Champ188

Very nice job, indeed.

^^^ What he said.

Jacob, I would bet you that is a lot more about duck hunting than fishing.

You bet, Jacob. Merrisac, Coal Pile, Moores Bayou ... That's one wild and wooly area. Pretty much the polar opposite in every way to fishing Table Rock. But it's a ton of fun.

I don't pay much attention to that crap. Regardless of what they say, most of those guys run the living heck out of their motors all the time and don't maintain them. I had a 2004 Optimax 200 that I put 1,100 hours on and never had a problem beyond normal maintenance. I expect the same from this one and so far have not been disappointed.

Thing is, for anyone who might still believe all those antics aren't as fake as "pro" wrestling, consider MIke McClelland, Mark Davis, Todd Faircloth, Gary Klein, Alton Jones and other low-drama anglers who just go out there to fish and get their jobs done. Those guys have to be in the top 3 going into the final day to get on the TV show. Why? They don't play BASS's bullcrap games and act like fools. Iaconelli can miss the cut and still manage to get air time. The way I see it, BASS is trying to sell a product to nonfishermen (who only watch for the drama) and is losing the real fishermen in the process. Hard to believe Jerry McKinnis went from having the first syndicated fishing show -- and a darn good one -- to being head promoter of the circus act that the Elite Series has become.

Willy, I really believe there are more out there than we know. Of course, the big-fish population is probably still not at carrying capacity because of the virus that hit around 2000. Bo and others have made some good points about the natural deterioration of cover as the lake ages. We also know there are certain bass who are born deep and live offshore for all of their lives, which creates an accessibility factor. That factor is compounded when you have oodles of shad in the lake, creating an offshore buffet that leaves those big uns with very little reason to ever come shallow. I really believe that the only time that most of the truly big fish come shallow enough to be reasonably accessible to anglers is 1) when they push a school of shad up on a point or flat, 2) when they get hungry for a crawfish or 3) when they come in for a couple of days to drop their eggs and leave. That's just my layman's opinion.

I hope you're as happy with your Pro XS as I am with mine. That thing is just crazy easy on fuel. Oil is expensive if you burn the brown DFI oil like I do, but it doesn't drink a lot of that either.

I noticed those redears, too. I have two on the wall at home that were caught at Lake Ouachita by my grandfather in June 1960, a month before I was born. One weighed 2-2 and the other was 2-0. The 2-2 was an Arkansas state record for quite some time. He caught them fishing 40 feet deep (for bream???) along a bluff wall on redworms. Yes, he was a "deep thinker" like Babler. They would have fished well together!

We're going to launch at Shell Knob bridge and probably fish downstream as far as Big Creek, maybe even Baxter. Left-seater for this mission will be forum member denjac. He's a handful but was the best I could do on short notice. Hope to see you out there Macsimus. What engine do you have on that fine-looking Cat? Donna and I are planning to fish the USABassin derby Saturday out of Big M. Need to reclaim whatever pride we have left after a dismal showing in the opener 3 weeks ago.

That's a hard day's work for sure but kudos for sticking with it and catching a mess to eat.

When driving down the road alone to go pick up my jersey at the dry cleaners -- or when Donna is asleep on the way to the lake -- I practice saying, "Big un, big un, big un, big un, big un" over and over so I can be ready next time a porch poodle gecko stub nails my junk. Of course, I always make a smooth modulation into "Well, maybe he's not as big as I thought" and ultimately to, "Dang, I hope he keeps."

Very nice report. Taking the day off Friday. Can't wait to get out there with a good friend and spend some quality time.

Awesome, Dave. If all it takes is for Coach Crooked Nose to win his 127th NCAA championship for you to wax witty and throw a dart or two at the jersey jocks, I say so be it. Power Poles down!!!

To quote our fearless forum leader, I am just not that mad at them.

Pepe, I assure you Dave meant no disrespect. Even the best of the crank bait fishermen back in the 80's called them idiot baits, and the term kind of morphed from there to apply to pretty much any winding-type lure. If anyone was gonna take offense it would be me ... I'm far more of a winder than a dragger.

Enforcer, I'm certainly not Bill, but any number of things will work on the swing head. Strike King's Rage Tail series added the Menace grub a couple of years back and it works extremely well. That's what Mark Davis caught a lot of his fish on last year when he finished second to Mike McClelland in the Elite Series derby up here. Other good choices include the Berkley Havoc Pit Boss, a Reaction Innovations Sweet Beaver or even the middle-size Zoom Brush Hog (Baby Brush Hog, I believe). Donna caught some last year throwing a regular old green pumpkin/chartreuse tail Zoom lizard.

Bill left out one small detail. When you get the wobblehead back to the boat, check and make sure it has Table Rock water on it. It works a lot better that way.

Amen to that. If I was on 'em like that, I'd pony up and fish the derby Friday night and Saturday too if they still have both.

Thanks for the report and it wasn't late. Lots of us post our weekend trips on Monday. Glad you got to catch some fish.

I am not one bit superstitious, but I begin every fishing trip with a 20-foot cast that I reel in quickly to avoid the first-cast jinx. OK, maybe that's one bit.

Thanks for the great report. Sure good to hear of dads taking their kids fishing. Doesn't happen near enough these days.

Absolutely. My two rules are 1) Never catch one on your first throw and 2) Never leave the ramp without first catching one in the parking lot.

Sounds like a great trip. Thanks for the report.

Bella Vista store only has Mudbug and Molting Craw colors.