I finally got to get away for a few days of fishing by myself. I decided to run down to LOZ. I stayed at a campground and slept in the van. ($20 a night and $10 a day for a boat slip ) The trip started out bad. I got a speeding ticket in a small town (first ticket in a long time, but I deserved it ), the next day I locked my keys in the car (idiot) $60 more dollars down the pipe. And it got worse from there.

I started fishing Thursday and I decided to hit some spots I was familiar with just to see what the bass were doing. Nothing but shorts most of the day. Finally it was getting late and I decided to fish some rocks in about 8' of water with a jig in two key areas. I got a couple of hard slams and I had one on for a couple of seconds and it came off. It felt like a good one. I was frustrated because I generally don't lose very many fish once they grab my lure and hold on for a second. I also haven't broke off a fish in 3 years (I constantly replace my line). Well, I decided to leave my 20# Seagar Fluoro on from last year to see how long it would last. I went to the second key area and was fishing through those rocks. I got a big bite, set the hook and fish on. 2 seconds later I feel my line go limp. I had cut my Fluoro on a rock. 3 year streak was over

Friday got worse. That was the morning I locked my keys in the car. It was also the morning that tornado reports were everywhere and we got a ton of rain. Finally the bad weather subsided and I was the first one out. But now, my feeder creeks where dingied up. Thursday had water clarity of any where from 3' to 5'. Fridays storm knocked it down to 2' and less in most areas. And I still could not find the bass. Spawning flats , ledges, bluffs, deep, shallow, I checked everywhere. Eventually I found a few bass on main lake rock banks. It was the only areas that had clear water. I caught mostly shorts on a crankbait, with one nice keeper. But I still could not find what I was looking for.

Saturday started out pretty bad as well, but did get better, (sort of). I got down to the water to find that the Niangua had washed in chocolate milk colored water, and on top of that, so much debris that I had to use my trolling motor to force my way through it. Plus there were a ton of logs floating through the main channel. Usually on a LOZ Saturday morning, there are bass boats everywhere. Not this Saturday. Very few. So the muddy water meant that all the main lake areas were eliminated and also I could not travel that far because of all the floating debris. Luckily I found that the coves were surprisingly clear. So I was forced to fish docks. I have always hated docks and have found plenty of success fishing other non-dock areas. But, I really had no choice. So I start fishing the gangways. The docks were too close, the wind was aggravating and they use those stupid wire cables to secure the docks :. But eventually, every other dock I started catching male shorties. So I looked at my map and I found the best structure in the reachable areas I could fish. I settled on two areas. The first area I finally started hooking keepers. But I was losing them in the cables. I caught a few and then ran to my second area. It was there that I realized that my med/heavy rod was not stiff enough to pull the bigger fish out. Also, I bought 15# Red Label Seagar Fluoro to see how it works. It is nowhere near as good as the Carbon Pro or InvisX. I broke another one off (now that is two in 3 years) and I noticed that the med/heavy rod combined with the stretchiness of the Red Label Flouro is not lifting the bigger bass out of the cover or over the cables fast enough. Also, my normal straight-shank jig wasn't penetrating their mouths the right way. On top of that the Red Label was breaking too easy. But I was afraid to use my 7' heavy with 20# Carbon Pro Fluoro with the lighter jig because I was afraid of losing the 'feel' of my lure. But I was wrong. I switched to a jig that angles the hook upward (opposite of an EWG hook) and the game was on. My first cast with the stiffer rod, better line and the new jig was a 17' keeper. After that I was catching and landing everything that bit. I had several nice keepers. Everything was going great. And then, what would eventually ruin my trip, happened next.

My confidence was riding high. I finally had them figured out. I also was mastering the docks. That was huge for me because I hated docks. But now I was falling in love with them. I pulled up on a typical dock. There was some brush in between the cable and the gangway. I work all the outer perimeters systematically, then the brush, then the gangway from the shore out. When I got about 3/4 of the way down the gangway I skipped the jig under it (which BTW, skipping with a bait caster is awesome. I got a spinning reel just for skipping a while back, and now I don't even need it). Anyway, I skip it under the gangway and I am working it back. It is in about 5-6' of water and it is getting close to the cable when all of a sudden I get a hit. I set the hook and immediately notice it is big. So I lift that bad dog out of the cover (I couldn't tell if it was boulders or brush, felt like man-made steps!?) and to the surface to get her over the cable and fight her in open water. She comes to the surface and she is the biggest bass I think I have ever seen. I have caught a few 7 and 8 pounders and she was bigger than them. Well, as soon as I set the hook and lifted her to the surface, she freaked out. I got a good look at her and she then pulled her head down and took off under the dock. I have never had a bass fight this hard. I had the drag set tight so I could pull them out and over the cables. She started stripping the line from my drag and headed for the dock. As fast as she took off, the line was up against the cable. In an instance, the line was cut. 20# flouro was frayed and cut. About 4 inches of the end of the line was completely frayed. I was mad. That fish was easily 10#. Like I said, I have caught 8's and none of them had the power of this fish. (BTW, that made 3 broken off fish in 3 years >) Needless to say, that ruined it for me. I did get back in the game, It took about 20 minutes and I was focused again and kept catching them, but she would whisper from the depths every once in a while just to let me know that she won.

