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Post by KerryB on Jul 9, 2009 20:44:52 GMT -5
Went out for a few hours this morning 7/9/09 with my father and had a great time. Even at this time of year, if we get out early enough in the morning it is very cool and comfortable. We were on the lake around 6:00am and saw several Great Blue Herons, Green Herons, Prothonotary Warblers, Blue/Gray Gnatcatchers, Kingfishers, Kingbirds, etc, etc.... Not only was the birdwatching enjoyable, but the fishing was pretty good as well. We caught several largemouth bass with my father catching the best of the day. I didn't weigh it, but i did take a photo with my Blackberry phone so i could show you guys. The fish are deep at this time of year and we are catching them on plastic worms. We fished this morning at Cedar Lake just south of Carbondale, Illinois. This lake is only a few minutes from my house so we end up there more often than not. See.................i don't mind sharing my honey holes with you guys..............and you know who i am talking to!  ;D ;D  |
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Post by Buckrub on Jul 9, 2009 21:01:35 GMT -5
You come down here and I'll TAKE you to my honey hole!
I LOVE plastic worm fishing for bass. My absolute favorite thing on earth (When they are biting).
Tap, Tap, WHAM!
VERY NICE fish.
His hat says he's smarter'n me. His shirt says he's confident. His ring says he's happy. His smile says he's with a good friend. His fish says "OH NO, NOT THE FRYING PAN!".........
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Post by ET on Jul 9, 2009 21:04:15 GMT -5
Sounds like you had a great time with your Dad.
Looks like he’s pleased with his catch the way his eyes are locked on that fish. Those largemouth can put up a decent fight.
Wonder how some soft shelled crayfish bait would work on enticing those bass?
Ed
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Post by boarhog on Jul 9, 2009 22:00:05 GMT -5
RegionalBass1-09.jpg[/IMG]  If this posts OK, these are a few bass My Son and I caught in what is officially called Lake Langhoffer, but we call it Regional Park or Slack Water Harbour. It is an old bow of the Arkansas River that they leveed off to use for River Commerce. Makes a pretty good fishing hole within 15 minutes of Downtown. |
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Post by KerryB on Jul 9, 2009 22:18:12 GMT -5
His hat says he's smarter'n me. His shirt says he's confident. His ring says he's happy. His smile says he's with a good friend. His fish says "OH NO, NOT THE FRYING PAN!"......... Hey Buckrub, that is pretty witty! The hat is actually from my brother who graduated Stanford's Law School with honors. He is now a big shot St. Louis attorney!  But he can't shoot or catch fish like i can! ;D ET i bet the crayfish would work great.........we just can't get away from the plastic worms that work so well. Boarhog, those are some beauties! Nothing like a father and son fishing together.................mighty fine!  |
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Post by boarhog on Jul 9, 2009 23:36:36 GMT -5
Now you guys will know why they call me Boarhog at the deer camp!
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Post by Buckrub on Jul 10, 2009 8:40:28 GMT -5
Boarhog, I keep reading in the Thursday paper that the Ark River at Pine Bluff is HOT for crappie and bream. Why there? I fish the Ark River a lot around Central Arkansas, and it has lots of backwater and rip rap and structure. But what I've seen of the lower river, there's very little. The banks are straight and there's not a lot of backwater, other than Coal Pile, etc. But that's further down, at Dumas.
Where are these guys going that's so hot all the time?
We've considered driving to Pine Bluff to fish the river, if it's so hot, but have no clue where a good launching ramp is, or where to fish at all. That ain't a part of the world I want to leave my truck and trailer unattended just anyplace!!!
Any ideas? PM me if you want or if you know any good info.
P.S.
I figured you were just useless. You know the old saying, right? "Useless as teats on a boar hog".......
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Post by boarhog on Jul 10, 2009 9:18:58 GMT -5
Buckrub,
I wouldn't advise a trip. Fishing is very spotty around here. There are plenty of back water areas to fish though. And as for Coal Pile, my Son and I went there last Fri. If we hadn't lucked into White Bass schooling, we wouldn't have done much. Largemouth had lockjaw. Lake Monticello also. Most frustrating lake I've ever fished. You might consider heading North. Didn't the $100K winning Big Bass come from Lake Dardanelle?
What is happening with Lake Conway? We used to have good bream and bass catches there. Haven't tried in about 25 years tho.
