senile1

My apologies for being away for a while. I've been too bummed to get on Bass Resource and read or talk about fishing. The last 7 months have been quite eventful for me. On November 21st, 2018 I experienced a severe grade 3 tear of my left calf muscle while sprinting. It took over 4 months for all swelling to go down and I have been rehabbing it and am just now able to jog a bit. While I was recuperating from the calf tear, I refinished my basement flooring and basement stair steps. During this time my right wrist and hand, which already had Keinbock's disease, became extremely painful waking me up 8 to 10 times a night. (Keinbock's Diease is the result of a broken lunate carpal bone in the wrist that dies and breaks into pieces, causing arthritis and damage to other wrist bones. I broke the lunate 38 years ago.) I ultimately had to get my right wrist fused on April 5th as the dead bones were removed and a plate with 8 screws was added to stabilize my wrist and allow my radius bone to grow into and fuse through my wrist to my hand. I have been in rehab to regain movement in my fingers. On June 12th, my x-rays confirmed that my wrist is fused and I could begin strengthening exercises for my right arm and wrist. My right hand grip strength tested at only 23 percent of my left hand on June 14th. I am right-handed. I managed a trip to Table Rock in March before the operation, but I had the flu during that trip which limited my time on the water due to extreme chills and fatigue. Other than that, there has been no fishing for me. I have tried some casting in the backyard and can cast with an altered motion, though I can't do any long distance casts due to pain. I can't pitch with my right hand yet, so I have been practicing a left hand forearm cast. I can do that though it is far from the accuracy of my right hand pitch. With the fusion I lose the up/down and left/right wrist flexion but I still have supination and pronation functionality. I will have to alter my casting motion to account for this, as well as other things like picking and string muting with my right hand when playing guitar. Anyway, I'm trying to rehab this as quickly as possible so I can get back on the water. I will probably try putting a line in the water in the next couple of weeks though I may still be questionable for boat handling. I have already started workouts with light dumbbells in my basement gym. The weakness of my wrist and forearm limits the weight I can use so that has to be strengthened first before using heavier weights, but it is still nice to do what I can. As always, there are people who have far worse problems than mine. Fortunately, mine is only temporary.

You are correct. I'm not sure if anyone else is doing it but I have a few Bomber Switchback Fat Free Shads that do this and they have been out for a few years. http://www.tackletour.com/autopsybomberpg2.html

Even when not fishing tournaments, a livewell is useful when I catch photo-worthy bass and want to keep them oxygenated while I set up my camera. I also use it when the wife and I are fishing for crappie to eat and we want to keep the fish alive as long as possible. We don't put them on ice until we leave the lake.

Very nice fish. Congratulations!

I kind of got that feeling. ?

With just a casual google search I don't find a lot about Menderchuck, so I guess I need to dig deeper. One information source states that Lake Menderchuck is private, but you and your buddies are fishing it and A-Jay seems to go there now and then. My state's record for smallmouth is 7 lb 2 oz but we rarely see a smallie over 5 lbs. I have decided that I need to learn a lot more about Northern Michigan because you guys are simply catching some beasts up there!.

I'm speechless except for a few magnificent expletives. What lake are you guys fishing?

That's a nice bunch of monster smallies! What a trip!

Congratulations on the PB!

I have been away for a while and missed this. Table Rock is a lake that can humble you because the fish can be anywhere from 0 to 40, 50, 60 or even 70 feet deep depending on where you are on the lake when a thermocline is in place. That's a lot of water to cover with your electronics on such a large lake. I had a few days when I first started going down there where I struggled immensely. Now, I always check the Focused Fishing report a couple of weeks before I arrive there and use it as a guide though it isn't always accurate when I get there. However, it does give me an idea where the fish were before I came and I can move in or out and usually find them. That doesn't mean I always slay them, but we usually do catch enough to call it a satisfactory trip. See link below. If you plan on going down again in the future, I highly recommend this report. He covers pretty much every section of the lake. https://www.focusedfishing.com/2018/10/branson-fishing-guide-table-rock-lake-video-fishing-report-47 Another resource I use are the maps at the link below that are provided by guide, Bill Babler. You can click on them and expand them. The spots that are marked don't always work out but if I am struggling I can take information from the report above about where the fish are being caught and cross reference with Bill Babler's maps, or my own, to find a spot that matches. This has bailed me out a few times, especially with finding groups of Kentuckies and Smallies. I have my own spots that I have found but the information above is a good starting place if you don't know the lake. http://www.ozarkanglers.com/table-rock/maps/ I hope this is useful for future trips.

