Tues Lower White

[SKMO]

I added some pics of a few of todays fish that managed to make it ito the boat. Not great photography but we need some real life fin and scales to look at here as the trout slimers are putting us to shame.

Caught about 20 w/9 legals. As is my usual trip started out the day with 3 hours of nothing. Finally found some fish on a real distinct rock ridge, and caught 2 that would measure and a bunch of shorts. Some on spoons and some on grubs.

Saw a boat (guide boat as it turns out) that shot past me and worked a spot real hard for 45 minutes then left. Not being too proud to think I might learn something I immediately went to scoping out his spot as soon as he officially vacated it and he went down lake. Was just curious as to what was going on there. Not much as I soon found out, which was why he left. So I slid ..... on down the bank.

Long story short I stumbled into a really nice bunch of fish a couple hundred yards past where he had stopped. Screen lit up and I caught 7 legal KY's in a little more than an hour. They were still stacked in there when I left but I had to go and had caught all the easy biters. My experience has alway been it goes downhill from the initial bite, guess they dive back down and warn the cohorts about whatever I am dangling.

This was definitely a different pattern/structure than I had related my last good trip... which was way deep water with shad over treetops. (Oh by the way I did have a trip from Hell recently where I neither caught, saw, smelled or otherwise detected any type of fish in Table Rock, but I guess I forgot to tell you about that).

Today for some reason this pod of fish today was on a ho-hum gravel point and only about 40' deep, right on the bottom.

In any case it's shaping up to be a great Winter on the Rock. The fish are there, but plan on taking a few hours to find them, as they are realy mobile right now and you will probably have to modify your game plan from day to day.

[bassman1308]

skmo:

nice bunch of bass. i'm going tomorrow. it's supposed to be very nice, 60* & sunny. maybe they'll hit the jigs again''''

[S&M]

Quality bunch of bass, skmo

Today for some reason this pod of fish today was on a ho-hum gravel point and only about 40' deep, right on the bottom.

Very interesting, I was out this past Sunday working the Mill Creek area and came across this same situation. I thought it was just a flook finding the bass like this, but I guess the bass are starting to follow the balls of chad in open water just outside the mouths of the coves.

I to am heading out tomorrow and will be launching from Mill Creek. I'll take the camera along and hopefully have some pics to share.

Mike,

[Bill Babler]

SK, Great report and Pic's. Maby I'll get off the trout and be able to go one day. Loved the spoon talk about RL out of the knob. Went with him one day in the spring during rig dragging season. While I dragged the french fry he dragged that flat grey slap spoon on the bottom, just like a rig. He didn't kick my butt, but he for sure caught his share.

Also fished with him one winter day in the back of basin. I was suspending the spoon about a foot off the bottom and just slightly quivering it, almost no movement. He told me to watch him catch them off the bottom with it. He would lower it to the bottom until there was slack in the line as the spoon layed on the bottom and all of a sudden his line would get tight as the fished sucked it right off the bottom. You are absolutely right about the shakey worm as he has been fishing it at least 15 years as his staple in the summer, along with the spoon and spook. Went spook fishing with him one day and he moved it so slow, I thought he had fallen asleep in the back of the boat. He did kick my butt that day. About 4 casts per hour was just to slow for me on the spook, but I will guarantee it works for him.

Great stuff. Just goes to show the more we know the less we really know.

[CMAC]

SKMO,

Nice group picture, although couldn't enhance the photo wnough of the one your holding to figure out what ho-hum point that was.....

What color grub was that?

[SKMO]

SK, Great report and Pic's. Maby I'll get off the trout and be able to go one day. Loved the spoon talk about RL out of the knob. Went with him one day in the spring during rig dragging season. While I dragged the french fry he dragged that flat grey slap spoon on the bottom, just like a rig. He didn't kick my butt, but he for sure caught his share.

Also fished with him one winter day in the back of basin. I was suspending the spoon about a foot off the bottom and just slightly quivering it, almost no movement. He told me to watch him catch them off the bottom with it. He would lower it to the bottom until there was slack in the line as the spoon layed on the bottom and all of a sudden his line would get tight as the fished sucked it right off the bottom. You are absolutely right about the shakey worm as he has been fishing it at least 15 years as his staple in the summer, along with the spoon and spook. Went spook fishing with him one day and he moved it so slow, I thought he had fallen asleep in the back of the boat. He did kick my butt that day. About 4 casts per hour was just to slow for me on the spook, but I will guarantee it works for him.

Great stuff. Just goes to show the more we know the less we really know.

Yeah RL has learned and forgotten way more than I will ever know about this lake. Just an amazing guy who has seen TR in it's heyday and still gets pumped up enough to get out there and chase the tough fish year round.

