senile1

Is there a reason why your wife accepts the gym excuse over fishing? Going to the gym incurs monthly or yearly fees as well. I don't know your wife or your relationship and I can only make statements from what I know about my own marriage, but I would have to sit down and have a serious dialogue with my wife if I felt that I needed to lie about what I am doing. I don't have to tell you that honesty is pretty important in a relationship. If you lie about one thing and she catches you, you've just damaged her trust that you won't lie about something else far more important.

Nice work! I enjoy your accounts of your fishing escapades as I think they are useful for those who need to learn how and why they choose certain strategies on the water. Even an older gentleman like me can pick up reminders of things not to forget while on the water.

That's a nice fish! Congratulations on the PB!

That's a nice looking smallie!

Thanks for the link. From the looks of the pics, I have to agree.

We have lakes on the Missouri/Arkansas border similar to the OPs. The White River impoundments - Table Rock, Bull Shoals, and Beaver Lakes - are all over 200 feet at their deepest with lots of 60 to 120 foot depths throughout the lakes. The thermoclines on these lakes are usually deeper than I ever fish. As others have stated, it is best to find the depth of the bait and do your fishing there on lakes such as these. If you can find bait intersecting with structure at that depth then you have a bottom to fish which is usually what I try to do. Having said that, I have caught bass 35 - 40 feet deep in 75 - 100 foot deep water with spoons. Typically, it is best to avoid chasing suspended fish but when the fish are stationed in and above the tree tops chasing bait in the range that I am fishing, one can catch quite a few. Usually, the fish I catch in this suspended fashion are spotted bass and a few smallies. I haven't had much luck catching largemouth this way.

My prescription sunglasses are progressive and have a section at the bottom which allow me to read and tie knots. It still seems to be getting more difficult even with the glasses but I think I get pretty close. I can see it when it is halfway between the marks which gives me 2 more ounces, so I'm probably never off by more than an ounce.

I've been using the 15 lb Boga for a few years now. It's a great scale and gripper. The only minor complaint I have is that as my eyes get older it is more difficult to make an educated guess for the ounces when the measurement is between the quarter pound marks. I guess I could just always round up.

That sounds like an awesome day. Congratulations to your son!

Congratulations on the new PB!

@Bluebasser86, I haven't been on the forums much lately due to work and other responsibilities so I missed this, but I wanted to put in a word that I am glad your son is OK and all is well. As you know, there is nothing more crushing than the fear of losing a child. I am happy for you and your family!

Awesome fish! Congratulations!

Congratulations!

That's a beautiful and huge bronzeback! Congratulations!

Congratulations on the new PB!

Ah yes. The beastmaster has returned. That is an amazing group of fish, Dwight!

Another anecdote that goes along with the point. My wife and I hit Table Rock only a week or so after @Bluebasser86 and the bite was similar. The biggest fish came on a 3.75 inch Rage swimmer but the large quantity of fish came off a 2.8 inch Keitech and a Ned rig. I wasted a lot of time with the 3.75" swimbait and a bigger jig before I finally learned my lesson. @everythingthatswims, 4th in points for team of the year is excellent in my book. Keep up the good work and I hope to see you moving up!

This is pretty much it. If the person is a family member or a good friend, you deal with it in the nicest way you can. If it gets to be too much, just limit the fishing trips to how much you can stand it.

I assume they will have to operate to remove that. Let us know how this goes. Best wishes.

I agree with much of the information above. Fishing the standing timber at Smithville can be a recipe for a skunk if one doesn't know which trees to look for and when. When I first started fishing the lake quite a few years ago that is what I did and I had very little success. Find channel banks with laydowns and brush as @Weedwhacker stated, and also, look for underwater channel swings with good drop-offs and either brush or trees on the lip, especially those close to rockier shallow areas. Those are the trees where you will find fish. The rest of the trees should be ignored in my opinion, unless you find one with a structure item that is conducive for bass movements. As for baits, I would add brush hogs and jigs with craw trailers to the list given.

Yeah, but I believe he could use a good cleaning at the dentist. ?

Words fail me! Amazing freak of a fish! Congratulations. That beats our state record smallie by 2 lbs 5 oz.

My wife and I spent 3 days at Table Rock Lake last week. We caught over 60 bass in 10 - 25 feet of water on gravel points and gravel spawning banks, but nothing huge to speak of. I saw some beds but all were empty, which was kind of surprising with the full moon and surface water temperatures ranging from 58.5 to 62 degrees. I caught a 19 inch largemouth that weighed in at 4 lbs even. My wife had the biggest smallie at 2 lbs 11 oz.

Nice one, A-Jay. Man, I love your pic quality. I can see every detail on that fish. Beautiful!

Congratulations on the 5 lb'er! Sounds like the kids are hanging in there too.