Clear or Dirty

[soa06]

Well im going to give this a shot, first time poster here. Heres the low down, I've got a tournament coming up this weekend (buddy tournament) and am needing some advice on whether to go clear or go dirty.

I had fished sunday in the baxter area and missed quite a few bites, the water was still pretty clear but had a little color to it. the guy i was with ended up getting one LM that would go 4 in the the boat plus a couple kentuckys. Ran to the mill creek area and i lost a nice smallie at the boat (ya rough day for me). Thinking this weeks weather would possibly eliminate sundays somewhat established pattern and after reading some recent reports (WARTS ON!!). My guts telling me to start in some clear water (Schooner creek) but i caught fish in stained/dirty water sunday. Can anybody help a fella out?

P.S. the fish we caught sunday, A-rig, & Jig.

Thank you!

[Bill Babler]

Fished the backs of both big and little Indian out of Baxter Sunday and it was Full blown mud, to the split. Some it bothers and some it does not. It bothers me if I don't get a bite and I did not.

I had to look for either clear/normal water or very, very slightly stained at most.

Water color has not so much dictated the surface temps, as they have been from 54 to 62 depending on area, rather than color. With temps like this it also really does not matter so much as anything in the 54 degree and up should be good.

I struggled again yesterday out of Shell Knob. Only had 4 keepers and 3 short fish with one good Small Mouth about 3 pounds and the other 3 right on the line. Really the first day that I have caught little fish and I did not catch many at all. Have had a nice 3 to 4 pound bite, but again, not a lot of fish.

Spoke to 3 guys at the ramp and two of them said the same thing as I did, one took the skunk, said he really could not say he even had a bite. The other guy said he caught a handful of short fish, winding up the Kings, but the 3rd guy said, "Not tellin what I caught them on, but I just slaughtered them today."

I had two of the keepers on a Rock Crawler and the other two including the Small Jaw on a pro-blue megabass.

We got 2 more inches of rain here yesterday, so we will see if it starts clouding back up.

Good Luck

[inshore]

Fished the james arm below cape fair and it was really muddy. myself I feel like tr is better when it is clear or just a little stain. my money says fish up the white or kc area down to cow creek.

[dtrs5kprs]

Used to do this dance myself. It is a clear water lake. Better fish will be in the clear water. If that is not what you like, or is not what you are used to fishing, you might do better in some color.

I'd be looking for clear water, especially if it is harder to find than color.

[Champ188]

My opinion is that fish are a product of their environment. Fish in the mid to upper parts of the Kings and James live in stained water all their lives, so they aren't as freaked out when the water starts to move and turns brown. Yes, at some point it gets too muddy even for them. But that point is a lot greater in the rivers than in the main lake, where even a little stain is a drastic change in environment.

[Browning Guy]

Put in at Shell Knob bridge on Tuesday (3/31) and ran up the kings. Fished for 4-5 hours and caught 8-10 fish. No specific pattern just hit and miss. As we went up further the water turned from good color to complete mud/red mud and massive amounts of debris floating everywhere. The main lake pockets were so full of debris you couldn't get in them to fish. The debris was so bad that we decided it wasn't worth the risk of destroying a lower unit and turned around (before deer bluff) and went up the white to Big M area. Caught a few shorts and 3 keepers (just). No pattern there either. The Corps was running four generators and the water had strong current (visible).

On Wednesday (4/1) we put in below Kimberling City and caught a lot of shorts and 6-7 keepers with the largest at 3.5. Most were on the bluff ends or just inside the main lake pockets. Had to have deep water nearby. We caught a few on swing head, wiggle wart and even spinnerbait. Tried the ned thing but couldn't fish it because of the current and gave up on it. Where would I go if I were fishing again today? Kimberling to the Dam and concentrate on the bluff ends and main lake pockets. Clouds and wind? wiggle wart and spinner bait. No wind or clouds? swing head out deeper. I wouldn't venture up the kings as it is a mess (and I like dirty water) and dangerous. I wouldn't go back to the white as it was just too inconsistent. A buddy said he fished the James from Hideaway to Cape Fair and he was disappointed as there was no consistency and no size. The water dropping is probably causing a lot of the problem, and strong storms are being forecast for Thursday and Friday. This after Springfield got hammered on Wednesday. Another inconsistent spring. I will try to post some photos of the debris just up from Viola on the kings.

[Bill Babler]

Very nice detailed post. Thanks so much for the information, that kind is really hard to beat.