Bluebasser86

Nope, that's a drum, or a freshwater sheepshead as some call it, gaspergoo, croaker, knocker, or dorkfish as I call them. The fish in the first picture is a saltwater sheepshead.

I will call him squishy, and he shall be mine.

We got 4 or 5 inches of snow already and supposed to get a couple more through tomorrow night. Good thing is we really need any kind of moisture we can get and looks like we may be in the clear by next Wednesday

I do the small stuff like changing my oil (4 stroke) lower unit grease, wiring, thermostat, just little stuff. If it gets more serious I'll take it to the shop.

I don't work the long hours that some of you guys do but the 48-56 hour work weeks I put in every week are plenty for me.

Congrats man!

Mine cost around 80 for retail but I got it for 40 in the bargain cave at Cabela's. It's a folding Frabil and it helps save a little space in my little boat but folds and extends out to a net that is plenty big for most of the fish I catch.

Rayburn red, bluegill, ghost, and chrome/blue back are about the only colors I use in rattle traps, and I catch a lot of fish on traps throughout the year. I fish the 1/2oz size 90% of the time but will go down to a 1/4oz if the water is clear or the baitfish are averaging smaller sizes.

Some of the biggest fish I've caught ona spinnerbait either just felt like the blades quit turning or I felt my my bait just get a little bit lighter. I'm not a fan of adding trailers to my spinnerbaits except in dirty water. White is a good all around color for spinnerbait fishing that will catch fish in any water clarity. I prefer 14-17 pound test but 12 will work as long as you aren't fishing heavy cover.

We're going to be at the Bull Shoals-White River State Park right below Bull Shoals dam. Not really worried about having a fire to keep animals away since it's a pretty developed campground. I thought about the MRE's but I've heard some of them are terrible tasting and I'd hate to spend the money and not be able to eat them. Cereal wouldn't be terrible except half an hour after I eat cereal I'm usually hungrier than I started.

I think technically you're more like the dealer, the fish are the addicts .

Don't bite split shots to close them and if you pour anything make sure you do it in a well ventilated area and you'll be fine.

I've called in sick to fish local bodies of water a few times. It's really bad after a long winter when you get those first few real warm days. I get off work at 8AM when it's warming up out and it smells good out with everything blooming and all the birds that haven't been around all winter are singing, it makes it really tough sometimes.

Table Rock doesn't have Kentucky spots but it does get some absolute footballs. I've seen 16 inchers pushing 3 pounds and my biggest was almost 4 and not quite 18". You're right, they are not lazy fighters when they are big and healthy.

I like the oatmeal idea, I can mix all that stuff together and toss it on the campstove while we're getting ready to head out. Also found a recipe for baked Oatmeal bars, going to try that with some fruit and nuts mixed to for some extra energy. We're having PB&J's for lunch so don't really want to have peanut butter for breakfast and lunch.

My friend Jon and I are getting ready to go back to the White River the first week of April and we'll be camping and bringing all our own food to try to keep it a little cheaper. We have lunches and dinners planned out but can't figure out what to do for breakfast. We're trying not to take anything for breakfast that needs to be cooked but I'm having no luck finding any ideas for breakfast that don't need to be cooked besides junk like donuts and muffins. So does anyone have any suggestions for a quick, no cook camp breakfast?

I guess we probably need to start the food list now that we're just a little over a month away. The last couple times we've done burgers, brauts, and hotdogs with whatever sides everyone wants to bring. If we can get a few people to bring some burgers, brauts, or dogs, a couple to bring buns, some sides, somes desserts, and some drinks we'll be good to go. You can PM me with whatever you want to bring and I'll make a list on the first post so everyone knows what they're responsible for. If you're planning on staying to eat please volunteer to bring something, even if it's just a bag of burger buns or a 2 liter of pop.

Yes I've seen so many stock SK hooks straightened and bent out by big fish it's insane. I like VMC #3 short shanks on all my 1/2oz traps. They don't tangle, they snag less, and they hold up when a big fish eats my bait.

Spots fight harder pound for pound than a largemouth and they do pull really hard for their size at times but not like a smallmouth.

Went with my buddy and his son and braved the cold and wind to chase some trout today. We didn't catch as many big ones as we did last week but I did get my new PB with a 6.70 pound rainbow that ate my Little Cleo right next to the boat. Christopher hasn't trout fished much but he didn't have any problem holding his own and caught some very healthy trout himself.

So where was everybody at for the big trout tourny today??? Jon, his son Christopher, and I were out at Lake Shawnee for the "warmer" hours of the day. Actually it was 27 when we got to the ramp at 9 and it was 28 when we left at 2:30. They were in the same spots they were last week and in good numbers but we didn't get as many big ones as last week. I did break my PB again, this time with a 6.70 pound monster. We had one spot that was just loaded with whites that were all over a jerkbait almost every cast. They weren't real big and didn't fight like they normally would in the 42 degree water but they were still pretty fun to be catching them that fast. We caught a bunch of whites and trout both and Jon even had a bluegill on his Ned rig. A Little Cleo was best but we also caught trout on small cranks and a Ned rig. Christopher pretty much focused on the trout all day and caught his share of them too.

Not for a state record. You might get your picture in a companies catalog with your fish and maybe a little free stuff but more than likely it will just be your name on a piece of paper for catching a fish that only a few people know about. Sounds like they did their best to keep the fish alive but a fish that size was probably towards the end of it's lifespan anyways and may have had less than a year left had it not been caught anyways. A world record is a whole different story, at least if it's one of the more popular species. I doubt the guy who caught the world record drum had people knocking down his door to get the story and offer endorsements

I think we'll be good now, I've got a couple buddies and friends from work that aren't on the site that have boats about talked into it so hopefully we'll have enough boaters.

I'd suggest trying something like a Strike King Bitsy Flipping jig. It's a pretty versatile jig and it's compact and fairly heavy. I wouldn't go any lighter than 1/4oz for learning a jig, it gets too difficult to feel once you get lighter than that. 1/4-3/8 is probably your best weights. A 5/16oz Eakin's Jig is what I learned to jig fish with.

I like a Texas rig better in weeds and really heavy cover because I can use a streamlined bait that will pass through the cover easier. Not sure either has a better hookup ratio, kind of depends on how good the fish are eating the bait. A jig catches more big fish for me but I also probably fish a jig more than a T-rig so that may have something to do with it.