paparock

I have my pontoon in Lakeview Marina here on Lake Bull Shoals. As far as I have been able to find out they are the only marina that will let you fish around the dock area and then only in your boat slip.

Just be glad that you don't have one of these in the grass That isn't a beaver, it's a Nutria, and their teeth are almost equal in size. They get almost as big as a beaver so you can imagine spooking one of these things while wading saltmarsh for redfish. They are sometimes aggressive and usually ill tempered as adults. We had these things around the Houston area when I was working in the refineries down in Texas City. To heck with the .22 where is my .44 Mag. because these things are tough. My friend's brother shot one with a 12 gauge with buckshot and it showed its displeasure by running up and chewing on his leg until he shot it again.

Avid, my man, don't you remember the song by the title "Muskrat Love"by Captain & Tennille. Have you no romance in your soul bro, to allow but one brief moment of joy before exterminating the vermin?

You might not be there alone for long as "Muskrat Love" is in the air!

Hi, everyone, I was wondering if some of those among us would share their favorite methods for fishing CLEAR water lakes and rivers. I know there are other newer anglers here and fishing very clear water is always challenging even for some pro-anglers fishing tournaments. As most know I moved to Bull Shoals with visibility down 20 to 40 feet on average. In the creek arms it is only 14 ft. right now. :-/ "I know those fish were around here a minute ago". I grew up in south Arkansas where the water was so muddy, seeing a couple of feet was unusual. So, I thought those of wisdom on mastering the clear water challenges might help others of lesser experience (not that I need any help ever):. My only clear water experience before moving here is in cool bathwater clear small rivers. There, crawfish rule not only for the Smallmouth but also for Spots and Largemouth. Pumpkinseed was the best color for a hula grub, small white fluke type plastics worked sometimes, and white, chartreuse or white/chartreuse spinner baits, The orange beetle spin could catch most any fish in the river. The fish would be climbing over each other for anything they thought was a leech. Sometimes though like in late summer for some unknown reason to me you could slay them with a bubblegum colored worm. Well that didn't take long to cover all I know . Now I will take notes.... I mean those other less experienced fishermen will take notes. Please help your less fortunate fish challenged brethren. The box is now yours.

Of course these would be even better if they had "The Ultimate Bass Fishing Resource Guide" on the back. For all those voting Smallmouth. Check out these. For all those Largemouth voters check out these.

I just finished reading "The Complete Guide to Finesse Bass Fishing" by Michael Jones. Since I have to re-learn freshwater fishing after 15 years fishing saltwater I found the book very helpful. I'm sure those much higher in skill level will add a lot of great information but I'll just share what I learned from the above books suggestions. Break the lake down into general areas. Find activity that shows a full spectrum of life from baitfish to gamefish at any depth. Check similar and dissimilar areas to confirm what you've found. Don't waste time fishing an area where the fish are not active unless you can get a bite by quickly trying a few techniques. If you don't get bit search for more active fish. Use your electronics to validate fishing information. To get a more complete look at structure use an oval search pattern rather than taking straight passes across the area. Focus on the specific depth level where you find active fish. Prime areas are obvious and show great activity with baitfish present and fish positioned in a variety of ways over, in, or around cover or structure. Throw what you know. Start fishing the techniques you are most familiar with first. Let your electronics tell you where fish are not located. Narrow your "target" area by pinpointing a specific part of the structure at the chosen depth level, which has the greatest probability of holding fish. Move in, find the highest point or steepest break on a piece of structure and fish it thoroughly. Look for the spot on this structure with the quickest and best deep-water access. I hope the above helps you and best of luck trying some of the suggestions. I'll be watching the replies you get for any golden nuggets to help me also.

Humps, points, cliff walls, and ledges. As Roadwarrior has said by the time I master fishing Bull Shoals I should be an expert at rock fishing. Those rocks sure don't put up much fight though. I just get tired of trying to reel them in and break off. ;D My choice here are tiny rocks, small rocks, medium rocks, large rocks, and HUGE rocks.

What if the genetics department could grow Smallmouth as big as Striped Bass? I'm looking forward to catching my first spotted bass here on Bull Shoals as I hear they put up a good fight. One thing I have wondered about is since Striped Bass (primarily a saltwater fish) have become more popular why no one has tried stocking Redfish, Red Drum, Red Channel Bass or what ever regional name they go by for larger bait control. Redfish can live in freshwater but can only breed in saltwater so their numbers could be controlled similar to how Striped Bass are (where introduced but can't breed). I don't advocate such stockings I'm just musing as I sit at my keyboard past midnight waiting to get sleepy.

