Champ188

That's a great way to catch em this time of year on The Beav. Glad you had a good day. That blue bandit McStick works as good as any for me.

Me too, Thumbs. I've put in a lot of practice time for this one and am not done yet. Hoping me and my co-angler both have a big bag.

Nothing like getting factory-direct advice on set-up. Always been impressed with Legend boats. The Texas boys sure like em, which tells you a lot about how they ride and perform in rough water.

We gotta draw him out of hiding every now and then, snakem

Absolutely a good way to learn, Thumbs. As long as you draw out with some numbnuts like me.

Cajun, you are right about the Fury not being the be-all, end-all. I know several people with new-ish rig, myself included, who are running the tried-and-true Tempest Plus and are very happy with them. Congrats on the new rig. Hope you get it set up to your liking.

Wish they hadn't moved this Table Rock tournament up from its former May spot on the schedule. I probably would have fished it but am fishing the Okie Division event at Grand. Love the Rock in May. Co-angler winner was in the back of my boat a couple of years ago. The guy fished an Eakins jig with the biggest dang craw-worm trailer I've ever seen and dip-n-dyed the entire darn trailer chartreuse. We were fishing ledge rock drops 6-12 feet deep and I could see his jig on the bottom most of the day. I kid you not. And every time I turned around he was hooked up again.

One suggestion I would offer on breaking off on the hookset would be to consider your rod action. I use a lighter rod than I did in the pre-fluorocarbon days ... still a mediium-heavy power but fast action instead of extra fast. The slightly whippier tip absorbs some of the shock of the hookset for those of us like me and Bill who can't help ourselves and have to jerk when one bites. My favorite for flipping docks is a 6-8 or 6-10 Shimano Crucial or Duckett Micro Magic. Again, medium-heavy power but fast action instead of extra fast.

Nothing to add to that, Mr. Bill. Darn well put. Donna and I often have the sun go down on us literally while we're looking for that one more bite.

Even the most expensive fluorocarbon doesn't cost $100 a spool unless you are buying bulk spools. A 200-yard spool of top-shelf Seaguar Tatsu or Sunline Shooter that will fill two bass reels is under $50. I'm a fan of Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon for jig or soft plastic presentations where feel is important. It's extremely sensitive and very tough and runs about $20 for a 200-yard spool. For topwaters or fast-moving baits like spinner baits or crank baits, good ol' Trilene Big Game, P-Line or Maxima is hard to beat.

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.