Bull for a New Guy

[Basfis]

9 hours ago, Bullshoalscat said:

Dont understand the comment "Big Sacks Are Rare",  Right now its taking over 18lbs to win, in the spring 17to 20lb sacks are pretty common to win  a tournament of any size.

That’s a single sack out of a regatta. 10-15 lb sacks are way more common. It’s not lake of the Ozarks.... the tight weights are in the 2lb average. 

[rps]

Late April = prespawn to spawn depending on water color (clear water does not warm as fast).

Water up and high -> flip and pitch; buzz over flooded brush; spinner bait boat dock edges; if you find a non brushy point, crank it

Water pool level (unlikely) -> everything you are accustomed

@Champ188 what would you say?

[aarchdale@coresleep.com]

It took 20 last weekend and second had 19.  Its pretty good.    You wont have a problem launching if the water is high. People find a way, they have been doing it for years.  Parking the truck is usually more of an issue.

Unless it pours the night before the tournament and yo run up a creek you probably wont find any dirty water

.

[Fish24/7]

On 12/14/2020 at 3:04 PM, Rwh46 said:

I've lived and fished in Missouri for over 40 years and am ashamed to admit I've never been on Bull Shoals. I fish all over the state TR, Lake O, Pomme, Stockton, Mark Twain, and I live on Lake St. Louis (near Wentzville) Anyway the bass club I started in 1985 has finally given up on KY Lake. It's a shame that once fabulous fishery has reached it's sad current state but it has, and we are looking to find a replacement for it. Our club is small, our tournaments are usually 10 boats are less and everyone is more or less retired fisherman. One guy in the club has hounded us for years to try Bull Shoals but he's the only one that's spent any time there. Anyway we're doing it next year to see if it might work for us going forward. The lodging accomodations we need drove us to either the Theodosa area or down by the dam. We wound up picking Boondocks down by the dam and will be fishing there April 24-25, 2021. Theodosa area was already booked up when we can go, so we wound up down by the dam.  Some overall help on general areas to fish (not looking for anyone's honey hole) just areas to start looking in would be helpful. What will the bass be doing at that time of the year (normally) prespawn, spawning or post. We've heard that the water levels this year were extraordinarily HIGH. Is that because of flood control issues or unusual weather. Real question is "Will it likely occur again next year" or was this year a fluke. I assume the water will be real clear where we are, so for those who can't fish that "gin" clear water how far do you have to run to get to stained? We have our lodging set but how about bait and tackle places? How about good places to eat (homestyle is our favorite choice). 5 of us run BassCats with Yamaha outboards. Is there a marina or dealership near by for support? I know I asking for the "whole enchalada" in help, but I'd like to get our guys a good start for their 1st time on Bull Shoals in looking for fish, food and help (if needed). I consider this forum the "Chamber of Commerce" for fishermen so I'd appreciate the help

There's 43 pages of information on upper bull, 31 on lower bull.

If it's your first time there,I'd read all of them.

You might find some  very good fishing answers and such already posted.  There's also pinned topics with info you want.

Good luck in April!

[willyfish]

On 12/14/2020 at 4:35 PM, fishinwrench said:

What has happened to Ky lake? 

I don't care for lakes that fluctuate wildly in their levels. Crawdads and frogs don't have a chance in those fisheries, neither do aquatic insects.....so you just have fish eating fish who eat fish.   Not a very well balanced ecosystem IMO.   

By "fish eating fish who eat fish" are we talking about stripers eating fish(bass) who are in turn just shad eaters? Bull is so full of fish I wouldn't worry about a striper problem. Nature always finds a way, I'm sure crawdads and frogs will figure it out down there.

[Rwh46]

That was some good advice about the 43 pages of info. I started thru it but not being familiar with the lake, it'll take me some time to find the areas mentioned. Today I have no idea where Lead Hill is or Beaver, Kissie, 5 fingers, cedar, etc. etc. but it'll be a good winter project. 

