Robert B

I also live in Sedalia and mainly fish the upper part of the Ozarks and Truman. Glover Dell is a nice place to take your kids or in my case grandson. I've caught some nice bass out there. Another place to try is north of Warrensburg, Hazel Hill. Go to mdc.mo.gov to find it.

Went out on Truman Lake (MO) this Saturday and Sunday. I only caught five bass and one big drum (jerk bait). Water temperature was 49.7 to 50 degrees and murky. My electronics showed several fish in the 25 30' depths. Mostly off of main points and bluffs. I anchored over them but couldn't get ant bites. I tried vertical jigging, deep cranks, lipless cranks, and hopping a jig down the fall line. Nothing. Moved in to secondary points (15' depth) and worked a chartreuse deep crank. Caught 3 of the 5 like that. Caught one on a red worm and one on a lizard. Tried the jerk baits but only caught the drum (which was fun). Never really fished this early and wanted to know what should I have tried different? I tried to keep the presentation slow but I think I might have still been faster than I should have. Most bass were caught about 5 - 10 yards from the bank in about 10'. Most hit the crank when it was moving! Robert

If most bass are in deeper water during winter how far will they really travel to find a spawning area? The reason I'm asking is, if the main lake is 120' deep and the feeder creeks are 80' deep at the mouth would a bass travel up the feeder creek 7 miles to find a flat spawning area swallow enough to spawn? This seems excessive to me. Another lake I know is really an old river system. The bottom is mud and the feeder creeks are also mud lined. Would a bass travel up these creeks until they find a hard bottom (which could be miles) or just locate on some other structure? Robert

Thanks Sam, these will help out allot.

I'm going to join a small bass club in my hometown. Every week during the spring and summer they have little tournaments where the non-boaters are randomly drawn and paired up with a boater. Since I have my boat what should I expect from the non-boater? Should they help pay for the fuel for the boat? Assist with loading and unloading? How about fishing? Since I'll be new to the club and not familiar with the lakes should I go with their suggestions or try what I think might work? I want to make the most of the situation and be a part of the club. Let me know the dos and don'ts of the boater vs. non-boater. Thanks Robert

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I learned years ago when worm fishing (t-rig) to let the fish take the bait then reel down the slack and set the hook. Now days I've read a lot about setting the hook from a semi-slack line. Once you feel the tap tap lower the rod tip, then quickly jerk the tip upwards. This is supposed to drive the hook into the jawbone better than the reel down and pull way. My question is if you only feel the initial tap tap how can you be sure the fish still has the bait? At least my way I can see the fish swim off with the bait before I set the hook. Knowing that both ways works which method do you all prefer and why? Thanks, Robert

I know the large swim baits work in California but how about places like Bull Shoals, AR? It's a clear water lake like out west so I'm thinking they would work. Has anyone tried them with any success? I'm thinking about buying a couple of the 5" blue gill lures from a company called Matt Lures. They are pretty expensive but fishing in clear water like bull shoals might just work. So let me know the pros and cons. Robert

Thanks all. I placed an order for the Yo-Zuri Hybrid Ultra Soft today in 8 lb test. I'll also try the jerk baits too. I was going to keep my C-rig at 25 lb and use the 8 lb leader but use it on my crank rod. I'm going to be ready "this time". I was embarrass the last time I was there and that wasn't a good feeling.

I'm going to be fishing in our company tournament in April at Bull Shoals, AR. The last time I was there I was amazed how clear the water was. Needless to say I wasn't prepared and didn't do very well. I typically fish in the upper part of the LOZ where the water is muddy to stained. I've heard that light line 6 8 lb test in light green color works best. Are there any brands that fit that description? How about the Vanish Clear will that work? I'm looking to be doing a lot of C-rigging and deep cranks. Last but not least what type of line would work best, mono fluorocarbon? Thanks Robert

Rocks and brush "look" different on the graph. There is a thing called the gray line setting. The harder the bottom (rock) the thicker the gray line will be. If it is a mud bottom the gray line will be thin or not show at all. Brush, limbs, etc will show better if you have the fish ID turned off and have it set in the manual mode. I would also find some visible cover and pass over it a few times in both the manual and auto mode. This will give you an idea of how it looks. Also some fish finders have a practice mode that you can play with. I know Eagle has a web site where you can pull up the model and practice on the computer. I've included a link to the one I have. Hope this helps. http://www.eaglesonar.com/Downloads/Emulators/default.htm

Sharkhide. Here is the link: http://www.sharkhidemarinesales.com/

Improved Clinch 95% the other 5% Rapala Loop http://www.animatedknots.com/indexfishing.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com

I'm a retired Army (Airborne) First Sergeant that is now a Hatchery Manager for Tyson Foods. I hatch about 1.6 million chicks per week and do it in only four days per week.

I've just recently started back into fishing and of course I needed new rods and reels. I initially bought the Rick Clunn 7:4:1 reel with his 6'6 MH spinner bait rod. I've got to admit I really like the combo. So two days ago I bought two more of the same reels and a 7' H, C-rig rod and a 6'6 M worm/drop shot rod of the same series. I'm thinking I can use the 7' H for both c-rigging and jig pitching/flipping. I placed 15 lb braided P-line on it. The 6'6 MH can be used for spinner baits, and lipless cranks so I place 12 lb fluorocarbon (P-line) on that one. The 6'6 M worm rod can be used for worming and topwater so place 12lb mono on it. I do have a 7 crank'n stick with a 4 to 1 reel with 12 lb braid. That should take care of any lip baits. So is this a decent setup to start with? Where did I go wrong and why? Thanks Robert

I just recently bought my first bass boat (6 weeks ago). I didn't want to spend 10's of thousands of dollars so I did some research and bought a new Tracker TX 190. I have got to say I'm very pleased with the boat. It has a 90 HP Opti-Max Mercury on it so it goes fast enough for me. I like the fact that it is aluminum and I can take it into some very sallow places! The only issue is with the fish finder. It doesn't read the depth when I'm on plane. It constantly flashes the last depth it read before I got underway. This can be dangerous on the river side of the Lake of the Ozarks. There are many mud/sand bars that I'm not familiar with yet. I would hate to run upon one because of a false reading from the depth finder. I've taken it back to the local dealer and had the mounting bracket moved. I thought that would eliminate the sonar noise but it didn't make it work any better. I went to another Tracker dealer and asked if anyone had experienced what I had and they told me no. So today the dealer has my boat and is suppose to water test it. So my question is has anyone else had this problem or I'm I just the lucky one ? Robert

Hello all. I'm new to the site and was wanting to know the best way to fish a sinko worm? I've recently gotten back into fishing after several years of playing golf. Bought a new boat about a month ago and can't wait for the weekends. I mainly fish on the "river" part of the lake of the ozarks in Missouri. Most of the water is murky at best. I have access to a lot of coves and can take my boat way into the back of the creeks where the water does clear up but very sallow. Robert