Beaver Report 11=05=2011

[Feathers and Fins]

Started a little late today at 0800, Went into the back of Prairie Creek and caught bait real fast and real easy, Decided to run over to Montne and see if the fish were there. Dirty sirty water from Horseshoe bend all the way in to Montne and stripers dont like dirty water. I gave it a couple hours in there but nothing Side Scan and Upand down never marked a striper and only a few small Kentuckys.

Ran down to Rocky Branch searching for Ducks. Please note COOTS will not fly our of the way of a boat and in rough chop you dont see them till you see feathers blow up in your prop.. Anyway RockIy Branch had the local resident Honkers and Mallards not much in the area. Comming back up to Prairie Creek I did kick a few flocks of Teal off the shore and seen a few Pintail around the Islands in front of 12 bridge.

Back into Prairie Creek, I was able to mark stripers from the swim beach all the way to the dirt ramp on Old Prarie Creek Road but couldnt get them to bite. Said haeck with it and shot to the North side of PC to try for what looked like bass rolling up on shad by the boat rocks.. WRONG they were not bass they were BIG STRIPERS sucking shad. 37 stripers from 12 TO 35 pounds. Note one of them was deeper than 15 feet. most my cast were within feet to inches of the shore and then as they pulled away the washing machine would turn on. I had to run back into the creek 3 times to reload on shad.

I swear i need a better cell phone camera. this one taped at 49 inches with a girth of 24 inches long and skinny I had one that was only 24 inches long but its girth was 26 inches looked like a football lol.

[wc1063]

Amazing!!

You really need to show me how you do it sometimes.

I just don't see how you catch them big ones day in and day out!!

I guess that's what you'd call SKILL!!!

[Feathers and Fins]

Talk about type O’s last night I was tired or wind burned lol. WC it really has more to do with paying attention to my surroundings. I learned years ago the simplest out of the norm thing might be a fish. The slurping bait I thought was Bass is something I learned from Tarpon fishing. Tarpon will come up and just open their mouth and slurp in a mullet, it is very subtle and most people won’t detect it but to me the sound is like a shotgun going off and the little ripple it makes might as well be a Neon sign.

If you want to meet me out there shoot me a PM with your phone number and we can try and set something up. With the clock falling back its going to mess my after work fishing up but ill still be hitting them on weekends. 11-19-2011 starts Cast n Blast season, so I will be chasing Striper after I finish helping to reduce the Resident Goose population and killing a few ducks. My first passion is waterfowl huntingJ

[W. Heisenberg]

Let me get this straight... You caught 37 stripers yesterday?! That is incredible.

I'll be heading down from Springfield, MO next weekend to striper fish. How big were the shad you found in PC? Were they on the surface? We usually fish around Horseshoe bend, and have been unsuccessful in finding shad in Monte Ne, so your post is getting my hopes up that we might fill our cast nets next weekend.

Also, are you free-lining your shad and just tossing them up into shallow water?

Thanks for the report!

[Feathers and Fins]

Shad were from 3 to 6 inches on the threadfin, Gizzards were the big jobs 8 to 12 inches and plentiful. Montne is a NO GO its water is chocolate stained visability about 18'' and stripers do not do dirty water well. Prairie Creek was stained but 3' visability and not bad.

The shad are in the very back of the creeks in VERY shallow water, if you dont know where the channel is I suggest a pair of mud boots and get out and walk to them then run back to the boat. There are some stumps and logs as well as concrete in the back of Prairie Creek so unless you know it well be very careful.

I freelined almost all the bait, by that I mean tossing them toward the bank with only the hook in the nose so they can swim naturaly 1/0 circle hooks. The Gizzard shad I normaly drop down to within 3 feet of bottom with a 5oz weight and 5' of leader line.

If the dam wind will stop I know without doubt I could easily take them on a fly as they are so close to shore and surface feeding.

One mistake I do see way to many people make is trolling with the big motor in shallow water. Anything under 25' is taboo the noise spooks the fish and screws up fishing for everyone else in the area. Kinda like guys who have to blow into a boil. I never have understood how they run into it and then aske " where did the fish go" Quiet is the best approach in shallow water.

[W. Heisenberg]

Shad were from 3 to 6 inches on the threadfin, Gizzards were the big jobs 8 to 12 inches and plentiful. Montne is a NO GO its water is chocolate stained visability about 18'' and stripers do not do dirty water well. Prairie Creek was stained but 3' visability and not bad.

The shad are in the very back of the creeks in VERY shallow water, if you dont know where the channel is I suggest a pair of mud boots and get out and walk to them then run back to the boat. There are some stumps and logs as well as concrete in the back of Prairie Creek so unless you know it well be very careful.

I freelined almost all the bait, by that I mean tossing them toward the bank with only the hook in the nose so they can swim naturaly 1/0 circle hooks. The Gizzard shad I normaly drop down to within 3 feet of bottom with a 5oz weight and 5' of leader line.

If the dam wind will stop I know without doubt I could easily take them on a fly as they are so close to shore and surface feeding.

One mistake I do see way to many people make is trolling with the big motor in shallow water. Anything under 25' is taboo the noise spooks the fish and screws up fishing for everyone else in the area. Kinda like guys who have to blow into a boil. I never have understood how they run into it and then aske " where did the fish go" Quiet is the best approach in shallow water.

Thank you very much for the information. It's extremely valuable to people like us who travel 2 hours to get down there and fish. With any luck the shad pattern won't change too much by next weekend, but we all know how that goes.

[Feathers and Fins]

Most welcome and hope you get a ton or atleast a few hundred pounds. I'll try and keep updates comming this week.

[W. Heisenberg]

Most welcome and hope you get a ton or atleast a few hundred pounds. I'll try and keep updates comming this week.

Haha, thank you; but I'd settle for just one if it were as nice as the ones you've been catching! Nice work!

[junkman]

I know what your saying Heisenberg. I look at those fish and drool. As I have never caught one It almost makes me want to go and buy a out of state license and head down that way, but I know I would not have very good success.

[Stump bumper]

I know what your saying Heisenberg. I look at those fish and drool. As I have never caught one It almost makes me want to go and buy a out of state license and head down that way, but I know I would not have very good success.

If you drive down and check the water to see if they are running you could wait until you see fish, then call the fish and game and buy a license over the phone. I had an expired license a few years ago when I was checked and the game warden let me call and get one and let me off with a warning. Just get the 1-800 number off the web site, pack up some rods and take a ride, most fisherman around year will call you over and share their spot when they are running, the only thing better than catching a big fish is to watch someone catch their first one. Also it is only about 2 miles to Hook Line and sinker if you want to buy one at a bait shop.

If you are in Mo, then Beaver is covered under the boarder license that is only $10 for a year.