3/20/13 Fishing Report - Buck Creek Area

[Mike Worley]

Had a full day trip for bass in the Buck creek area with Scott & Bill from St. Louis. We started the morning out in Tremble creek jerkin' stickbaits on a dead calm lake till about 9:30 AM with no bites and hopeing the wind would blow a little and help the bite pick up. It did, up to about 30 mph+ so we put out 2 drift socks got out the Alabama rigs. Some banks we were still traveling too fast to really fish them but we managed to catch some pretty decent size bass of all 3 of the blacks. No walleyes & no whites, while we were tucked in a cove eating lunch we caught a nice keeper smallmouth on a minnow. We ended up with 7 good keepers.

[mixermarkb]

Hey Mike,

What were the water temps running over there?

Any water color over there or was it all still clear?

Thanks,

Mark Burris

[Mike Worley]

Tremble creek had good water color and was about 49 degrees. Onece the wind really kicked up the water temp got into the 50's and several points had mudlines that were holding fish. We got up lake as far as Shoal creek but by then it was hard to slow down enough to fish. Most every where we went seemed to have 2'-4' of visability.

[timr0123]

We are coming down the week of April 8th and are hoping the slow warming trend the forecasters are predicting holds true. This will be our first spring trip to the Bull. I would expect the bass will be past ready to start moving up. Mike do you have any advise for us Bull Shoals rookies?

[mixermarkb]

I'm not Mike, but I'll tell you what I know.

First off, light line. 6 pound on spinning rigs for grubs and tubes, 8 or 10 for jerkbaits and crankbaits. 12 for jigs.

Pay attention to the type of rock on the bank. It will range from pea gravel to solid limestone bluffs. Make sure when you get a bite to pay attention, matching that rock will help you pattern fish. Look for transitions, and channel swings. Wood cover is to be thought of as an extra, not the main thing that holds the fish there.

Look for a cove or coves maybe 2/3 of the way back into a creek arm with lots of pea gravel. Those will be your spawning areas. Next find the biggest, deepest bluff you can see. Start fishing off of it with jerkbaits and the Arig, boat can be in 80 feet of water at times, don't let it scare you. Fish your way shallower, hitting any areas where the channel swings or the bank transitions. 3-4" smoke salt n pepper grubs on a 1/4oz head will be a good search tool, wiggle warts in craw patterns, maybe a spinnerbait will all catch fish along with the jerkbait. Just keep moving until you find them, don't hang out too long where you aren't getting bit.

Good Luck!

Mark Burris

ps, don't let some rain and wind keep you off the lake. Bring good rain gear and get out there. My best fish every year come on those nasty windy spitty rain kind of days.

[BrianS]

I'll try to give you a report after today. Hopefully it will be a good report LOL

[edyer]

I'll try to give you a report after today. Hopefully it will be a good report LOL

My first time on Bull Shoals will be April 1-3, staying at Lakewoods Resort near Protem, MO. Any areas close to the resort we could check out? We have experience fishing on Table Rock, but have never came down to Bull Shoals. We fish a lot in Michigan, where we live. With the cold weather forecast, we will plan on throwing jerk baits, wiggle warts, and A - Rigs. Probably try a jis as well. Only can do so much in three days.

[Ham]

I would hope that some of the rising water temps would hold on for you. I fished Norfork with a buddy last Thursday. The smaller fish have moved up and looked like they had been shallow a few days, but the few larger fish we caught looked like they had just moved up (still washed out colors). We saw a lot of fish suspended between 20-30 foot, but I am not at all sure what species of fish those were.

We probably caught MOST of our 27 bass on finesse jigs, but we also caught a fair amount on jerkbaits. I only caught one on a wart.

The fishing should improve. Do what you do on Table Rock and you should be fine.

[Diamond City Fisher]

Out of the Protem area I would try Elbow and Shoal Creek....and just across the lake is 3 finger and 5 finger cove. Also try East and West Sugarloaf creeks. It should break loose in these areas any time now.

[edyer]

Thanks guys! The weather looks pretty good. Looks like you could spend all week in the two Sugar Loaf creeks.