Jim and Brian Garner

Sunny and Pleasant, Water Temperature 82* and Clear.
I picked Jim and Brian up at their dock this morning, went and caught bait then looked for Stripers. Although they had been out with me numerous times I wanted to start off slowly on pods of fish versus larger schools which 2 anglers may not be able to handle very well. We set up nearby some breaking fish first but after catching 8 fish in 5 minutes we decided to make a move. Our second set up worked out great, we would hook up about once every 3 or 4 minutes giving them a chance to enjoy the catch and time to rebait. It was also nice fishing during the week again without so much boat traffic to deal with. We went through 150 baits on 5 or 6 set ups , caught more bait and hit them again and again. Seemed everywhere we fished we caught nice fish. Jim kept a dozen Stripers to keep and we released all the other fish in good shape to fight again another day. Jim is pictured holding the nicest fish of the day.

Jim, Don, Chris, Joel, Jeff and Geof

Sunny and Warm, Water Temperature dropped to 82* and Clear.
Had a tough time catching bait this morning but caught 200 and picked my clients up at their dock. One of the first questions asked this morning was "will this cold front affect fishing today?" My answer was "I am not looking for excuses today to not catch fish". Well for about 3 hours this morning I looked for schools, set up on pods and schools of fish only to get punked and take short hits. Their question of the cold front kept haunting me but I was determined to make a good fishing day out of today. We had already set up on a dozen different sets of Stripers but the cooler was not filling up very quickly. I went and caught about 150 more baits and continued searching for fish. I had a couple of friends out fishing also and they were seeing the same thing I was on their Lowrances which made me work even harder to put something together. About 10 o'clock I finally saw what I wanted to see on my Depth Finder and we set up on it, or tried to set up on it. We could only get a line or 2 out before a Striper would hook up. I was anxious to get my complete spread out to show a school of bait but that would not happen till 20 minutes later. I was baiting and net fish as quick as I could while all the guys were reeling in and taking fish off their lines. Eventually I lost the school never to find it again. By now I had burnt a tank of gas up looking for fish so I went and refueled and looked some more. I found yet another school and everything we put out got hit till we used up all of our bait. We had all worked together making a so-so day a great day. Everyone was Happy especially me when I returned them to their dock and took pictures. We caught about 60 Stripers, 6 or 8 Cats and a Bass today.

Amir, Jim, Kat, Jalil and Majid

Sunny and Hot, Water Temperature 87* and Clear.
Started the day off catching bait and picking my crew up at 5:30 at High Point. I gave them a briefing on how to deploy the lines properly then went looking for fish. It didn't take long to find what I wanted so we put the baits out and the rods started bending. Three of this crew are regulars and one of the new guys was so excited he kept messing up. My regulars were laughing at him quite often remembering they had been there and done that. We all had a good time on the boat today catching plenty of fish and having plenty of laughs. Today we worked about 8 schools of Stripers catching fish everywhere we went till about 10:30 when the bite turned off and all we could do is get short hits after that. Everyone had plenty of fish and memories to take back home today.

Kyle, Curtis, Mason, Elden and Mitch

Sunny and Hot, Water Temperature 85* and Clear.
Caught a bunch of bait early , picked the guys up at High Point at 5:30 and looked for fish. Set up over a school of fish and within 10 minutes went through 30 baits. Hit school after school today taking hits everywhere we went. Fish were scattered through out the lake today, I guess they got pretty stirred up over the weekend. We ended up getting over 300 strikes today keeping the guys and myself pretty busy. Curtis is pictured holding a Bass he caught on a downline over 35 feet of water.