On occasion they make me feel like I have nothing but pawns on my side of the chessboard.

The only water I was on this week was the water standing in my mushy yard. I learned that constant rain mixed with lightning and no sunshine is very depressing. But then again, I have to count my blessings as I haven't had to deal with anything like hurricanes Florence and Michael.

This time of year is typically too early for any of my lakes to turnover, but in the last week we have had many inches of cooler rain. That might possibly equalize the temperature in some of the smaller lakes and result in turnover though my larger lakes probably still have some weeks to go. I haven't been out to check in the bad weather this past week. I assume some of that cold rain from this side of the state came your way?

The deepest I have caught a largemouth was near 30 feet at Table Rock Lake. I catch a lot of spotted bass and smallies from 30 down to approximately 45 feet at that same lake. I fish TR 10 - 15 days a year and it is deep and clear. I've never seen the thermocline less that 38 to 40 feet on the lower end below Kimberling bridge when I have fished there, so it makes for some deep spoon and drop-shot fishing when the smallies and spots hang out at the end of long, gravel, runout points. The last time I was there I found a productive gravel point and was sitting approximately 3/8s of a mile from shore catching fish in 38 to 40 feet of water. It is a cool feeling when you can achieve success using your electronics to find these fish so far out in the lake. Every other lake I fish typically has a thermocline setting up from 8 to 25 feet and I fish much shallower at those lakes.

As some have stated, quite often the fish busting the surface will be carp. One can get an idea of what they are by how they bust the surface. Carp usually jump one at a time and make a big splash, but you will tend to see individuals doing this all over the area. I rarely see a largemouth jump this way but when they do it is a single fish. Spotted bass will group up like marauders and you tend to see multiple wake lines and splashes in one area, though at other times a single spot or two may make only a small surface commotion. White bass make a similar commotion to spotted bass. For either spotted bass or white bass, if you cast into a marauding group you can sometimes catch one right after another in a short period of time.

Congratulations on the PB!

Very nice beast!

Same here with regard to the gym. Years ago I worked out at a gym outside the home but I took care of that in my early 30s and have had my own equipment ever since.

Is there a reason why your wife accepts the gym excuse over fishing? Going to the gym incurs monthly or yearly fees as well. I don't know your wife or your relationship and I can only make statements from what I know about my own marriage, but I would have to sit down and have a serious dialogue with my wife if I felt that I needed to lie about what I am doing. I don't have to tell you that honesty is pretty important in a relationship. If you lie about one thing and she catches you, you've just damaged her trust that you won't lie about something else far more important.

Nice work! I enjoy your accounts of your fishing escapades as I think they are useful for those who need to learn how and why they choose certain strategies on the water. Even an older gentleman like me can pick up reminders of things not to forget while on the water.

That's a nice fish! Congratulations on the PB!

That's a nice looking smallie!

Thanks for the link. From the looks of the pics, I have to agree.

We have lakes on the Missouri/Arkansas border similar to the OPs. The White River impoundments - Table Rock, Bull Shoals, and Beaver Lakes - are all over 200 feet at their deepest with lots of 60 to 120 foot depths throughout the lakes. The thermoclines on these lakes are usually deeper than I ever fish. As others have stated, it is best to find the depth of the bait and do your fishing there on lakes such as these. If you can find bait intersecting with structure at that depth then you have a bottom to fish which is usually what I try to do. Having said that, I have caught bass 35 - 40 feet deep in 75 - 100 foot deep water with spoons. Typically, it is best to avoid chasing suspended fish but when the fish are stationed in and above the tree tops chasing bait in the range that I am fishing, one can catch quite a few. Usually, the fish I catch in this suspended fashion are spotted bass and a few smallies. I haven't had much luck catching largemouth this way.

My prescription sunglasses are progressive and have a section at the bottom which allow me to read and tie knots. It still seems to be getting more difficult even with the glasses but I think I get pretty close. I can see it when it is halfway between the marks which gives me 2 more ounces, so I'm probably never off by more than an ounce.