9-19-18 Big Jig Bite Lake Wide

No big Jig bite for me this morning.

My client was sick this morning and could not make it so with this bite I headed out to check out the Kings River.  It is the only water I did not fish the entire week.  Launched at Shell Knob at 6:30 with lots of help at the ramp probably over a dozen rigs already out and after them.

Headed up the Kings and it looked like the water was on fire, I mean they are on the surface clear across the mouth from Twin Rivers up that straight as far as you can see.  Could not get them to hit any top water so I used a small spoon and a little George in Chrome.  It was a catch fest, problem was they were all extremely young.  Most of these fish at 11 to 14 inches and I caught in 2 hrs. probably 40 with a combination of small whites, K's, LM and Jaw's.  I think I maybe had 2 LM that would have been squeekers at best.  Loads of fun but nothing like the rest of the lake. 

 

Water is really clear I'm guessing 12 to 15 ft. at the mouth and was running around 83.8 to 84 degree.  When I quit at 11 it was 86 degree and my truck at the ramp after it had cooled down said 96, so it was kind of warm.

Rest of the morning after I left and they were still chasing at 9 AM was really slow.  I dragged the big jig a Carolina rig and even a Ned and caught some but nothing worth a picture, all about the same, mostly LM that were very lean and 14 inches.

 

As I was working the jig I saw lots of bottom fish and they would not have it so I dropped the spoon and the drop shot and could catch quite a few but they also had milk on their lips and were mostly short K's, 13/14 inchers.  Would have been a super fun guide morning and I did have fun, but lots of little bass, and that is a good thing.

Look at the depth change from 7:42 to 8:4, as the sun came out and got bright about 8AM they headed down.  The rest of the lake they are down there to begin with, just a lot of schooling activity by young stuff on the Kings.

It's funny because the other places I'm fishing I'm not catching huge numbers but they are quality fish with very few shorts.

 Kind of a day that Shell Knob is known for.  If there is a solid fish between Twin Rivers and Viola you could not prove it by me as they hid really well.

2 hours ago, abkeenan said:

I know a good dock to start at.............

sssshhhhhhh.......!

My boat has been in the shop for a few things   Picked it up on the way down this morning.  Got on the water around 1:00.  Water temp 84.1.  Idled out of the cove, got on plane and the motor died.  Put the troller down and fished the jig on the way back to the ramp.  Caught this one on the way back in 30 fow.  Sub 14”.  Drove the boat back to the shop and the guys jumped on it immediately.  Should be ready in the am.  Next report may come from the dock or below the darn....   

Got a report from the Kimberling area from one of our locals guides and that deep bite is still on.  He had 8 thumpers on the big jig while I caught their offspring.

Here is a test, what do you all notice about the fish in my 2 graph pictures.  You can't tell what's going on you will waste a lot of time.  I'm sure you all got it, who will take a shot not named Bo. Champ or Quill

Good Luck

30 minutes ago, Bill Babler said:

Got a report from the Kimberling area from one of our locals guides and that deep bite is still on.  He had 8 thumpers on the big jig while I caught their offspring.

Here is a test, what do you all notice about the fish in my 2 graph pictures.  You can't tell what's going on you will waste a lot of time.  I'm sure you all got it, who will take a shot not named Bo. Champ or Quill

Good Luck

The first is feeders with your spoon bouncing through them; the second has stationary bottom fish that are not on the feed with one suspended under your ‘ducer at 10’.  I get real happy when I see returns like your first....

Mike

2 hours ago, nomolites said:

The first is feeders with your spoon bouncing through them; the second has stationary bottom fish that are not on the feed with one suspended under your ‘ducer at 10’.  I get real happy when I see returns like your first....

Mike

I concur. 

11 hours ago, Bill Babler said:

No big Jig bite for me this morning.

My client was sick this morning and could not make it so with this bite I headed out to check out the Kings River.  It is the only water I did not fish the entire week.  Launched at Shell Knob at 6:30 with lots of help at the ramp probably over a dozen rigs already out and after them.

Headed up the Kings and it looked like the water was on fire, I mean they are on the surface clear across the mouth from Twin Rivers up that straight as far as you can see.  Could not get them to hit any top water so I used a small spoon and a little George in Chrome.  It was a catch fest, problem was they were all extremely young.  Most of these fish at 11 to 14 inches and I caught in 2 hrs. probably 40 with a combination of small whites, K's, LM and Jaw's.  I think I maybe had 2 LM that would have been squeekers at best.  Loads of fun but nothing like the rest of the lake. 

 

Water is really clear I'm guessing 12 to 15 ft. at the mouth and was running around 83.8 to 84 degree.  When I quit at 11 it was 86 degree and my truck at the ramp after it had cooled down said 96, so it was kind of warm.

