Holiday weekend
Huge crowd after the Fourth — sailboats, kayaks, skiers, jet skis, surfers, pontoons and tritoons. Jeff didn’t see many GRDA lights, so hopefully few accidents. Water dropped faster than he expected. Fish early and be in by ~11 a.m. or you’ll fight boat wake.
White Bass
Jeff fished Shangri-La, Goat Island, Sweetwater and tried Bernice Bridge (slow there). Best action on a quarter-ounce pink/white Fish Lucke head with 2½-inch Moonshine (chartreuse/white) and Knockout (clear chartreuse with silver glitter) swimming minnows, slow-reeled over fish in about 20–22 ft.
Crappie
Haydn said the lake is finally down enough for the summer minnow-on-brush pattern; clients doing well again.
Catfish / guiding
Haydn ran fun Catfish trips on Hudson while Grand was flooded — one day six fish between 5 and 30 lb. He cleans fish under ~10 lb / 28 inches and releases bigger spawners. Booked solid; bought another boat; longtime Arkansas angler Luke Hitt is helping weekends and evenings so more clients can get on the water.
Dinner Spinner launch
Brand-new Fish Lucke inline spinner in 1/16, 1/8 and 1/4 oz with six colors (bright, bleeding bait, trout, blues, blacks). Printed blade on the shaft, minnow-shaped body and long feather tail — lots of vibration. Just loaded on fishlucke.com (L-U-C-K-E); ask area dealers. Great for White Bass, Hybrids, trout and farm-pond Bass.
Stolen rods
Between Saturday and Tuesday someone stole several prototype Toby Keith Signature Series Fish Lucke combos (red rods / white reels with Toby Keith and Fish Lucke marks, plus some white spinning rods with red-white-blue reels) from under a locker bar on Jeff’s Champion at Shangri-La Marina — only about a dozen exist. If you see them, tell Jeff or Shangri-La; keep gear locked.