Champ188

No bass in Big Creek nor anywhere near there. They all picked up and moved to Aunts Creek. Honest. Would I lie?

Jacob, you might call Rich at Ozarks Bait and Tackle in Kimberling City and see if he knows of any unlinked boaters. 417-739-1116

A very kind post and wow, what a fish! Glad that you and your son enjoy fishing together and we hope you'll keep visiting the forum often and put in your 2-cents' worth. We'll try to steer you right.

A couple of things to keep in mind ... if we get a big rain beforehand, you're hosed as far as fishing the Kings. It will turn to chocolate-milk mud. If that happens, do as dtrs5kprs suggested and go to Shell Knob, then either turn left up the White or right down the White toward the main lake. The other is to take extreme care running the Kings, especially from Viola upriver. The lake is about 10 feet below normal level and there is a LOT of stuff to hit and ruin a trip. Not trying to be a downer. You should have a good trip and catch a lot of fish that time of year. Just don't put down roots in muddy water. There are lots of other areas that will not be muddy. And use some common sense in running the Kings. Have fun!

Agreed in full on Grand ... what a great fishery. Donna and I have been over there 8-10 days in the past 6 weeks. We are fishing BFL there on March 9 and I made a point to learn more about the area between Honey Creek and the dam. We will practice two more days the Thurs-Fri before the derby but I wanted to get the bulk of my looking done before the Classic circus got here. Even though I live less than an hour from there and have fished Grand a lot over the past 10 years, I just have to say wow. That is one healthy, fertile fishery. So much fun to fish. If you are not getting bit, you are for sure doing the WRONG thing because there is ALWAYS a way to catch em on Grand. Bird Watcher, I wish I was like you and lived even closer. As a newspaper sports and outdoors writer for 15 years before moving into management and giving up all the fun stuff, I was in the press corps for quite a few Bassmaster Classics in the 1980s and 90s. Bill is spot on in saying there has never been one anywhere near like this one. Every year, the on-the-water entourage of idiots grows larger and more disrespectful. I don't care what you think of tournament fishing, these guys are out there trying to carve out a living in a way that few people have the gonads to try. Get the heck out of their way for a couple of days and let them have a fair shot at it. And BASS has just rolled out the red carpet for these numbnuts with Basstraks. Believe this ... BASS doesn't give a popcorn toot about their anglers anymore ... it's ALL about making the fans happy. Word was the dadgum water patrol had to come out and help move the "fans" back so Jason Christie could fish yesterday. That's just sad. OK, I'm done railing. Donna and I are going to Beaver to try and find some fish for a derby next weekend. High blue and no wind predicted. Should be a challenge.

The tighter everyone gets bunched, the more the fish get hammered and the more people have to start scrambling looking for new ones, the more I believe it will favor the guys who know the lake well enough to start flying by the seat of their pants .... McClelland and Christie. Can't win the first day but you can lose, and a bunch of them did just that today. Tomorrow will weed out a bunch more and set us up for what promises to be quite a show Sunday. Yes, it's about to get crowded out there for the leaders. But it sure is nice to have a real fishing derby instead of a dang bed-hunting contest or have everyone jammed up on a muddy little river where there are only 2-3 areas capable of producing a winning sack.

Bill nailed it ... you are experiencing a typical late-winter/early-spring bite on our White River chain of lakes. Keep throwing what's working and expanding your waters but most of all, enjoy it. You're catching some darn good fish. The numbers will rise with the water temps as spring arrives, but you'll see fewer big ones.

Probably so, Ron. I've never tried the 580s so I can't say for sure.

Welcome, guys. You don't have to be an expert to know something worth sharing.

Uh oh, Bubba. Blade bite soon to follow.

If anyone wants a Gator Mount brand new in the box, I have one that I'd like to sell.

My only advice would be that I would step up to the 82-pound Tour edition MotorGuide. The one you are looking at for $500 has a cheaper foot pedal and mount, and I don't think you would be pleased with it in the long run.

Thanks, dtrs5kprs. We got bass slime, drum slime and even a bit of crappie slime on it. Actually, we tried not to bring the drum inside the boat, opting instead for the "lean over the side with needlenose pliers" tactic. Water was very pretty at Grand, at least from Honey Creek down to the dam. Probably going to change now with all that rain earlier this week. Surface temps were running 44-47.

Table Rock winter series Saturday took 23.82 to win. Second place was 21 and change. Someone in that bunch always catches em. Always.

Weighed 6-4 on our Rapala scales. Could have been closer to 7, though. At any rate, it was a pretty fish. Donna done good.

Donna and I fished Grand both days this weekend. Didn't catch big numbers either day but size was above average. Would rather not say what lure due to upcoming derbies over there but it had treble hooks.

Reminds me of Larry Nixon's old saying about tournaments .... "Someone's gonna win. Might as well be me." Someone always catches em.

Ron, I wear the original green mirror lens (not the 580s) and love them. Have two pairs (Zane and Brine models) and Donna has a pair of Harpoons, which she also adores. All have held up well except that I dropped my Zanes and broke a lens and crushed my Brines in my jacket pocket, like a numbnuts. Got lenses replaced and was back in business. Can't blame a product or a company when you break it out of abuse. The lenses are glass — you drop them, chances are they will break. They're big boy glasses, not toys.

Very nice fish, Quillback. Congrats.

Very good info and well explained. Thanks, Josh.

I like the Mill Creek idea. Seems centrally located.

Count Donna and I in for sure. And let us know how we can help.

Nice mess of fish, Tightline. Next stop, Crisco Creek. Enjoy.

LOL Thumbs, my driver could sure use some work!

LOL, that goes for all of us Edwin. And yes F&F, that would sure draw some looks in my locale.