Near, Far And Everywhere In Between

[Champ188]

Postspawn is the time for the fish to be scattered, and boy is that ever true right now.

Donna and I spent Friday and Saturday fishing mostly are beloved White River arm, although we did venture as far downlake as The Cows late Friday.
We caught fish as shallow as 1 foot and as deep as 32 feet, and we caught them at practically every increment in between. We even caught them busting shad on top over 70 feet.

Probably the most consistent bite is fishing docks with a shaky head or finesse jig, although the shaky head will get you a lot more bites. The bottom dwellers are in 24 feet or less, but you can get bit by suspended fish in the deeper slips. Watermelon-red worm on a 3/16 head will have you in business. I was targeting docks leading out of spawning pockets.

We caught a fair number Friday on a blade, tossing it along flatter main-lake banks with bushes and wind. War Eagle in mouse or lavender shad will do the trick.

You can go into the spawning pockets and throw a Fin and will have a ton of fish follow you back to the boat. A few will bite. Reel it slow as you can while still keeping the wobble right. What you cannot do yet, or at least I couldn't, is catch them on the Fin out of the cedars. I'm sure that bite is just a few days away but it wasn't here for me yet this weekend.

There also doesn't seem to be much of a fb jig bite yet, but I'm sure it is near, too.

Get out there and catch some fish. That shaky head will get you bit in a lot of places.

[johnboy2bfishin]

Thanks for the report Champ I'm headed out early tomorrow. Hoping to get on some topwater before the sun gets to hi.

Was curious if the grub bite was working still. Thanks again I will post as soon as I get in

[dtrs5kprs]

Much appreciated. Will be pulling into Kimberling tomorrow. Blades, bushes, and wind are never a bad combination if there are fry or shad around. Kids will be bummed if the water comes up too much for the Ned.

Have to think the relatively cool water is keeping those FB fish shallow.

[Quillback]

Thanks Camp for the great report. I might head up to the Big M Monday, definitely will have a shakey head rig on the deck.

[huntest]

Champ what type and weight of line are you using for your shakey head rig?

[magicwormman]

Great report Champ!!! It sounds like the shaky head is the deal.

I've found that the topwater fish prefer a spook jr. or dog to the redfin. I don't understand why, unless they are feeding on the smaller shad.

[Champ188]

Champ what type and weight of line are you using for your shakey head rig?

Good news from the finance department ... I've tried a lot of lines for spinning rods and the best combination of tough and limp that I can find is the BPS brand Excel ... 6 pound test in the green tint. It's also cheap ... around $10 for a 1,500-yard spool and at that rate, you can afford to change it often.

I don't chince on line ... my fluorocarbon of choice is Trilene 100 Percent, which is one of the most expensive. My mono is P-Line, also not cheap. I use this Excel because it does the best job of what I want from 6-pound line on a spinning rod.

Some folks like fluorocarbon in 6 or 8 pound test. I don't care for it myself. Too many breakage problems for me when you go that light with carbon.

[Champ188]

In re-reading my post, I noticed that I failed to mention numbers or size. We fished about 8-9 hours each day and caught a daily total of about 40 fish Friday and 60 Saturday. We had fewer than 10 keepers both days, and both days our best five would have weighed no more than 12 pounds. But I see the Central Pro-Am boys didn't catch em any better than that Saturday, so big sacks are just not easy right now.

We didn't commit to the shaky head/jig bite until about 1 p.m. Saturday and from then until 5:30 p.m. we caught 40. Again, not a lot of keepers but a whole lot of fun.

[fishingaddiction]

In re-reading my post, I noticed that I failed to mention numbers or size. We fished about 8-9 hours each day and caught a daily total of about 40 fish Friday and 60 Saturday. We had fewer than 10 keepers both days, and both days our best five would have weighed no more than 12 pounds. But I see the Central Pro-Am boys didn't catch em any better than that Saturday, so big sacks are just not easy right now.

We didn't commit to the shaky head/jig bite until about 1 p.m. Saturday and from then until 5:30 p.m. we caught 40. Again, not a lot of keepers but a whole lot of fun.

I second the use of the green tint 6 lb bps excel for spinning. I have used it for several years now. The cost is low and you can afford to change it often. It is limp, fairly low memory, and strong.

The shaky head with a trick worm worked for me Sunday, June 2nd. Several keeper LM along a slow taper bank with chunk rock from the edge of the bushes to as deep as 15'.

johnboy: The grub bite was good to us on Memorial weekend, haven't fished it since.

Nice report, Glad you and Donna had a super couple of days. Thanks for input and reports.