What are they biting on in Beardsley?

[abkeenan]

I posted here a couple of weeks ago to see what was going on in the Beardley Branch of the lake and got a good answer with plenty of help. Its about a month later and my Father,Uncle,Brother and myself are all going to the TR on this Wed.-Sun. to visit my grandparents (just an excuse to go fishing). Just wanted to know what you guys down there have been using to catch fish? Still stickbaits like you mentioned? And if so what colors? and suspending rogues im assuming? Not floating? How long are u pausing the bait for? And what color exacly is PBJ? I hear a lot about that color from guys on this site and i guess its just purple with another lighter color? im not really sure. Im also hearing about white grubs swimmed through the cedars? Are u guys still catching fish on that as well? Havent ever done that before and i guess u just real slow through the trees? Also we dont ust fish finders so where to fish and depths where the fish are at would help a ton. Well any info on what they are biting on in or around the Beardley Branch would be much appreciated and would love to get on some fish. Couple of year back i had some really good luck in spinner baits slow rolled about theis time of year but last year i went around this time i caught 1 nice 16 inch Kentucky in about 20 hours on the water....yikes. Hopefully this year will be better? By the way while im on a rant do u guys think red hooks make that big of a difference?

Thanks a bunch- Brett

[Phil Lilley]

Brett- you're probably going to get a great answer.. I'm still amazed how much time people like SKMO, House and others spend on the forum answering questions the way they do.

It would be helpful to others on the forum including the "guides" - after your trip give us a report on how you did.

[Don House]

abkeenan,

Well here is what I found out today... First In Breardsley Branch, I found fish in the 15 foot range, fish from the bank out to 15 feet.. I was using a split shot rig with a watermelon green pepper french fry worm (4").. Dragging this from the bank back to deeper water is a must, the fish would just eat it, I mean really eat it!!!

Also when the wind really got up I starting using a 3/8 ounce jig head with a 3" green pumpkin grub,Slow roll this guy from shallow to deep the same as the other, bounce it off the bottom all the way back to the boat, a few bites came right at the boat.. That should catch you some fish.

This same bite also worked in Jakes Branch ( Right hand side of point number 1 ) and also in Big Indain Creek about half way back, On the inside of the secondary points (Wind blown Side)..

Stickbaits have slowed down in this creek, But I hear from SKMO and Bill Babler that is it really good on other parts of the lake. Suspending models in chrome and black and chrome and blue worked for me.

As far as red hooks, Well I like them, they work for me, I feel it looks like a bleeding bait or a gill flash when moving thru the water..

Hope this help

Good Fishing

PB&J color, is a Peanut/Butter and Jelly colors, Brown, Tan and Grape (Purple). That is a color of jig's that everyone throws down here.

[SKMO]

Brett - I don't know anything recent about the Beardley area but Don's reply sounds like a great game plan to start with. I honestly think we are about at the point where you can catch some fish on about anything you try, but a "hot bite" is going to be elusive, it's more a matter of getting out there and doing a lot of different things and hopefully getting into something good at the moment, realizing you might not do it again tomorrow. Kind of vague I know.

Jigs, both the smaller hula/grub spider jigs and larger Jewell type jigs with trailers are always worth trying just about any time of the year on TR, they can be fished shallow out to 25-30' depending on the size. Shades of brown and green are good. Real good SM bait in the clear water areas of the lake.

As Don said finess rigs with french fries or fish Dr's or other small plastics are good. Crankbaits might work for you, have heard good things about them recently in the upper White but have not fished them myself recently. I am going to start throwing some plastic and cranks immediately because this stickbait thing is elusive and might be fizzling fast.

As far as the stickbaits, suspending rogues or Pointer 100's, are my choice but many others work well. Colors include natural shad colors as well as plugs with chartruse, purples, clown pattern, gold and silver foil, and many others. Rule of thumb is the colder the water the longer you let it sit still. I don't think I ever fish it slow enough, right now 5 seconds would be a long pause for me, I tend to work it at a crawl with very short twitches and some pauses mixed in.

