Champ188

Hey, ol' friend. You'll be fine about anywhere you want to go on TR. Kings River showed zero new inflow from the rain and the James only rose a couple of feet at Galena, which will come right back down quickly. What a gorgeous Cat. Was that Rick P's personal boat by chance?

Be You had to have felt right at home. Beck always said you were the best net man he'd ever had.

Disclaimer: Yes, I used to tournament fish. A lot. And loved it. A lot. Just got ruined on it when entries/payouts got so low that you had to WIN a Central Pro-Am event to cover the 4-day trip. Not kidding. Winning checks got down to around $1,000. Here we go again ... another major national tournament on the White River chain. Table Rock has already been hit with Redcrest and no telling what other banner derbies this year. This week, it's Beaver. Water levels are so low that shallow fish are there for the taking, and with a full moon coming May 1 (Friday, the second day of competition) it's going to be ridiculous how many fish are yanked off beds and tossed into livewells. Just another grand favor done to our fisheries by good ol' Johnny, who is trumpeted as a world champion of conservation/preservation. Yeah, as long as he profits from it. Bull Shoals-area residents need to be glad they don't have the hotel/restaurant/convention center setup to handle these events. That concludes this get-off-my-yard lake rant. We now return you to our regularly scheduled programming.

I'd be wise to take that advice and follow the food out deep myself, but apparently I'd rather stay up shallow and practice casting while the bite goes on out behind me. Probably why I put my boat up and just beat on the old Titleist these days from June until October.

Pete caught that one coz he was fishing, not scoping. 😮

Bill, you're like those guys on the Dr. Rick (Progressive Insurance) commercials ... I get you up shallow and you're whacking on them, and next thing I know, you've drifted back out into the abyss again. Guess we all tend to drift into our comfort zones, huh? 😁

Thanks again for the report. Didn't have as good a day as you but managed 19. Winding bite was hard to come by and it was a bit tough dragging that Ned in 30 mph wind. Thinking about going up the river tomorrow with a couple of 10-foot crappie poles. I honestly don't believe they've spawned yet.

Donna totally kicked my butt for two straight days of Central Pro-Am practice on Bull a few years back. I was determined to catch ledge fish on a jig and she was catching one after another in 2 feet of water on a Senko. Worse yet, I continued to fish deep in the tournament and barely weighed a small limit. We did kick butt the next day, though, in the team tournament ... a top 5 as I recall.

You don't know how it makes me smile to hear that you're out there fishing how you want to instead of how you have to. I mean, come on ... who dreamt there'd be a day when you posted a report here that they are on a floating worm? Or that you'd be fishing close enough to reach the bank with a 1-oz spoon. 😆 P.S. I've guided enough to just about worship you guys who did it full time for decades.

Glad to hear that coming from someone whose opinion I value. I've watched that guy poach fishing holes for years and seems like whenever there's a dispute over water, even if he's not directly involved, he's always in the neighborhood.

Darn good day, Jeff. Cherish those on Beaver, as they don't come along often. But you know that. Appreciate the report. Helped make up my mind where to go today.

Looking at it two days after April Fools, you had me going. I was trying to picture a $100K bass rig with a jersey jock driving up to some old hillbilly crappie fisherman and telling him he's gotta move coz I have that brushpile reserved. That glitter rocket would likely end up with a couple of lead-puncture wounds.

I hate wind. 🤣

Didn't know you even owned a crank bait. Bet you don't have any DD22's. 😂

That's a darn healthy largemouth.