Doug Weston

dtrs, I would give you one, but I have not been all month. If you need some help, get a hold of me when you are down. I need an excuse to take off and go. Doug

Bill, I may take what he don't, let me know too please, good luck at the derby

There was a pretty good turn out for the tournament. I'll let someone else post the results, but 12 something lbs won today. I took my son Blake and we were able to find some topwater fish first thing. We didn't bag a keeper, in fact I think I/we caught the same 14 inch fish all day. Blake caught quite a few fish on a little yellow magic popper so he had a great time. We fished from Big bay to KC. Had some topwater, spoon, and drop shot fish, but no keepers. Put around 20 fish in the boat though. The drop shot fish were hanging out about 35 feet deep, but in deeper water to about 55 feet. Could not find anything on the bottom. Tried the back of big creek but no takers. I wanted blake to weigh in a fish, so even though I'm disappointed about that, I got to spend a day with him and he had a good time. (Bill B., He didn't go to sleep either...) It seemed like a tough day for big fish, but we had fun, and raised money for a good cause at the same time.

Trout, I had the best luck when I didn't do anything to the jig after it touched bottom. It will move on its own because of the balance of the jig, so it looks alive I guess. I didn't really devote much time to that jig bc I found out about how they treated Bobby. I can only remember trying it around docks.

I will be bringing some backpacks, hats, and other smaller items from the national guard. One friend of mine donated some money as well. I hope many people come out, it will be a good time and for a good cause. Doug Weston SFC, MOARNG Recruiting and retention NCO

This jig was designed by Bobby Johbson that hangs at Fin and Feather. He had to take that company to court to get his royalties due him. Consequently, Fin and feather don't do business with them anymore. I bought some of them, and they work great, but I won't be buying any more of them.

I hired Bill Babler to take my kids out for a trip. I had been wanting to hire him for a while now, and I had my wives cousin in town, so I figured it was a good enough excuse. I cannot say enough good things about Mr Bill's service or his demeanor. He got us all on fish and with all the big boats and skiers around I'm sure boat control was not easy. I learned a great deal about fishing these summer patterns for KY's from him.Bill already told you all about my larger than average fish. We thought it was somewhere between 6 and 7. I was really happy about that, but before that, I got one that would go somewhere around 3.5-4 lbs. We added up our weight and figured we had 17lb sack by 10am. We got into one "wolf pack" that would have had about 5 keepers that we could have got into the boat, but I wanted to save them for my kids later. It was really neat to see a couple of 2-3lb KY's(we doubled) and 3 more trying to take the bait out of their mouths. We fished from the Knob to Big M, mostly on the white. The pattern seems to be the same thing as the posts already on here, long tapering points with the fish hanging out in the vicinity of the roll off. I will say, though, the fish don't seem to be hanging out on any significant cover on these points. The ones we found were just relating to the Structure, probably waiting for bait to come by. I mainly wanted to let Bill and everybody else know that I was extremely pleased with his service. I would recommend him to anyone. By the way, he had his hands full with us. I have 4 kids, and my wives cousin went. Everyone caught fish, and that was an accomplishment with some of us for sure. Thank you Bill!!!

I have stayed in a "resort" close to Campbell point. It is really just a little hotel. It is in good shape, but not a big chain of hotels. I really can't remember the name, but it is on the right side right before you enter the Cambell point State Park. I Live in Exeter, just outside of Cassville. I think the Super 8 is okay, but that little place I mentioned above has rooms just as well kept and you wouldn't have to drive. If you are looking for something a little nicer, you can stay at the Roaring River Lodge. I'm sure they probably charge a little more than 80 but I really don't know what they charge. I'm sure they have a website. It would be the nicest place for sure around Cassville. If you are only needing a bed and shower, I'd stay at Campbell point and save myself the drive. They really are decent rooms, its not a dive I promise. Doug If I can find the name, I'll edit my post