Alec, DP, Anthony, Chrystal, Tony and Michael

Cloudy and Pleasant, Water Temperature 80* and Clear.
My grandson is with me this weekend so I decided to take him out for a couple hours fishing and tubing this morning. He wanted to invite some of his friends so we made some calls and off we went. We caught bait then picked up the rest of the guys at High Point. I looked for schools for about 20 minutes till I saw what I wanted to see on my Lowrance then we set out our spread. All the adults had been fishing with me many times before so deploying the bait when I found schools ended up being simple and painless. We would get the bait in the water, the kids would reel the fish in, we would take the fish off and do it again and again. We found about 6 or 8 schools this morning to fish and caught fish everywhere we went. By 9 o'clock we had gone through 200 baits, caught over 60 Stripers and the kids were ready to get in the water. We pulled them around for a couple hours and got the boat out of the water before all the weekend warriors hit the lake. Hopefully everyone will take a moment this Memorial Day weekend to remember those who gave their lives for our country so that we could be able to enjoy the things we like to do and to pray for a safe return of all the men and women who fight for our freedom.
SEMPER FI

Jason, Doug, Caden, Bobby and Brian

Sunny and Hot, Water temperature 81* and clear.
Caught bait and picked up the guys at High Point at 5:30. We set up on a few fish but only popped 1 so we looked elsewhere. As always I was looking for major schools but they have not developed very well the last couple days. I decided to spend a little more time fishing and less time looking today because I was worried about the traffic on the lake being a holiday weekend. We set up on at least a dozen different locations catching fish everywhere we went. Although we never found a huge school fishing was still good. We went through 200 baits by 10am so I caught about 150 more and used all but 10 of those, quite a few hits for a day. I did not attempt to count how many fish we caught total today but I did keep track of Bobby's catches, he caught 23 Stripers , aLargemouth Bass and a few Kitties. The guys took home enough fish to feed everyone coming to Doug's place this weekend and and also enough fish for Jason to catch a buzz off of Beer while he cleans them this afternoon.

Art, Ken and Mattson

Sunny and Hot, Water temperature 77* and Clear.
Caught bait, picked the guys up and went searching for schools of Stripers. I found some pods of fish so I set up on one just so the guys would learn how to put the baits out and how to reel the fish in without getting tangled with the other lines. Looked for a while longer setting up on different pods till I found the Mother Load. There was no doubt what was going to happen next, the guys saw the Lowrance covered in fish and they were ready to do business. I baited a rod for each angler and just as soon as they engaged the reel a Striper would clobber the bait. It took us about 15 minutes to finally get 10 baits out all the while rods were taking hits. We worked that school in that area for about 40 minutes until we started catching Cats then we got our baits in and I found the school about 500 yards up the channel. We hit them again and again till the school dispersed. We looked for schools after that but did not find any large schools so we ended up the morning working pods of fish. We had 200 hits today catching over 50 Stripers with the guys taking home 16 Stripers for table fare. All other Stripers were released to fight again another day.

Tony, Nick, Chris, Josh and Pete

Sunny and warm, Water temperature 74* and Clear.
Started the day off with 260 baits in the tank. Picked the crew up at High Point and went fishing. We did the usual mock set up over a couple fish then once they understood how things worked we got serious. I knew we were going to have fun this morning because we had two boys on board that wanted to learn how to fish. My main focus was to get the boys hands on as many rods bending over as possible, and after today I am sure they will have bruises on their tummies from reeling in Stripers. We hit school after school this morning catching fish everywhere we went but never got into a mega-school, probably a good thing with the kids on board. I did not attempt to keep track of how many fish we caught today but we went through all but 30 baits this morning. By the time the boat traffic got up everyone had had enough action for one day so we called it a day. We kept a few fish for dinner and released all of the other fish alive to fight again with the exception on one punk that got hurt that may not make it.

Paul Dell and friends

Anthony took Paul and his friends out for a morning of fishing for Stripers on downlines and caught a bunch of fish. Looks like the guys have dinner for a couple days.

Paul, Tom and George

Sunny and Pleasant, Water temperature 73* and Clear.
After catching bait and picking up my clients this morning we cruised the lake looking for schools. It didn't take long to notice the large tight schools of yesterday were dispersed more. I would see 30 to 50 fish here and there but never saw the solid acres of Stripers. I decided to set up on the pods of fish and hit numerous schools to see how they bit. I seemed this morning early the smaller fish would bite and the later in the day it got the larger fish would hit. Although today was slower than yesterday we still caught well over 60 Stripers [I asked the guys to count the fish they caught but once Paul hit 10 and took his shoes off I knew their count would be useless]. The guys kept 16 to take home for the table and released the rest. Today we went through close to 300 baits.

