Oldplug

Assuming that your grandpa lives on the lake do you know what mile marker and the Send of the cove?. If you want a guide you might want to contact Ozark's outfitters in Laurie. They have a a lot of contact with the best fishermen on the lake. Matter if fact the store belongs to Guido Hibdon's sister and her husband.

I hate the wind myself. I am happy I do have to go to work anymore and can be out anytime the.conditions feel right to me. That sure does make for a lot of advantages. Plus my boat and dock are only about 40ft from my easy easy chair.

Somebody was saying he was a college student and did not have a lot of money. Well your education is more important than some high ( overpriced and overrated ) rod so buy a cheaper rod and reel. The rod is only part of the feel anyway. How you hold it, where ,the rods action, line test and weight on the end all go into it. Feel is a developed skill. Only thing that really hinders feel to me are sponge grips. I do not worry that much about feel anyway.as long as I can feel the hit that is really all that is important.

Yep I used to also but when you get into your 70's you might not be doing it anymore.

My Navy AB3 USS ESSEX CVA 9. If you were not inflight operations you spent a lot of time chipping and painting with red lead paint. That might cause some problems today for some veterans. I have no idea.

I have caught bass in the face of a heavy snow but never after it passes. One time on Stockton lake in Mo we caught 6 over 3 lbs on the face of a snow storm. I should have gotten out of there sooner I had a friends 12 yr old son with me. The wind came up real sudden and we were in a blizzard like snow. If any of you know about Stockton you know how real nasty the wind can be on that lake. There was nothing anywhere near us for shelter. We had to cross back about 1 mile to get back to the take out. I thank God the wind was coming from in back of us when we started. I surfed about 1 mile accoss that thing with Waves so high I could not see over them most of the time. When we got back I had over 3 inches of wet snow and slush in the bottom of the boat. Much more and we would have been to heavy to even surf well. I can still visualize that ride. I have never ever been so scared on the water.

You should try all those things until they hit. That is a very large part of establishing the pattern. If they do not hit it you have the wrong bait or wrong time for the pattern.

They bite. just don't let the weather bother you. Here on my lake this lake the biggest bass come in some real cold conditions but the bite will be short and somewhat unpredictable. You can spend a lot of time just getting a few bites. I used to fish the winter but I cant anymore I do not have real good circulation to my hands anymore and if its in the lower 40's they turn to purplish white lumps within a hour or so even in light gloves you can fish with. But I would be out there if it was not for that.

I could not begin to suggest a effective lure because knowing what is off the bank is very important. It worries me however that you said very high pressure lake. If this includes boats zipping around out there I would not advise getting on the water in a float tube. Forward visibility is limited in many boats especially larger boats. Then you have people drinking that can't see anyway. So be real careful. Where I live there are a lot of cruisers and cigarette boats. Each year sees at least a couple of accidents from larger boats running over fishing boats.

Well if it makes you feel better I have 65+ years been exposed to lead in fishing tackle. There was a time when I had real teeth that I put split shot on the line by chomping down on them. I have held sinkers in my mouth with my teeth while tying and re tying lines at night a awful lot over the years with no trouble. I have lead in sports fishing is dangerous unless you eat it and I never swallowed a sinker.

Yes. I do not see how you could fish it with no weight and get the most out of it. If i was going to do that i would just go to a unweighed worm. I use split shot and the cheap bell sinkers that have the swivel through them. I also use a variety of sizes of weights all the way up to 3/4 oz. Further I do not own what can be described as a drop shot rig. I use a regular rod and most of the time it is bait casting. I sometimes cast a drops hot and receive it along the bottom like a Carolina rig.

Well if you can get a good used one 18 ft or better with a lot of freeboard I would suggest that. I have a lot of rough water experience both from storms and excessive cruiser traffic. To go out into either situation in a 16 to 17 ft shallow metal metal bass boat like a tracker is nothing but dangerous. I have had several boats. I would advise you to learn with something different. Even a calm lake can turn into a raging ocean in a storm. And if you are going to fish where there are heavy boats like cruisers and cigarette boats you can be swamped like slapping a fly with a swatter. .

New2BC4bass What you have will work just fine. A lot of the drop shorting depends on what your fishing in. Most people think it is a light tackle thing but I fish it in the summer on 61/2 ft ugly stick with a bait casting reel and 10 or 12 lb test line. I can also cast it out over ledges and draw it back like Carolina rig. I feel the advantage of that is you can keep it in one spot and dance it around a bit. I use a o/4 worm hook on mine in the summer with a 3/8 oz or larger bell sinker on the end. It was my 2nd most effective bait last summer using one of those super sized trick worms on it. As far as Ugly sticks go. well they are cheap,very tuff. I bought my first one the first year they were made (about 30 yrs ago)and I still have it and it along with about 8-9 others. .

It is going to be tuff that is about all I can add unless you find a hot bank. Most of those my be a 20 - 40 mile run up the lake If your fishing out of public beach #2. your going to have to fish it very slow whatever you use. Forecast is calling for rain and snow on Thursday. Lots of luck. It's not my cup of tea.

I used to go down there every week. I cut a lot of teeth on Clearwater. It has been o longi do not know what to say. There are a couple f humps straight out from Piedmont Park Marina where I kept my boat 1 year. I do not know if they still display that big string of bass but I and another guy brought those to St Louis to ship to be mounted for the man who caught them. He caught those fish off one of those humps I just mentioned. Caught them all by using Bluegill for bait in one evening. Really just work the lake like you would any other. That should be slow and throu out from