Champ188

All great info, fozzype. Thanks for providing some depth on the issue. Bottom line: Can't grow fish in sterile water. No nutrients = no food chain. Thanks again.

(417) 779-4301 or www.baxterboatdock.com

A taxidermist in favor of stripers — imagine that!

I grew up around lakes where stripers were introduced 30 years ago (Ouachita and Hamilton in Hot Springs, AR). I live near one now (Beaver). In my not-so-humble opinion, they belong in the ocean where God put them. Aside from decimating the shad supply, they are for the most part nearly impossible for the recreational angler to catch. I have guide friends who chase them, and "chase" is a very literal term. These fish run in huge schools and often move miles in a day's time. The weekend fisherman who was so excited about these big brutes being stocked soon learns that without very good electronics and a lot of luck, his chances of getting on them is not very good. Around Hot Springs and at Beaver, except for a few dedicated locals, about the only successful striper fishermen are the guides. Meanwhile, the price to be paid is reduced populations of other gamefish — namely the native bass species and crappie. I believe the primary reason for this is reduced forage, but crappie being open-water fish will often find themselves in the company of stripers. I do not believe that striper prey on native bass because they just don't occupy the same waters much of the time. But they will eat their share of crappie. As for putting them in Table Rock, MDC folks are smarter than that. They aren't about to take this gold mine of a lake that's pulling in literally every nationwide bass tournament circuit on a yearly basis and mess it up. I'd bet the farm on that.

I remember when I could fish half the night or more and work the next day. Not no mo.

You make a good point there, Denny. Maybe KVD IS Beck, or vice versa.

Babler-Beck should be takin him on an instructional guide trip after last Sunday.

Nice day, pal. What was the water temp up there?

7.95

I know, dtrs5kprs. LOL. But i'm done with derbies for awhile on TR. Headed for LOZ as time allows the next 2-3 weeks. Looking forward to a good dirty-water spring blade bite up there.

Wind is gonna make a big difference for you, Edwin. Hang in there, buddy. I feel your pain. I've thrown a pile of money at derbies the past two weekends and come away "checkless." Don't let Babler woo you with his siren song about that dastardly float-n-fly. Resist, my brother. Get thee behind me, evil one. Seriously, they're gonna turn on bigtime any day now. I had a good bite going up the Kings week before last in 50-53 degree water. Very few big fish and hard to even put together a sack of keepers but by gosh it was fun. They slowed down a lot last week when the water temp dropped a bit, but I'd bet they're getting back on their feed by now. Viola marina to near the Hwy 86 bridge. Shallow crank baits (Bandit 200s or even 100s) around big rocks or wood. Spinner baits were starting to work, too. Go up there and enjoy. Sounds like you need some bites, big or small.

Your msg comes thru loud and clear, Bill. No editing required.

"Our great friendship outweighs anything in the competition." You said a mouthful there, Bill. I've yet to come home from a day of fishing with my partner and wished I'd stayed home, regardless of how badly we fished or how much money we spent. And she's a heckuva lot better looking than Beck.

IN MY OPINION, it would be nice to not have tournaments during the spawn. It just can't be good to pull fish off their nests and haul them miles away. But tournaments have been around 40 years or more and we still have lots of fish, so like Mr. Bill said, plenty for everyone. Let's just go fishin' and be happy we are blessed with the opportunity to do so and have such a heavenly place to practice our passion.

Believe me, Techo ... plenty of boats in the Kings on Saturday.

Mine are on both sides of the Merc.

Fish of a lifetime indeed and a flawless specimen at that! Congrats bigtime!

Techo, I wasn't able to get in and by the time we called and tried, the waiting list was more than 50 people deep. It must have filled up on the first call-in day. Going to be sitting on top of the phone next year on call-in day. I'm betting they'll be back since Bass Pro Shops is the title sponsor and with Springfield being headquarters. Oh well, but I do GREATLY appreciate the vote of confidence. Let's do a "dock lunch" again sometime soon. Enjoyed that last year.

Wouldn't change the winning outcome as I don't believe KVD was running one of those units, but it could change the standings considerably below him. Seems it should definitely be addressed but betcha it won't be.

Weigh-in first two days will be at state park. Third-day weigh-in will be at Bass Pro Shop in Branson.

Nothing to see up there, J.E. Move along please.

Really nice report, innova. Thanks for posting.

Missouri Water Patrol regatta permits show they're having it May 7.

Just don't bring that girly man stuff up the river. We don't cotton to that kind of tomfoolery up there.

Tim's had a lot of success for a lot of years on that grub. He's as good with it as anyone I've ever known.