8/4 to 8/8 Indian Point

[top_dollar]

                  I got down to fish a few days last week.  WT in the mid 80's and clarity about 5 or 6 feet.  It seemed dingier than normal.  I have always stayed at Kimberling City, but this year we were at Indian Point.  I think the creek was called Jakes Creek.  Sunday and Monday we went out and trolled crankbaits, pulled spinner rigs, and used live crawlers.  That creek is full of trees and the bottom bouncers kept getting hung up.  Trolling crankbaits worked pretty well, but we did hang up several in tree tops.  We also caught some on live crawlers about 20-30 feet down.  A few off the ends of the marina docks in the morning, but most on lake point just off the bottom.  I did lose a smallmouth in the 17inch range at the boat on a Keitech scrubbing the bottom in about 20FOW.

                Monday afternoon, as I was backing my boat out of the slip, the trolling motor head caught the dock post and broke it, so that messed up fishing the rest of the week.  I still wanted to fish so I called around and found a guide willing to take me out last minute.  His name was Ed Phillips.  I was thinking we may go do something that I hadn't done before on a part of the lake I hadn't been before, but of course, he said his best deal was hanging crawlers at Kimberling city.  So I met him at Port of Kimberling at 6am and away we went to do the same thing I have done, in the same places I had done it, for 30 years.  I caught about 15 bass or so that morning, but missed quite a few bites.  We used the livescope, and I was not used to seeing the fish on the screen.  I got jumpy and didn't let them eat it fully, which resulted in quite a few missed bites, but I got the hang of it pretty quick.  He was also using much heavier equipment then I was used to using.  He had 8# line, to a 6#, with a med or med/heavy rod, a 1/0 drop shot hook and a 3/8 oz weight.  I use 4# line, med light power rods and 1/8oz weights.  Other than the equipment, it was pretty typical.  Fish the deep docks until about 8am, when they quit biting at the docks we went to fish deep trees.  I personally always go to the bridge when the sun comes up, but he didn't like the bridge he said because so many people fish it.  He also had a bunch of trees that he had as waypoints, so we just went right to them.  My electronics are not good enough to locate the trees he had marked.  The best was a giant tree with huge branches all by itself in the middle of cove in 60FOW.  It had several fish on it, and there is no way I would have ever found it on my own.  

                 The livescope did show me quite a few things I never really realized.  First, I had always assumed that the bass came out from under the docks in the morning, and went back under the dock shade when the sun got up.  In reality, the bass were under the dock the whole time, they just were willing to swim out from under it early, but as the sun came up they wouldn't leave.  Another thing I realized was how many fish ignore a live crawler.  I had always assumed that when they stopped biting the crawler they had left, but in reality, they were still there, just ignoring it.  This was the first time I have ever hired a guide, and I think it was worth it just to fish out of his 90K bass boat, but I was also able to ask a million questions that I had wondered about for the last several years, and I sure felt like I learned quite a bit so I would say it was money well spent.  

 

  

[ColdWaterFshr]

8 hours ago, top_dollar said:

                  I got down to fish a few days last week.  WT in the mid 80's and clarity about 5 or 6 feet.  It seemed dingier than normal.  I have always stayed at Kimberling City, but this year we were at Indian Point.  I think the creek was called Jakes Creek.  Sunday and Monday we went out and trolled crankbaits, pulled spinner rigs, and used live crawlers.  That creek is full of trees and the bottom bouncers kept getting hung up.  Trolling crankbaits worked pretty well, but we did hang up several in tree tops.  We also caught some on live crawlers about 20-30 feet down.  A few off the ends of the marina docks in the morning, but most on lake point just off the bottom.  I did lose a smallmouth in the 17inch range at the boat on a Keitech scrubbing the bottom in about 20FOW.

                Monday afternoon, as I was backing my boat out of the slip, the trolling motor head caught the dock post and broke it, so that messed up fishing the rest of the week.  I still wanted to fish so I called around and found a guide willing to take me out last minute.  His name was Ed Phillips.  I was thinking we may go do something that I hadn't done before on a part of the lake I hadn't been before, but of course, he said his best deal was hanging crawlers at Kimberling city.  So I met him at Port of Kimberling at 6am and away we went to do the same thing I have done, in the same places I had done it, for 30 years.  I caught about 15 bass or so that morning, but missed quite a few bites.  We used the livescope, and I was not used to seeing the fish on the screen.  I got jumpy and didn't let them eat it fully, which resulted in quite a few missed bites, but I got the hang of it pretty quick.  He was also using much heavier equipment then I was used to using.  He had 8# line, to a 6#, with a med or med/heavy rod, a 1/0 drop shot hook and a 3/8 oz weight.  I use 4# line, med light power rods and 1/8oz weights.  Other than the equipment, it was pretty typical.  Fish the deep docks until about 8am, when they quit biting at the docks we went to fish deep trees.  I personally always go to the bridge when the sun comes up, but he didn't like the bridge he said because so many people fish it.  He also had a bunch of trees that he had as waypoints, so we just went right to them.  My electronics are not good enough to locate the trees he had marked.  The best was a giant tree with huge branches all by itself in the middle of cove in 60FOW.  It had several fish on it, and there is no way I would have ever found it on my own.  

