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Thanks for the solid and honest report. I get so used to Lily double checking everything that I screw up when I go alone. (But never tell her that;) Had hoped to head that way today but work got in the way, again.

Cleaning up the shelves and came across these jigs made earlier this year.

You are a blessing to the folks on this board with your regular detailed reports. Thank you. Good of you to fetch those baits even if they aren't reusable.

Gringo Style - At Lake Baccarac several years ago some Texas high-rollers were betting serious coin each day on largest 10 fish stringer and on single largest bass. We were just there to enjoy a few days of fishing but witnessed all this. The daily ante was $5k per boat with another $1k on big fish. Last day was double pot and big fish for the trip had a seperate $5 per man pool. There were 7 teams and the lowest scoring team had to cover transportation (charter) costs for the whole group. Ouch! Breakfasts were tense. They had a pile of digital read-out Boca-grip style scales that got calibrated every morning and then "locked". Each team picked up a scale and a freshly-formatted camera SD card. There was complaining and excuses at weigh-ins but the system seemed to work accurately. Biker Style - We have used the unique identifier and camera SD card system for Motorcycle Rally competitions for a long time, very successfully including the big one, The Iron Butt Rally. http://www.ironbuttrally.com/IBR/default.cfm?CFID=21850493&CFTOKEN=51709266 That is as competitive a bunch of people as you will ever meet. Boss - With respect to bass tournaments - Much like ship captains and pilots, fair or not, the responsibility for rules/actions that yield desired results rests squarely on the shoulders of each TD. We can save fish, stop relocating and killing them, and use creative creel limits by adopting some new ideas. Tournament Director is a tough job; especially tough when implementing changes, so most won't put forth the leadership to do it. but it sure would be great to see something good and innovative come from these events. Who else has more power to implement significant changes?

Never mind. Please delete

I am, without a doubt, a fool. Far too often, as I am (figuratively) jogging in toward home plate I find myself self-satisfied and confident in my abilities and accomplishments. But I did not hit a triple; I was born on 3rd base and tend to forget it far too often. So I will start by asking to be excused if the following op/ed is silly, or worse, offensive in any way.

Thank you for your inquiry. We aren't really open for business yet but hope to have product available through local resellers by early Spring 2017. In the meantime we are working to improve and expand the product line with the help of some folks who spend a lot of time on these Ozark waters. We are putting baits in their hands and welcoming comments & suggestions that help us improve. Mike from www.jigs4bass.com now has some of our Craws & jig trailers available that we hope fit well with his very well made jigs.

After 2 years of active research, testing and product development we are nearing the launch of "White River Lures". We will be focused on making the "fish-catchingest" soft plastic lures in the Ozarks. Unofficially, we have been making and distributing samples to active bass fisherman and asking for feedback since March of 2014. Many of the fine folks who utilize this forum have helped us and we deeply appreciate it. We have, on occasion, put baits in the hands of proffesionals who compete at the highest level of tournament competition. While that resulted in valuable feedback, we also learned a lot about how the big bait makers play and how tough the customers really are. It turns out the customer is not the guy with the rod & reel, but that very selective big lady predator who decides what is and is not for dinner. We know that Strike King, Chompers, Zoom, Yamamoto and most other big brands have earned their status and brand loyalty with good products, reliable supply and acceptable pricing. So how would anyone compete with these successful giants? A time proven method to compete is to provide a lower price, almost always at lower quality. The opposite method is to "go upscale" and provide high quality, or at least provide marketing that allows the sensitive user to believe they own the "absolute best". Rejecting both of those methods, we insist on providing genuIne value, with unique baits that catch fish at a fair price. While not tournament fishermen, we absolutely love to catch (& release) bass. We chase pressured fish on crowded public waters. Our most consistent good luck has been related to utilizing soft plastic baits that are NOT the norm and not what the bass have been seeing. We know there are may other methods, but we feel blessed that we are having some success in this narrow field and will stay focused on it with your help. We expect to make Soft Plastic baits available to Ozark area retail vendors for the 2017 early spring season. We are seeking Two (2) Pro Staffers to assist us in this mission. Pete Wenners www.hookedonbass.com has assisted us throughout our research & development and continues to be an invaluable resource. Pete has agreed to serve as Senior Pro Staffer. Please contact me initially via PM if interested. Respectfully, M. Knight

Thanks for the report and welcome to the forum.

Assume, if you will, that you were fishing TR every 2 weeks from February through October and were limited to using only the following; 1.) Soft Plastic 3.5" to 5" Swim Bait on a non-skirted jig 2.) Soft Plastic 3" to 5" single-tail grub on a non-skirted jig 3.) Skirted Jig with soft 3" to 4" plastic craw or twin tail grub trailer. You are limited to two (2) colors for each of the 3 baits. WHAT COLORS DO YOU CHOOSE?

It doesn't get much better than to get out and enjoy some time with family. I'm happy for you.

Great job, Alex.

Being an industrial painter, I got used to covering up to protect from over-spray and it becomes routine to work with an old t-shirt around the head. About a month after 9/11 we had a project at a water treatment facility outside a medium-size Illinois town. One morning the police rolled in - hard. Each car carried at least one very serious dude - fully armed and prepared for trouble. Turns out we looked like a crew of terrorists, at least to the folks who called the cavalry. It all ended okay, nobody shot or in handcuffs, but it still makes me chuckle when Lily tries to get me to wear the Buff in sunny weather.

Very well said, Bill. Excellent post!

Lily & I worked like crazy this past week, had a great weekend with family and planned to come to the lake tomorrow. It sounds like we will be fishing and swimming in bath temperature water. But I suppose that is why God gave us ice-cubes to use in our boat drinks?

Nice fish. Good job and thanks for posting

Pete is on vacation through the weekend.

Oh, yeah, my favorite fishing partner. Lily usually outfishes me at least 2 to 1. I get lucky once in awhile. Only trouble with those Craws is that they are good for one fish each, but I can always make more. We hope to get back in 2 weeks.

It was good to see you this morning and very gracious of you to share the space. My buddy caught fish there several years ago and really wanted to try it. We ended up down by CP again and also only had (a small amount) of luck on a jig & craw.

Yes. Send me a pm and let me know what you want.

Caught 4 Smallies and this 18" yesterday evening on these super-soft 4" Craws in 8-10' on mixed rock point near Campbell Point. We had 8 or 10 on the 3" craw, same colors, but fish weren't as nice.

Drove over and looked at a house in BV today. I hadn't realized that it is a bedroom community or that it was this populated. A lot of house for the money though. I hope to get to Bull shoals this week also. BTW, they weren't surfacing early but would hit a fluke around a dock.

Thank you, gentlemen. I hope to take a drive over there this week and look around. So far, I have only looked at the map. QB, I will contact you after we look around. I'm sure we will have questions. I never thought about Diamond City. We may have to go check that out too. Thanks, again, for the help.

Gentlemen, as I near full retirement, we are considering moving to the area, but away from the crowd around Shell Knob (the quite side of the lake). Bella Vista looks interesting, with lakes and only an hour from TR. We would welcome any information and thoughts from folks who live there or are familiar. Thanks