Bev and Mike

Cloudy and warm, Water Temperature 73* and clear.
Caught bait early as usual and picked my clients up at High Point at 5:30. Since there was only two anglers I took a couple minutes to brief them on how to put the lines out and how not to set the hook when fish hooked up. They seemed to understand what I was referring to so off we went. With only 2 people fishing it is extremely difficult to keep up with the action so I told them I would not be taking them directly to schools but we would start off on singles then if they did well we would graduate to larger schools. After putting out the rods correctly and catching a few fish they were ready. I put them right in the middle of our first school of the morning with 10 lines out and every rod starting bending over. Bev was working the front of the boat and Mike took control of the back of the boat. By the looks of my Lowrance you can see what they were dealing with, nothing but constant action. By 8am they had boated 65 Stripers, the most fish caught by 2 anglers out of my boat by 8am. Quite a testament to their ability and understanding of not only how to deploy the lines but also of fighting the fish in order not to tie up other lines. By 8:30 we had gone through 250 baits, caught 76 Stripers and a few Cats, keeping a dozen to take home and releasing all the others to fight again. [I use circle hooks, no gut hooking]. Mike and Bev came from Ohio and showed interest in coming back later in June to fish again but I have a feeling they may have some help next time around.

Slobo, Jake, Gary, Dudly and Neal

Cloudy, Rain and Wind, Water temperature 73* and clear.
I knew today was going to be interesting when I saw the weather forecast yesterday. I warned the guys that they may want to go another day but they decided a little rain would not hurt anyone. Little did they know that it would rain 3 inches during their trip! All the lightning was pretty interesting also. Well we got out early and caught some nice bait so I set out a spread of planner boards pulling flats. After a while with little success I decided it was time to do something else. I went and caught more bait and started looking for fish. We would set up on fish and if it was raining the Stripers would not bite. The minute it quit raining rods would start bowing over. We hit school after school, praying for the rain to let up so the fish would bite. Around mid day the sky almost turned blue for a few minutes and every rod we had out hooked up. I looked up one time and every angler had a fish in their hand taking it off the hook with all the other rods still in the water hooked up with fish also. Then the rain came and washed away the fish. A few breaks in the rain let us spank the Stripers again and again. Today we caught about 60 fish with the guys taking home 17 fish for the frying pan. I burnt a tank of gas today locating fish but it payed off in the long run.

Jerry, Jordan, Jacob and Vernon Yingling

Cloudy and Pleasant, Water Temperature 72* and Clear.
I got out very early this morning to catch bait then picked my clients up at 5:30 at High Point Marina. We took about a 10 minute ride then I put my spread out. I started with 10 boards, a bobber and a couple downlines to see how my crew would do. Jordan jumped on the first rod and wrestled her first Striper in [bottom picture] then shortly thereafter Jacob reeled in his first Striper [middle picture]. We took hits there until the boat traffic spooked the fish so I moved out deeper and put an additional 5 downlines out. We caught fish until we needed a potty break so we got our lines in and moved. While they were up at the store I saw some bait and threw on them catching about 200 Herring in one throw. With the boat traffic like it was I decided to work strictly downlines so I hit the main lake looking for schools. For the next 4 hours we found school after school catching 8 to 10 fish from a school then locating another to repeat the process. I believe we worked 7 or 8 different schools before calling it quits for the day. My crew was ready to go in, Stripers on the lake today wore them out. They kept a couple fish to take home and released all the others to fight again. We are starting a summer pattern of fishing now with the downline bite and if today was any indication of how the fishing will be this summer you can expect to catch 50 to 100 fish a morning on live bait.

