Pleiades

I fish with a guy that cleans pretty much everything caught. After seeing how much meat he got off a bass compared to a catfish, I can't see myself harvesting bass. I'm strickly C&R when fishing alone.

When you can't drive over a bridge without looking down to see if the water looks "bassy".

I think that's more of a traditional summer pattern. Just my two cents. You fishing this weekend? I'm going to try Ouachita.

X2 Dryer Sheets for gnats. Put one under your hat. I've also found that they will gang up on whoever is wearing dark clothing.

I have learned about more techniques than I can become proficient at! There's so much I want to try on a given day at the lake. I've definitely started catching bigger bass. The number one thing that I've gained is confidence with a jig. I caught my first fish with a jig about a year ago.

I'm glad someone out there is catching black bass on Greer's. I go to that lake for one thing: Hybrids.

Take great care when putting the hook into the fluke. Send the hook point through the VERY middle of the nose on the initial stick. Give it a test drive at the boat side before you start casting. If it spins, pull the hook out and try again. The fluke won't have great action if it is on the hook wrong anyway. If the problem persists, let the fluke spin after every third or fourth cast. I've never had to mess with a swivle on a fluke. Great way to catch schooling fish, by the way. Edit: I almost forgot. I always use offset shank hooks.

I will be renting a boat from the town creek fishing center in the state park.

Thanks everybody! I'm pretty comfortable fishing grass, so I like what I'm hearing.

soopd, sorry to hear about the weather. Thanks for the help.

Thank you.

Hello all, I will be traveling to Alabama in two weeks (May 17-18) so my wife can attend a conference. I plan on spending those two days on the water. I have never been there and know very little about the lake. I'd appreciate any info (water clarity, average depth, cover, stuff like that). Also if you know of any good patterns for this time of year, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks in advance, Paul.

I'm sure your unit has a spilt screen that will combine traditional sonar with your down-scanning. I'd use that screen. If I understand these units correctly, the traditional sonar will detect a larger area because it still uses a cone, while your down-scanning will give you a crisper picture of what's right under the boat. I tend to see things with the sonar before they show up on the DI. Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong. I don't claim to know it all and am still learning on these units that are changing faster than I can keep up.

I've tried what you're talking about on Greer's Ferry, but not Lake Ouacita. I didn't find any of the shelters that are on AGFC's online map. Let us know if you have any luck. I'm curious.

I fished a very small body of water that day. We resorted to basically dragging an achor. Ouachita can be down right dangerous on a day like that. Don't be too discouraged. That lake has quality fish in it. Wait until you accidentally hook into a striper!

I'd guess mid to high 40's for a surface temp.

I'm curious as to how you did. Did the wind keep you off the lake?

Take a look at the seasonal fishing articles and read up on pre-spawn. Also, take a look at the lake on google maps. Its very interesting that as you zoom in, the water level drops dramatically. Its like two different lakes! I can see lots of good looking points that I'd fish with a jig. Good luck!

Hello, I thought I'd chime in on this thread. I've never had much luck at Maumelle. This is just my opinion, but I think it suffers from too much fishing pressure due to its location. My two best bass have come from Little Blakley creek near the main lake at Ouachita. That's north east of Brady. My favorite thing to do on Ouachita is throw medium to deep diving cranks in natural colors during the pre-spawn. Ouachita can be a difficult lake because of the water clarity. The good thing about Ouachita, however, is that there is a lot of grass. Get yourself a set up that will allow for long casts with flouro line and you'll be ahead of the game. Work that crankbait to where its contacting the top of the hydrilla and you'll get bit. If you get too much grass, change to a shallower diving crank. Good luck!

A down-imaging depth finder. It removes all doubt about what is under the boat.

I don't know, but its certainly a nice fish! Welcome, by the way.

Thanks for all the replies everyone! Christian M, thanks for the info.. Did not know that.

After a couple of weeks of highs in the mid 30s, the weather is warming heading towards this weekend. I'm going to fish a deep, clear resevior (Lake Ouachita). The forecast high tomorrow is 60. I'm expecting living, green weeds from 10-15 feet deep in the clear water near the dam. The patterns I'm going to try are: 1. Slow rolling a spinner bait along deep weed edges (inside and outside edges). 2. Ripping lipless cranks out of the weeds. 3. Jigging the deep weedline with 1/2oz jigs. 4. Cranking a jointed shad rap until it hits the weeds, then ripping and contiuing the retrieve. Anything I'm leaving out? Thanks in advance, Paul.

I enjoyed reading the In Fisherman book "Largemouth Bass". It has a chapter detailing exactly what you're asking for. Likely can be had at a local book store.

When? During pre spawn. Where? Over grass in 12-18 feet of water. One of my favorite patterns. I'll start as early as late Feb.