Flip, pause…pop, pause….pop pop, pause…..bang, set hook and hold on. That is how easy the Fluke’s from Dean’s Tackle Box have been working for me the last couple of outings 
Flippin’ up into rubble or wood along current swept banks covered with 4 foot of water has produced some dandy spawned out bronze backs, along with short saugers and toad sheepies 
A 1/8oz jig head sporting Baby Shad Cracker, Hologram, Pro Blue or a Bluegill/Chartreuse Fluke fished as easy as mention above, has brought entertainment to the boat. I know Mike was glad he picked some up 
Flip up stream to the bank then pause long enough for the light weight jig to hit bottom. If the line hasn’t jumped on the drop (indicating a bite) give the jig a short pop, slowly drop your rod tip back down allowing the jig to drop again down current. Repeat and mix up the cadence. If us two old farts can catch a few picture worthy Red Eyes trust me, it had to be an easy presentation for creating hard strikes
Find the above structure and cover some ground. With the conditions right now if you get hit, there are more than one fish hanging in that area 
Are second target and main reason for the trip on this day was to spank some white bass. After warming up on the smallies it was time to head for more current with sand points running parallel to current seams. With a water temp of 64 degrees these hard fighting, big time schooling predators had feeding and love making on there minds, it became evident after a few fish made a mess in Mike’s boat Just like a puppy, they were happy to see us 
White Bass are a hoot to catch when they are as aggressive as they are now. Also being a fish species that laughs at a swift current makes them built to do battle. After beating up on an area we made a move looking for the same structure. Light current over sand with a swift current seam near by and found the same results.
In the current Rattle Traps took the abuse, pounding after pounding. Mike and I were two busy grumpy old farts with smiles on our faces that touched the backside of our ears
Sometimes you find these stripped river packs in the slack water and sometimes on the inside or even the outside of the seam. Whities are nomads and cover a lot of ground, once you lost the school start to fan cast until you have picked them up again. You will normally pick up 3 maybe 4 fish every cast before they start to disappear.
The main channel being filtered through sand and rock was in good shape for still being somewhat high. The landing was easier to use today and water clarity is becoming better.
Best day in the book for the two of us in a long time. Enough White Bass were kept for Mike trying them fried 
and myself, plenty fillets for the pickling brine and, all caught before the rain came along
If you can’t tell by my gibberish buddy Mike…I’m still pumped over our outing
Get out and enjoy the bite!
Good Luck Fishing People 
A few more pictures from the grumpy old men
Hope you did well in the tourney 
PS: Lurker…you know who you are
Shoot me a PM and say hi anytime
Well done my friend! I’ll bring some of those little paddletails tomorrow and we’ll see how they work on the silver beasts!
BTW……..nice Smallie!
Wow what a blast today
and great report Bret. 
I sure am glad you talked me into 
picking up a package of those Flukes up at Evert’s last fall – awesome bait. 
Nice fish
. Good decision Mike on frying up them white bass. In my opinion ya can’t beat beer battered wipeass 
Bret, looks like you won numerous times in the tug of war game!
We’ll be up Mon & Tues on P7 for a marathon day and a half of fishing. Thanks for the report and the great tips. We should be able to duplicate that pattern upriver! 
Great job Bret
Smallies, Whites, and hanging with a fantastic friend sounds like a fun day
Ron
Nice fish guys
Nice report Mr. Clark. Smallies are running hard on Pool 9 right now too. Caught some true belly busters last Saturday on pumpkinseed plastics.
I hope Blue and Brett are missing these storms that are blowing thru today…
Great report Brett !!
We made it home without getting wet. The area is getting pounded now with bad weather though. Thanks for thinking of us Dave
Tom Donaldson introduces the PT-225 Paddle Tail from
Dean’s Tackle Box too some White Bass and Smallies on day 2
It was a blast finally making it out together for the 2011 open water season my friend Blue. I look forward to many more trips together on the mighty ssippi chasing finned critters
Glad to hear you two are home safe… Brett ? You had a tornado in your town ? All ok there ?
Yep, were ok but that was way to close
Tornado Post
Thanks for the invite Bret. It was great getting out on the water! Even better to find some fish willing to straighten a line and bend a pole.
Only downside was Bret leaving the anchor at home.
Dave, I tried to get him away from those round ball jigheads but there’s no separating him from those things….
Bull….you slammed the plano shut on my fingers when I started reaching
I talked to Brett about them… We will have to switch him over to the Precision Jigs Blue !!!
Dangit, I’m not there to keep an eye on him…..
Glad you guys made it out of there. TWC shown the path of tornadoes touching down in the vicinity north of LaX. Stay safe!
So Bret, were you reaching FOR or Into the plano box???
Enjoy work tomorrow.
Great report. We found similar results on Saturday. Smallies in 4-5 feet of water. Stripers in 6 feet on outside edges of seams of 12-14 feet of water. We couldn’t get a wrangle on any pike. Had one follow in 10 feet of water. That sucker was 40″ and had a 6 inch back. Got the blood pumpin for sure. Glad to hear you came out of the storms yesterday ok.
Nice fish Bret, Mike & Blue!
Sounds like you guys had a great weekend on the water.
Great stuff guys, looks like fun!
Joel
If you take the red meat off those white bass filets they make great table fare! I take an electric knife and leave 1/8″ meat on the skin, which is where the red meat is. Remove any remaining red meat, and you will have filets that tase just like crappies.
Dang nice fish and report Bret
Not bad for 2 old pharts.
*whew* Glad I don’t fit that mold. Not sure Mike is going to like you calling him old.
Maybe I was bit hasty. I only met Mike once and it now appears I have committed a grievous social error. It is an example of guilt by association. I believe in the near future I will have the chance to make more observations or apologize for the error in my ways. OK Mike old buddy.