Ham, I think it was worth the money. It costs 100.00 and I got a $25 gift card from Bass Pro, Marshall hat and shirt(uniform), several bags of Berkeley soft plastics. Plus the time with the pro was just better than any discussion you can have in a seminar or any other way to get access to these guys. I feel like its worth the time spent. I got to see how they spend their tournament day. Most of the Pro's love the Marshall program, so they are really nice to you. I asked why they didn't like the Co angler and they said, in a nutshell, that they find productive areas, and usually they aren't the only ones to find these areas, so when Co anglers catch fish out of these areas, it can hurt them. Yeah its selfish, but I see it both ways. If I were fishing like they do I guess I can understand. They really do find the same areas to fish. I always got to see several other competitors. They would talk to one another and ask how they were doing, etc. I do wish I would have been able to fish a little, especially the second day. ESPN really didn't make any money from the Co anglers, but they didn't want the Pro's to fish alone. Oh they fed us dinner during the tournament meeting too. I think you get your moneys worth. Doug

Guys, sorry I forgot to follow up on this. I seen the TV Show today and it jogged my memory. I was really tired after the first day because of rough water I didn't even turn on my laptop while I was down there. Jeff Kreit was probably one of the best boat partners I have ever been with. He is funny and fun to be around. He explained anything I wanted to know about. The rules keep us from sharing information, so he did not hold back as far as I can tell. We were fog delayed for about 3.5 hours that first day, but he still managed to catch 4 keepers. It was tough down there. The water had risen from practice and cooled off. I guess it cooled off for the entire tournament. The fish were just about to spawn, or had just started spawning. Jeff basically pitched a Sweet Beaver all day, but ended up catching his fish on a Zoom trick worm weightless, texas rigged. He found staging fish. He did catch some fish by stumps but mostly small ones. These guys really put their boats through it. I seen several aluminum boats in this tournament. Mark Menendez ended up winning it out of an aluminum boat. Rick Clunn, and the pro from Russelville, AR both had aluminum boats too(Clark Rheem I think). Many guys fishing the same areas. There is only 101 boats in these tournaments, but they all seem to find the same water. I guess they are just good at finding the fish. I have fished several local tournaments and I am struck at how these guys share information with one another. I know several guys that hide baits, tell misinformation, etc, but these guys do share information pretty good. Both guys I was with didn't hide stuff from other competitors. My second day partner was extremely dull. I tried to be quiet and not talk too much but this guy wouldn't answer hardly any questions. He would get excited when he caught a fish and start spitting out all these tips at the same time, but then wouldn't even say a word until next fish. He Just wasn't a good partner for me at least. I'm sure he is a great guy. He must be a pretty good fisherman, as he has won an elite series event(the one befoe this one), but maybe I shouldn't put his name on here since I"m not exactly giving him good press. He fished really similiar to Kriet except no trick worm. All in all, I would like to share the boat with Jeff any day, any time. He was great with the fans too. Some of them are kind of standoffish. Jeff Kriet did tell me that he has a new Shaky head jig coming out soon from Jewel Jigs. I got to see some prototypes of it and I'm sure it will be popular with us here on Table Rock. I Worked the FLW event for the National Guard, and I must say I liked the Elite series guys better, at least what I seen of them. Any questions and I'll try to answer. Doug

I am playing marshal for the elite tour BASS tournament down here. Ill let you know how he does and who my second day pro will be. I can't say how he catches the fish until the tourn is over though.

