Bull Shoals

[HGA]

Any word on how the pre-fishing is going for next weeks tournament.

[me]

w/ 90k on the line- u wont hear any info - on the up and up, that is

[Any guesses]

Any guesses who is going to win?

[unlogged ozarkeyes]

Could be tough fishing- lake temps still holding about 48-49 deg. Spawning kicks in around 52 so we are behind of normal schedule. Although some may have already spawned way up the lake in Missouri. Just got fresh rains in over weekend, but was cold and nasty, expecting temps around 70 this week and hopefully next week too. Warmer rain expected Thursday. Finding a consistent pattern is going to be key once they locate the fish.

[Tough bite]

I heard last night the bite is very tough down there.

[walleyedoug]

I have been here prefishing at bull shoals for 7 days ... 2 carp/1 gar/2 catfish/ 1 trout and 2 dink eyes fishing has been very tough. water temps are 50 / 51 degrees . spawn is all messed up some fish are spawned and some are not have talked to a few pros and nobody has boated any eyes. good weather is predicted for sat and next week .it will prob be a postspawn bite with prob low weights . i am predicting 30lbs to win . black is black and white is white there you have it. good luck fishing walleyedoug

[walleyedoug]

I have been here prefishing at bull shoals for 7 days ... 2 carp/1 gar/2 catfish/ 1 trout and 2 dink eyes fishing has been very tough. water temps are 50 / 51 degrees . spawn is all messed up some fish are spawned and some are not have talked to a few pros and nobody has boated any eyes. good weather is predicted for sat and next week .it will prob be a postspawn bite with prob low weights . i am predicting 30lbs to win . black is black and white is white there you have it. good luck fishing walleyedoug

[Powerstroke]

I just came back from prefishing last night. You are right...it's a real tough bite. We boated a fair number of gills, smallies, a few trout and 0 eyes, in three days. I only saw one eye caught period. As a matter of fact there was a tournament ....local with only 24 boats on Sat.... winner had 1 fish for 1.8#s....the rest of the field finished a combined second ....0 fish! That's tough! Weather has everything up in the air. Weather is stable now..but for the opening day it's looking nasty.

Good luck to all of them...they'll need it.

[stpper]

The bite is always tough before a tournament, correct? At least I have never heard differently.

[unlogged guest]

Its amazing how the bite stinks and then 1/2 the field weighs a good limit.

There Pro's, they will figure out how to get them in the livewell. Not all will but enough will.

[tomich]

It looks alot like a repeat of last years spring valley tourney. I heard there was a tournament this weekend 1 boat caught a fish out of 24 NOT LOOKING GOOD Glad Im not there!!


Jason

[ackermannsacre]

That's correct Jason. I was in that tourney, unfortunately I was not that one fisherman to catch a walleye. I fished three days straight, no walleye. Couple dozen FLW pros up in our area the last week or so, no walleye to speak of...

[Jim Carroll]

Prediction: If the tournament is anything like the prefish period, there will not be 40 Pros who catch a fish in 3 days. Those who do will split the purse. This might well go down as the worst major fishing tournament ever held...we'll see. Hopefully, things will change and they will start catching some fish.

[Arkie]

I'll try to bite my tongue and not be too critical of the decision to hold this tournament at this time. Could say "I told you so" if I had been asked, but was never asked. Besides what do we southerners know about catching walleyes, especially on our home waters.

[take the lead]

Wow thats a bad bite! I'm also glad I'm not there!!! If a guy gets lucky on the 1st day he might be able to win it all, because you know on day 2 he will be walking on all the boats that follow him. This will look like day 2 at the IL. river last year. I hope the bite turns for the better or its gonna get ugly.

[lobo1]

Spent last week at Norfork which is a somewhat similar body of water from what I could tell. The few guys that really knew the water (at our resort) weren't really after walleyes but picked up some decent ones by accident. judging from their results every day they would be coming in about the time the first wave takes off....
These guys were targeting striper and hybrids. their key was to follow the shad from cove to cove and they were throwing white bass assassin baits (5" shad assassin) and swimming them back to the boat working the shores of the coves with creeks.

for what it's worth...

lobo1
<*)))><

[Casterate]

I have a friend fishing the FWL. He has been there since Wednesday and still has not caught a walleye.

Honestly... I would be Pi$$ed OFF if I were in his shoes. Sure, we need to try and promote walleye fishing in the south. That I agree with. And I understand that BShoals is a decent walleye fishery. But for heavens sake, lets plan this tournament at a time when the fish are biting (or supposed to bite).

[stpper]

Come on…you’re going to judge a tournament good or bad based on “if the fish bite”. Everyone knows Bull Shoals is a great body of water holding a high quality walleye population. The sport and the test of a Pro’s fishing skills are actually better from my perspective when there is not an active bite. Is it not a better test of one’s skills when a person actually has to figure out what will make them bite? My bet is, the experienced professionals have figured it out, and we will see some decent weights. I will be watching this one closely since it has all the right conditions for high drama…which should make it a great tournament. It is good that both the FLW and PWT keep adding new waters that are challenging and not a sure thing.

