Ouachita, Hamilton and DeGray

[Mouser]

My first post...I admit I am a fishing nerd. I am new to this part of the state of Arkansas and am a bit of a river rat. I am an experienced angler and a bit of a nerd...forgive me. I'd like to shorten my learning curve without hiring a guide..but I may wind up if I can find one that is a good teacher.

My dilema...Oct 21, I am fishing Hamilton or any of the other 3 Hilland reseviors...fish are set up at 14' early in the a.m. and drop off to 18'-22' later as the sun gets up. Water temp is 70 degrees and fish are popping a bit so they are somewhat active.

It is easy to find fish on the ends of points on my graph. I am a terribly impatient fisherman so I hate worming that deep...I use jigging spoons, can catch some fish but not alot.

Tell me your techniques for fishing these kinds of lakes with this kind of fish sign...should I go shallow and run&gun? Should I slow down and worm? Are there other, better presentations? Lets start a good thread and if all else fails, recommend a good guide in the Hot Springs area that is a good teacher!
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[fsh4fun05]

I am going through the same learning curve myself. I am in Texas working right now and when I have some time off I go bass fishing. My first time out the bass were schooling up the shad and it was a top water bite all day long-awesome! After that it got tough to find them. I am fishing out of my kickboat so my access is limited but I'm willing to travel with my oars. I found them on points but waaay out in 35-40' of water. The water temp was 92* on the surface.
One of my favorite ways to fish is deep worming so I'm in heaven. Nothing fancy, just a watermelon red senko t-rigged with a 3/8 oz. bullet weight. I still find some vegetation that deep to my surprise. I have caught quite a few on the open bottom but it seems as soon as I start coming in to the weedline is when I really get in to them. I can pop it out of the weeds and get hit almost like clock work. Where my 'home' is we do not have shad so I'm learning how to work that angle. I tie my own jigs so I've been able to experiment with different colors. Of course, black and blue-black and purple are the best colors.
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[Mouser]

A Tx Rig Senko on 3/8 oz...thanks for the detail. Do you like to drag it or hop it a bit?

I will also try a carolina rig next time out too but I really don't have too much confidence in them yet. Again, I am impatient. I like football jigs too, just drug on the bottom but I normally don't fish them that deep.

I was considering a crankbait with a small rubber core sinker about a foot above the bait to make it dive that deep...any other ideas?

I will be traveling this weekend so I'll have to wait for a couple of weeks before I get back out, but I want to have a better plan of attack when I go...there is always a jigging spoon tied on in my boat, but something else too.
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