mcipinkie

I do jerk. Just don't like to. A lot of guys specialize in it and take my money. I get it back when the jig bite turns on. A-rig is Alabama Rig or more properly an umbrella rig.

Several places around Kimberling City that are not so luxurious. Bunch of nice resorts along Aunt's Creek, also. I don't usually go to the Big Cedar area, so don't know if anything else around there or not. Hundreds of places to stay around Branson in all price ranges.

The weatherman continues to play havoc with the tournament fishermen in western Missouri. Sunday's Jacomo tournament was cancelled due to snow covered ramps. Saturday at Blue Springs was a pretty good day for the jerk bait fishermen. The conditions were almost perfect to perform that dastardly act. Tom Yankee and Danny Carter won with a three fish bag weighing 16.08 lbs. They also had big bass at 6.22. A lot of fish were caught None by yours truly, but sooner or later the jerk bait will end, and I can catch some fish. Somewhere on a 900 acre lake there has to be a deep jig bite, but I can't get on it. Tom and Danny had another fish at 5.9 lbs in addition to the 6.22. Turn out was off Saturday due to the weather. We only had nine boats. If the weather forecast is right, I would expect a good turn out this coming Saturday. Come on out. I plan on winning this week and I need a good turn out. Blue Springs again from 800A - 200P on Saturday. $50.00 entry fee. No Jacomo tournament this Sunday due to Easter. We start Wednesday evenings at Jacomo on April 3. 600P - 900P. $40.00 entry for Jacomo Sunday and Wednesday. Jacomo is back to Sunday on 4/8: 800A - 200P. We start Monday night on 4/9. 600P - 900P. $30.00 entry. Two fish limit. We have a two fish limit on Monday's so entrants can fish alone if they want. Several of us do. Be aware that Blue Springs and Jacomo Sunday/Wednesdays do not allow A-rigs. We do on Monday night. Quit sitting on your butts writing cutesies on the computer and come out and fish with us.

d**n, man. The whole tip guide can't cost $2.00. If you like the rod, buy a new tip and epoxy it on. It's 10 minutes work. I'll bet you TW would send you a new guide for free if you asked nice. If you can find the old insert, pop it back in. Got to be in the frame, not on it. Mix up 2 drops of epoxy and put between the guide frame and the insert and go fishing.

I'd sell my soul for 47 degree water. The highest I found today was 39. Most was 36 - 37, with 6 - 10 inches of snow tonight and tomorrow. Those guys that master dead sticking jerk baits still catch em, though. I hate 'em. The rulers in the club outlawed A-rigs, and you can't buy a fish on a jig or Wiggle Wart. Our club derby today was won with 3 at 16.08 lbs. That's a pretty fair three fish bag.

I have my own system. On what I call "long cast" rods (crank baits, C-rigs, A-rigs, etc), I fill them all the way with braid except for a few turns of mono to prevent slipping. You can throw a 6XD a long way on a 8' crank bait rod. On "medium cast" rods, spinner baits, etc. it's 180 ft. from my garage door to the gas meter. That's what I spool up over mono backing. On flipping sticks, etc (short cast rods), it's 100 ft to my peach tree. That's all they get. Once I feel the knot hitting my thumb, I respool. Generally get at least one year, sometimes two on braid, and I'm retired and fish a lot.

The weather was not kind to western Missouri fishermen this weekend. Friday's high was 85 degrees. Saturday only reached 40 - 44. Sunday only 36 - 38. The fish must have gone in holes and pulled the dirt over them. Sixteen boats came to Blue Springs Saturday morning in spite of the weather. The fishing was agonizingly tough. Paul Hirsch and Paul Carr won first place and big bass with one fish at 5.20 lbs. One cast, one fish for a $360 payback. Not bad for a $50 entry fee close to home. Yours truly managed to get a bite this weekend and put one fish at 4.10 lbs in the boat. Good enough for 5th place, but no check. Jerk baits again. Only three boats and six hardy fishermen (or idiots, depending on your perspective) came out for Jacomo Sunday. It was raw, windy and cold, with mixed rain and sleet. Dwayne Lambeth and Blake Burford managed a limit of four fish at 14.86 lbs. Jerk baits again the winning lure. My partner and I sissied out another Sunday and did not fish. Unfortunately, the weather forecast for this week is not enticing, so fishing will continue to be tough at both lakes. Main lake water temperatures are still in the low 40's on both lakes, so jerk baits should continue to be the way to go. Come on out and join us. Just a few days of steady warming and both these lakes will turn on. Blue Springs Saturday: 800A - 200P Jacomo Sunday: 800A - 200P

If the water in either lake gets to mid 40's, I'd expect a Wiggle Wart bite. If I can't catch 'em on a jig, I'd rather throw the Wart than jerk.