[Rwh46]

22 hours ago, rps said:

Late April = prespawn to spawn depending on water color (clear water does not warm as fast).

Water up and high -> flip and pitch; buzz over flooded brush; spinner bait boat dock edges; if you find a non brushy point, crank it

Water pool level (unlikely) -> everything you are accustomed

@Champ188 what would you say?

I'm not very good at "sight fishing" Maybe cause I'm not a big fan of it anyway, so the spawning fish are likely to get a "pass" from me. I read what Randall Tharp said about his win in 2016. That was interesting. I do like jig fishing and shakeyhead and off color water so sounds like (at least for me) i'll be burning some gas. Other guys in the club love topwater and jerkbaits so clear water is to there liking. The club fishes WWs and RK Crawlers on Table Rock and Lake O that time of the year. Also good on Bull Shoals?

[rps]

9 minutes ago, Rwh46 said:

I'm not very good at "sight fishing" Maybe cause I'm not a big fan of it anyway, so the spawning fish are likely to get a "pass" from me. I read what Randall Tharp said about his win in 2016. That was interesting. I do like jig fishing and shakeyhead and off color water so sounds like (at least for me) i'll be burning some gas. Other guys in the club love topwater and jerkbaits so clear water is to there liking. The club fishes WWs and RK Crawlers on Table Rock and Lake O that time of the year. Also good on Bull Shoals?

WW and RC are Ozark kings for cranking rocky and sandy areas. The issue will be whether the water level leaves any of those open. For me topwater, other than buzzbait and plopper work better in water above 60 degrees. April 24 might be there, might not. If I were going to fish on top that time of year I would make a wake bait my second choice. But that is just me.

[Fish24/7]

19 hours ago, Rwh46 said:

That was some good advice about the 43 pages of info. I started thru it but not being familiar with the lake, it'll take me some time to find the areas mentioned. Today I have no idea where Lead Hill is or Beaver, Kissie, 5 fingers, cedar, etc. etc. but it'll be a good winter project. 

You will learn so much. Just for kicks I read 20+ pages of Upper Bull yesterday.

There's also an Arkansas conservation app for habitat/brush piles i think. That would be worth getting imo.

Hot Spots makes  good paper maps for the lake. Its divided into two sections. Worth looking into them imo. It has fishing tips with good information as well as names of coves and creeks ect. I use them because I don't use high end electronics. 

If you read enough reports on upper and lower you'll see there's seasonal patterns,lures, and techniques on the lake as well as depths and locations being mentioned year after year after year. Reports during low water and flood conditions are also posted. So no matter the water level next April, there's information already on there.

there's  a few tackle stores around the area. Reds, and Bull Shoals dock sells tackle. There may be others nearby ,I haven't been around there in a long time. Probably just Google it and find out. 

Get familiar with catching smallmouth in clear water. mixermarkb has some great reports on that!

ive seen a quite a few tournaments won with 15-17 lbs of smallmouth in April so don't count them out

 

[Fish24/7]

19 hours ago, Rwh46 said:

I'm not very good at "sight fishing" Maybe cause I'm not a big fan of it anyway, so the spawning fish are likely to get a "pass" from me. I read what Randall Tharp said about his win in 2016. That was interesting. I do like jig fishing and shakeyhead and off color water so sounds like (at least for me) i'll be burning some gas. Other guys in the club love topwater and jerkbaits so clear water is to there liking. The club fishes WWs and RK Crawlers on Table Rock and Lake O that time of the year. Also good on Bull Shoals?

If these guys are bank beaters they may struggle big time on Bull Shoals. I worked at a marina there for  almost 18 years, have been fishing it for 35 years approximately. I live there. I've seen hundreds of skunked fishermen because they couldn't get off the bank when the fish were not there. So that cranking business is gonna be hit or miss based on what the lake conditions and weather are when you get there. 

Del Colvin has a YouTube channel with fishing reports. Check it out

By the time April rolls around and youre still not sure what to do just send me a personal message and we'll chat then .