Finally found a big one!!

[flyfshn]

NICE FISH!! What size line did you have on your reel?? Man, that thing is the size of the fish my son and I caught deep sea fishing in Florida!!

[Samkam1]

30lb test with 20lb test flourocarbon leader in that clear water. You can see down like 25'.

[flyfshn]

Was that on a regular rod and bait cast? Pretty heavy sinker to keep them down that deep? I would be satisfied with the on on your avitar!!!

[TroutBum4wt]

Can that fish be any bigger. Great job, man.

[Samkam1]

Yeah regular baitcast rod....different size weights to cover varying depths from about 20-50 ft of water. There is no limit on how many rods you can put out so we try to keep out 10-12 rods to increase the odds!

Sam

[brownieman]

Your right SK about the shad...hard to keep alive... just when fishing truman big minnows, whatever, nothing works as good as live shad.

I have a good bait tank...not as good as a blue water...has no filter but will keep shad alive for awhile and minnows and other stuff for days if you keep ice on or in it. A well filtered bait tank is a must to keep shad alive for any length of time...their scales clog their gills, without a filter and tending them they just don't last long and has to be a round tank(no corners to bang).

Live bait will catch fish when nothing else will...seen and done it too many times.

Do you have any downriggers on your boat?...been thinking of getting one...they'll sure keep your bait down wherever you want it. Dipsy divers, side planers, used them in Lake Michigan...have you ever used them on beaver...just curious.

Tell you a quickie about beginners luck...got a friend that always liked to go boating but never fished, just liked to get on the water and run the boat. We took him to Bull Shoals one time and talked him into throwing a rig out ( big deep diving bomber )...we were trolling umbrellas with sassy shads and buck tails. Long story short he caught his first and only stripper...talk about luck, weighed a tad over 40...it was no big deal to him...just a fish, he had no idea how long some try to catch a fish like that, lol.

later bm

[brownieman]

Was just thinking...that 40 pounder was on North Fork, not Bull Shoals...tough gettin old...memories get clouded, lol

[Samkam1]

Dad has his boat set up pretty nice for a 16' boat...just not much room for more than 2. He has one downrigger that we usually stack on, and most of the time we make use of 4 side planers, 2 out each side at different legnths.

We also like to use baloons some, if you can keep the skiers/jetskiers out of them. Put a 10inch shad, shiner, or sucker way back behind the boat on your biggest rod on a baloon by himself and hope for that 50lb + fish!!

Sam

[brownieman]

hey sam,

is there a dock at beaver you can get decent bait at ?...or does a guy need to bring some.

if i just seine or trap shinners, chubs, whatever from the creek, ...they will work ok...just asking cause i have tried this with truman and shad is still the best by far, their natural food.

couple of rigs, big bait, big fish... right

yeah...the balloons are fun, just make a good big bobber don't they...i like when one goes down and you don't see it no more...for a bit anyway, lol

post up next time you're going...my boat is just a 16'5"...like you said 2 is about a load with a bunch of rediculous gear we all feel the need to have, lol...may just have to pull her down there.

the kind of fishin we're talkin is about my favorite...far as fighting fish, hybrids and stippers are hard to beat...sure you know sometimes it's a mess with a bunch of rods out...it's a mess i can put up with though, lol

thanks man bm

[Samkam1]

Beaver Dam store carries broods sometimes and Riverview Resorts and bait shop carries them also. Cranfield Junction carries them over at Norfork. Whatever you can get that is 5 inches and bigger from the stream or store might work.

Shad are nice to use at Truman because you can catch them all over the lake pretty much any time you want to, so you can always have lively shad. It's different at Beaver and Norfork because thread fin are harder to catch and the water is so clear.

So if you have to travel like we do, the broods and suckers last so much longer and dont stink up your tank like the big fat gizzard shad do. We've been having good luck on perch too...3-6 inchers.

Sam

Heres a couple more pics of the fish we caught last Sat. I have to brag a little bit because we got into them so good!