techo

Hey, welcome Scott C. Where at in Minnesota. I spent a few years in International Falls!

Could I have been anymore worng? Geesh!

On my brother! You know Table Rock is different everyday. If you catch them like crazy one day they do something else the next. I bet you do well!

You might get a lot of business! Those look phenomenal. I think I would rather have some custom painted ones from you too. I wish you lived a bit closer. I might PM uou once I get my stuff out of the boat and start going through it again.

I think Nixa and Clever are hiring right now. Good luck.

My apologies! My post was an attempt at humor and didn't end up adding anything of content to the discussion. We do eat a lot of chicken right now and am about weary of it. You guys are experts on the feathers. As a bass fisherman with baitcasters, I admire the time and effort put into the detail stuff by you serious fisherman! I learned a great deal on this topic.

This thread is going to cost me some money! I agree about Doug V, a Skeeter man, cool dude and very helpful!

My apologies as I think it is my fault. We do a 911 Fitness Challenge every year and for twelve weeks we live on chicken and eggs. We eat at least two breasts and ten egg whites a day. That is 84 chickens per week or 1008 for the twelve weeks. There are 32 of us following this diet so in the twele week period we eat at least 32,256 chickens. So..... you would think there would be an oversupply of feathers, thus driving the price down per the supply and demand law. Sorry if it affected it the wrong way.

I concur! I use mostly Kinami and Yamamoto plastics, but have plenty of BPS XPS and Chompers too. I think the BPS and Chompers are a bit more durable. Chompers are a good in between plastic in my opinion. Good action and durability. So many choices so little time and money!

Hey Captain Don.....who is their Yamaha wrench turner then?

I miss our coffee days! The crab shack is merging with Luigis and they are going to carry Ed's drip coffee. No Americanos, but there will be drip! We will have to hook up! I don't buy the spendy Falcons. I think mine usually go for 120ish. I started with cheap rods, moved to Extemes and now on to Falcons a little at a time. It takes a long time to update though. Hard to disagree with RPS's and Catcha biggen's list either.

Geesh Gary! Are you married? If not I am sort of attracted to you! I wish my wife had the same version of frugal you do. I think once again there will be all kinds of answers. On the cheaper end the carolina rigged fish doctors, shaky heads and a few jigs. I would think you could fish year round on those three. As a matter of fact.....when I first started loading up the box it was with the c-rig and fish doctors per Babblers' advice. As time passed.....I have aisles 2-8 from Bass Pro and one wall of Fin and Feather. I keep adding and updating stuff as time goes on. Rods and reels are a whole different matter. We actually started probably 20 years ago with Lightning rods and Shimano spinning reels. I am updating to Shimano baitcasters and Falcon rods as money permits. A cool way to get more is to always buy two of the same thing. Your wife sees the one new rod and reel, but you actually purchased two and she doesn't know it!

Kudos for the bravery of making your own jigs. I keep looking at it, but always chicken out. I have little time as it is and to drop some cash on the equipment and then not use it would be a bad idea. On the other hand I use a lot of jigs! Now you have me pondering again.....

I don't know how many inches we received in Nixa, but my dog is in the backyard somewhere and I can't find her!

I was sort of hoping you guys wouldn't catch on to that sentence, but since you did.... a little support would be nice!

I'm in!

This is the guy I learned all of that from! Thanks Bill

I think you are going to get a run of different answers depending on the particular strengths of who is fishing. For example...I would say an Eakins jig, Babbler will probably lean toward a jerkbait still about then, and another guy I know will be scrubbing a grub. Some early red fin or spook action might even be going on! Hard to say this far out as conditions are different every year. As far as area....it will be preference again. If you look back at previous years....Bill says the Shell Knob area is best year round, I know another guy who never leaves the dam, Kelly Powers loves power fishing the James and so on. I know the Aunt's Creek area is really poor and no one should even consider going to that area. People are probably weary of me saying this BUT if you are going to spend the time and effort to make a trip and fish, then a half day guide trip might not be a bad idea and help insure a more successful week of fishing.

If you can scrape some cash together.....I would recommend hiring Bill Babbler for a half day. Very skilled at the jerk bait and not just a guide. He will take you out, show you what he is looking for and how he decided to fish that spot. Well worth the investment. I think he will be a guide instead of an instructor if you want too.

http://www.eteamz.com/bransonbassmasters/ http://www.bassdozer.com/bass_clubs.shtml

There is supposedly a pretty good bass club in Branson. Someone should pitch in soon. There is one in Springfield too that meets at a bowling alley on Thursdays or similar. A quick search should get you there. Bass clubs could be fun, but they usually tell you who to fish with and so on. I hired Bill Babbler for Table Rock lessons and he jump started me. I think a half day with a guide gives great insight to the learning process. I am a slow learner though. A club would give you more socializing opportunity too. I am just trying to say if you are looking for lessons guides are worth the investment. Where were you in Minnesota? I lived in International Falls for about ten years and graduated high school from a small town near Brainerd.

Either crazy or an adventurist. I think you are right though. We often talk about the day of opening walleye season in Minnesota where the wife and I had to chop ice to get the boat to where we wanted to fish. I can't remember even if we fared well or not, but memories were created. I guess the optimist would look at it as another opportunity to create memories.

I know one of them had a long rap sheet and would be going away for a while. With your exposure to the way it really works.....you know better than that, my blue brother.

Disregard....got what I needed, thanks.

Hey Gary.....if you remember those dude's names can you PM them to me.