Browning Guy

I'm not a guide and didn't help find fish on Cherokee for the BassMaster Elite last month, but made the baits at cost for a guy that finished very well (top 10). I worked on my own time a few hours ordering, pouring, painting, etc. Not as much as a phone call from him. I don't expect $ coming to me or my name mentioned on stage, but a phone call or small care package for my 11 and 7 year old kids would have been nice. Not everyone thinks about those who helped them get there.

It has been 15 (??) years ago when Storm said they were doing away with the Wart. A secret squirrel phone call came telling me that BPS was closing them out for $1.99 with no limit. I along with another buyer (you know who you are) showed up bright and early at 7:00 a.m. the day the sale started and we bought them by the case box. I loaded my cart and so did he. I spent around $1500 and my wife thought I had lost it. Went back the next day to get more and they put a limit of 10 per customer out (sorry bout that, but they were doing away with them!). The metallic colors were selling on E-bay to the steelhead fisherman for stupid money and I would go by BPS twice a day to see what could be found to sell. I sold a lot of Warts 15 (??) years ago on E-bay and kept a bunch for my kids. Are the originals better? Who knows, but after I'm dead and gone hopefully my kids and their kids will still be fishing them. Either that or they will think dad/grandpa was nuts (most likely scenario). I still can't stand to lose one or I get jittery when one gets hung up. Spent 12-15 minutes the other day with a lure retriever getting one back. I grew up fishing them down here and it was just a way of life in fishing Tablerock. I still have a lot of the old, old originals my dad had. The world was coming to an end when Storm said no more and desperate times called for desperate measures. Darn the possible divorce all engines ahead full.

What changes did BPS make to the Ranger aluminum series hull? I watched a couple older videos of the 198P with a 150 hp on it...... Seemed stable and fast for an aluminum series. I've heard rumors of changes in the Ranger alum series, but haven't verified. Any thoughts or facts on BPS changes?

$Long, $$McCaskill and $$$Blunt want to have more docks for Tablerock. Unfortunately, good people at the Corp see and understand what is happening to TR (Lake of the Ozarks south), but $Long, $$McCaskill and $$$Blunt have their own agenda. There are elections to be won and campaign money will be needed. When time permits, I will share some trail cam photos of wake board boats and tuna rigs coming within 60' to 70' of the dock. This despite having a large sign (Missouri Water Patrol's suggestion) placed on the front of the dock. Too many pix to post. The sign hasn't worked so far and it is nearly twice the size suggested by the Water Patrol. Where's Long and Blunt's legislation/bill on allowing more development and docks on Lake of the Ozarks south (Tablerock)? I lost track over the holidays.

Might consider NOT coming down The last week of April as there are going to be over 475 boats in all of the tournaments scheduled for April 29th. With all of the pre-fishing the week prior it will be a mad house then. I know of one tournament that hasn't been added to the Water Patrol Regatta schedule yet for that weekend.

The plopper is mine, I lost it this past fall and I think 3 out of the six series 5 are mine also. PM his cell phone to me and I will call to claim and pick them up. Thanks!

RPS, Sorry to hear. We have put three trail cams on and around our dock. Video + Photos. You will need a secure box to put them in. You would be shocked at how many people get out of their boats onto private docks, fish, open locker boxes up and make themselves at home. Most don't have a clue that they are being photographed or videoed. Those that do see the cameras hopefully think twice. With the latest technology. The photos can be downloaded via wireless internet and sent to your cell phone as soon as they are taken. Maybe worth considering. Just this last month we have had three boats tie up to our dock, get out and fish and make themselves at home. Not cool and gives fisherman a bad name. I understand I don't own the water the dock is setting on, but tying up and getting out is not cool (unless it is storming, different story there). Sorry again.

Amazing to see it back then. Some of the best arrowhead hunting, err uhhh, lure hunting on the lake is what I meant to say. The exposed banks made for fantastic "lure hunting". If by a long, long shot here..... if anyone has an area to look for arrowheads please let me know. My 7 and 11 year old have never experienced arrowhead hunting like I did growing up. I've lost all of my contacts and private property places to hunt mainly due to the land being sold, people passing, etc. I've found more than my fair share, but would love to see the kids get out and find a few. The education related to finding then researching is good for them. Please send me a private message. Any help would be sincerely appreciated.

