Dropping a Line

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Sometimes it’s not just about fishing. That’s why you should always have a camera on the water. This pic was taken by a fishing buddy who lives here on Table Rock and spends as much time on his dock as he does on his boat. If you see a bass boat with a white and black Lab, you know there are fish or eagles close by.

People, spring has arrived. The eagles are nesting and I predict you will see some green next week. Water temps have warmed up a lot with this warm front and warm rain.

Crappie and stripers have been the talk of most, with limits of each being caught. The shoreline and up river is the warmest water now, and with rainwater bringing in a warm current, the bait is moving up the rivers and into the creeks.

Any bait that is deep is now being pushed to the top by big stripers, so the top water bite is starting.

I have my first trip this year on Thursday so I will be running both shad and creek chubs behind the boat with only two rods weighted for below, and four behind with no weight.

Crappie are being caught mostly off the flats close to the shoreline, slow moving, with minnows in water 6 – 12 ft. deep. We’ll get some mud coming up the rivers, which the crappie won’t mind much, but most stripers that did move up the White River will move back towards the Hwy. 12 bridge for cleaner water.

Watch the surface and your graph close off the flats and into the back of Prairie, Avoca and Goose Creeks, north of the 12 bridge, that’s where I will be.

Looks like only 7 days left to get in the books for the 2018 season and save $40 on our Striper trips. This warm rain should get that fishing fever going. Enjoy while you can and don’t forget that camera.        

Johnson Guide Service, fishofexcellence.com.  (479) 253-2258