Monday Jig Bite

[Don House]

Spent the day out with a great group from the Chi-Town area today fishing all main lake points from the Big Cedar to Point 5. Had a unreal football jig bite until around 10:30 then switched over to Drop Shot with the good old crawlers and really got into them again until 1:30.

On Just about every point we would catch 3 - 5 fish then it would stop. All of these fish but two were S/M and they were really eating this jig today, had the boat in 40 feet of water on main lake points casting to shallow, all fish came from 18 - 35 feet, trick was to slow reel the bait back to the boat keeping contact with the bottom, all very good solid bites. Color of choice Burnt Orange and PB&J all with single tail green pumpkin 4" grubs. All of the Drop shot fish were suspended on deep structure in 25 feet of water. Total fish on the drop shot 25 with a few keepers mixed in. Still a very fun day on the water.

Good Fishing Everyone

Capt. Don

[Bill Babler]

Good Report. We caught them decent today, nothing like that. Started off on the jig fish, only we threw a hula grub, in watermellon candy and also pbj on a shakey head. 3/8 it works great, if the folks have to throw a spinning rod, instead of the caster. I believe our fish were under 20 ft.

Picked up a good tip from your post. I believe I will have the folks try and keep a little better contact with that bait, as if they get the line slack and a fish picks it up, they are really putting it away.

Killed 3 big keepers by letting them have it a bit to long. 1 SJ, and 2 Ky's. My guys were having a hard time feeling them, as they were moving toward the boat on the pick up and just swallowing that grub. You make those fish bleed in this warm water, and its over. Put all three in the livewell with, some revive and Sea Salt. I, poured the O2 to them for over an hr. and they were dead as stones. You know how I feel about that. In over a hundred trips this year, that is first fish that I know I have killed. Breaks my heart. Water temps in the Baxter area 82 to 84. Thats pretty warm and gettin warmer.

My drop shot fish, were on rock piles and suspended in the 20 to 25 ft. range, on both crawlers and the purple/brown Chomper lam.

Spoke to Tetrick and Bryant Ward the Game Warden. Chris was slow, fishing the Kimberling area, and Bryant had not heard of a keeper all day in the boats he checked. From Twin Rivers to Baxter.

Ended with 23 total about 10 on the grub and FB and the other 13 all shorts, but right up against it on the dropshot. If you were in a derby, you would have had to measure at least 3/4 of them. They would have been short, but close.

I believe Tim Paige also caught them pretty well, fishing the same water as Capt. Don. Buster told me Tim's clients had two SJ's over 4lbs. on the Feetball.

Don, are you having your guys throw that 1/2 oz on a spinning rod? That is just not working for me. Let me know the secret if you are. I can put that Hula Grub on 8 , but the 1/2 oz. FB needs 10 pound test in my opinion, and the spinning reels and rods just don't like that type of line. I loose way to many jigs on 8. Would rather fish it on 12 if at all possible, but 10 is way better than 8.

I do have two 7ft. 2 inch med-heavys from the Rod Shop, with 3500 Sustains that I am throwing a fin on 12 lb. Maxi. They do great. I tried Falcons 7 ft. Shakey head special, and it works good up to 3/8, anything heaver is going to hang up too much. I guess I had might as well take off the fins and put 10 pound on and use them, cause the topwater bite, for me is just not at all.

What do you think?

Hope they do it again on the morrow.

[Fishin' Freak]

We found the jig bite this weekend to be really good. Friday and Sat. mornings we put in at Aunts and fished to K-City and the Baxter area with good success on a wide range of colors. PB&J, green pump. candy, brn and purple flash all produced. On Friday we had 30 plus fish with 11 keeps, our best 5 going around 14 lbs. We had one nice black and one nice K with the rest being SJ's! All our fish came much shallower than I anticipated. We caught all our fish just outside the tree line in 15-20 ft of water. If we moved out and fished the 20-28 foot range we would catch a fish or two but nothing like the shallower water. These guys on here that tell you to make 10 casts and if you don't catch a fish go to the next point are right on. We caught all our fish on three points with only two producing keeper fish.

Saturday was a bit slower for us but we still managed 7 nice keeps with 15 total fish caught. All our fish came on three points again and were in that 15-20 ft range. We were really shocked both days with the lack of boat traffic considering it was the 4th. I am not sure but I think the cloud cover and rain may have had these fish a little shallower than normal but if the sun was shinning I would still start on the tree line and then move out. If you catch one or two off a point, stick and stay and make her pay!!!

The topwater activity and bite was nonexistent for us as was the drop shot bite. We stayed with the feetball and had a blast!

