Champ188

Wily, Glad you enjoyed the tournament and hope you'll consider fishing some more of them. We need nonboaters. Present company possibly excluded, there are some very fine pros fishing CPA and you stand the chance to learn a lot from your partner, not to mention perhaps making a little prize money while you're at it. Again, glad you enjoyed the event.

Whack'em, I use a 7-foot Shimano Clarus in medium heavy/fast action for this application. Works great, and with the fast action the tip has enough "give" that you won't jerk the bait away from the fish. This is their IM7 model and costs only around $79. Sometimes you want high-tech, sometimes you want low-tech. Good thing about this rod is its over-the-counter exchange lifetime warranty.

CollegeFish86, Fished Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to dark. Had bluebird skies and absolutely no wind until about 3 p.m., when a little cloud bank passed over and brought a decent breeze for about two hours. During that time, caught five that would total about 14 pounds on a chartreuse-shad jerk bait. All came inside Prairie Creek on 45-degree banks with chunk rock and the wind blowing in on them. Best fish was a 4.5 LM. Also had a 3.5 SM. Hope this helps.

Considered a trip Sunday to Eagle Rock myself but my partner wimped out. No names since the aforementioned partner is a member and frequent visitor to this forum with whom I happen to share a bed. Doesn't sound like we missed much. Better luck next time Fishrman.

The last two CPA tournaments last year (championship at LOZ and fall tournament at TR), we were "privileged" to share the lake with the Stren Series guys. Time for the Heartland guys to have some fun.

For Pete's sake Ealy, get rid of those helicopter lures. Two words for ya pal: Banjo Minnow. They're irresistible and have universal appeal to every species that swims. I even had a follow from a blue marlin once while casting for peacocks near Hurricane Deck. I used Flying Lures for years but donated them all to charity. Last I heard, the Ethiopians were catching so many fish on them that obesity has replaced famine as their biggest health problem.

You're dead wrong about Shell Knob, Techo. Worst area on the lake. I strongly recommend anything from the dam all the way to the back of Cricket and Long creeks. I hear Beardsley has so many fish that you can rig up a drop shot with five hooks and catch a tournament limit on one drop.

Just saw a big announcement on the BASS homepage that they've cut three events out of the 2009 Elite Series schedule and are reducing their payouts by about $200,000 per tournament. The winner still gets $100,000 per event but there have been some significant cuts from second place down. Most significant, perhaps, is that places 26-50, which used to be guaranteed $10,000 for making the third-day cut, now will get only $5,000. The whole idea when the Elite Series was born was a guy could finish in the top 50 and still cover expenses for the event. May be some guys staying home now.

Roy, Yes, same crank bait colors that work on TR and BS also work on Beaver. Of course, ol' Wiggly (Wiggle Wart) is the bait of choice this time of year. Personal favorite colors include the darker shades of green or brown on sunny days and watermelon seed early in the day or on cloudy days. There can also be a decent Wiggle Wart bite up the river and my favorites up are the watermelon seed or brown back, chartreuse side with orange belly. I believe the color number for the later is V45. Beaver's stick bait bite can be very good at times ... Pointers in chartreuse shad or Aurora Black work well. So do Rogues in clown, chrome/blue back, purple back/white and sometimes Table Rock Shad (purple back/chartreuse side/white belly). I also caught quite a few fish last winter/early spring on an X-Rap in size 10 in their ghost shad color (it's basically solid white). For the most part, the best areas seem to be chunk rock banks with scattered boulders and a 45-degree incline. Doesn't seem to matter much whether these banks are on the main lake or in major creeks. But once you catch some fish in an area, remember it. To me, Beaver is more of a "spot fishing" lake than a pattern lake. There are places on it that look good but never seem to hold fish. Likewise, there are others that may not look as good that always have fish on them. If you're looking for a specific place to start, I'd take a hard look at Big Ventris in the mid-lake area. Also, Shaddox Hollow and Ford's Creek are very good. Hope this helps and good luck to you.

Crappie5, Was up there Saturday as far as Sweetwater and it wasn't muddy a bit. Also, we got kind of a late start and when we drove over the Kings on 86 it wasn't at all muddy.

I'm with Babler and the rest of you guys, it did suck. I want to go through the TV screen and throttle that sawed-off Charlie Evans every time he says, "Got one hooked up here!" Or "great hookset!" But here's my real sticking point with this TR broadcast ... the guy who owns Hook, Line & Sinker tackle shop down here in Rogers is friends with the Texas guy (David Curtis, I believe) who won the tournament. In fact, he furnished him the Bass-X jigs for the tournament and even picked his wife up at the airport in NW Arkansas and drove her to Branson for the final day weigh-in. According to him, the guy won the tournament fishing a ledge somewhere above the 86 bridge at Eagle Rock. Donna and I were on the lake fishing in the SK bridge area and saw the dude — he was in a Coppertone wrap boat — and his "chase boat" headed back down the lake around 1:30 p.m. I clearly recall telling her, "There goes the leader in the Stren tournament headed back to Branson." But did you notice on the piece of crap show that they showed a graphic of his fishing location being that round point just above KC bridge on the north side? What the heck? Maybe the guy hit that KC point on his way in, but my understanding is that his primary area was above Eagle Rock.

