The Push for 100

[Johnsfolly]

1 hour ago, Ham said:

Thank You Very Much! I think Quillback and I are going to fish Beaver with the hopes of getting me a Striper. It would be Super to get a Blue as well. I have something to try. 
IME, Blues rarely hit artificial lures. Which natural bait should I try? A gizzard plug would be Great, but I don’t have a source. 

Can you snag gizzards? If not maybe try cut bluegill. This one from outside of Columbia bit chicken liver/nightcrawler on a No 4 treble.

[bfishn]

1 hour ago, Ham said:

Thank You Very Much! I think Quillback and I are going to fish Beaver with the hopes of getting me a Striper. It would be Super to get a Blue as well. I have something to try. 
IME, Blues rarely hit artificial lures. Which natural bait should I try? A gizzard plug would be Great, but I don’t have a source. 

For the deal I described, I use 3-4" creek baits (shiners, chubs, whatever I can catch) lip-hooked on a heavy-hooked 1/4oz maribou jig. 2 rigs straight down from the boat and a couple more cast out with slip bobbers set 4-5' off the bottom. Bait shop bass minnows would probably work too. That rig catches both species fine. If you know the stripers are passing thru, they'll rise to a topwater, but you won't likely see them break otherwise. 

What's weird is that it doesn't seem that the blues follow the stripers all the way to the back end for the twilight feasts. For that deal I bank fish the twilight hours in the back end with fresh, cut shad that I net right there just before dark. They won't touch day-old or frozen shad. The stripers show up there just after dark, and it can be fast & furious for an hour or 2. If you can't see or catch a few big gizzards there first, you're in the wrong place or the wrong time. If you try it in a boat you'll spook them out. That's how I stumbled on the deal, I was throw-netting shad from the boat in a few feet of water and saw the giant dark streaks as they scooted away to safety. Many, many experiments later, I've settled on the 2 methods I mentioned here. Did it for 10 years straight. It flat works.

If you're gonna try Beaver with Quill I'll even give you my best spot. I've never offered that to anyone...

[BilletHead]

1 hour ago, Ham said:

IME, Blues rarely hit artificial lures. Which natural bait should I try?  

        Not true,

    I have caught many, very many on fly rod pitching to brush piles looking for crappie. Also with crappie jigs doing the same thing. Late winter early spring Les and I caught some in the still water cove below Truman. All you have to do is fish the right place. Anywhere in the Osage river basin. If Richard was here he would say the same. 

[Quillback]

48 minutes ago, bfishn said:

 

If you're gonna try Beaver with Quill I'll even give you my best spot. I've never offered that to anyone...

Thanks buddy, if you want to PM Ham or I that would be awesome and I promise I won't post any background pics.  

I know where to get some 1/4 oz marabou jigs with fairly stout hooks.  Catching those shad for bait is always a challenge, but maybe some bass minnows - I'll see what Ham wants to do, it's all about him.  😄

[bfishn]

11 minutes ago, Quillback said:

Thanks buddy, if you want to PM Ham or I that would be awesome and I promise I won't post any background pics.  

I know where to get some 1/4 oz marabou jigs with fairly stout hooks.  Catching those shad for bait is always a challenge, but maybe some bass minnows - I'll see what Ham wants to do, it's all about him.  😄

I'll do that by Sunday. I'll mark up a map section for you. Work today kicked my butt, and tomorrow promises the same. 

[Ham]

2 hours ago, bfishn said:

For the deal I described, I use 3-4" creek baits (shiners, chubs, whatever I can catch) lip-hooked on a heavy-hooked 1/4oz maribou jig. 2 rigs straight down from the boat and a couple more cast out with slip bobbers set 4-5' off the bottom. Bait shop bass minnows would probably work too. That rig catches both species fine. If you know the stripers are passing thru, they'll rise to a topwater, but you won't likely see them break otherwise. 

What's weird is that it doesn't seem that the blues follow the stripers all the way to the back end for the twilight feasts. For that deal I bank fish the twilight hours in the back end with fresh, cut shad that I net right there just before dark. They won't touch day-old or frozen shad. The stripers show up there just after dark, and it can be fast & furious for an hour or 2. If you can't see or catch a few big gizzards there first, you're in the wrong place or the wrong time. If you try it in a boat you'll spook them out. That's how I stumbled on the deal, I was throw-netting shad from the boat in a few feet of water and saw the giant dark streaks as they scooted away to safety. Many, many experiments later, I've settled on the 2 methods I mentioned here. Did it for 10 years straight. It flat works.

If you're gonna try Beaver with Quill I'll even give you my best spot. I've never offered that to anyone...

I’m not worthy. Jeff might be though. 

[Ham]

1 hour ago, BilletHead said:

        Not true,

    I have caught many, very many on fly rod pitching to brush piles looking for crappie. Also with crappie jigs doing the same thing. Late winter early spring Les and I caught some in the still water cove below Truman. All you have to do is fish the right place. Anywhere in the Osage river basin. If Richard was here he would say the same. 

Are you sure they weren’t Channel cats? I’ve caught channels on artificial baits fairly regularly.

[nomolites]

2 hours ago, BilletHead said:

        Not true,

    I have caught many, very many on fly rod pitching to brush piles looking for crappie. Also with crappie jigs doing the same thing. Late winter early spring Les and I caught some in the still water cove below Truman. All you have to do is fish the right place. Anywhere in the Osage river basin. If Richard was here he would say the same. 

I have caught hundreds from LOZ on cranks and spoons...even a handful like this guy(spoon).  They roam with the shad and will eat any shad imitator.

Mike

.

[BilletHead]

48 minutes ago, Ham said:

Are you sure they weren’t Channel cats? I’ve caught channels on artificial baits fairly regularly.

            100% positive. Remember this not too long ago? No bait involved.

[Ham]

Nice Fish!