Champ188

Darn right his odds are better than that. He's fishing WITH BILL. He's at least a 5/4 favorite. Bill is a guide. No matter how much he may want to win himself, he'll be stuck in guide mode and will end up helping Phil catch the winning fish. As far as Donna and I go, we have a USABassin derby next Saturday, so any big bass we might catch is probably going right back in the water where it came from. Besides, we honestly have not caught a fish over 4 pounds since Christmas and maybe longer. The only thing we are likely to bring to the weigh-in is a big batch of tater salad.

I've had the pleasure of knowing Mike and his family for quite a few years and can testify that he is darn good people. What you see is what you get. Doesn't ham it up to get more camera time. Lets his fishing do the talking. And yes, one can bet that when the Classic comes back to Grand next March, Mike will be a strong factor. I think he wanted the one in 2014 to the point that it affected his fishing, especially mentally. Next time he will have already felt the pressure of being the local favorite and should be able to deal with it better. Same for Jason Christie. In fact, could be a real shootout between those two. Bill Babler, Bill Beck, Hughesy and others on here also know Mike well and can tell you their opinions of him. Bet they are very close to mine. Good luck today and tomorrow, MIkey!

It definitely doesn't bode well for your chances when you put your boat 10-15 yards up on the bank an hour or more before takeoff.

The only thing that could make me happy in a Duke-Kentucky game is for both programs to be discovered in violation of NCAA rules to the point that both are put on death penalty probation and for their coaches (K and Cal) to be banished to the WNBA. Long as I'm dreaming, let's send Dick Vitale to the WNBA broadcast team.

Well said, 24/7. Considering what we pay for electronics these days, people are foolish not to use them more. I'm certainly guilty of not knowing what I should about how to fully take advantage of what they can do but when fishing deep, I certainly use mine to locate fish before just casting and hoping.

I had brain freeze, willy. There was snow on the ground, my brain seized up and next thing I knew, I was doodling that little varmit in the abyss.

Would love to read it myself. Thanks for the heads-up.

After learning of Bill's remarkable success, I set out on a quest the other evening for Rapala Ice Jigs. Was unable to locate any but found a couple of nice-colored Sebile ice jigs in half-ounce size. Full retail was $14 EACH on them but they were 50% off, so I landed those babies at the rock-bottom price of $7 each. Of course, when I got home with them, they had crappy silver hooks (looked galvanized) so I swapped those out for No. 8 Owner Stinger trebles (unlike the Rapala Ice Jig, the Sebile model has trebles on either end). So with the hook exchange, we're probably back up to $8.50 each invested in them. Donna has vowed to not so much as touch one, so I figure it will take me all of 20 minutes to lose them both and then I can say to heck with this deep-sea fishing and go try to catch one doing something I may actually know a little bit about.

Ding, ding, ding, ding ... you are correct, sir. He won back-to-back BASS Invitational events in 1996 on the Arkansas River-Pine Bluff and Ross Barnett.

Rising water temp is music to my ears. Hope we get a gullywasher warm rain. It will be ON then.

Folks, we should all file this away somewhere. You don't get this kind of information every day. And for free, no less.

They were sent away to become fertilizer last year, as best I recall. The spin that the bowfishing association puts on it is that it rids the lake of unwanted rough fish. I guess they need to be thinned somehow.

Great report and some fine specimens of the prettiest fish Table Rock has to offer in my opinion. I don't dislike any of 'em but those big spots are my favorites. Sorry to hear you were ill. I'm down for the count once my temp gets to 101. Never been able to tolerate fever well. I fished the first day of a Champion owners tournament 7-8 years ago with 101-degree temp. Was on a dock bite up the Kings and should've had 18-20 pounds. Instead weighed in three keepers for 12 pounds and lost half a dozen more deep inside dock slips. I was so sick and dizzy from fever that I missed my target half the time when I was trying to pitch that War Eagle Pond Scum Perch jig back in those slips. I'd either hit the tin siding on the dock or the boat lift. Sounded like a freight train clanging down the tracks. Donna made me come home the next morning instead of fishing the second day. Big meanie. Ended up with pneumonia the following week.

Good report. It's time for those pretty speckled fish to get going. Encouraged too by the water temp.

96 CHAMP, you are too easily impressed. LOL. Seriously, I was very blessed to be able to follow my passion for three decades as an outdoors writer and to spend time around a lot of very fine folks in the process. It's been quite a long time since I've seen Tommy but you don't easily forget someone as open and pleasant as him. Always smiling, humble and willing to share his knowledge. I crab on here too much at times about the direction the BASS circuit has taken and what I see as over-the-top drama, etc. But when I do, it's only because I miss the days when the Tommy Martins, Larry Nixons, George Cochrans and Rick Clunns ruled the world of bass fishing with a gentle demeanor and incredible fishing talent. You never saw a one of them risk injuring a big bass by shaking it violently inches from a camera and yelling "Getcha some of that!!!!" Nor did you see them holding a fish out of water excessively long because they were pretending to play it like a guitar. Shuttin up, shuttin up ...

Not a better place to start than with Tommy Martin ... a Bassmasters Classic winner and all-around nice guy. He's been fishing Toledo Bend for 40 years or better. http://tommymartinguideservice.com/

That forum goes months without a post. Grand Lake fishermen -- and Grand bass anglers in particular -- don't share much info anywhere. They have tournaments over there that draw 300 boats (Nichols Team Trail is a good example). Those guys fish for a lot of money and their culture is to keep what they know to themselves. Can't really say I blame them considering the participation level and resulting payout of some of their tournaments. Just a different crowd from the Table Rock bunch.

I know, Addiction. Donna and I can't get past the first 2 minutes without getting nauseated. I don't know what he's overcompensating for, but it's ridiculous. The man certainly doesn't lack for ego. Just wish the folks in charge of BASS had enough sense to realize that he turns off more people than he attracts with all of that BS.

Thanks for the report and the good information, Macsimus. Glad you found a few willing to play.

Very good job. Thanks for the detailed report.

You wouldn't be doing a bad thing if you gave your fiancee a Ned rig and convinced her to fish with it and it alone. Bet you she'll outfish you, unless you do the same thing. There's just nothing they'll bite better than that little dude right now. Otherwise, you can throw a SPRO McStick in the blue bandit or ghost Norman Flake colors, or a Luck-E-Strike RC STX (the larger size) in black stardust shad or chrome blue. If the water climbs up close to 50, a Wiggle Wart could come into play.

More like a monkey (Zona) and jackass (Mercer) show these days --- especially the final weigh-in. Never seen more poorly manufactured "drama" than this year's final weigh-in. They even bordered on disrespectful in showing scenes from 9/11 during that painfully long slideshow of four decades of BASS. The Classic is the world championship of bass fishing. Unfortunately, over-the-top efforts to make it something more "exciting" (and fill the arena with people who don't know a bass from a bullfrog) have pretty much soured it for a lot of serious fishermen. Note: The above statements are opinion, not hate. I reserve my hate for savages like ISIS or people who abuse animals.

http://webboutdoors.com/2015-info/central-elite-pro/elite-pro-results/central-elite-pro-table-rock-final-results/

That's a heckuva good job of finding and catching a good sack on a day that many of us found very tough. Just goes to show there's always a way to catch em.

Fish kill, I tell you. An awful tragedy. Wiped clean. Lifeless.