Dillon and Doug Myers

Sunny and Warm, Water Temperature 72* and Clear.
After fishing Monday pulling boards in the morning and downlines in the afternoon catching 25 Stripers but only 5 fish being keepers I decided to switch things up today. I caught about 100 Herring and only 15 Gizzards then put out a spread of 10 boards, a bobber and 6 downlines. We had worked over a flat that should have been holding fish without taking a hit. Soon after dropping off the edge of the flat a downline got clobered and Dillon hopped on the rod. After a couple minute fight he landed the first and largest fish of the morning, his largest Striper to date after fishing with me about a dozen times. It didn't take but a couple minutes to change everything over and we started taking hit after hit. We worked the small school for about an hour then left them to look elsewhere. We hit a couple more similar areas catching fish the same way. We kept 12 Stripers and released the rest to fight again another day. Doug took his son Dillon out of school today to get his mind on something else other than girls, I think it worked for a few hours but based on the time he was on his phone this morning I believe he will forget the fish tomorrow when he is back in school. In a year or so Doug will need to find a new fishing partner for a few years.

What a difference a day makes!

Cloudy then Sunny and Warm, Water Temperature 69* and Clear.
Met the guys at High Point at 5 then went and caught bait. Filled 2 tanks up with beautiful baits and went fishing. We set out a spread of 8 planner boards, a bobber and 6 downlines covering the water column looking to see what the fish wanted to eat. After going over fish and not getting hit I looked up and the wind was blowing right out of the East. I looked at the guys and told them this was not good, it may be a long day. Two hours later and only a couple of fish we decided to make a move. We moved to another good area , same results. Went and caught bait, set up again, and again, same results. By 3 my trolling motor batteries had all they could handle of the wind and started to die so we called it a day. One day on the lake you can catch fish everywhere you go, the next you may have to struggle. Now I know how it feels to go from a Hero to a Zero overnight. Well it wasn't that bad, we caught 8 Stripers and kept 6 to take home. You may notice some of the guys in the pictures, that's Jeff in the top picture holding a nice fish and Ricky in the lower picture, both are pros at the fishing counter at Greentop Sporting Goods. [You may even notice Stan the bass man in the lower picture and also Mark] They are experts at what they do and have the knowledge to help you with all your fishing needs, especially with Depth Finders and gear for fishing local bodies of water. They carry everything I use on the lake and understand how to use them.

Greg and Michael

Cloudy and Cool, Water Temperature 69* and Clear.
My grandson Michael wanted to go fishing this weekend so I called Greg and we headed to the lake for a morning of relaxation. It was nice not to be pressured into catching bait by daylight, we didn't even get to the lake till daylight. We caught some bait and looked for some fish. I was more interested in finding fish for tomorrows clients than catching fish. We would look awhile, fish some and then do it again. Greg wanted 1 meal and so did we so we only kept a couple fish and released the others. Once the wind turned and started blowing out of the East we knew the bite was over and headed back in. I located some nice fish today that I will work on tomorrow.

Ron, Paul, George and Dave

Partly Sunny and Warm, Water Temperature 69* and Clear.
I hit the water a couple hours before daylight to catch bait then picked the guys up at 6 at the marina. I was excited about the day, the infamous George Barboza was back on the water with us today after a couple year hiatus. He has been a client of mine for many years and it was good to get back out with him along with his son Paul, Ron and Dave. Since the old man was coming I caught bait prior to picking them up so George could get his rest [Ha...] Anyway I found some fish on my Lowrance and attempted to set up on them. There was no one else in the area so I was taking my time setting up but another guide came buzzing in and stopped about 100 yards from us and decided he was going to fish the small area. It wouldn't have been so bad but I had to do 90 degree turns to avoid his spread! Again, 9600 acre lake, half a dozen boats out at daylight and we have to share an area with another inconsiderate "fisherman". If I didn't have so many baits out I would have gone somewhere else, what is up with people today? Does anyone have a conscience anymore? My guys wanted to run across the water and teach him some etiquette but I believe they did something better, they caught all these huge fish in front of him and his clients. Anyway we went through 65 baits by about 9am so we picked up and went and caught some more bait. We hit a few more areas after catching bait and caught fish everywhere we went. We had a great time today, not just catching fish but enjoying each others company. Now that George is back in the saddle I hope to get him and his buddy's Paul and George out soon. The wind seems like it has been howling for 2 weeks straight now and it was nice to fish a couple hours before it picked up again later in the morning.