KC, Ledge rock consists of big, flat slabs of rock that are stacked, forming a pretty steep, vertical drop along a bank. The edges aren't even, creating little shelves for the fish to hide in and ambush prey. With the lake at its present level, this kind of rock extends above the waterline right now in lots of areas, so keep an eye out next time you're out and you'll see some of it. When fishing this type of bank, it's important to cast parallel down the bank and keep your bait (Wiggle Wart or suspending jerk bait at present) as close as possible to the rock all the way back to the boat. The fish will dart out and grab it as it comes by, unless it' a day like Saturday, in which they'll just lay there and look at it. Good luck to you.

LarryC, Didn't do so hot in the Polar Bear. Partner and I caught four that would weigh about 11 pounds and opted not to stand in the weigh-in line. In fact, we "stocked" them into a little honey hole down the lake that I'm hoping will produce some good fish for me in the Central Pro-Am tournament the first weekend of March. Those fish probably won't stay there that long but better than letting them go in Prairie Creek, where half the fish in the lake end up anyway because of tournament releases.

Glad to hear you guys struggled, too. Just kidding, of course. Donna and I put in at SK bridge at 8:30 a.m. and fished til dark. Covered some awfully good spots — went down as far as the little deep cuts just below Big Creek and up as far as Sweetwater in the Kings. Stayed on the windy side all day, hitting bluff ends, chunk rock and ledge rock banks and even some pea gravel points. Ended up with two nice keeper largemouths — one about 2.5 on a jerk bait and the other 3.5 on a crank bait — and one short on the jerk bait. Drug a fb jig a lot and to my knowledge, I never got bit on it. Donna missed a couple. Never caught a KY or brown fish all day. All in all, a humbling experience.

skeeterp and BlueWave, Now that the Polar Bear is over, here's some better advice on the stripers. They are definitely in Prairie Creek but even thicker in the back of Coose Hollow. And when I say the back, I mean all the way back to the last docks on the left. The shad are so thick in there that I was snagging one literally every cast yesterday with a jerk bait. The water temp is also 2-3 degrees warmer there than anywhere else on the lake. The shad are this year's hatch ... about 1.5 inches long, and they are swarming just under the surface. Stripers are boiling in them throughout the day. I can't catch any LM or spots back there and I figure the stripers are the reason. I haven't been in Big Ventris but would bet the same is true back there — usually is concerning stripers. We've had a lot of days lately with strong south winds, which blow directly into Coose and Ventris. Saturday is supposed to be the same and overcast to boot. Should be a heckuva good day for the big silver fish. skeeterp — we haven't been over to lomond since the drawdown but if a guy could get in there with a flatbottom or little Bass Buster two-man boat, there's no telling what he could catch. i'd definitely throw a clown-coloring suspending Rogue, but not the great big one. I caught a bunch of fish over there last year on the smaller model. For some reason, a Pointer didn't work very well over there last year. That ol' cheap Rogue was the ticket. Seems like a caught quite a few on a No. 10 X-Rap, too. That's a pretty darn good suspending jerk bait, especially for the price. Let me know if you go over there and whack em.

Was prefishing for a bass tournament Tuesday (12-30-08) and ran across schools of stripers in Prairie Creek and Coose. A few were coming to the top in the afternoon and swirling on shad. Go get 'em, boys.

Fishrman, Hopefully this won't be the case with yours, but I bought a new 510c last spring and within a couple of trips it started giving me the same trouble. Both times were after I'd fished in a rainstorm. When I got home and pulled the unit off, water started dripping out of it around the screen seal. The good news is they sent me a brand new one pretty quickly.