Then came Sunday morning, everything was muddy and that was it for me. I fished a couple of hours and split like a banana.

So, my streak of not breaking off a fish in 3 years ended by thrice, not losing very many fish was not evident this weekend, oh yeah, and the fact that I have caught every big bass I have hooked since I have been seriously fishing is no longer the case. It was a bad bad weekend. But I did learn a few things. I love fishing docks now and I am addicted to skipping baits with a baitcaster. Oh well, win some lose some, ey!

Holy cow, Needemp, what a trip.  But at least you can fish those docks now.

d**n after losing a monster like that it makes you wanna quit......

I'm going down this week-end and it sounds like its gonna be muddy. Sucks!!!!

Any advice...

When the fish start bedding behind the docks it can be a good thing or bad.  If they'd bed up only behind the new docks with nice, clean, smooth cables things would be alright....

They don't, they love to bed behind those old docks with brush and gnarly old cables that have razor sharp edges on them that will slice apart just about any line I've ever tried.

Good to see you've started to learn the docks.  They relate to those a lot down there year round.

When the fish start bedding behind the docks it can be a good thing or bad. If they'd bed up only behind the new docks with nice, clean, smooth cables things would be alright....

They don't, they love to bed behind those old docks with brush and gnarly old cables that have razor sharp edges on them that will slice apart just about any line I've ever tried.

Good to see you've started to learn the docks. They relate to those a lot down there year round.

From your experience,  is there enough light around the docks at night to fish without the help of flourescent line and a blacklight? I personally have never had the need for blacklights at night but I've heard a lot of talk lately about how good that set up is at night.

d**n after losing a monster like that it makes you wanna quit......

I'm going down this week-end and it sounds like its gonna be muddy. Sucks!!!!

Any advice...

It depends on the conditions and where you are going. I don't know how muddy the Gravois, Glaize or Osage arms will be. I only saw the Nianguas. Having said that, I would imagine they will still be dirty, but who knows how fast it will clear. More storms could make it worse.

So, it appears that most fish have spawned. There has been reports of spawning fish back in April and there were plenty of spawners this trip. I would imagine your best bet would be a post spawn pattern. It will be too hard to see any beds and I don't think there will be very many pre spawners left. The majority will be spawned out.

The fish should be used to the dirty water by then and be looking to move out a little deeper. I would look for areas that have a ledge and/or cover that is close to the spawning areas. But as always, I would start out shallow and if there are no takers there, then move to the deeper areas. How deep? I have no idea if the water is muddy. Other than that, that is the best I can offer. Good luck to ya.

When the fish start bedding behind the docks it can be a good thing or bad. If they'd bed up only behind the new docks with nice, clean, smooth cables things would be alright....

They don't, they love to bed behind those old docks with brush and gnarly old cables that have razor sharp edges on them that will slice apart just about any line I've ever tried.

Good to see you've started to learn the docks. They relate to those a lot down there year round.

From your experience, is there enough light around the docks at night to fish without the help of flourescent line and a blacklight? I personally have never had the need for blacklights at night but I've heard a lot of talk lately about how good that set up is at night.

If it is muddy, then night fishing will be real tough. IMO, I think you really have to know how to fish at night in muddy water to be successful or you need to get lucky.

But, if you are going to fish docks anyway, there is usually plenty of light around most of them. I find it better to go by feel than to depend on lights, but it is available. However, there are some docks that do not have adequate light and I would imagine the blacklights would come in handy then.

When the fish start bedding behind the docks it can be a good thing or bad. If they'd bed up only behind the new docks with nice, clean, smooth cables things would be alright....

They don't, they love to bed behind those old docks with brush and gnarly old cables that have razor sharp edges on them that will slice apart just about any line I've ever tried.

Good to see you've started to learn the docks. They relate to those a lot down there year round.

From your experience, is there enough light around the docks at night to fish without the help of flourescent line and a blacklight? I personally have never had the need for blacklights at night but I've heard a lot of talk lately about how good that set up is at night.

I remember one new moon night fishing 10" worms. Totally dark.  I was fishing one of my good docks.  I zinged the cast out.  Let it sit and then slowly worked the worm back.  I must have worked that worm back for about 3 or 4 minutes, slowly creeping it along and then I hear  "Ker-Plunk"!

I had cast the worm completely over the dock, worked the thing up the back side and over the roof until it fell into the water.

;D

Generally, there is enough lite off the docks and or houses on shore to not need a black lite.  I have one but rarely use it.  The bugs those things attract negates any advantages IMO.  

I remember one new moon night fishing 10" worms. Totally dark. I was fishing one of my good docks. I zinged the cast out. Let it sit and then slowly worked the worm back. I must have worked that worm back for about 3 or 4 minutes, slowly creeping it along and then I hear "Ker-Plunk"!

I had cast the worm completely over the dock, worked the thing up the back side and over the roof until it fell into the water.

;D

That's funny!!! ;D