Dave's Pics

Here are a few pictures Dave sent me of today's outing. We were running out of room to put our catch so Paul was thinking of storing it in my boot till I turned around and caught him. In a couple of days he will probably start to smell the Herring I put in his coat pockets.

David and Austin Lacey

Cloudy and Warm, Water Temperature 63* and Clear.
I picked the guys up at High Point this morning, caught bait and set out my spread of a dozen boards, bobber, free line and a couple downlines. I hit a few points that I knew were holding nice
Stripers but we only had lookers, no fish would hook up. I knew this was not shaping up to be a good morning not only by not catching fish on productive points but it was Saturday and the wind was getting up. I continued to work areas I knew held fish taking hits and occasionally catching a Striper. I had plenty of places to try but the wind would not allow me to fish it properly so I stuck with my original plan. I was also talking to many other Striper fisherman on the lake which made us feel pretty good because most of them had struck out. Many fisherman left the lake by noon disappointed in the fishing. After all it is Spring and the fish should have been feeding today. We struggled all day to catch fish but ended up catching plenty for a few dinners for the guys. Austin is pictured holding his first Striper and largest fish he had ever caught but he actually caught a larger one a couple minutes later. We fished till my trolling batteries would not pull the boat any longer then called it a day.

Elden and Bill

Cloudy and Windy, Water Temperature 63* and Clear.
Picked the guys up at 5am and caught bait. We had our spread out at daylight pulling flats and points. This morning we were all over fish but they were not very aggressive, they would chase the baits up to the surface but not take them. We would hook up on 1 out of every 4 bites. The moon was bright last night so the fish fed up in the twilight and I thought it probably would be later in the morning before the Stripers got serious. Our hook up ratio continued till about 11:30 when the fish finally got hungry. Every time we would get hit the Stripers would eat the bait swallowing the hooks. We would have action till boats ran nearby us then there would be short lull's in the action until things quieted down . By 1 the guys had enough and were ready to head back in.

Brian's family

Cloudy and Warm, Water Temperature 64* and Clear.
I got a call from Brian [far right] this morning around 11am. He wanted to book a trip this afternoon to take his family fishing so I loaded up the bait tank with water and headed to the lake. I picked them up at their dock around 1 and headed out to catch bait. Although it took about and hour and a half to catch bait we had a tank full of beautiful Herring and Gizzards to fish with. I was shocked how much boat traffic there was on the lake, it is spring break for a lot of schools and I guess many familys are spending the week on the lake. I set my spread out and worked an area where I thought I could get away from the boat traffic but after 75 to 100 boats ran by I realized we had to make a move to get away from the traffic. We reeled our baits in, threw them away , went and caught some more baits and set up elsewhere. The move paid off, there was not quite as much traffic and as soon as I got my spread out we started taking hits. I think Brian's family had been out on numerous charters before because they kept referring to previous trips of poor success and hoping they would catch at least one fish. I assured them that once the boat traffic settled and with the baits we had out that would not be the case today. Once we started putting fish in the boat this family lit up with joy encouraging me to work even harder to allow them to catch fish. We fished the area for a couple hours taking hits about once every 10 minutes or so. If a boat ran by us the fishing would slow for awhile but would pick up once the area settled down. Ann hooked the big fish of the afternoon and was reeling it in when a ski boat stopped in front of us and proceeded to prepare to pull a skier. The driver of the boat looked at us and another boat with a spread of boards behind me and it seemed as if he was thrilled to disrupt our afternoon of bliss. He was going to pull right through our spread but my clients weren't going to have any of that, they encouraged him to at least avoid our boards. My crew had left their children back at the house with grandma and were anxious to relieve her of her duties so we got the baits in before prime fishing time and returned to the dock. They were all thrilled with their afternoon of fishing on the lake and took home some wonderful table fare to have for dinner one night this week.