                 The livescope did show me quite a few things I never really realized.  First, I had always assumed that the bass came out from under the docks in the morning, and went back under the dock shade when the sun got up.  In reality, the bass were under the dock the whole time, they just were willing to swim out from under it early, but as the sun came up they wouldn't leave.  Another thing I realized was how many fish ignore a live crawler.  I had always assumed that when they stopped biting the crawler they had left, but in reality, they were still there, just ignoring it.  This was the first time I have ever hired a guide, and I think it was worth it just to fish out of his 90K bass boat, but I was also able to ask a million questions that I had wondered about for the last several years, and I sure felt like I learned quite a bit so I would say it was money well spent.  

 

  

So in summary, you paid a guide for the use of his livescope, and to catch these very average fish from docks and deep water, in places you already know, using nightcrawlers while watching on a video screen and teaching yourself to wait for the hook set from said video screen.  Ouch.
 

This sounds like a confessional more than a report.  Say 3 hail Mary’s and go forth and sin no more.  

[top_dollar]

10 hours ago, ColdWaterFshr said:

So in summary, you paid a guide for the use of his livescope, and to catch these very average fish from docks and deep water, in places you already know, using nightcrawlers while watching on a video screen and teaching yourself to wait for the hook set from said video screen.  Ouch.
 

This sounds like a confessional more than a report.  Say 3 hail Mary’s and go forth and sin no more.  

Correct,  and it was fun!

[Bill Babler]

As all here know, I’m retired but wanted to touch a bit on the post.   Top_Dollar, thanks so much for the detailed report.  Your fish pic’s were nice too. Love to see the young guy out there catching fish. 

I wanted to speak on the equipment and my reasons for using it. I’m using Falcon 6’8” drop shot rod  and they are really a medium wt. rod. Reason,  you can establish a better lift with more hook penetration than a lite wt. rod. This is importance especially for a guide.    
 Way fewer missed fish and less time fighting a fish especially in these hot water days. 
My spool line is 6# Maxima, it has no memory and uncoils at blazing speed. Twice as fast as braid.
It also doesn’t bite into its self on short line hook sets. 

From the Maxi I go to a swivel and then 12# carbon leader  line. Reason, I want the speed of the drop from the Maxi. And the durability of the 12# carbon line, especially if walleye are in play.  There is absolutely not a bite worth of difference in 2# test on a drop shot leader and 12#. NONE, on any of our White River Lakes. 
I’m also using a 3/8 drop shot weight. I want it to depth quickly and I want it vertical and the weight helps to stabilize this as the boat twists and turns. 
When fishing with clients I want the bait at the depth of the fish and don’t want a slow fall with the fish taking it on a slack line. Way more chance of them inhaling it with the fisherman not even knowing they have a fish on.   
This setup has not produced 1000’s but 10’s of thousands of drop shot fish on both TR and Bull.   I’d use 15# but I can’t get it to palamar on a size 1 drop shot hook easy enough going thru the eye 3 times  

As far as the FFS, it is totally fascinating to watch fish respond and not respond to presentations.  It has made me and anyone I take have a totally different perspective on how fish feed and set up in the water column.  

I cut my teeth on a flasher and then 2D but all they show is what’s there. The FFS shows what the fish are thinking. Unfortunately most of the time they’re thinking get that junk out of here. 

Artificial gets turned down 80% of the time and live bait gets the I ain’t having it 60% of the time  

Ed’s a great guy  if you would have told him only artificial and new locations you haven’t fished and I flat don’t care about numbers you would have gotten that.  I know you had your boy so he did what any good guide would do if he could, get you bit. 
Table Rock is full of community holes that we all know.  You go there cause your going to get bit, pure and simple.

Thanks for the report glad you had fun, that’s what it’s all about  

Another note on Ed, when he and Sonny were at Chompers there is no fishing company I’ve ever heard of that treated their clients and guides better.  I can truthfully say they helped me to the point of having baits and techniques that I really could not afford, just starting out. Ed Phillips supported my guide business and was always a pure pleasure to work with.