So much for Spring...

Spring is (kind of) gone, Turkey season is over, and I'm happy it's time for one some of the best fishing the Ozarks has to offer: Smallmouth float streams! It doesn't matter if it's the smaller walk and wade creeks for an afternoon or full-out overnight camping on gravel bars for a trip several days long, I'm in. In honor of the float season River Hills Traveler has the annual "Ozarks Float Trippin'" guide. It doesn't cover every floatable water in the Ozarks, but it's still a good guide to outfitters on the rivers it does cover. For a more comprehensive guide, you should pick up the "Missouri Paddlers Guide" or check out the rivers you want to explore by the digital versions of it Here and Here.
Then there is 417 Magazines' Guide to the Best Floats & Springs.

If you go this weekend be aware that water patrol is out there with the crowds, too. No glass bottles, don't litter, and catch and release those Smallmouths please!

Berkley "Sick Fish" swimbait video.

Finally someone posted a video to give you an idea of the subtle action of the new "Sick Fish" swimbait:

Awesome Smoked Turkey Dude...

Despite what other people may be doing today, I always think of Turkey hunting when it's this time in April. It doesn't matter if it's the stoner holiday or Earth Day, I always think of what I call "the big woods" and Turkey hunting. Unfortunately I'm busy with work this weekend so I can't hunt until next week, but I'll be out there in the National Forest trying to get a big Tom for the smoker.
I know one thing I won't be doing - crossing a creek with the water rising from recent heavy rains and getting stranded on the far side.
Especially if I'm in a wheel chair. Sometimes people just don't think. You be careful out there this weekend and wear your orange when walking from one spot to the next on public land.

Get Down With The Sickness... Or Sick Fish.

Since my son came down with Strep Throat and I'm home feeding him various antibiotics and fruit juices until he can go back to school I thought I'd take a minute and write about the Berkley Sick Fish swimbait I've been using a lot this late Winter/Early Spring. I've been using soft swimbaits for a long time in lots of sizes from the tiny Stanley Wedgetail on a 1/16 jighead for Crappies up to the bigger "Trophy Bass" size - but I'm talking about regular "Bass-Sized" (4" or 5") ones here today. I think that just like how soft jerkbaits are a good choice to pair up with hard jerkbaits, soft paddle-tail swimbaits make a great back up for when crankbaits should work, but aren't for some reason. The clear water here in the Ozarks make for fish that can see lures from a long ways off - there's many days when the iconic Wiggle Wart (or any other crank) just doesn't get bit, and those are days you should think about throwing a paddle tail swimbait instead.
For a couple of years my "go to" swimbait has been the Luck "E" Strike Bass Magic swimbait. Not because it's necessarily better than any of the other ones on the market but because the Bass Pro outlet store had a huge clearance bin of them and I stocked up at a ridiculously cheap price. They have a really nice "thump" to them and a great side-to-side action.
Here a great clip of the action courtesy of the Lure Tour's YouTube channel:



I can't find a video showing the more subtle action of the "Sick Fish" swimbait  - I've been throwing the 4" model so I don't know if the 5" is the same but it does have less "thump" - more of a subtle rolling and swimming than hard-kicking like the Bass Magic. This isn't a bad thing - I like to have a range of shake, rattle , and roll to present to fish - especially early in the year when their mood could be from mild to wild.  I can't wait to get the Sick Fish in front of some River Smallies in the post-spawn - they should just crush it like they do the Bass Magic. I've yet to catch anything really impressive on the new swimbait in the arsenal, but I think it will wind up being another good one.

Walleyes and Whites - hit and miss...

I hit the upper Bull Shoals area several times over the past two weeks - the smaller male 'Eye's are there but I haven't connected with the bigger specimens. I've been throwing "big fish" lures mostly - swinging for the fences with swimbaits and larger suspending jerkbaits. I've caught most of the Walleyes on the 10-size XRap in clown when it's dark or low light and silver blue when it brighter.
I've done better at dusk and dawn with the clown XRap by slowly and steadily retrieving it more like a crankbait. I've been slowly reeling it in and as it gets closer to shore I keep the rod tip up so it stays shallow. Most hits come as it gets closer to shore which makes you think that the fish are hugging the shoreline, but casting parallel to the shore brought nothing. I think the fish were tracking it in from deeper water and then hitting it as it got close to shore.

The second lure I've caught some fish on has been swimbaits - two different ones. The first is a standard for me - the Luck "E" Strike Bass Magic swimbait in the biggest size - the 5" ones in "Watermelon Shad" - it looks like a little Rainbow Trout. I like to throw them on a weedless jighead that I pour myself - it's 1/4-ounce but I sometime wrap additional weight in the form of lead flytying wire to make it 5/16 or 3/8 depending on how deep I'm fishing. I'm using the plain 1/4 unpainted head for these trips - I'm fishing pretty slow. The second swimbait is the new Berkley Havoc "Sick Fish" swimbait - it's really pretty cool looking and very realistic in the "Ghost Minnow" color -  it also looks like a little Rainbow in the 4" size.. The "Sick Fish" has scored the few White Bass I've caught - they seem to like it even if the Walleyes haven't been on it yet.

I did manage one trip down to the lower James looking for the early White Bass bite. I think maybe too early - there were plenty of people snagging for Paddlefish and a few others throwing stuff for Whites but I didn't see anyone catching them. Just like the Walleyes and Whites over at upper Bull Shoals - with all the rain we've had recently it'll explode here in the next few weeks, so just be patient.

I missed "Troutapalooza" - I guess.

I don't do the Missouri Trout Park Opener on March 1st for a number of good reasons, but I didn't even see that this is  "The year of the Trout"
I don't think I'll be participating in "Troutapalooza" but the trout parks are a good place to teach kids and newbies.