Munkin

They were definately more active in the shallows during the morning. Once the sun was out they started hanging deeper unless there was wood. Allen

Fished there today and man was it tough! Managed 4 fish and lost 3 more but like I said it was rough fishing. In the morning fish came on the white spinnerbait but after 10am it was all about the jig. I did find a couple lures back in the stick up area like normal but whomever launched that Stanley frog up into the tree I will tell you that it is not time for those yet. Allen

Take advantage of all the fishing around FT Leonard Wood while you are there. I spent 17 weeks there for MPOBC training and the fishing is great. The only downfall was the cotton mouths that I ran into on the Big Piney. Don't forget about all of us when you have access to all those JDM baits. Allen

Are you the one who had the dog with you? Allen

After you launch take a right at the Y towards the bridge and sore lip every bass on that side of the lake. Allen

Re-send it to me as well as somehow I erased it? Allen

Black Hills is fishing a lot different this spring than the past 3 years but you can still catch some good fish. I have a club tournament there Sunday so I won't reveal what I BrianMD and I found but will tell you there is one bait working really well. Allen

Depends on the specific bait? Personally I have at least 100 LC baits and find they are worth every penny. I have never had to tune or modify one to get it to run correctly. Some of the cranks are average but the RC 1.5 is the best crankbait I have ever used and I have some that are not only missing bait but they have started to wear into the plastic. The Pointer series is my favorite jerkbait and the gunnish or Sammy have caught hundreds of fish for me in the last 10 years. Get yourself a good lure retriever and don't worry about the cost as they will be a lot harder to lose. Honestly I have only lost 4 high end baits in the past 10 years which is about the cost of gas to go and fish the Lower Potomac so I don't even think about what they cost anymore. Senkos and Chigger craws start to get expensive when you add up the cost of how many you go through in a season. Allen

This is what I have found in experimenting with swim jigs: Swim jig to me is just a more subtle version of a spinnerbait. I use them in the same colors as a spinnerbait which I generally base on available forage. Shadish and bluegillish seem to work the best but I have caught many on a GP one as well. For trailers I have found that a single tail grub works best in open water and a paddle tail like a RI dipper works best around weeds, etc. Allen

Man I would have to lose a lot because I carry so many "spares". Allen

Just noticed above your profile the "aka chatterface" and remember the story that went with it. Allen

Like someone mentioned before sometimes I will not see you on the bank. I am concentrating on the water and not the bank so I may miss you. Since the waters are small we have to share places to fish around here. My rule of thumb is to give anyone on the bank the spot and not to get any closer than 3 full cast lengths. It is easier for me to move to another spot than someone that is shorebound. That being said one lake I fish all the best spots can be hit from the shore so that is where I am going to fish. I cannot remember having a problem with any shore bound bass fishermen? Trout fisherman are so bad I just avoid any place stocked with trout for the first 2 weeks. Other boats are the problem usually and it is more ignorance than anything else. Allen

My boat is 4 mph faster without just the baits I carry. Culling tackle is hard because of the "what if?" scenarios we all have in our mind. Honestly I could fish with just the baits that would fit into a one gallon freezer bag and would still be successful. Yesterday I pulled 9 plano boxes out of the boat because the rod locker lid barely shut do to all the stuff in there. Sometime in the next couple of months I am going to do an honest cull and get rid of 25-50% of what I have. So I have about 250 bags of plastics and 75 hard baits to get rid of but that should double at least. Allen

Where are all the other boats? I went to the zoo with the family yesterday or I would have been there. Next Sunday is my club tournament there so don't you guys sore lip all the fish. Last year I lost angler of the year by 1 fish to a rule that I didn't know existed. Allen

Beware of the crocodiles! Allen

Use a 5/16oz Eakins style finesse jig in that same color that you have the most confidence in of your soft plastics. Trailers should be the same color to start in two different models; one with and one without action. Something like a Zoom super chunk which has minimal action and another with like a double tail grub, chigger craw, etc. I am sure you will get some specific recommendations here for trailers. Allen

The boat ramp will be busy but the shoreline to the left as you are facing the ramp is a good area to fish. Another area to look at is the cove to the left of the ramp, I am not sure what the official name is as I have always heard it referred to as state park cove. There is a small bridge going across the cove that leads to the ramp that is good and a large dock that is owned by the state in that cove that are both good fishing. All the other areas that I know of from shore are private property as far as I know? If you want anymore info just send me a Pm and I will respond. Allen

Honestly the biggest fish I have caught (23.5") and the biggest I know that was caught (8.2lbs) both were under that bridge. The bridge is a good starting point for fishing and if I had any info for how to get to shore bound spots I would post it. I will tell you that even though I am fishing from a boat all the fish we caught Sunday were within a cast length from shore and accessible from it. Allen

You mean the cove with all the stumps that have silver xpress paint on top of them Allen

Damiki shad is the best 4" bait I have used so far. RI dippers are nice but they are 3.5 and like 5". Allen

Wiggle wart is size 6 or maybe even 5 but not a 4. Allen

I catch one or two a year by accident and will admit at first thinking I have the new state record bass. For anyone trying to catch them on purpose just use some oatmeal on a size 6 treble hook with some sugar or koolaid mixed in. Allen

How much fishing pressure does the place get? What I have found on places that get a lot of pressure (anywhere around here) is long casts and natural colors. Watermelon and smoke are my favorite colors for clear water like you mentioned. Something else you may want to try if using hard baits is to speed up your retrieve. I have caught a lot of fish in clear water with a spinnerbait or crankbait by running it so fast they just react without getting a good look at it. Allen

Football but I found that with the 1/8oz I fish most of the time it doesn't really matter. Allen

That is what I guessing based on the Google map. Allen