As my grandson says "Smallies rule , all others drool."

I don't know the technical facts but I do know that when I left two deep cycle batteries on the concrete floor of my garage connected to an automatic battery charger that monitors battery charge adding charging only when needed they were totally useless when I went to use them. :-/

I WISH!!! Sign me up. Those old brown fish are fun. Just think if they could genetically splice the grown gene from a striper into a smallie.

If PETA cared one bit about the fish they would put their money where their mouth is as we do. PETA should stand for Pathetic Little Rich Kids (PLRK) bored for something to do. There are some terrorist types in the organization but they are supported by the majority that would go "OHHH it's slimy" if they ever touched a live fish.

Bull Shoals Lake is a clear-cold water mountain lake that reaches depths of over 250 feet. With clarity, depth and water temperature, it is very unique and apart from other lakes in the Midwest and South. Visibility is excellent and is typically 20 to 40 feet . That West Coast stuff just might work here.

Fishing Hurts? Poor PETA. :'( I knew I kept my saltwater gaffs for some reason. ;D Those can hurt too. Is gaffing a PETA robofish legal or is a net required? :

I like In-Fisherman because I am not a bass only fisherman. I will not renew my subscription to Bassmaster as it is as said above too tournament oriented for me but the do have some good articles. Triton_Mike, I tried to check out the Bass West site but they sure don't offer much too see to help me decide if I want to subscribe. I have never heard of Bass West before your post and I am interested but could you share a little bit more information on it? I sure would appreciate it. I just joined Gary Yamamoto's Inside line so I'm good there. Anyone else take Bass West?

I hear you Avid! Maybe it's because bobber watching and a cane pole was such fun as a kid; it gives that extra visual excitement of anticipation every time that bobber moves. It's just fun no matter how old I get. Maybe I'm going through my second childhood?

I for one have never caught a fish on a spinnerbait. Of course it might change if I actually threw one. There is one in my tackle box some where. I just haven't found it yet.

No, I am not kidding. That little stunt was what caused the FBI to start taking seriously some of these wacko types. Check out these sites for just one example.http://ragette.org/treespike/enter.htm http://www.things.org/~jym/ef/tree-spiking-memo.html Do a search on the net and you will see how serious some of these nut cases are. Most are harmless BUT. Animal Liberation Front (ALF) Earth Liberation Front - ELF http://www.activistcash.com/organization_overview.cfm/oid/271

Here is a couple of good sources of two different schools of thought on Float-N-Fly. http://www.punisherjigs.com/ http://www.bulletlures.com/

Nice bass!

Take them seriously, during the years I was living in Wyoming some of these tree-hugging fruitcakes went around spiking trees. Spiking is driving large nails into trees with the stated hope of having the timber cutters chainsaws kicking back on them when they hit a spike and killing the saw's operator. They actually equate a fish or game animal's life equal to a human life therefore if you die as a result of their actions they are only defending those that can't defend themselves so your death is only defense of another's life. There are a number of these animal and even plant life groups that are listed by the FBI as Terrorist Groups. I would not be surprised what so ever to see some day they may start taking more direct and lethal actions against sportsmen of all types. Some of their hardcore activists have gone underground for the express reason that they will be ready when defense is warranted. This really burns me up! The "Feds" need to start targeting these groups more, in order to gain evidence of their funding of these splinter "direct action" groups before some sportsman looses their life. Also their funds and fund raising needs some serious auditing for the same purpose.

Welcome to the land of the previously employed.

Money makes some things easier but it also adds a whole different set of troubles. I agree with the "marketing ability" posts. It's just so hard for me to identify with all the turmoil that gets stirred up when someone may break some record. Life's to short for all that kind of hassle. I can't take money with me when I die but I would like to take 'my honor and my word ' with me.

If I ever caught a fish I thought even came close to a world record, I would photograph it on my scale take some quick pics and if there is a share a lunker program try to get the fish to them healthy. If I had any doubt about the fish's health I would release it. I would have serious doubts about submitting it to be an official record because of all the BS people would through at you. I don't know the man or what motivates him but I would have to take some time to think about if I really wanted to go through the pain of trying to break such a record. I'm just one of those people that fish for fun but try to target bigger fish. Those that target trophy bass have their place and more power to them because if they succeed they suffer from all those that will try to deny them their moment of fame, whatever their motivation. To me I doubt it would be worth all the character assassination and rumor mongering that follows.