Hope this helps - SKMO

[abkeenan]

thanks a bunch Don and SKMO. I appreaciate you guys helping me out. Gonna stay down there about 4 days till sunday so a fish fry on Sunday afternoon would be great if we could get enough for that. One more question. I am not familiar with a "split shot rig". How is that rigged and what is involved in that? I do mostly Carolina and Texas rig and have never "drop shotted" or "split shotted". Are they the same thing? If you could describe how its used, rigged that would be great. Maybe there is a website or something that has a diagram u guys could shoot me or something. And Phil i will give a full report when i get back and let u know what did or for that matter didnt work for catchin' fish.

Again thanks a bunch-

Brett

[Bill Babler]

Brett, Killing bass that are getting ready to spawn is not exactly the way to solicite information on this site. With the trouble's we have had here in the past, putting a knife to females getting ready to help repoplulate a lake that is not or will never be stocked is not how most of us operate.

Sam's club, has farm raised catfish fillets for about $1.99 per pound. They are delicious.

Help us promote and preserve this great fishery by purchasing a bag and letting these fantastic fighting fish reproduce at their most vulnerable time of year.

Everyone that reads this site and depends on it for information will truely appreciate it. Thanks Bill

[Don House]

Brett, Ok, First please understand Bill and I make our living on this lake, These fish are our bread and butter we really need them to populate more, So take all of the crappie you want, 10" size and 15 per day per person, and Spots 12" 5 per person per day, those we have a very large population of. But please practice catch and release on the Blacks and Small Month for all of us to catch, we really need these guys to grow and repopulate. We had a very bad fish kill a few years back, So Thanks in advance.

Now let’s talk about your questions.

Spilt Shot: 6 Pound Test (Spring Time Bait presentation)

This means of fishing is very simple. If you are used to Carolina rigging this will be very simple to you.. You have a small slit shot weight about 8 - 12 inches above your hook. The Hook I use is a number 3 or 4 straight wire hook or a texas rig hook. The worm is use is a 3" or a 4" french fry worm, or a zoom trick worm, rig this worm just like you would for a texas rig worm.

OK, now drag this rig from shallow to deep just like you would a Carolina rig, drag it slow and watch for the bite on the tip. I like to drag it back with a sideways motion or a sweeping motion. That is it!! The bite comes as a couple of small pulls or just a heavy felling on your line.

Drop Shot Rigs: 6 Pound Test (Summer and Fall presentation)

This is a little different way of fishing and mostly used for vertical fishing in deep water. I run a swivel(Very Important Part: it keeps the rig from spinning around) at the top of a 2 foot leader, then take a small drop shot hook, about half way up the leader and tie a polymer knot (I think that is right spelling) You can look up this knot on any fishing line web site.. Once I have my knot tied I run the weight end of the line back through (The Bottom End of the line) the eye of the hook, is makes the hook stand up on the line. After that is complete I place a 1/8 - 3/8 ounce weight on the bottom of the hook and there you go..

The worm I like to use is a 3" ROBO Worm, a very small worm just made for this type of presentation. I hook the worm through the head of the worm (Wacky style but right at the Head of the worm) just over the barb so the worm stands straight out when in the water.

As you can see these are very different ways of fishing but both work very well.

Hope that makes sense and helps you!

Good Fishing

[abkeenan]

Bill and Don-

I dont want to give u the wrong idea that i salughter fish. Its the exact opposite actually. I am 100% with you guys on preservation of fish and natural resources in general. Most of the fish we eat are catfish and perch from trot lines with some bass. Also when a female is caught with eggs we keep her for a photo and release her unharmed to repopulate. I want to continue to catch fish on this lake so i definately dont want to hurt the population. So dont be affraid that i am a bass killer. Besides i never catch the darn things anyways they are completely safe! lol. But seriously we release of majority of the fish and only keep a couple and mainly when they are injured during the catch, swallowed hooks and bleeding real bad. But again i want to thank you guys for the info i really do appreciate it! I promise to leave some fish in teh lake this weekend for you guys to continue to make your "bread and butter" and make a living. Will give a full report on the trip on Sunday.