[techo]

Thanks for the tips! I am taking a friend out that doesn't fish much tomorrow morning. I hope to put most of this to good use. I am putting in at Aunt's Creek....so if you see a little red and white Skeeter...it is me!

[Don House]

Don, are you having your guys throw that 1/2 oz on a spinning rod? That is just not working for me. Let me know the secret if you are. I can put that Hula Grub on 8 , but the 1/2 oz. FB needs 10 pound test in my opinion, and the spinning reels and rods just don't like that type of line. I loose way to many jigs on 8. Would rather fish it on 12 if at all possible, but 10 is way better than 8.

I do have two 7ft. 2 inch med-heavys from the Rod Shop, with 3500 Sustains that I am throwing a fin on 12 lb. Maxi. They do great. I tried Falcons 7 ft. Shakey head special, and it works good up to 3/8, anything heaver is going to hang up too much. I guess I had might as well take off the fins and put 10 pound on and use them, cause the topwater bite, for me is just not at all.

What do you think?

Hope they do it again on the morrow.

Bill, Yes I do, these are 6.0, 6.6 and a 7 ft Med spinning rods, rigged with the new Vicious 8 pound mono on a Pfluegar reel, yes only 8 Pound I don't have the issue of loosing jigs on 8 pound test and I think it is that jig design that is working for me.

But the real trick is in the rod blank, these have a added core rapping of Kevlar built into the butt section up to the first large eye of the rod. They are called Reserve Power Rods by Grandt Rods. This gives me heavy action in the lower section of the rod but still a great light tip and mid section for alittle bit bigger baits and better sensitivity and fighting power. I have one that is made just for drop shotting which is a 6.6 Med Light but with the butt section power of a med heavy. He has a new lower priced line called the Golden Supreme series which is what my clients used today.

Seen your truck when I came in this morning, Hope they bit as well for you as they did for me.. We had one point we had 13 fish from 5:30am to 7:30am, two fish over 4 and one over 3.5 rest all in the 2 - 2.5 pound range nice keeper S/M. No Top Water at all, but with this type of jig bite who cares! By 7:30 the DAM area was full of boats just about every point had a boat on it, I guess the secret is out now be gone here soon anyway and then back out to the deep haunts.. Fishing tip of the week, beat everyone out in the morning!!!!

Good Fishing

Don

[techo]

I drug a buddy out from work. He said he hadn't been fishing in four years, I am not sure how many we caught but he wants to go fishing next Tuesday too. We had all little guys and nothing for the bragging boards. Almost all of them were on the Eakins or Jewel jigs. I caught two on the drop shot! Woohoo! Of course we fished mostly points and hung around points between and near nine and ten for the most part

The weather was perfect today. Just the right amount of wind and clouds. Once in a while it would rain just enough to cool us off. I could never plan a better day.

[Bill Babler]

Order me two of the rods you are using with the 1/2 oz. Your favorites. Let me know if you need a check or just get them.

Had 2 high school girls today, and we just had a real hard time getting bit deep, till the wind came. When it started to blow, the dropshot fish were under 25 and we caught 15 with 4 nice keepers.

Throwing anything, was out of the question. You know what I mean.

While I was waiting on the girls, I caught two big keeper K's off the boat ramp on the FB. They are wanting to eat daddy's really bad.

Loved the girls, and would not have traded them, but good fisherman could have caught fish today. Beck had close to 20 keepers today, on a hula grub and the jig. 4 or 5 huge SJ's 8 to 20 ft.

Had couple of guys at the lodge this weekend that caught them pretty good on a blade right down here in the bushes. These fish are up close.

12 guide boats at the ramp this morning. By 7 AM, there was not a point open from Long Creek bouy point to point 5 with guides and just folks out flinging.

Got to get out early.

Great reports Donnie, glad you are getting hit hard.

[Jackie D]

I have been getting bit real good first thing swimming grubs, let it fall to bottom and real it in slow. Have been getting 2 or three real nice smallmouths and several shorts doing this. Once the sun gets up your bites are lots harder to come by. I go to the drop shot once the sun gets up good and have been catching lots of fish. We caught them so good today my half day trip turned into a full day and they had a blast. We ran out of nightcrawlers since I was only planning on half day trip. We went to plastic and they were on it as good if not better than the real worms. Lots of fun right now.

[Gone Fishing]

Jackie D or anybody else still throwing the grub, was just wondering if you were useing the watermelons (darker colors) or the old salt & pepper (shad) colors. My wife likes to throw it and is ready to go back out and turn some heads on it. Thanks in advance.

[techo]

We are doing well on the darker colors crawdad colored.