Thursday and Friday

[bwcballer10]

I decided I couldn't wait any longer to try for some whites in the Little Sac. I got to Orleans about 10:30 Thursday morning and got my boat unloaded and started trying it underneath the bridge. No luck, so I head to mouth of Walnut Creek and give that a try. Still no luck so I continue heading downstream towards the lake. As I turn the bend below Orleans I talked to a guy fishing from the bank, he had 2 whites on his stringer. This gets me a little excited because it means at least a few fish have made it into the river. I try the mouth of the little creek there on the left as you turn the corner headed towards the lake. Still no bites, so I continue down that long eddy. This is about 2 and a half hours into my trip so I decide I'm gonna head back to the truck and go to Taylor to give it a try. I toss my jig out to troll back to the truck and BAM I get my first bite and fish... nice sized male white. I cast out and immediately catch another. The wind is blowing crazy hard and has pushed me into the bank by this point so I troll back out past where I caught the fish and catch another on my way out. I'm upset at myself for leaving my anchor in the truck at this point because I am going to have to fight the wind to stay close to the spot where I'm catching them. I proceed to catch my limit in the next hour. All the fish came from the same spot, they were laying on the backside of a mud point out of the main river channel. I caught them all on a purple swimmin minnow on an 1/8 ounce leadhead. 

My buddy called me that night and said that he would like to go back over Friday. I told him if I could talk my wife into letting me go 2 days in a row then I would love to try again. We put the boat in around 1 Friday afternoon at Orleans. We headed downriver towards the lake. Did not even get a nibble until we turned the corner at the top of the long eddy. Then we put 27 whites on the stringer (threw back 4 or 5 of the tiny males) on the mud flat between the old bridge pillars below Aldrich and the corner to turn into the long eddy below Orleans. All the fish were in the main river channel and caught on a purple swimmin minnow. We even caught a couple of nice sows. He had one that went 17 inches and I had two between 15 and 16 inches. I am super excited to start off with this much water in the river, hopefully they will start up the river anytime.

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[MNtransplant]

10 hours ago, bwcballer10 said:

I decided I couldn't wait any longer to try for some whites in the Little Sac. I got to Orleans about 10:30 Thursday morning and got my boat unloaded and started trying it underneath the bridge. No luck, so I head to mouth of Walnut Creek and give that a try. Still no luck so I continue heading downstream towards the lake. As I turn the bend below Orleans I talked to a guy fishing from the bank, he had 2 whites on his stringer. This gets me a little excited because it means at least a few fish have made it into the river. I try the mouth of the little creek there on the left as you turn the corner headed towards the lake. Still no bites, so I continue down that long eddy. This is about 2 and a half hours into my trip so I decide I'm gonna head back to the truck and go to Taylor to give it a try. I toss my jig out to troll back to the truck and BAM I get my first bite and fish... nice sized male white. I cast out and immediately catch another. The wind is blowing crazy hard and has pushed me into the bank by this point so I troll back out past where I caught the fish and catch another on my way out. I'm upset at myself for leaving my anchor in the truck at this point because I am going to have to fight the wind to stay close to the spot where I'm catching them. I proceed to catch my limit in the next hour. All the fish came from the same spot, they were laying on the backside of a mud point out of the main river channel. I caught them all on a purple swimmin minnow on an 1/8 ounce leadhead. 

My buddy called me that night and said that he would like to go back over Friday. I told him if I could talk my wife into letting me go 2 days in a row then I would love to try again. We put the boat in around 1 Friday afternoon at Orleans. We headed downriver towards the lake. Did not even get a nibble until we turned the corner at the top of the long eddy. Then we put 27 whites on the stringer (threw back 4 or 5 of the tiny males) on the mud flat between the old bridge pillars below Aldrich and the corner to turn into the long eddy below Orleans. All the fish were in the main river channel and caught on a purple swimmin minnow. We even caught a couple of nice sows. He had one that went 17 inches and I had two between 15 and 16 inches. I am super excited to start off with this much water in the river, hopefully they will start up the river anytime.