Oh guys I almost forgot, just to keep the good feelings going... I took my boat down there to Branson on Wednesday when we were setting everything up for the tournament. I was going to have a couple of hours free, so I was going to try Taney. I parked it in the Convention Center parking lot. Now I do understand that they were staging boats for the TBF tournament, however... I have a Ranger 520 with a Mercury. I came out of the building to leave for the day and there were some guys by my rig. Now I was parked away from the other boats. This guy Identified himself as an FLW official and thanked me for my service (I was in uniform), thanked me for buying a Ranger, but informed me that I could not park my rig in that parking lot because I had a Mercury hanging on it. I told the guy that I was working at the event for the National Guard (the title sponsor for the TBF event). He said he didn't care, Yamaha and Evinrude sponsored the event too and I needed to move. I just told him I was leaving for that day and I would not bring my Ranger boat back. I tried to be understanding, but the more I think about this, the more it rubs me wrong. In fact, Chevy Sponsored the event, but I seen many other vehicles of other brands there.... This guy was not the only one to say something to me either, in fact an Evinrude mechanic (was much more diplomatic) said, "they will probably give you a hard time about having a Mercury in the parking lot." Another guy that had been practicing at Bull Shoals for the TBF, overheard me telling the story to someone else, and told me he was told to move his boat out the parking lot too. Take what you want from this, but I can't see doing this to someone, expecially when they were working/participating at the event. Hell it don't matter what I was doing there. I wasn't parked in their roped off areas. Ok, Ok Rant over Doug

OK Bill thanks for the reply. I really do have a Jerkbait for you to try... I'll try and call you this week. I do agree with you however. I heard some thiings behind the scenes that fits right with what you are saying from some of the guys. In fact, I was hoping I would get to go out with Scott Martin, but after getting to know him a little bit, I am glad I got the guy I did, enough said about that... Thanks again Bill Doug

Bill If my post was offending, I did not intend for it to be. I only intended to tell people what I found out and how my day went on the water. In fact, I told that guy that you were the best around here with jerkbaits and he wanted me to try and get you to look at his bait. I don't do this for a living. I would be just as excited if I got to spend a day in the boat with you. I didn't want to go into the whole filming thing, cause that would really set some people off. I don't agree with how they filmed the part I seen, but I also see why they do it. I genuinly think that that bait will help some people. Doug

Thank you techo. I loved the little bit of time I got to spend with him, he and I both like the scientific side of things. Doug

I went out with National Guard Pro Michael Murphy. I really enjoyed my morning. I received a pretty detailed class on jerkbaits. Michael used to be a lure designer for SPRO. He used that expertise to design a jerkbait for IMA called the Flit. This bait has several neat features that you may be interested in. It is made to suspend in cold water (around 45 I think). It will just amaze you with its action. It will completely turn around when you jerk it and give it slack. It has a very tight wiggle when moved forward. The sides are flat, but angled down so that the light reflects at a downward angle, where the fish will be coming from to strike. He has triangular sound chambers so that sound is very consistent. Of all the features, I particularly like the action. I airbrush some baits and I have learned a lot about crankbaits since doing so. I am convinced after today that the type of plastic baits are made of affect their action. I have known for some time that different woods have different action. If you take different baits (wood or plastic) and move them in a tank, some will glide, and some will stop when you quit pulling on them. I think it has to do with the density of the material. Whatever causes this, The Flit will glide. This lets it move very much from left to right when jerked. This allows you to keep it in the Strike zone longer since it will move more left to right instead of forward. I know that these baits sell for about 18.00. They have them on Tackle warehouse, I checked. I made an order tonight. Michael did give me one to take and try out. I appreciate his lessons today and I will be supporting this company with my purchase. I encourage you guys to check these things out. I promise they will impress you when you put them in the water. We didn't get to fish very long. Michael got to participate in a filming for some intro stuff on the TV Show. That was a pretty interesting deal in itself. I got to take some pretty neat pictures. I did catch a keeper on the Flit though in only about an hour fishing. We spent probably an hour talking about lures before we even fished. He also told me about what was happening on the lake and for the most part, just what you would figure, jerkbaits, wiggle warts, Jigs, and a few on the blade. Transition areas seemed to be the magic thing. He told me he had a good practice. He had such confidence in his Jerkbait pattern, that he failed to adjust for the changing conditions. I think I read that Stacy King had a good practice also, but had a hard time during the tournament. Michael caught a 9lb fish on his jerkbait during practice. I wish the top 10 luck. Thank you Michael Murphy for the great time today. Doug Weston