Thanks again

Brett

[mizzouflyfisher]

I'm thinking about coming down for the weekend. I've narrowed the choices down to Kentucky Lake, Lake Kincaid, and Table Rock. So, what are the water temperatures like throughout the lake. Also, I've never really gotten into white bass, so I have no idea what I am doing. Is it still too early for a novice to go find some white bass. I also hate fishing deep, what's my best bet for a shallow bass bite <15ft. this time of year?

Thanks guys

[Bill Babler]

Don, take a quick look, I'm sure it was just a type O, but the length limit on the Mo. section for Spots is 15 inches. Arkansas is 12 inches, but may not be transported back across the state line.

Brett, didn't mean to just your case, and it has nothing to do with how I make my living. You or anyone else is entitled to any fish you wish to keep that is legal. I will guarantee you that Don feels the same way.

I have chosen not to kill any of the 3 black bass varities we have for personal reasons. I have fished and guided here since 1968, and have seen a trememdious transformation in the bass populations. Thru the 60's and 70's we were a predonimate largemouth fishery. In the late 70's the spots really started to come on.

When I went back to full time guiding in 1992 based out of Shell Knob, it was not uncommon from that period until about 2000 to catch and release a 100 plus spotted bass per day. Any day, Everyday. These were fish that occupided deep structure, channel swings and humps, along with just roamed around chasing shad. Many a time I had boaters approach me in the middle of the lake and asked if I was broke down. People just didn't know the fish were out there.

These were not tournament fish as the largemouth population was good and you just frankly could not win a tourmanent on a limit of spots. The big boys just called them guide fish and could care less about the Ky's. I remember Rick Holmgran of Shell Knob a good friend and one of the best ever tournament fisherman on TR, asking me why I even messed around with those little fish and that I should concentrate on real fish.

Boy how times have changed.

With the fishing shows and the guide trips and the quality of off shore electronics, these places were discovered and people learned how to take these off the bank fish. AS the largemouth population dwindled and the size went down, the tournament boys now started to target the spots that had, had pretty much no prussure. It changed the fishing as we know it on Table Rock when these discoverys were made.

In 1999 and again in 2000, devestating fish kills affected both the largemouth and then the spotted bass. While the spots are more nurmerious than the largemouth, they are still nothing like it used to be.

I had places up the White River Post Spawn where spots would be on channel swings recovering from the spawn that would hold litterly 100's of bass. They now hold some. Buster Loving, Tim Sainato, Tim Paige, Bob Tindle and I could all literally tie our boats together and catch and release fish for days at a time.

We never killed the fish and still we saw the population slowly diminish.

Tim Sainato, found a fall spot up the White that you could literally catch bass on until you were wore out. In a 3 day period, Tim, Buster and I caught and released with clients a number of fish that was just to unbelieveable to print. This was before the drop-shot, on spoons and rigs. only a few live there now.

Brett, nither my clients or myself have anymore right to the fish than you do.

The good Lord has blessed me and allowed me to follow my dream to do what I do.

I would never dictate morality as far as the fishing or expect anyone to release fish so my clients could catch more.

I just want there to be fish here for my childrens, childrens. As you stated it took you 20 hours to catch 1 legal fish. THAT'S NOT BECAUSE YOUR A BAD FISHERMAN, Think about it!

When I was in College a frieds folks had a cabin in Beardsley Branch, we could walk the bank and catch largemouth, non-stop on a texas rigged ringwrom with a fire or blue tail. Showing my age. I must have been to the cabin dozens of times at all times of the year and we could catch them anytime. We had fish frys. Wish we would have just had fun and grilled a hamburger, and maby great guys like you could still walk the bank in Beardsley.