Prairie Creek ....but after further mooching around I found a hidden spot away from the camping that looks promising, easy access, an island to fish too and quite a bit of submerged cover.

Fast forward to this morning ...... the alarm makes its bloody noise at the same time as every other day ..... I must be going senile I think ... the first day off in a month and yet I still roll out of bed at 6am. The trucks already loaded, all I need to do is grab my baits and a bunch of diet cokes. Wow its actually pleasant outside .... not exactly warm but after the rain, snow, ice and tornadoes of the last month its nice. Hit the gas station for my coffee and then its off to play on the twisty roads .... wheee, no traffic so i can use the whole road ... fun times.

Get out to Horseshoe and unload the gear and get tackled up ..... rod 1 to the right in the channel between the bank and the island, rod 2 right at the island in about 8 feet of water and rod 3 off the island point in about 18 feet of water. Typical baits for me, strawberry boilies in various sizes (pop-ups and bottom baits). As I'm plumbing up to find a spot for the float rod the first problem presents itself ....... hmmmm this beach takes forever to hit the deeper water. At 20 yards I have 3 feet of water under the float, Oh well, I haven't got any really heavy floats here so that will have to do. I finally get settled down and am enjoying the reasonably calm beginning to the day when someone decides they're gonna screw with me. Within the space of about 10 minutes the wind decided to make an appearance.... and boy did it. Between 7am and midday I could have gotten a bloody surfboard for most of the waves (assuming they make a board big enough for my fat butt;) ). I chased my unhooking mat up and down that bank I don't know how many times ..... and at one point chased my holdall with 2 rods in it as well. I tried, I persevered for as long as was possible but by lunch time without a bite (the only noises were the delks going off in the wind) I'd had enough. This spot looks like it will be a better choice once the weather warms up ... there seems to be lots of features for the carp but a lot of the area is pretty shallow. As another aside I have just called my dad back in England and asked him for a carp care parcel which includes some big bodied wagglers and a few drift beater floats ..... look out for me fishing the float at 50 yards sometime soon.

I reloaded the truck and headed to look at the other two scouted spots on the lake ....... ya right ... I'm an eternal optimist ... but today the glass wasn't just half empty, the bloody wind was blowing the head off the beer left in the glass too. Sod it, its my day off and I am going to go somewhere and catch something .... so I head North towards Bella Vista lake. Now this is a tiny place compared to Beaver, but to get to the better spots I have to haul my gear a good 3/4s of a mile and me without my trusty tackle truck ...... well no way am I going to hump my gear without a truck so I pull a cheap shot and fish right off the rear car park. The wind is still blowing like crazy but this time I can fish right into it which will help.

I get the gear out and tackle up, to rods with boilies and the 3rd with hair rigged corn and the float rod with hi-attract pellets. I couldn't have been sat there for more than 5 minutes than I hear a voice over the shoulder " So what are you up to?". I turn around only to see the local bicycle cop looking at me as though I was from some other planet. After explaining to him that I was fishing for carp he laughed and asked to see my trout permit. Have you ever tried to explain to someone that you have zero interest in catching and keeping trout but actually want to catch and then let go carp .... talk about talking to a brick wall!!!!!. Well as he's starting to get the hump with me because i have no trout pernit the float dips and then shoots away .... bamn I'm in ...... the officer is at this point looking at the bend in the rod and kind of getting the idea that there is no trout on the other end of the line. After a short but sweet fight a little 8lb common is gracing the net and the officer is watching me unhook and release the little guy. "So you really are trying to catch those?" .... yes officer, those are what i am here for and if I happen to catch a trout you can be sure its going right back. With a much friendlier final word he took off pedalling around the lake to check on what everyone else was doing. Between 1ish and 4 ish I managed to bank a grand total of 5 carp up to 14lbs .... 3 to pellets on the float and 2 to a popped up strawberry boilie ( you knew I was gonna say strawberry didn't ya? wink.gif ) The highlight of the day was a double double ....... a little 11lb common on the float gear and a 14lb common to the pop-up rod .... at the same time. I decided that was fun enough to grab a picture of the duo ...so here it is

Well by 4pm the wind was again getting to be more trouble than it was worth but I had a final bite before packing up ...... once again it fell to the pellets ... but this was something totally new to me ....... at first i thought I'd caught a little barbel but after looking it just looked similar. I guess its some kind of sucker and after checking against some sucker pictures it appears to be a river rather than lake sucker. This lake does have a creek that runs in at one end and then out at the other, so it is certainly possible .... but finding a good site to identify it properly is being problematic ..... but here is the little critter ...

All in all a decent result from what promised to be "one of those days". Now if only I can get a day off again in the next month I'll be off out for another session somewhere.

[jim m]

great story Stu. 8-14lb carp on a 12' float rod and 6lb line is a blast. it's been to cold to drag my old arthritic bones out but looking forward to warmer weather. but for now just a wishin instead of fishin

[Kayser]

Looks a lot like a golden redhorse. Could be some other type of sucker, but I'm pretty sure.

Rob

[creek wader]

Looks a lot like a golden redhorse. Could be some other type of sucker, but I'm pretty sure.

Rob

Looks like a Norther Hogsucker to me.

[Quillback]

You were fishing Lake Bella Vista and a cop was asking you for a trout permit? You don't need a trout permit to fish that lake.

[Kayser]

CW- I thought it might have been, but I didn't see any of the mottling (brown/black camo pattern) that the hogsuckers usually have. Oh well, it is what it is, and mainly, it's back in the water.

Rob

[Seth]

Looks like a white sucker like you see so many of in Taneycomo. They are fun to catch and even better to eat.