Jeremy, Capt. Don surely has his own answer, but having worked as a guide myself in years past, I can offer a couple of reasons why the two don't mix. First, guiding and tournament fishing are two polar-opposite styles of fishing. More than 90% of my guide clients were interested in catching numbers of fish. Size mattered little. So they weren't willing to wait hour(s) between bites. It's all about action with clients. So whether I was actually guiding or out fishing alone locating fish, my objective was to find and catch the most fish possible regardless of size. Now I did fish tournaments with reasonable success, but it was in my favor that tournament limits back then were seven fish (yeah, I'm old). Now that limits are five fish, there is a bigger premium on quality. Secondly, a guide's mechanical skills can suffer when he spends days on end keeping clients away from prime bass cover. Why? Imagine taking the most casting skills-challenged person you know out fishing for a day and keeping them in the middle of boat docks (think cables), overhanging limbs and flooded cedar groves all day. Yeah, you get the picture. With a nod to Mr. Babler here, the term "numbnuts" comes to mind. So guides can get a little rusty themselves at pitching jigs to boat docks or any other tactic that requires a high level of mechanical skill, simply because they don't get to do it very often. Repetition is required to stay sharp. Anyway, that's my 29 cents' worth on why guiding and tournament fishing can be like oil and water.

Crew, We're home ... been back since Friday. Donna's getting around very well and improving every day. Sorry to have not posted an update before now but been slammed with all of my regular stuff plus being a domestic goddess of sorts. I'm considering asking the directors if I can audition for the cast of Desperate Housewives. I'll tell Donna to post soon. Thanks again for all of your kindness, thoughts and prayers.

Well, like t1365, i'm no expert on anything (well, i like to THINK i'm something of an authority on spinnerbaits) but i'll be happy to give the real pros some fodder. Heads: I normally throw a skirted jig although I've been lucky enough to buy my heads and skirts separately. I'm a big fan of the Jewell heads with the heavier flippin' hook. I get them through Hook, Line & Sinker tackle store in Rogers. These guys also tie their own jigs in huge numbers and sell them under the Bass-X brand name. They're friendly competitors with Jewell and get their heads from them. Color: Been throwing green pumpkin candy and watermelon candy all year at Table Rock, using the first in the river arms where the water is a bit more stained and the latter in clearer water. Trailer: I'm a big, big fan of the fairly new Zoom Creepy Crawler double-tail trailer. Unlike some of the Yamamoto/Kinami products, the legs stand out far enough apart not to stick together and it takes very little movement to set them in motion. For $3 and change a bag, I don't think you can beat them. And like all Zoom products, they come in a good variety of colors. Hookset: I strongly advocate a sweeping set, particularly where the bottom is smooth enough (pea gravel) to drag the jig like a C-rig. Drag it sideways and set sideways. Also, I like to let the fish actually pull a teeny little bend in my rod tip before setting. That way you know he's got it. Enough from me. May the real experts weigh in soon.

Guys, Not a lot new to report. Being day 2 after surgery, she had a bit more pain today than yesterday. It's been manageable though, and she's made two laps around the hospital floor today. Got a couple more to go after dinner and before bedtime. Doc wants her to make four walks a day and we aren't gonna disappoint him. Still hoping to go home tomorrow but it may be Friday. I'm staying in the room with her and I'm here to testify that we aren't gonna get any rest til we get outta here. They came in every 30 minutes on the dot last night and woke her (us) up to take vitals, etc. Oh well, at least we know we're getting the best of care. More later. You guys keep catchin' those bigguns.

Bill and all, we hope to head home Thursday but if not then, certainly Friday. As well as she's progressing already, we're pretty confident it'll be Thursday. Not sure how long she'll be landlocked but we have the small lakes in Bella Vista where we live that won't involve bouncy boat rides, so we'll probably start getting her back in the saddle out there within a couple of weeks. If I know her, gonna be darn hard to keep her off the water any longer than that. Again guys, thanks so much for all the prayers, thoughts and replies. Yes Techo, it does seem like family here. Proof positive that fishermen as a whole are a special breed.

Just a quick note to let everyone know that Donna sailed through the kidney removal without a hitch (or backlash). Procedure took 3.5 hours, which nearly put ME six feet under, but I pulled thru too. LOL .At present, she's snoozing beside me in one heck of a fancy hospital room. If I didn't know better, I'd think we were at Babler's bed and breakfast joint. No wait, that's not Table Rock that I see out the window. It's the Arkansas River in Tulsa. Anyway, surgeon had nothing but good news to report. First, there was no sign of cancer in the area surrounding the kidney. So whatever the nature of the tumor inside the kidney, it was contained there and now is 100% gone. Second bit of good news is there was very little internal bleeding during the procedure, which is always a matter of concern with that particular operation. Doc said she might have lost a tablespoon of blood total. Anyway, we're praising God for the results and looking forward to coming home, hopefully Thursday but certainly Friday. Thanks so much, guys, for all your prayers and well wishes. You're great folks one and all. See you on the water soon. James

Count me in, too, Capt. D as long as I'm not busy with another event that weekend. Getting kids involved is the future of our sport.

Thanks much, Champ187xr6. This is our last tournament before Donna G goes in for kidney cancer surgery three days later so sure would be nice to win it. No matter the results, it'll be nice to be on the water together.