Absolutely. Just show up and fish. No club dues or any other pre-pays. We have some side pots for yearly big fish and monthly big fish, but they are optional. Make sure you have Jackson County permits or buy a day pass at the marina. The park rangers have been checking every day. The fish that were caught last weekend were on jerk baits. I don't like to jerk and spent far too much time with various jigs, with no success. BS looks to have dirtied up a little from the rain. I haven't been on the lake to see what it looks like, but would expect the jerk baits to rule another week. It's also come about a foot, but the Corps is pulling it back down. I hope for a jig bite, but it's jerk bait season. Jacomo will probably not dirty up like BS. I expect the jerkbait bite to be fantastic.

Blue Springs Lake - Saturday 3/9: Fishing was tough, as expected. Water temp still is in upper 30's. Mike Rogers and Tom Yankee won with 4 - fish at 14.02 lbs. Yours truly thinks he had a bite. Lake Jacomo - Sunday 3/10: Fishing was also tough. Water temp at Jacomo is same as Blue Springs. All the rain Saturday night made it even tougher. Tim Burt and Joe Indy won with 4 - fish at 17.18 lbs. Very nice string of fish. They had one over seven, but I did not get the exact weight. I listened to the weather man, sissied out and did not fish. The next week or two, if the weather forecast is right, should turn these two lakes on. Come on out and join us. Blue Springs - Saturday 800A - 200P $50 entry. Jacomo - Sunday 800A - 200P $40 entry.

Once you decide on a boat, get the biggest trolling motor you can afford and fit on the boat. If you've got an extra grand or so, and room, get a 36v. You'll never regret it. So many things get easier with a big trolling motor. You can jet across the cove on the trolling motor instead of pulling it up, putting on your life jacket, cranking up and then reversing all to get across a 100 yd wide cove. You may only need that big power once or twice a year, but it's invaluable when you need it. Plus you'll get longer battery life with the 36v system than 12 or 24. I echo most of the rest of the ideas, certainly about not buying an underpowered boat.

I like the VMC 9651 trebles. 1x wire, short shank. Tried the KVD's and the Triple Grips and didn't like. I go up at least one size above factory on almost everything. Two sizes on some baits. You can order directly from VMC/Rapala in 25 packs for a lot less than the other store's prices. If you want some serious quantities, Captain Hook has in lots of 100 or more.

I find that the Smithwicks suspend the best if the hooks are changed. I put a #4 on the front and the back, and a #6 in the middle. Sometimes that's not enough and some Suspend Strip is required. Water temps vary what jerk baits do. What works in the sink may not work in the lake. Our water here in Missouri is in the upper 30's. I've got lures tuned for that temp. In two weeks or so when the water is in the upper 40's, may have to redo. I use fluoro on jerk baits, but you can weight to use mono if you want. Rogues are easy to tune, the way the eye sticks out. Bend it gently until lure runs correctly.

Brian, Assuming you are talking about that big multi-boat dock by the great big house, that point to the west is one of the best jerk bait points on the lake. Somewhere between those weeds next to the bank and straight out in the lake, there are fish suspended right now. Fan cast a Rogue, or Pointer, or whatever else you like from the weeds out. Jerk it down and wait as long as you can between jerks (15 - 30 seconds) and give it another jerk. Could get your arm injured. There is brush in front of that dock and to the east. Good jig spots.

My $.02. Maybe we can keep on spending our efforts in sports in HS and college, and let the Asians continue to take over all our skilled professions. Kids should be going to school to get an education not learning to fish. Maybe that's what the principal was trying to accomplish. By the way: bowlers and chess players are just as serious about their games as we are about ours.

