This Is A Bass Lake, Right?

[rps]

A couple of years ago we had a great bass spawn. The white bass spawned well also. Despite that, things have been so tough lately, I am not even chasing them. Instead I go out later in the day and troll. Today was interesting. Water above Beaver was 81 at Butler Creek, left over from yesterday's generation I guess. Caught these two plus two short walleye and three short bass.

If you work at it, you can catch a few even in the heat.

[Samkam1]

see any nettable shad in the area?

[rps]

Shad balls were all 10 to 18 feet deep. Didn't go up in Butler or Leatherwood so don't know about there.

[Paola Cat]

It's a carp and gar lake.

[Sam]

Nice. I'd have had to throw the trout back - no trout license.

I've always wondered why (except for walleye and white bass fishermen) folks don't troll more here. I do it a lot.

Back when my dad was alive, we fished the lakes in SoCal and we'd troll (usually with Bombers in those days) to locate bass. When we'd catch one we'd stay and work that area with crankbaits and soft plastics, and we'd catch a lot of bass that way. For me, trolling covers a lot of water and locates fish - bass, walleyes, and sometimes even crappie or a flathead catfish. This spring, trolling a plug located an area of big nesting goggleyes for me, so I switched to a swimming minnow and limited out.

We didn't have white bass in CA, so that's another way trolling often keeps me entertained here.

[Trav]

Trolling is a very effective way to fish Ozark Lakes. I for one don't like to burn the gas but I know a ton of guys who do it exclusively.

[stone9-7=2]

No rt now it's a lake full of IDIOTS.....

[Stump bumper]

see any nettable shad in the area?

I have seen a lot south of Beaver when they arn't generating, last Sunday around 6pm there were shad balls all over the top and they were so big I thought they were whites. I almost went home for the cast net to do some striper fishing. If they are generating you still spot some good size shad around Beaver.

The back of owl creek has some good shad around dark also, but not the really big shad I saw around Beaver.

[Sam]

Trolling is a very effective way to fish Ozark Lakes. I for one don't like to burn the gas but I know a ton of guys who do it exclusively.

Hence the 50 hp 4-stroke. I can troll all day at about 1000 rpm 2.2 mph, use hardly any gas, and the loudest sound is the little stream of cooling water hitting the lake.

[Samkam1]

Trolling is a very effective way to fish Ozark Lakes. I for one don't like to burn the gas but I know a ton of guys who do it exclusively.

70lb thrust electric works great for saving gas :-)