Champ188

Copolymer lines are cheap at the cash register but, in my experience, can be quite expensive on the water in lost fish. Only one I've ever loved is the original P-Line CXX.

No food business should ever charge law enforcement. They wouldn't be in business long without them. Anyone who thinks those guys don't deserve a good bit of kindness has no idea what they go thru every day they put on their uniform.

Hey Dutch, can you PLEASE chase these two back on topic? 😆😂

Been many derbies when Kelly and I would wave at each other at the James/White split ... and that's another factor with going to Cape Fair. If he's fishing, he's gonna be up there cherry-picking most or all of the good stuff.

You obviously raised your boy to have great respect for the creatures that bring us so much joy (and cost us so much ^&$*^&^ money).

It would take flood conditions and the ability to into the clearing water behind whatever logjam might be coming down to get me back up there in a derby. And a blade bite. Then I MIGHT make the trip. Only thing is, it's a commitment. Once you're there, might as well stay and make the best of whatever is or isn't working for ya coz there's just not time to punt ... i.e., go somewhere else.

Excellent point and no doubt on the money. I'm sure everyone kills a fish now and then, including myself. Deep-hooked fish can certainly be a problem when guiding, as I've done my share of trying to coach inexperienced clients when to set the hook, usually to no avail. The real issue comes with some of these so-called "guides" who blatantly kill everything they and their clients catch, including our brown fish. Just stupid to cut your own throat like that when you make your living finding and catching fish. And the old crap about "I can't tell clients what to do with a fish they catch" is BS. It's very easy ... you tell them that if they are gonna fish with you, they're gonna release their bass. If they don't like it, let em go with one of the bass butchers. I don't want to share my hard-earned know-how with someone like that anyway.

Someone was REALLY mad at em to hurl that friggin' contraption for more than 5 minutes.

I'm just not that social anymore. Too many Richard Craniums out there with no respect for anyone else's space. Not everyone, but enough to make me treasure my solitude when I can find it.

I've made that voyage many times and had it pay off for me in CPA and BFL events, but the thing is, the productive spots in the Kings are numbered. It doesn't take many boats to get the same idea and then you're just splitting up the fish among you and no one has enough to win.

So glad I'm in a position these days to fish a lot on weekdays. And I'm done with the Bella Vista lakes as long as they're gonna "manage" them as swimming pools --- i.e., little to no fertilizing program, meaning almost zero aquatic vegetation of any kind and a weak food chain from the bottom up. Oklahoma's gonna be getting a good percentage of my fishing dollars from here out ... Grand and Tenkiller especially.

Let's not paint all guides with the same brush. Bill Babler set the bar high long ago when he point-blank stated in his advertising materials that bass would not be kept aboard his boat. Pretty sure Beck had the same policy. Not so for lots of others, as is clearly evident in their marketing efforts. The ones who stand up for what they believe need not be stereotyped with the "Mr. Table Rocks" of the world.

Great job, Bobby. Heckuva 2-hour trip.

Thanks for the great review. Glad you guys had an enjoyable evening out.

Well said and my guess would be that he isn't live scoping.

Well done, sir. Surprised you managed to catch anything in Big Creek. Probably the worst creek on the lake for fishing. I'd recommend against anyone else trying to duplicate Steve's success. Nothing to see here --- move along, please.

Payment sent for me and Donna.

Had an older friend in Arkadelphia, Ark., near DeGray Lake who had pretty much given up bass chasing for crappie fishing. Was out fishing in one of the major creek arms on the lake one day and had seen this friend spider rigging out along the channel drop. Soon I heard the damndest bunch of banging around and cussing going on and wheeled around to see what was happening .... a school of hybrids (wipers) had swam directly under his big ol' SeaArk flatbottom and had totally wrecked his minnow spread. He had one on every dang rod (8 total) and they were breaking one pole after another. These things average 5 pounds and frequently reach 20 pounds in DeGray. He lost 5 rods and saved 3 once he finally thought of grabbing some scissors and cutting the lines. He was never a fan of hybrids and sure as heck wasn't after that. I fished until around midnight and laughed off and on the rest of the night about that. Talk about mayhem. LOL

Bill getting ready to spider rig ...

They only HAVE to beat them if they want to save their season ... if they play like they have the last few games, they won't come close. Musselman has to get Anthony Black's attention, regardless if it takes whacking him upside the head with a 2x4. He seems to be a good kid but he's a freshman and sometimes acts like a thug. That series of technical fouls near halftime of the Vandy game should've been called differently. Black was to blame for all of it with his act of standing over an opponent who had fallen, taunting him and trash talking. That's not how Razorbacks handle themselves on or off the court. Whatever is wrong with this team seems to be rooted in the locker room but, as is always the case, is manifesting itself on the floor --- e.g., Black's gangish behavior, Kamani Johnson's whining about every foul call, Devo Davis repeatedly and recklessly trying to drive inside and losing the ball. There's too much talent on this team to be losing games because players are putting far too much effort into acting like children instead of playing basketball at the level it takes to win against SEC competition. Go Hogs!

Yeah, ol' QB is ia pretty good feller. 👍

I think the bottom line is this ... nature alone cannot keep pace with not only the amount of pressure we are putting on our fish, but the quality and intensity of that pressure. It is MY OPINION that our great sport is headed toward over-running the resources that provide us with so much enjoyment. The technology we use to locate and capture fish has improved to a Star Wars level but it SEEMS TO ME that conservation efforts have not kept pace. I'll never be convinced that fishing pressure in the 70s and 80s was anywhere near what it is today --- neither in terms of number of anglers or the quality of equipment. The old Central Pro-Am circuit, the annual Olympia or Champion owners tournaments and the Heartland derbies had far greater numbers than today's tournaments for a single reason ... there were not half a dozen shootouts to pick from on any given weekend. We paid higher entry fees because the choice was to pay them or not fish a tournament that weekend. So many anglers these days are willing to fish a 10-boat derby just to have better odds of saying "I won!" than if they were fishing against top-caliber competition. I'd be willing to bet that the Corps doesn't turn down half a dozen regatta applications during the year, so the system is not there to police itself by limiting the pressure on the resource ... it's there only to collect permit money. I'm not anti-tech by any means. I don't have Livescope but I do have three sonar units --- two are brand new and top-notch --- on my boat that will do everything else for me. I also don't believe that the "catch and kill" folks are our biggest enemy. What I do believe is that we will not see any improvement in catch rates (numbers OR average size) until some steps are taken to reduce the amount of pressure on the fish and to study and/or supplementally stock these little green (and brown) creatures that we all love to chase around.

Thanks for sharing this info! I'll have to keep an eye on this site.

Been too many of these the past couple of years. Guess it's just part of the journey but certainly not a pleasant one. Prayers for his family and friends.

So ... what is this store?