Rest of the morning after I left and they were still chasing at 9 AM was really slow.  I dragged the big jig a Carolina rig and even a Ned and caught some but nothing worth a picture, all about the same, mostly LM that were very lean and 14 inches.

 

As I was working the jig I saw lots of bottom fish and they would not have it so I dropped the spoon and the drop shot and could catch quite a few but they also had milk on their lips and were mostly short K's, 13/14 inchers.  Would have been a super fun guide morning and I did have fun, but lots of little bass, and that is a good thing.

Look at the depth change from 7:42 to 8:4, as the sun came out and got bright about 8AM they headed down.  The rest of the lake they are down there to begin with, just a lot of schooling activity by young stuff on the Kings.

It's funny because the other places I'm fishing I'm not catching huge numbers but they are quality fish with very few shorts.

 Kind of a day that Shell Knob is known for.  If there is a solid fish between Twin Rivers and Viola you could not prove it by me as they hid really well.

bill, that is how it seems to be with quality.  there are areas that all you seem to catch are shorts.  the lower end all summer has produced enormous amounts of big tubby smallmouth.  it is hard to not go chase them when the quality and numbers are so good.

bo

Mike read it like a news paper.  Clients will see all those bottom marks and say Hot Durn, were in them.  We might be in them but they are not into us.  Easy to tell when they go into that mode, its almost time to head to the coffee shop.  Don't want to go back to the Lodge as there are Honey Dues lurking there

Good Luck

3 hours ago, Bill Babler said:

Mike read it like a news paper.  Clients will see all those bottom marks and say Hot Durn, were in them.  We might be in them but they are not into us.  Easy to tell when they go into that mode, its almost time to head to the coffee shop.  Don't want to go back to the Lodge as there are Honey Dues lurking there

Good Luck

question.  so, what do you do when all you find are inactive fish????  most of the time, we are dealing with inactive bass.  this is why i harp all the time of fishing the correct depth at the correct speed to trigger bites.  very good reason that we need to be versatile in various ways to present lures, and not be afraid to switch sizes of weights, sizes of profiles, vibration patterns, ect.  be like a salesman that will not take no for an answer.  you have to find their triggering point, whether that be anger or just reflex.  dealing with triggered bites is when you have to be lightning fast on the hook set.  they blow it back out very fast.  learning to trigger bites is even more important when dealing with shallow scattered bass.  they have no competition to make them more likely to strike at an offering.  shallow scattered bass are not often active while we are fishing and we have to have everything right to make them reflexively strike at what we are slinging.  prime example of making them bite would relate to this summer's catching.  there is hardly a time that mutiple lures will do the bulk of the catching.  almost every trip, there will be one lure and one type of presentation with that lure that garners most of the bass.

one other thing about the bottom pic.  one would need to know if that shot was taken sitting or idling?  different fish make different marks on the graph.  the one fish that signatures just like a bass is a carp, and believe me that carp and bass can and are in the same area many times.  i know because we used to dive down and take a look at what the graph was showing us to better correlate what i was viewing.  if in fact, that last pic was taken while idling, i would say those were gar or catfish as the make a more elongated mark.  your chart speed also makes a big difference in how the fish signature as you move or sit still.  this is why anyone can improve their catching by taking the time to really learn all your electronics is telling you.

bo

Nope completely sitting still, looking straight down at them.  As I said in my original post there were still bites but it had slowed way down and the trouble with most of the bites up there is they are youngsters.

 

 

 

On a brighter note today was not yesterday.  About 4 times a year I get the pleasure of  taking son Steven.  He is down for the weekend and we hit the water right after the lightning storm.  Launched at Cow and they are still biting and most of them are good ones.

When your son only gets to go a 1/2 dozen times a year, this is kind of what you like to see after a day of jig fishing.

We fished till 3pm and Steven said we had between 20 and 30 keepers.  Not a big fish in the bunch but my gosh we had 15's 16's and 17's out the ying yang. 

 

Never really got out of site of the truck this morning, with the majority of the bite just a bit deeper at 35'.  If I got the boat under 30' you just would not see them.  As soon as you were between 30' and 40' it was on.

We even had fish bust and chase around us, nice big Whites and keeper size Black Bass in all three Table Rock lake varieties, nothing at all like yesterday.  As Bo alluded to earlier point 9 damwards is the ticket and has been for a while.

 

We also did not see a single bass boat that was fishing, not one.  Saw one ranger running but that was it on a overcast Friday in September.

Had lots of Small Jaws out deep and they were just plain mean.  No pictures of Steve as he does not like to hold them.  It hurts his little Chemical Engineering Hands, but here is one of his jaws