Another kind of funny thing about him is that he will still go out in the middle of the day in July/Aug and fish these deep trees in the middle of the lake channel. I personally am frightened and annoyed by the jet ski/Cobalt/Ski boat crowd and stay off the lake then, but he told me he has yet to get run over, "though I've had some really close calls".

I wonder (doubt) if there is another individual fisherman on this lake that has lifted more poundage of fish over the side of the boat than this guy.

[SKMO]

SKMO,

Nice group picture, although couldn't enhance the photo wnough of the one your holding to figure out what ho-hum point that was.....

What color grub was that?

CMAC - I will say the location was within a reasonably short boat ride of Point 17 if that is any help. Actually it would not be all that helpful if I gave you the exact location because it would change by the time you got there. Pretty hard to put the same thing together 2 days in a row as far as I am concerned. Every day starts out as a shad/fish hunt and if you thought I was giving some inside skinny you would be wrong cause I start from scratch every day.

The grub however was EXACTLY a Kinami "Natural Shad". I would call it a smoke with some gold/silver/black glitter. 3/8 oz head.

I do not think there is anything magic about this grub color. A smoke base color seems to be a real good starting point most of the time and I don't change colors a lot. Recently throwing it because it was what I have handy and they seemed to bite it. Smokes and shades of green are hard to beat.

I think it is 70% right place and time, 30% confidence in your presentation, 10% color selection, and 10% how much trouble you think you might be in once with the Little Lady once you get home after wasting another day fishing, so YOU do the math. I tend to confuse myself if I try to pin down a color selection to the Gnat's butt and get distracted from the fact that is not a color problem, but a problem that I am fishing nowhere near active fish.

One of my favorite Winter colors is Kalin's "Spilled Milk". Kind of a milky white grey. A few years ago people used to take smoke grubs and put some water in the bag to "milk them up" and turn them kind of whitish, and this color comes close. It's probably my imagination but I like lighter/whiter plastics as the water gets colder.

[Bill Babler]

CMAC, SKMO, didn't ask,and frankly dosen't want to know, but he is always fishing in ammoungst the guide boats, and what he finds he finds on his own. A true gentleman with a hunger for fishing knowledge few can compair with. There are full time guides fishing near his locaton and he would never compromise there lively hoods with exact locations.

He or I won't pinpoint exact locations for the reasons he stated above, as the fish tend to move, but there has never been a harder working fisherman than SKMO.

How many fisherman are willing to give 3 to even 8 hrs. of their trips without a bite. I guarantee he is. If he can gain just one speck on knowledge he would consider the trip a raving success.

Truly one of the best locals on the rock, if he says it, take it to the bank and cash it!

Very good fisherman. Great and honerable man. My privledge to call him friend.

Keep it commin SKMO

[CMAC]

BB,

I guess my humor was mis-understood. I wasn't looking for the gory detail or exact locations not everyone is looking for a cheap ride, see the wink-wink portion of the post. I realize he works very hard to pinpoint fish as well as yourself.

I have close friends on the lake too who fish professionally and guide, so I know exactly what your talking about.

SKMO,

NO offense and thanks for the reports, they give me enjoyment while stuck behind the desk. Actually, I am envious you get to post so much, because that means you are fishing all time.

Take care.

[CMAC]

CMAC - I will say the location was within a reasonably short boat ride of Point 17 if that is any help. Actually it would not be all that helpful if I gave you the exact location because it would change by the time you got there. Pretty hard to put the same thing together 2 days in a row as far as I am concerned. Every day starts out as a shad/fish hunt and if you thought I was giving some inside skinny you would be wrong cause I start from scratch every day.

The grub however was EXACTLY a Kinami "Natural Shad". I would call it a smoke with some gold/silver/black glitter. 3/8 oz head.

I do not think there is anything magic about this grub color. A smoke base color seems to be a real good starting point most of the time and I don't change colors a lot. Recently throwing it because it was what I have handy and they seemed to bite it. Smokes and shades of green are hard to beat.

I think it is 70% right place and time, 30% confidence in your presentation, 10% color selection, and 10% how much trouble you think you might be in once with the Little Lady once you get home after wasting another day fishing, so YOU do the math. I tend to confuse myself if I try to pin down a color selection to the Gnat's butt and get distracted from the fact that is not a color problem, but a problem that I am fishing nowhere near active fish.

One of my favorite Winter colors is Kalin's "Spilled Milk". Kind of a milky white grey. A few years ago people used to take smoke grubs and put some water in the bag to "milk them up" and turn them kind of whitish, and this color comes close. It's probably my imagination but I like lighter/whiter plastics as the water gets colder.

SKMO,

I am trying to think of the color I love to throw on sunny winter days for using the grub. It's a completely clear body with "colored" glitter inside.