I still remember when my dad and I used go out all the time. He is now 75 and doesn't fish, but sure enjoys watching his grandson catch them. I still enjoy fishing, but teaching my son and daughter is better than catching. My 7 year old daughter is getting to be a pretty good hand at catching them also. She needs to learn not to try to swing 14" crappie in with a 5 ft light spinning rod though. I will need to get some photos of her on here.

taking photos! This a.m. the air temp didn't hold as long as we hoped. 12 nice keepers including the two below. Lake's down 7.5 so fishing our deeper brush in 20' to 25'. His biggest ever at just over 16"s. I had to apologize to him for not gettin the tail in the one photo. Fingers were frozen. Off the water by 11:00. Love my job.ll All fish were sent back to fight another day. Too cold to clean them.

+1 love mine. Expensive, but worth the price.

I don't have a bag in front of me, but.... I think they are the Garland baby shad. BPS has their own version. Colors varied from day to day. You could catch 10 nice crappie on purple and silver one day. Go back and fish the same spot, same bait the next day and they wouldn't eat it so change to silver/white and they would load up. We have 20 different colors and we just rotated through until we caught some. No consistency. The weather was cold and nasty with the front coming in and going which made the bite very light, but my kids had the touch. They had fun "beating dad".

They have this game figured out. So fun watching them beat me. Monday was a great day with 16 keeper bass, biggest 4.5, 4, couple 3's on a buzz bait shallow. Pea gravel with basketball size mixed. 30 degree banks. Had to cover A LOT of water, but worth it. Went out Tuesday n Wednesday and couldn't even come close to repeating. Decided to crappie fish and ....... more great memories for us.

Bass fishing was bad, but wow, what a start. The cell phone photo didn't do this moment justice. So blessed to live in the United States and have the Rock. We caught several nice crappie and spent a great day with my 6 and 11 year old.

For the life of me....how can $Long, $$McCaskill and $$$Blunt think that it is appropriate to have boats intended for the Great Lakes and Ocean on Tablerock? Filling coves with more docks when there are many empty stalls in the current docks is not the answer.. Watching Table Rock turn into another Lake of the Ozarks is painful. Dylan, you bring up an excellent point and are witness to what happens when the ocean going vessels and wake boats hit our inland (smaller) lakes. Working on the lake gives you a critical perspective we don't always hear about. I am not a fan of any of the representatives mentioned above as their interests lay in big money and donors. I hope and pray everyone on this board is voicing their concern to $Long and $$$Blunts idea of making Tablerock into another Lake of the Ozarks. To say nothing, says everything. Dylan, thank you for sharing.

I fished a CPA behind Bob Harter out of Tulsa. It was on Grand. He told me he was catching fish on points. I caught a keeper first thing on one of the spinnerbaits I make. He never looked back. I caught a second within 10 minutes. He glanced back. I caught a third soon after. He asked what brand is that bait. I told him homemade and offered to put one together for him he said no, no keep fishing. Caught a fourth 20 minutes later and he said "let me see that thing". I showed it to him and offered several times to make one up right quick. He said no, no keep fishing and get your limit while he was digging in his tackle. Unfortunately it took another hour to get my fifth. I cut my bait off and gave it to him and then made up another one identical and gave it to him. He ended up catching three. He obviously could have accepted my first offer, but he wanted me to get my limit first. It was a good experience for me to fish with Mr. Harter. I only mention his name because he deserves recognition for his actions/attitude that day and serves as a reminder of the fun I had fishing as a co-angler 97% of the time. Fishing behind some of these guys is difficult from the standpoint that many are human fish dredges that leave little in their wake, but looking back.... trying to figure out a way to fish differently, slow, fast, baits, etc. is critical. Little variances can be all the co needs to be successful. Frustration can quickly set in, but that is the responsibility of the back seater to figure out a way to make things work. Not always easy and often times a challenge, but satisfying when things work out, especially if both catch fish.

Stick baits on channel swings above Shell Knob bridge. Shouldn't even be telling you now.....BECAUSE IT'S A SECRET! Man that day sucked.