Because I have been helping with the events at the convention center, I got the opportunity to go out tomorrow with one of the pro's that didn't make the cut in the National Guard Fishing team. I am not for sure who is on the team, but I know Scott Martin is, and he didn't make the cut. Brent Ehler made the cut so I won't be going out with him. here is something I found about who is on our team. For 2009, the 15-member National Guard angling team will consist of bass-fishing pros Ramie Colson, Brent Ehrler, Tim Klinger, Scott Martin, Michael Murphy, Jonathan Newton, Clifford Pirch and Justin Lucas, as well as co-anglers Pam Bolton, Diane DeLaGarza, Pat Lay, Adam Lock, Michael McGhee and Rachel Uribe. I'll let everyone know how it goes...I'm excited to see how they fish this lake. Doug

I got to go out today for about an hour. I did not wet a line though. Thanks for the information. I went down to Forsythe by boat and I found quite a bit of timber there. I wanted to start there. Being essentially river fish, will they be deep? the water temp seemed to be about 48 give or take. Doug

I am working the FLW tour thing At Branson for the National guard. I plan to bring my boat down there and fish a little on taneycomo for black bass mostly. I won't have much time, so I was wondering if someone could give me a starting point as far as what to look for and technique for this time of year there. I don't have time to really search the archives here so if someone could be so kind I would appreciate it. Thanks Doug

Les, It would be my pleasure. This week is bad for me anyway. I have to work at the big FLW tour thing for the national Guard. Come by and say hi if you are out there. I'll be the guy wearing the uniform...lol. Doug

went to the Knob today. Got to meet Mr Bill and Chris Tetrick, both gentlemen. I only caught 2, both on a wart, at a channel swing transition, but on the flat just past the transition. Caught them up Kings river a little ways. I helped Carl Svebeck (I hope I spelled it right) launch his rig as I was coming home. He has this crazy lid/top thingy for a boat cover. It just lifts up and it completely covers the boat. Personally I think it would be a pain in the a*& but it has lights iin there and he said its neat because he can rig and stuff in the rain and not get wet. It keeps the road grime and stuff out of the boat, and its something else the advertisers can wrap. I guess if you put a boat cover on your boat, you cover up the wrap. I seen the FLW guys everywhere I went. They are leaving no stone unturned. I did catch a crawdad today. The little bugger was hanging on with one of his pincers. He was completely brown, even on the underside. I have actually hooked one before, but this one was just hanging on. I thought I was going to tear off his pincer when I was trying to pull him off... Doug

I can't give advice on much, but deep cranking I can. I have used a "flipping stick" for a few years now for deep crankbaits. Mine is 7'6", and its a Johnny Morris rod, but I am looking for a longer rod. I want to try a 7'11" or 7'10". I think I will get enough extra on the cast to make a difference. I may go to a little softer action though. I had a heavy action, but when I bought it I didn't intend to use it to crank with. I can hit 25 feet deep with a Hot lips express (3/4 oz) using 10lb flourocarbon, every time. The extra distance you get from the longer rod helps like you wouldn't believe. I can hit 21 feet deep with 12 lb flouro. I actually used the graph to make sure I was hitting the bottom at 25 feet. I'm thinking about looking at the new KVD rod for cranking. I think its 7'10". Have no idea the price though. I just seen an ad for it. I can't say enough how much difference it makes to move up from 7 to 7'6". So keep that in mind if depth is what you are after.

I would like to hear from some of the local guides on this topic. What do you guys consider a great tip, average, and how should the customers judge the service? RPS I like your answer, it seems like a good rule of thumb.

I realize it was a week ago nearly, but Big M area was 40-42 on sunday

Donna, I guess I missed you, but you may have seen me. I was the guy in uniform at the National Guard booth right by the front door. I wanted to put a face and name together, but maybe I can meet you on the water. I'll be in a Ranger 520VX with a 225 opti. I hope to see you on the water. Doug