Champ188

Alright, you talked me into it. I'm going to Indian Creek today. Rain should be out of here for a while anyway.

Sounds like he got his info from Timmy Sainato or the late Buster Loving --- couple of grub fishermen if there ever was one. I can assure you he did not get that info from me ... stained water after heavy rains would have me up in flooded backyards. Literally. LOL

Nice one. May need that meat if you don't get your SNAP check soon. 🤣 Seen the same thing a couple times around Hickory Hollow. Our park ranger friend Jeremy can tell you about the 9-pounder I lost there on a buzz bait in Central Pro-Am spring tournament one year. And I weighed in a 6+ that day. Flooded bushes.

Great info and thank you much. As opposite as we are in fishing styles, we very much share one thing in common: We take our craft to another level when compared with the average angler. Anyone can spoon or swimbait up the occasional decent fish from the depths, but you consistently catch sacks that would walk away with many of the bigger derbies on TR. (Ain't it nice not to give a toot about that anymore? That crap ended a marriage, which in turn about ended me. God just wasn't ready for me yet.) But I digress. My point is that you catch these fish by paying close attention to detail. Water depth, fish depth, shad depth ... then there's fall rate, retrieve speed, retrieve cadence ... Truthfully, that style of fishing isn't my favorite, to say the least. But I like catching fish more than fishing, so I've become reluctantly adequate at it. 🫤 Likewise, shallow fishing takes a lot more knoggin work than it first appears. Like your deep fish, details are critical. Boat position is everything. Wind direction (never fish WITH the wind unless it's howling 20-30 and you just cannot cast into it.). Slope of bank, rock formation (gravel? chunk? bluff?), wood present? Hardwood or cedar? Sky conditions ... sun position. And on and on. Livescope totally aside, and I think you'll agree, there are times you need to be looking at your graph(s). But you also gotta make time to look around you and start noting/soaking in some of the details all around you.

Your ability to find and catch those quality deep fish is darn impressive. Appreciate you sharing as much info as you do. And if I'm not mistaken, you do this primarily with 2D sonar? No livescope?

You are most welcome ... and deserving.

Toby, I use Barlow for some things myself but there's another place online for hooks where I've had great service and awesome prices. Usually much cheaper than Barlow. https://www.captainhookswarehouse.com/

I'm sure you could call Jewel Lures and they'd tell you anything you wanted to know. Great people over there. 870.481.5588

Boy, guide choices are getting slim since Babler retired. 😆😆😆 Just messin with ya, Phil. Glad you guys caught em. Too cold and windy for casting practice. Can't ask for a nicer guy than Randy --- or one that knows more about TR walleye, especially in the upper White.

If I knew for sure I'd have my own sweet spots to myself, I'd run up there in every derby. But as you certainly know, the Kings can fish very, very small some days, and you really don't know if it's gonna be on/off until you get up there and start fishing. If there's even a couple of other decent fishermen up there, you'll end up splitting up the fish and none of you will cash a check. Quick funny story: Donna and I were struggling one day just fun fishing. The weather was nice so I suggested a bit of a run up the Kings. Hardly any boats anywhere around, but when I made the last bend before the spot I was headed for, there sat one right where I wanted to go. The boat wrap had me thinkin it was another wanna-be pro. We idled past and I hardly even glanced their way, then ran on up a good 1/4-mile before starting down another good stretch of channel-swing bank. Next thing I know, here comes this wrapped boat and they sit down and start idling right up to us. I'm thinking, "What the heck?! I idled past you, ran WAY out of your way and even went to the opposite bank. Told Donna, if he wants to start some crap, he's found the right guy. As he gets close enough, I see that it's none other than Rick Clunn and his son, River. They were fishing a Winter Series derby that day and just wanted to tell us he sensed they were where I wanted to fish and that they were heading back toward Kim City. Said there were lots of fish on that stretch but none that would help them cull up. Found out later they placed high in the derby with 19 pounds. Of course, we thanked them profusely for the info and stopped at that spot on the way back downriver. Sure enough, we caught a dozen in the 100-yard stretch I had wanted to fish. Just one more example of what usually happens when we ASSUME. (OK, that story wasn't as short as I'd intended. Sue me.) 🤷‍♂️😁

You old 🔨!!

Eric Olliverson has been catching tons of walleye and big spots. Eric's Elite Guide Service. Great guy, too.

You know, if Johnny was the advocate for conservation that he claims to be, they'd have a couple more weigh-in sites for this tournament rather than having every fish hauled (by water or land) all the way down to Long Creek. It's just ridiculous that he insists on his marina being the exclusive weigh-in site.

Here's a quick synopsis of why I dislike FFS ... There are still a lot of meat hogs out there. Human technology is advancing while the fish are no smarter than they've ever been. At what point will we just get too smart for them to hide anymore and really damage the population? Crappie seem particularly vulnerable, according to expert opinions I've read. I don't really give a flip about it in relation to bass tournaments because I rarely fish derbies anymore and other than pure pressure and boat traffic, I don't see it affecting bass much. And if I did, my style of fishing would hold up pretty well against the deep guys --- just like it did before FFS.

I pick and choose my tournaments carefully these days but gonna have to add this to the 2026 calendar right now.