I have been fortunate in who I've drawn over the years. Nearly all were great to fish with and I enjoyed the day/s. Central Pro-Am back in the Ernie days and Heartland both had good folks fishing with them. My first time as a co-angler........I was 3 feet from a bluff wall for 6.5 hours was back 25-26 years ago in a late February CPA on TR. The air temp that a.m. was 18°. We ran (77 mph no console for the passenger) from Kimberling to above the Shell Knob bridge. When we finally stopped, I could have cared less about fishing. My first concern was for frost bite and wondering how many toes and fingers I was going to lose. The "pro" I fished with refused to give me any info of where or how the evening before because it was a big secret. I thought I was well prepared. One of the longest days on the water EVER. Neither of us caught a fish that day. I should have known when Ernie paired us up at the then Hill Billy Bowl..... the entire room erupted in laughter. I was young and dumb, yet wondered why they laughed. I found out the next day! Overall, I have been fortunate and enjoyed fishing from the back even when the "pro" wasn't on anything.

Curious to hear what you guys/gals would do........as a co-angler. For example - My son and I were fishing around Piney Saturday about 7:30 or so and Bohannan came through. My son wanted to follow and watch him (and I did to). He fished fairly steep banks with the A10 90% of the time and was 3'-4' off the bank and STANDING on the trolling motor. . The co-angler in the back had the choice of throwing out the back of the boat and waterskiing anything he threw or to the middle of the lake. Bohannan told us that he fished 5 miles of bank on Friday. The Co-angler fished a spinnerbait, buzzbait, tried a crankbait (lost two), and senko. Never saw the Co catch a fish for the 3 hours we watched. What do you think would be an option in those conditions?

An aerial shot from FLW...... $Long and $$Blunt want more docks. This photo is one pocket on TR..... State Park marina, but if the realtors, developers and politicians get their way. Look for many more coves to look like this one. I'm sure aerial photos of other pockets/coves would tell a similar story. I hope and pray everyone is contacting the Representatives and voicing your concerns.

Hughesy, Nice work. My 11 year old and I were out a week ago and found the bass fishing less than exciting. He decided we should go for crappie. A good decision. We found them scattered also, but catchable. Our deeper brush piles in 15'-18' seemed more consistent for us as long as they were near deeper water. We used Garland baby shad in crystal and ice out. We had a nice fish fry that evening and added to the freezer. The best part was adding another day of memories with my son. Nice work on the crappie and thank you for the report.

Terrierman, Nailed it x 2. "2.) All the unused and unsold empty slips we always see in existing "Community docks" must be filled before any more dock permits will be issued only to have those slips sit empty while the "dock speculators" search/wait for new suckers. There has to be some language in the Shoreline management Plan to forever stop these "Dock Speculators" from acquiring dock permits to place new docks and then re-selling slips in them at incredible prices. " A perfect example is in Buzzard on the James. The two "community/association" docks have closed off Buzzard at the mouth (fantastic spring banks). I was just there a week ago and the dock on the right has 3 boats in the 12 stall and the dock on the opposite side has 4 boats in the 12 stall. For those keeping track 7 boats/24 stalls. I was told that one of the docks....... the gentleman had bought cheap used boats for his friends had them register them.... then put his friends in the "association" so he could justify the need for a community/association dock. It is suspect that Billy Long recently buys a home on TR and suddenly decides that the COE is wrong for trying to protect TR by limiting docks. Follow the money on this one. I have written all three, $$$Blunt, $$McCaskill and $Long asking them to protect TR from becoming another LOZ.. Like I've said earlier.... to say nothing, says everything.

I have A LOT and sold A LOT of the pre warts, but have bought and painted several of the Predator and I can't tell much, if any difference in which catches more. I honestly believe it is more about color, location, timing and presentation...... than which is a better bait. With that said, the pre warts have always worked in the past also. I do like the fact that Predator offers no sound, one knocker, suspending, etc to give you more options to try.

Take one for the team and keep them up there for us. I find it amazing to see ocean going vessels on TR. You know...... the boats that have the little radar thing above the "captains deck" spinning around. I think the best for all involved, LOZ and TR, would be to send the ocean going, tuna rig, big money boats back to the ocean or great lakes where they belong. Thank you to all for sending their concerns to $Long and $$$Blunt on their dictate/amendment to serve special interests/destroy TR. Wouldn't hurt to send $$McCaskill our concerns also.

Phil, 100% correct. The Corp is very diligent in making sure you haven't added or changed the layouts of docks to the point of being ridiculous in some instances. This was standard practice before the "moratorium" (from personal experience, I know). Although I am not a huge fan of the Corp of Engineers, to their credit, they do try to maintain some semblance of order for the lake in these regards. Tablerock is a blessing that will be further destroyed if Long, Blunt, board of realtors, developers and investors get their way. They will make millions. Saying nothing about this legislation, not sending letters, not making phone calls will speak volumes.