Champ188

I have to say --- in the most non-confrontational way that I can --- that Thumbs has a very good point. The devil is in the delivery. Titling your posts things like "Absurd" and "It's Simple" tends to irritate folks. As a general rule, consistently catching bass is neither absurd nor simple ... not on Table Rock and not on any other public waterway in this part of the country. Saying that it is can come across as arrogant and is often suspected of being untrue. As for those who claim to catch them by the dozens every time they go, I can't concretely dispute your numbers. I wasn't there. But I will say that I don't care how good of a deep-water angler you may be, there are some bonafide offshore gurus around --- Bill Babler and Bill Beck, to name a couple --- who do not catch them every trip and who have absolutely no problem admitting to the world when they don't. I don't think I'm stepping very far out on a limb by saying that no one on this forum is any better than those two at putting deep-water fish in the boat on Table Rock. So if you want to regale us all with stories of how you hammer them every time you get your lower unit wet, go right ahead. Just don't be surprised when some of us raise a suspicious brow. I'm as appreciative as anyone here of all of the great info that's shared on this site. As we all tend to do, I take what suits me and leave the rest for others to sift through. I'm often told that my own contributions are appreciated, and I like knowing that I've helped others. That's what this place is all about.

Just a waste of money to go out there and fish for little ones. Not long before I started fishing tournaments in the 80s, the limit in most derbies was 10. Then it dropped to 7, where it stayed for quite a few years, and now the norm is down to 5 fish. I personally saw the entire landscape of tournament fishing change with the drop from 7 to 5 fish. You had to really start fishing for better fish. So again, it's a waste of good money to go out and just fish for all the bites you can get. You only need five, so as Bo says, fish like you mean it.

Nice report, Bill, and beautiful pics. Donna and I will be up Saturday to kill the deep bite for you guys.

That's the nature of the fall dock bite ... it's not a fast and furious deal by any means. But when you keep your junk (jig, spoon, whatever you're flipping) way back in the dark corners all day long, you will usually get 6-10 quality bites in the course of a tournament day. If you get them in the boat, you'll be in the check line.

They had a very bright day without much wind. On TR or any other highland reservoir, that doesn't bode well for the shallow bite. That said, there's a lot of stealth and trickery that goes into catching fish shallow out of these kind of lakes. Sun angles, wind (what little there may be) and just knowing the right spots from years of experience all come into play. There weren't a lot of locals fishing the Toyota deal, so those who tried to power fish in those conditions signed their own death warrants. Bill is dead right in that deep is where the money bite is at right now. OK, that's two death metaphors in one post. Time for me to go.

Congrats, Bo. I bet you catch em again tomorrow.

Felt kinda sorry for the old boys from Alabama who won. They didn't have any jerseys or buffs like the cool kids did. Oh well, guess that $5,000 check was pretty cool.

I have the Fortrex 101 and have loved it since the day I got it. Not a single problem whatsoever. Doubt I'll ever go back to MotorGuide.

If you stayed 8 hours at a catch rate of one fish every 3 minutes, you'd be in the neighborhood of 160 fish. If your thumb can only stand about 30, you'd better not try any extended trips or you might be looking at some skin graft surgery.

Glad you had a good week and got to "enjoy" all kinds of weather. It's all part of the experience. And Denny is right ... you're not gonna beat another guy at his own game very often, so it's best to just take what you know and go do your own thing. There's just no keeping pace with some of these guys around here. They catch em like gangbusters every time out. It's absurd.

Good folks do good deeds. Enjoyed getting to know Pete while fishing Central Pro-Am back in the day.

The wind definitely helps. Congrats on a good day and thanks for the report.

Bunch of beautiful fish. Nice job figuring out the shallow bite. It's been there when it seemingly shouldn't be for most of the summer and into early fall. Glad you and your dad had a big time. And thanks for all the pics.

Glad to be of service, Mike.

Glad to hear it, 176champion. I heard of some patchy frost a week or so ago around here but there wasn't any in my neck of the woods.

You two just keep on slaying them and talking about how absurdly easy it is. You have them figured out, no doubt. Meanwhile, the rest of us dumbo's --- including the best full-time guides on the lake --- will keep hammering out what we can catch and putting up posts titled "Tough Bite for Me Today" and similar names. We are good-hearted folks, too. We just help others by telling them what NOT to do, I suppose. We will learn how to catch them someday. Maybe. Or not.

I'm on the golf course this weekend unless I sneak up that way Sunday, and if I do it'll be on the upper end away from the crowd. Let the derby boys have at it. My favorite days won't start until next month anyway. Haven't even seen a frost yet, at least not in Bella Vista.

It washes out, Mike. Bo and I take all the ones we catch on the lower end back up the river.

I've used some of the push-on skirts with no problem. They don't have quite the perfect action of the tied skirts but they work OK.

Hey, I can't pick on Bo all the time and no one else. No fish pics? Four-pound average is pretty stout. Let's see some of them.

All those boats are from the big Toyota derby this coming weekend. Free entry for qualified Toyota owners. Couple of hundred boats or better, is what I heard. Launching out of Johnny World/Long Creek location.

A very good read, Macsimus. Thanks for sharing!

I'm still of the opinion that line visibility can be an issue when fishing slow-moving finesse lures in ultra-clear water. I see the A-rig as a reaction lure. Kinda like a Plopper or even a spinnerbait. It's chugging thru the water clanging and flashing and vibrating and the fish says, WTH???? Then he attacks the dadgum thing for invading his territory. Conversely, a Ned or shaky head bite is a feeding bite. He sees it, goes over to investigate, may pause a few seconds, and then eats it. I just think there's more chance for line visibility to tip him off that something ain't right. Not that he/she has the mental capacity to know it's fishing line, but I think we all agree that fish often are reluctant to take something that isn't realistic, especially with a slow feeding bite.

Very impressive win, Adam. Congratulations on it but even more on the birth of your son. Hope to meet up with you sometime soon and compare notes on the White River Lures lineup. Some very impressive stuff, as evidenced by your CPAA Championship victory.

With 4-pound line, I use a 1/8-ounce head 70 percent of the time and a 1/16 the rest of the time (for shaky heads). With the Ned, I use a 1/16 nearly all of the time except when the wind forces me to go up to 1/8. I agree, rate of fall comes into play sometimes, especially with suspended fish. But the line diameter issue runs deeper than that. I'm convinced of it.