Early Season Questions - K Dock and Above

[MSUFisherBear]

Hey all!

Getting ready for the first trip of the Spring. Dad will be coming down the weekend of the 20th and of course, we're hoping to get in a day or two of fishing. Right now, I've got a few spots in mind, but seeing how crazy busy Table Rock and Taneycomo were last weekend, I'm thinking I better have one more trick up the sleeve (just in case). We're going to be pretty well constrained to the area of Powersite down to K-Dock due to time. We'll mainly be looking for bass, crappie, or whites. Any early season tips that anyone can share for that area? I've fished Swan and Beaver creek a bunch from the kayak, but this will be from the boat (so pretty new water for me).

Thanks!

[Royal Blue]

On 3/8/2021 at 4:30 PM, MSUFisherBear said:

Hey all!

Getting ready for the first trip of the Spring. Dad will be coming down the weekend of the 20th and of course, we're hoping to get in a day or two of fishing. Right now, I've got a few spots in mind, but seeing how crazy busy Table Rock and Taneycomo were last weekend, I'm thinking I better have one more trick up the sleeve (just in case). We're going to be pretty well constrained to the area of Powersite down to K-Dock due to time. We'll mainly be looking for bass, crappie, or whites. Any early season tips that anyone can share for that area? I've fished Swan and Beaver creek a bunch from the kayak, but this will be from the boat (so pretty new water for me).

Thanks!

Stick in Beaver and throw a jerkbait.  By next weekend you should get a TON of whites in there I'd think.

[MSUFisherBear]

Thanks @Royal Blue. Hoping this rain really gets some movement going. I noticed that some weather sites are starting to call for highs in the upper 50s all week next week, so it could be a darn good weekend for the whites. Last year was kind of a dud for me (as most of the good weekends I had to go we had stuff going on) so I'm kind of itching for that, too. Funny - get a boat and will probably still be fishing some of the same water I was in the kayak 😅

[MoCarp]

Heard of a guy that limited out on crappie and caught 3 bonus yellow perch and a keeper walleye on of all things a sabiki rig  bounced on bottom ....all I know is the hooks on his rig were 4 and the lead was a 3/4 oz bell weight....was a bit mum on depth but I suspected pretty deep or he would not be using that heavy of weight

[aarchdale@coresleep.com]

 

i havent got in on a good white run in a fews years up Beaver.  Not sure if the high water messed them up or what. Hoping this year is different

[Bill Jr.]

Interesting if a 5 or 6 hook sabiki rig possibly tipped with minnows targeting game fish is legal 😏

[BilletHead]

7 hours ago, Bill Jr. said:

Interesting if a 5 or 6 hook sabiki rig possibly tipped with minnows targeting game fish is legal 😏

                   If you have it labeled is it considered a trot line? Could you have 33 hooks?

[laker67]

2 hours ago, BilletHead said:

                   If you have it labeled is it considered a trot line? Could you have 33 hooks?

Maybe dropper rigs off each of the 6 hooks. Might be legal on the arkansas side

[MSUFisherBear]

Yeah - that definitely does sound pretty deep. And I agree with you @aarchdale@coresleep.com - getting on a White Bass run the last couple of years has been tough. My gut said high water, too.

[MSUFisherBear]

Well... apologies for the late report. This week was kind of a blur. Did end up getting out last Friday for the afternoon. We put in at River Run at about 11:30a and fished until just about 5:00p.

Stayed mainly around the Swan Creek area. As advised above, the whites sure kept us entertained (and darn do I appreciate the advice). Dad and I fished a couple of wind-swept flats. It wasn't hot and heavy, but we'd pick up one here or one there (though we did seem to get in to a fairly consistent pattern from about 2-3p).

A variety of baits were working for the pattern and nothing seemed to be a "go to". We found a few on swimbaits (3" in silver or white), a few on Shad Rap style baits, and a few on lipless baits. Honestly, I think you probably could have thrown any shad imitating bait in a somewhat smaller size and found a few. The trick was just staying after it - you were going to go a little while between getting bit, but when they did hit, they hit with authority.

I was kind of amazed at how many folks were there, and maybe more so, just how close they'd get to you while fishing. I know it's a public lake, but man some boats would be on TOP of you if you caught one or two. And don't get me wrong - this was just a couple. Most guys who were in and around that area that day were super cordial, but whew... Though I did have a good chuckle on a couple times. Once, a guy came in within casting distance (so much so he was about 3' from hitting the gunwale of my boat). He stayed pretty close to us, but I'm 99.9% sure he never caught anything. What made it funny, though, was Dad and I doubling a few times while they were setting right there. Always fun to rub it in a tad. Also had a moment where a couple of folks kind of cut in between where we were fishing and the bank. It was pretty obvious they weren't fishing for whites based on what they were throwing. Dad and I agreed to let it cool off for a second and drift a little further down the bank (from where these two had just come from). I proceeded to break out the Ned and catch a little largemouth (what I imagine they were looking for)... Just a hoot to have that opportunity when someone kind of invades the space.

Anyway - good luck to everyone! I have a feeling the whites should really be running this week (and based on the other post looks like they are)!