Fish Catching Travel
It is almost 10 and I am sitting in my friend Clyde’s basement as he and the Shoedog play guitars. I am drinking an adult beverage and digesting a wonderful fish supper. Now I may not be getting hammered, but the Shoedog and I hammered them on Bull Shoals Lake today.
North Arkansas, with Bull Shoals and Norfork Lake is my old stomping ground. I moved here in 1974 in my AMC gremlin with $125 and tent, to be a fishing guide. I bought a small tackle store, met the locals, started fishing tournaments and guiding , and the rest is history.
So Shoedog and I, after visiting our folks in Fayetteville, decided to fish the upper end of Bull Shoals Lake so we put in at the boat dock at Diamond City and headed out. One of the reasons I scheduled this trip for right now was in these highland lakes the middle of April is always good. Water temp of 52 – 55 degrees, the fish looking to spawn, what more could you want. So we headed to the first cove and it was one of those days you are glad to have a rod in your hand.
One of three keeper walleye I put in the boat.
As Shoedog cut the engine and headed to the deeper side of the cove, I said not that side. Where you will find fish here this time of year is secondary points, sloping banks with mixed rock and gravel. He caught 2 or 3 bass on jerk bait in about 10 minutes and from that point it was game on.
Shoedog with one of the many big white bass.
From around 10 in the morning until we quit at 5 it was a jerk bait extravaganza. I let him get me down about 10 or so while I threw the works at them, and then when I were sure it was jerk bait, the slaughter began. And when we would catch one, we would catch 3, or 4, or 6. There were white bass mixed in, the occasional walleye, along with the largemouth, smallmouth and Kentucky Spotted bass. It was just to good.
Our biggest bass of somewhere around 50 today.
One of my favorite lures this time of year here is a watermelon red flake twister grub. I threw it quite a bit today, and though I only caught 3 fish, 2 were walleyes including the one above. As soon as we get the smallmouth a little more dialed in the grub will come in to it’s own. Slow rolling it on light line and spinning gear results in some great hits. With the weather warming, the fish in pre-spawn and moving to the bank, the next 3 or 4 days should be awesome. And Clyde will be able to fish with us, so look out, there may be a killing.
A nice Kentucky Spotted Bass and a Smallmouth.
Bull Shoals is on the upstroke right now. The fish population is as healthy as I have seen it in my 40 years of fishing here. I told you last post this was going to be a meat haul. My family have all put in their request, and if it stays like this, they should get their wish.
A nice limit of bass and 3 walleye.
Time to hit the sack. Clyde joins us for the next 3 days, and it is Bull Shoals again tomorrow. Then Norfork Saturday for crappies and stripers, it will be awesome. Every once in a while you hit it right, and this is one of those times. The walleye have just come off the beds, and so have the white bass, and they are on the feed. The bass are ready, and if the weather stays like this, they will be on the beds in a matter of days. So keep stopping in, it should be a great trip and I am glad you are coming along with us. Thanks for reading my stuff.
Good Luck and Tight Lines