Nice report baller. Confirms what I was thinking, that the fish are still staging at the mouths and not fully moved into the river in numbers yet. Glad you found them...i know Ive heard a ton of guys say it and Ive even experienced it myself but when you find the seams or slack water near moving water you'll find the fish. I looked hard for some of those areas around Orleans on Sunday but with the water so high it was tough to find anything that looked fishy close to the shore. Would probably be a little easier in a boat too I imagine. I'm still trying to convince my wife that we need a little 14 foot flat bottom instead of the fish and ski that she's been eyin' 😁

I may try up around Taylor in a couple weeks since that skinnier water might be good for wading with the flyrod.

[bwcballer10]

I just have a little 12 footer with my trolling motor on it. That set up is absolutely perfect for chasing whites in the river. It is easy for me to load/unload by myself and has enough room for 2 people and their gear. I can't get anywhere fast but usually I never need to. I don't mind going over there and fishing from the bank but the boat is definitely nice to have to cover alot of ground easily.

[willcroskey]

Bw do you have to have a licensed boat to run a trolling motor at Orleans bridge

 

[Flysmallie]

14 minutes ago, willcroskey said:

Bw do you have to have a licensed boat to run a trolling motor at Orleans bridge

 

Yep. You are supposed to.

[willcroskey]

Ok thanks for the info 

[MCrump]

Will, if I recall correctly the language on DOR website is "any vessel powered by means other than oars" (or something like that) has to get registered and have a sticker. 

So.... not to change subject or get off topic, but let's say someone buys a kayak with square stern area for trolling motor mount?  Are they exempt?  Maybe I'm wrong (I probably am), but I didn't think kayaks came with titles....? Maybe you just fill out a title application with HID/VIN.....? I am honestly curious to know after a guy at work and I had this conversation earlier today. I've only ever purchased one kayak, and it was used.

[willcroskey]

I gotta get my boat welded and licensed 

[riverhyker]

On 3/9/2018 at 9:51 PM, MCrump said:

Will, if I recall correctly the language on DOR website is "any vessel powered by means other than oars" (or something like that) has to get registered and have a sticker. 

So.... not to change subject or get off topic, but let's say someone buys a kayak with square stern area for trolling motor mount?  Are they exempt?  Maybe I'm wrong (I probably am), but I didn't think kayaks came with titles....? Maybe you just fill out a title application with HID/VIN.....? I am honestly curious to know after a guy at work and I had this conversation earlier today. I've only ever purchased one kayak, and it was used.

Hi MCrump....according to DOR you do....  I got my Ascend in 2014.  I originally only used it on the rivers w/o an electric motor.  But, I then decided that I would like to fish smaller lakes,  maybe the bigger lakes during the week when there was low boat traffic.  So I thought it would be nice to add a trolling motor for hands free use.  I called DOR in Jeff. City and they stated that you do (the little office in Nixa and Ozark had no clue). 

You will need the serial number (it usually on the inside of the hull, if you don't know where it is you can sometimes find it online or YouTube) and I was also sent back to Bass Pro to get a form filled out by them.  Things may have changed somewhat so you need to call DOR to make sure and you may have to either walk the clerk in the licensing office through it or have them call D.O.R. which is what my clerk ended up doing.

Here is a cost breakdown for my setup for 3 yrs - (from 2016 - 2019): 

Agent Fee - 3.50, Registration Fee - 25.00, State & Local Tax - 32.86, Titling and another agent fee (???) -10.00 = 42.86 for 3 years. Be careful or the clerk/agent may try to charge you a titling fee if it is on a kayak that you have had for a year or two (mine was bought in 2014 and they originally charged me a penalty from the to 2016, but I had to debate the fact that my kayak sales taxes had been paid at Bass Pro and that a title was not required for those two years because it was propelled by oar...so no title needed....went round and round about that.  Called the Jeff. City office and they contacted her and had her refund the 30.00 back to my credit card.

Good Luck with the process and great fishin'....

[MCrump]

Good info riverhyker. Mostly just a curiosity question on my end, highly unlikely that I will ever do that with my kayak. But I've  wondered about that for a long time. Thanks for sharing.