I'd take on Jacomo. We started tournaments this weekend on both Blue Springs and Jacomo. It was tough. Water temps in the upper 30's. A few fish caught both days. Four at 14 lbs won on BS, four at 17 won on Jacomo. One fish over seven caught at Jacomo. Jerk baits. If this weather forecast is right, the jerkbait bite on Jacomo could be fantastic by the weekend. If water temp gets to 43 - 44, the Wiggle Wart bite will come on. There is a tournament on Jacomo Sunday morning, and one on BS Saturday. My best advice would be to wait another week or two and see what the weather does. There will be some good fish caught this coming weekend, but it'll still be a tough bite, especially if you aren't an experienced jerker. Both lakes weigh in at 200P. Come on out and see the weigh in's. Prarie Lee should come on also. That's a fantastic jerk bait lake, but difficult to fish without a boat.

The problem with braid, especially the real small diameter braids, is that they dig in on the reel. I've been throwing braid for a long time. I used the old braided nylons in the 60's, and now use braid on every rod - reel combination and still fight them some. One thing that helps to wind the line on the reel very tightly. If I spool up dry line, I run it through a towel and spool it on as tight as I can. Sometimes when fishing and the line starts burying up, I'll toss it out, pull out a bunch more line and then do the same thing. Braid casts better if tight on the spool. I can't put a handle on why, but some combos work for me and some don't. I can't get 20 lb. braid to work on any baitcaster and I've tried almost all of them, but have very little trouble with 30. 10 lb. Nanofil wore me out on spinning reels, but 10 lb. PP works wonderfully. I wouldn't expect a problem on a spinning reel with 20 lb unless mechanical in nature. I have more trouble with 832 than either the regular Suffix braid or PP. I just bought a spool of Kanzen 20. I'll spool it up for jerk bait fishing. If it works, great. If not, back to PP. Other than the Kanzen, which I haven't tried yet, I see nothing better than PP.

Fish are animals, just like we humans. We all can be patterned. Some humans get up every day and go to work. Some in town, some in the country, some in factories. If you were chasing humans and hung around the banks between 800 and 900 in the morning, you'd have a pattern. There would be another pattern at the Ford plant, another at the grocery store, another at the golf course. If the weather changes, the human patterns change also. Sounds a little funny, but I think the analogy is sound.

I take off the stock hooks and replace with # 2 - VMC 9651's. The short shank on the 9651's don't tangle up like a long shank hook. I imagine the KVD Mustads would work also, but I use VMC trebles.

I bought 4 - Veritas's of various sizes last year and really like the rods except for the guides. I don't know where they found those Evolve guides, but they are really weak. If you bend one getting it out of the rod locker, 50/50 it'll snap when you straighten it. Guess they went for light over all other considerations. Janns is discontinuing, or maybe Fuji is, the LAG series of guides. They look enough like the Veritas guide to suit me. I just ordered a dozen various sizes and pop them in when I need to. I've had a few loosen up. I just push them back in and put a drop of epoxy on 'em. I don't like those little single foot guides on a flipping stick, anyway. Just too much power with 50 lb braid for them to stay in place. Pure Fishing should replace though, if you want.

Short Fish, Where did you score those prices?

I'm an old man (66), but I cast with either hand, depending on the angle I need to hit. Always retrieve with the rod in my left hand, turned the crank with my right. There is probably an advantage to strong hand on the rod, but I don't have a problem. Look at most of the pros. Rod in left hand, reel in right. I'm a flipper/pitcher so I tried to emulate Brauer and Biffle when I was learning. I'm amazed every time I see Biffle on TV, the way he handles the big stick. Heck, look at Hank Parker. I can't believe he ever catches a fish the way he holds the rod. Casting rods only. Spinner never leaves right hand. I tried a left handed real 20 or so years ago. Liked it, but couldn't afford to scrap all and go that way. You aren't going to the Classic based on which hand you hold the rod with.

We had a little warming trend here the last few days. The water temp is up to 39F. I think all the ice is gone. I'm still fishing.

The three hook is almost exactly like a LC Slender Pointer. If you like them, you'll like the SK. I haven't used the two hook models. I have enough Pointer 100's for that niche. Good lures though.

Get on the north side of the lake and throw jerk baits on points. Never fail pattern if you don't know anything else to do. Assuming out of PB2. I'd stay mid lake to dam, or possibly in Gravois arm, but normally north banks are key. Wiggle Warts work also. Millions of docks to flip jigs in front of, but most March tournaments are won on jerk baits. I don't like A-rigs personally, but you better be prepared especially if the water warms up. If it gets really warm and fish move up early, throw tubes or Sweet Beavers behind docks. Don't be afraid to get shallow. Jerk baits. Jerk baits. Jerk baits.