Champ188

The only qualifications to fish the FLW Tour have always been within the folds of your wallet. If you've got the money, they've got the time. Or something like that. And a jersey. You must have a jersey. Actually having sponsors is optional. Just slap on whatever logos you like. 😂

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This is all well and good on the pro level, but I don't see it making a bit of difference in terms of impact on our lake … or any other, for that matter. The pros are here and gone in a few days. Where our lake catches it on the chin is from local tournaments … hundreds upon hundreds every year. And very few of them will ever consider an immediate-release format for any number of reasons. TV tournaments and your Friday night jackpots with tailgate weigh-ins have absolutely nothing in common.

There's a good-sized faction of TR regulars who use the TM to drag football jigs in the fall. It probably isn't in line with what the rule intended but it's a gray enough area that people do it regularly. In other words, it's one of those deals that you can either do it or probably get beat by someone doing it. Kinda like the A-rig in the cold months. It would suit me fine if they banned them both, but that's just me.

Take Babler. He needs help. 😆

H Hwy ramp at Baxter is the bee's knees if you're by yourself. Back your boat right down beside the courtesy dock, step off in it and you're in business. Same with loading … drive it on the trailer, step from the boat onto the dock and pull her out. No muss, no fuss.

Great job, Cheese. Sounds like the big gizzard shad are moving up shallow and some big bass are following them.

Those #5 bargain binners could well be Cordell Wally Divers.

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat??? I thought all of the fish were still deep. 😂 Good job sniffing out some nice ones under the afternoon sun and getting the wife in on the action.

Shoulda stayed home Bo. Fifteen keeps is hardly worth cranking the tongue jack for. 😆

Wonder how much better our own fishery could be without thousands of tournaments a year and perhaps a bit of supplemental stocking. Just sayin ...

I never got to fish TR in the pre-LMBV days but it had to be awesome. My personal best is 7.25 but I had a fish up to the boat twice just below Eagle Rock that Donna had her hands on once (just fun fishing so no net) that I'm pretty sure would've topped 8 pounds. That was in late spring of 2011 and I was throwing a Red Fin.

Folks, that ^^^ is called doing the right thing when no one is looking … or CHARACTER. But, having shared a boat with this man during a tournament, I'm not the least bit surprised.

Amen that no one wants to see a fishkill anywhere. Beyond that, anyone who bashes LOZ is either a blooming idiot or hasn’t been there. That place is as fertile as any farm pond and is loaded with giants. I’d be hard pressed to choose between it and TR if I lived halfway in between.

Good to have you guys weigh in. Thanks for the detailed info and join us anytime here.

Nothing truer than this, folks. Tournament fishing is cupcakes with sprinkles compared to trying to keep novices hooked up with bass on TR or other Ozarks lakes. And, of course, most want to fish in the summertime when the bite is the hardest. Bill is one of the very, very best at his profession.

This is why I like the far ends of the river arms in the fall … at least I have them hemmed in to a degree. 😁

Here's my 2 cents' worth (actual worth is probably half of that 😁). As our lake has aged, it has lost a lot of cover to decay (wood) and seen much of its structure soften or lose its sharper edges (siltation). I believe this has led to a growing population of fish that have become nomadic ---- i.e., they roam around with the baitfish. And when the thermocline begins to break up, baitfish scatter and so do the bass. Like Bill is saying, this is a situation that normally happens in September but seems to have come earlier than normal this year due to cooler nighttime temps. This is why that even though they are getting harder to find by the day, I like to seek out areas that still have the right combination of structure and cover to hold fish. These are more apt to be "resident" fish rather than nomads just swimming thru while following the shad. Understand that these fish are not nearly as numerous as the nomads, so you have to be thorough and committed to what you're doing when fishing these areas. In a nutshell, I'm not as gifted as Bill and others when it comes to sniffing out these roaming schools, so I try to find the ones that are sitting still and letting the food come to them. Thanks for everyone's thoughts and ideas in this thread .

Blessed be the day when the jersey jocks store their fishing gear and head to the woods. 😁

This is very true, and thus the saying that "wind is your friend" … especially on these deep, clear Ozarks lakes where the fish are incredibly nomadic. As Bo said, it moves the bait and the bass follow.

From end to end and side to side ... 50 miles of mayhem. They’ll run thru the dang standing timber in coves hardly big enough to turn around in towing their spawn in a tube.

Could be the shad are starting their fall migration into the creeks and pockets. When those big gizzards start moving into the creeks, the bigger green fish go with them.

I’d say 6 pounds wouldn’t be far off the mark. Great fish and kudos for releasing her!

Nice ones!

Great report