The bass in this pic were caught around boat docks and brush piles in the canals in the Island Harbour area. Just happened to hit it right. When we were getting the boat tied down to leave, a guy my Son knows was doing the same. He showed us a live well full of SLAB Crappie. Largest was pushing 3 lbs!!! He has a secret Honey Hole somewhere. Prob where he has brush or Christmas trees sunk. We didn't catch a single Crappie that morning, but then we were mostly bass fishing with med diving crank baits.
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Post by Buckrub on Jul 10, 2009 15:04:28 GMT -5
Lake Conway sucks. I hate the place. You spend all day getting your boat off of submerged stumps. It's silted in about 2 feet deep at the bottom of fine silt. Some folks catch fish there, I just prefer to fish elsewhere. It was great when I was a kid.
I am looking for that guy's honey hole. That tells me they are biting there. I guess he's the one talking to the Paper for their weekly report. The report always says "around the wood" but I don't know where any trees are around there, always looks barren to me.
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Post by boarhog on Jul 10, 2009 17:53:25 GMT -5
Most of the "Wood" is what people have sunk to make their own Crappie Hole. There are rock walls all along the Arkansas. If not careful, you will find one the hard way.
About 3 weeks back, we went down to Coal Pile, but launched at Pendleton Bridge. From there, you can either go up into CP, or motor down to the AR Canal and go into Lake Merrisach. There are also places like Hole In The Wall and Moore's Bayou. We saw a Gator right at the mouth of the Canal that was just about as long as the boat. Prob 12-14' long. The part of his back that showed above water was 18-24" across! We haven't caught much of anything the last several fishing trips,,, anywhere.
Closer to Pine Bluff, there are lots of back water spots. The entire slack water harbour is back water, with an inlet into the main river @ Island Harbour. Go a little ways down river from there, and on the right is an area called Plum Thicket. Timing is everything there. If the water is high enough to have spots where water is flowing through rip rap walls, you can catch lots of bass and catfish, mostly small.
Like I said,,,, I wouldn't drive down here for any fishing we've done lately.
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Post by chuck41 on Jul 11, 2009 9:51:16 GMT -5
Ouachita used to be great, but this summer has been really bad for spear fishing. They introduced some "Pakistani" flies that were supposed to control the overgrowth of weeds in the lake. They worked so well there is now almost no cover in the lake left at all. Shallow areas that used to be almost impossible to swim through for the thick growth of weeds are this year completely bare. The trees that they left standing when the lake was built are mostly all gone now.
I am going to have to put out a bunch of brush piles just to have places where I can find a fish or two. Anybody know where you can get a bunch of 3 to 5 gal buckets? They work great with bamboo and I have lots of acres of bamboo.
You just mix a bag of sackcrete in the bucket, add 20 or so canes of bamboo fanning out in all directions and you have one of the best instant brush piles you can find anywhere. Drop them in the lake and they sink like a big parachute - - bottom first and stand up perfectly. Fish love them, but I am all out of buckets!!
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Post by KerryB on Jul 11, 2009 11:21:12 GMT -5
Chuck, that is a great idea for habitat! I'll bet the bamboo would last a lot longer without decaying compared to wood. I imagine you're lures wouldn't hang up in the bamboo quite as badly as brush piles either. Gotta give that a try............
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Post by boarhog on Jul 11, 2009 22:09:43 GMT -5
Chuck,
Just a thought. Try calling a few painting contractors, and ask them to save the buckets for you. maybe even offer to pay a little for them. They prob don't need to be cleaned out all that well for your purpose. May be worth a try. Same with drywall guys. Seems like they get the drywall paste in 5 gal buckets? I have seen those habitats made out of PVC pipe also.
Happened to think of another source. Logging companies buy hydrolic fluid in 5 gal buckets. I'd call anyone that runs trucks or heavy equip.
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Post by Buckrub on Jul 12, 2009 9:38:42 GMT -5
Chuck, I"m all out of bamboo!!! I have a friend whose wife buys cleaning powder in these big buckets! He thinks she's 'taking in washing' from all the buckets he has left over. We used to use 'em for gut buckets till we got smart and got bigger buckets. I put swivel seats on the bottom and use 'em for deer stand seats with a plastic boat seat. Chuck, did you steal that idea from Daryl??? I hear it really works. Best to put it all together on the shore though. A bit cumbersome to travel down the road trailering a boat with bamboo sticking out all over! |
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;D ;D
But he can't shoot or catch fish like i can! ;D 
