Ozark_Basser

Those are some nice fish! I wish our creek fish got that fat. Usually an 18" fish is 3 lbs and a 20" fish is 4 lbs. It really doesn't deviate from those length to weight ratios very often. On the lower Buffalo River, you can catch some with some girth, but I've yet to see one as fat as those fish in your pictures. What is their main food source?

Just try a bunch of different stuff, preferably with bright colors so you can see them take the bait a little easier.

Temple fork outfitters signature series 736

Taking the skirt off will probably help too.

Use a heavier, denser baitbait for a trailer. Keitechs are pretty dense.

Casting with a three foot leader will be easier with a longer rod as well. A 7'6 would be my choice.

Nice! Definitely looks like a 7 or 8 lber. Hard to tell with pics sometimes though. Did you get measurements?

I got a couple in my cart on TW. Just waiting to pull the trigger. To post pics without a size limit, go to photobucket.com and set up a profile. Upload your pics to photo bucket. Click on the link option at the top left of the screen. Go to the IMG URL and copy and paste it to your post. It will show the pic really big on your post. I have to use it because I use a digital camera for pics and the size is way too big to post the pic as an attachment.

Let em look lol. If they've never took a baitcaster out there and thrown some bigger baits, they are missing out.

That one is probably 3/8 oz with a 4/0 and its an arky style head. This is also my favorite size for throwing in the creeks. It's a little heavier than most people throw around here, but I like it for a lot of reasons. I can bomb it in long, deep holes with a medium heavy. This is especially good when fishing from shore. It doesn't get washed away in the current as easily. The 4/0 hook will make it harder to hook the smaller ones, but oh well lol. If they aren't big enough to eat it, I don't care to catch them. The splash is kind of a downside, but if I can get in there pretty softly, or I'll just skip it in. Also, the arky head makes it a lot easier to skip.

Those will work for sure. I make my own too. I like an even thicker skirt to slow the fall sometimes. Like 60 strands depending on color lol. Probably too thick sometimes, but I have a bunch of different ones with varying strand counts, one of the benefits of making your own I guess. I'm going to hit the buffalo at night sometime this weekend. I'll probably start out with this color with a beaver trailer in gp.

That's probably the more efficient and experienced way to go about it, but it helps to know the ROF when you buy those big "tennis shoe" swimbaits lol.

I always call the smaller ones hollow bodies or paddle tails and the bigger ones are called swimbaits.

ROF 5 etc. refers to the rate of fall per ten seconds or approximately how deep the bait will go on a slow steady retrieve.

Nice! Gotta pick me up one of those glide baits.

1. Lack of confidence/patience in what you're throwing 2. Not throwing tight enough to cover 3. Not paying attention/knowing what's going on around you and underwater

This is so true. I remember night fishing on bull shoals lake one night. We shored the boat and drank a few beers and took a break. I shined a maglight over the boat and saw two 12-13 inch bass sitting in about 8 inches of water right next to the boat. We sat there right above them at the water's surface with the light directly on them. They acted like we weren't even there. When I stuck my hand in the water they took off, but daytime bass would have been much more leery.

Smaller ospreys and jerry ragos.

Knot strength and a little extra give.

Welcome to the forum!

I just ordered some 20# p line cxx for leader material for swimbaits. Used to throw them on 20-25 # big game.

The truth is you're probably gonna find fish up shallow and deep no matter what the water level is. If your strength is fishing shallow water, I wouldn't just go offshore fishing just because the water level dropped and vice versa. I would try something I had confidence in and take note of my success while paying attention to the water level, water temp, etc.

A few stories popped in my head, but I'm afraid they wouldn't be BR appropriate.

I don't think you need to go higher than 15-17# for casting jigs around cover. I use 16# sniper or sunline fc leader around some pretty gnarly stuff. For flipping I think you're spot on with the 25# though. You could probably get away with 20#, but if your water isn't all that clear, I'd stick with the 25#.