John Pope and Chris

Sunny, Warm, Calm, Water temperature 61*.
Picked the guys up at their dock at 5:30 and went to catch bait. After about 30 minutes of throwing we had our bait tank full of beautiful baits. We set up working a peaceful area [in picture] enjoying the weather, nature and Stripers bending our poles. We had out a spread of 12 boards and a couple free lines and for most of the morning we would take hits about once every 10 to 15 minutes. The fish were not up on flats feeding well but were backed off over the nearby deeper areas. We had constant action till boats encroached on us spooking the fish in the area. We had to make a move but it was mid day and the fish had turned off. We had at least 2 dozen hits this morning keeping the guys on their toes. They kept a few Stripers and a couple Cats for the dinner table.

Rick and Dean

Cloudy and Cool, Water Temperature 55*.
Got out early today and caught bait, picked up the guys at 6 and went fishing. Set out my spread pulling boards, bobbers and free lines. I had just got all my spread out when we started taking hits. The guys started taking turns reeling in Stripers and helping each other get their fish off the hook. All was well till boats started running by us, and as usual for this time of year the fish started turning off. After going about an hour without a fish I decided to make a move to go catch more bait and set up in a different area. After catching bait and only 2 boats passing us I decided to set up our spread again but as luck would have it they must have open up the gates because it was steady traffic from then on. We worked the area for about 1 hour then made yet another move which paid off for us. We had fairly steady action for a couple of hours before calling it quits for the day. The guys were happy with the action today, I still prefer to fish during the week taking twice the hits. I will try it again tomorrow in a different area of the lake.

Jerry and Chris

Today I got out early and caught bait then picked up the guys at 6:15. As we were heading to where we were going to fish I saw some bait on my Lowrance so I threw and caught about 25 more. I set out a spread of a dozen boards and a bobber, that should have been enough to give just 2 anglers plenty of action. I believe I had just got my spread out when we started taking hits. We kept busy most of the morning, the guys enjoyed the comfort of my boat coupled with the beautiful scenery and weather. Our action was fairly steady, not bad for a weekend. Jerry only wanted to keep a few fish and I kept a couple for dinner. By 11am they had enough action and were ready to call it a day. That worked for me too, my grandson was at my house so I could get home early and spend most of the day with him.

Stripers are Rockin!!!

Stripers are "Turned On" as is evident by this picture of 3 happy anglers. DP wanted to get Adam and his dad Sal on some Striper action so Sal would understand why DP wants to play hookie at work this time of year. After this mornings catch Sal may have a better understanding what DP is daydreaming about at work. Looks like the makings for a good fish fry!

Kathy, Maxx and Dave Juckett

Anthony took this family out today, Kathy's email says it all.
Hey Jim, fishing with Anthony on Saturday was GREAT. He is a very nice man who really knows his business. It was a fantastic day. We caught 9 really nice sized Stripers! Our 12 year son Maxx is on a quest to fish all 50 states before he graduates High School. He says this was one of the BEST fishing experiences he has had. And believe me he fishes ALOT!!!! Thank you very much for being all that you advertise you are!!!! Kathy Juckett. This photo is the largest fish Maxx caught that day. I will send you a few more photos in a separate email!!! "Thanks again"

Ben Fools

Cloudy and Cold, Water temperature 52* and Clear.
Got out real early and caught 12 to 15 inch Gizzard Shad and headed downlake to the Dam to pull 30 foot flats with the big baits. We set out our spread of planner boards well before light and hooked up this hog on the bobber. After Ben fought the fish for 30 minutes we finally boated the fish. I knew it was a Big Un so we got the rest of the lines in and headed for High Point to weigh the fish. She topped the scales at 50 pounds, a new lake record. After taking some pictures we put the fish into my bait tank and rushed her back to where we caught her, Arkansas. April Fools, Bet I got ya! Actually this fish was caught in Arkansas many years ago. The season is upon us now, our hogs on the lake will be feeding for the next 2 months. We catch nice Stripers but none grow near as large as this beast.