[casterate]

You are correct! And I should clarify. I am thinking of the prefishing along with the tournament. They spend twice as much time prefishing as they do in the actual tournament. How much fun do you think these guys are having now? I've talked personally with 3 different pros about the circuit. All three shook their heads when Bull Shoals came up. Not at all excited to go there.

All I am saying is: If they want to promote a lake, don't schedule the tourney during (or close to) the spawn. If this turns out to be a 1 fish per day tourney, it will hurt the lake's walleye reputation, the FLW, and the angler's attitude.

One final thought: We all know that someone will figure this out. There will be limits weighed. Just how many is the question.

[timing]

I agree, do you think they would go to a bass event when it might be bad? No way they go out of there way to give the anglers the best bite possible! In order to grow the walleye end I agree they should head south, open the eyes of all those people down there that walleye fishing is here! Yes walleyes are much harder to catch than bass, but they can be caught. Showing the world about walleye tournaments will help grow the sport, and just maybe level out the sponsors involved. Some of the best anglers in the world are walleye anglers.
I just wish they would go south when the bites are on fire, this way they could promote our end much better. I know they love to fish bass when they are on the beds, however walleyes are much different- every angler knows that the post spawn is much better and I'm not talking 1 or 7 days. I think they should have went at the end of the month.
Good luck to the guys, I'm sure someone has a bite going! I just hope that the guys that figure it out are left alone long enough to win!

[um]

All these commets are in hind sight...Believe it or not, they really thought this would be a hot bite when they scheduled this...sometimes the best plans don't work out. However, don't blame the planners for this...this #### happens now and then!

[Jim Carroll]

None of the guys I know caught anything in prefish. But maybe it will turn out better than we think- At least Gofron thinks so.

Although, given how bad everyone SAID they did in prefish, I'm wondering when this interview was given, even though it's dated yesterday. I guess we'll see in a few hours. I hope they are catching some fish!

From the FLW site:

Destination: Bull Shoals Lake Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Bull Shoals, April 6-9

Arkansas' Bull Shoals

By Matt Williams - 05.Apr.2005

Anglers can expect to see plenty of limits and a tight race for big money as the Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour event winds to a close at Bull Shoals Reservoir on April 9.

“The lake is full of 21- to 22-inch fish, and there are going to be a lot of them caught,” said Mike Gofron, a walleye pro from Antioch, Ill. “I’m betting this tournament will be decided by ounces, not pounds.”

Gofron predicts the heavier bags will come on 1/8-ounce chartreuse/orange jigs or perch-pattern spinnerbaits tossed around man-made structure in 12-15 feet of water. Fathead minnows drifted along drop offs also will be effective.

Gofron’s call: 45 pounds to make the top 10; 60 pounds to win.

[cws]

Where did you see that article?

[casterate]

That article must be old... Another walleye forum has an article that confirms exactly what I was saying. I am sorry if I ripped on anyone yesterday (previous posts). I just feel bad for the anglers. I know I would be terribly dissapointed if I dropped all of that money to go down and not catch a walleye for 5 days.

Who knows, we'll find out in an hour or so just how bad it is. Maybe a few guys will catch some fish.

[Jim Carroll]

>Where did you see that article?

It's on the FLW's website. Notice it's dated yesterday...

Edit: Good News! Looks like they are catching some fish...

[Skis]

If the live leader board is correctly stating the weigh-in is complete, only 23 people weighed fish?

This could be some sort of record for toughest fishing during an event.

[SDEYEGUNNER]

Can anyone say.....ouch!!!!!!

Gunner

[tomich]

Congratulations to all that caught fish today! especially one of my partners Kevin Goligowski He has been there since last monday, and i believe this is the only walleye he has boated since he got there. a good one too 5+ lbs. Well deserved Kevin!!!!!! I just hope the leaders will be left alone day 2 and 3, but you all know that wont happen.

Good Luck tomorrow

Jason tomich

[CWS]

I guess the good thing is that nobody is out of it.

[Dutchman]

Bull shoals has a history of big Walleyes, 15+lbs, looks like just one of them would be a big money fish right now.That 24th position is really crowded.....
"Fishing is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope"

[YEP]

You are right on the money...This tournament is still up for grabs. No one has lost it, and no one has won it...tomorrow we'll see if the guys that caught fish today were just lucky, or if they actually had "something goin". There are 104 boats still knocking on the door to win it...

I know many are thinking this is a terrible tournament, but it is actually exciting to see who prevails under conditions like this. This is a great story! Also, the bite is going to improve over the next three days, and that will be exciting to see who adjusts to things they haven't see in the pre-fish...I love it!

[Rick Gardner]

I agree...One of the greatest excitements in any sport is to see how the competitors overcome adversity to prevail. This is a great story, and the drama involved as it plays out can be very exciting.

This is how the stories of the Olympics and other events have been framed in order to bring an interest from the general public. I think we should take the opportunity to frame our sport in a similar manner!

…If we market it as “Wow the bite really sucked, thus it sucks to fish tournaments in Arkansas in April”, we’ve missed an opportunity!

This sport isn’t about who has the most fun during the pre-fish and in the tournament. It’s about who prevails over the competition in all conditions…I can’t wait to see what happens! I wish I were there in the middle of the “misery”.

This is a world class fishery, and I wouldn't be surprised if we have some dramatic moments in the next few days!

Rick