Champ188

Jerry, I well remember the worm rig you are talking about. We threaded it on open-hook style because the spring-keeper system that is so popular now was a long way from being conceived. Locally, it was known simply as "the little green worm." First time I saw the setup was with a grizzled old guide named Tuffy Owens. He had old Zebco Cardinal 4 spinning reels and he liked Tennessee handles on his spinning rods. For you pups out there, a Tenn handle is a straight cork handle with no reel seat. The reel is taped on using many wraps of black electrical tape. Little did I know that those rods and reels were state of the art at the time. Being brand-new in the 1960s, Ouachita began to see an influx of coontail and hydrilla in the 1970s, and the little green worm really shined then. You could pull up on a point or hump where that grass would grow out the 18-20 feet deep and just hammer those bass.

Jerry, I well remember the worm rig you are talking about. We threaded it on open-hook style because the spring-keeper system that is so popular now was a long way from being conceived. Locally, it was known simply as "the little green worm." First time I saw the setup was with a grizzled old guide named Tuffy Owens. He had old Zebco Cardinal 4 spinning reels and he liked Tennessee handles on his spinning rods. For you pups out there, a Tenn handle is a straight cork handle with no reel seat. The reel is taped on using many wraps of black electrical tape. Little did I know that those rods and reels were state of the art at the time. Being brand-new in the 1960s, Ouachita began to see an influx of coontail and hydrilla in the 1970s, and the little green worm really shined then. You could pull up on a point or hump where that grass would grow out the 18-20 feet deep and just hammer those bass.

Ditto on wishing you could make it Bassmod. Communication can be hard, even within families. We will see you another time.

Of course, the expendable plastics are attached to expendable jigheads, of which the quoted member can supply more for a nominal fee. LOL

My bad, pal. I should've just texted you. I bet we can work something out early this coming week.

I tried to offer him a trip to Grand on Friday but he never answered my PM!

Been a while since I have written anything and would enjoy doing so. I may try to get ahold of them next week.

I cut my fishing teeth in West/Central Arkansas, including Lake Ouachita. There was a time every spring down there when we caught a lot of good fish by putting our boats right on the bank around points and would throw out with shaky heads, fishing uphill.

Good luck, Mike. Hope to hear good news this afternoon.

Was there a weather vane on top of the dock with a brand-new War Eagle spinnerbait hanging from it? Well actually, that spinnerbait would be several years old now. Someone here knows what I'm talking about whether he admits it or not. LOL

And before this turns into yet another shallow-fishing bashfest, I have a couple of things to say. One is that there are pretty much always some fish shallow. Yes, even on the White River lakes. My wonderful dad introduced me to fishing and I love him beyond words for it, but my biggest influence in learning the finer points of bass fishing is a guy with three world championship rings (two Bassmasters Classics and a Forrest Wood Cup). He also happened to be best man in mine and Donna's wedding nearly 23 years ago. This guy couldn't feed his family a decent meal with ALL the fish he's caught deeper than 15 feet in his life. Where people err badly is when they group every shallow water fisherman they come across into a single group of unintelligent bank beaters. Yeah, there are a lot of those out there. Believe me, I see them all the time. Usually catching nothing and just messing up good water. A good shallow water angler has to be a lot of things --- perhaps the most important on big highlands reservoirs being able to read the water and recognize where fish are gonna be holding. You need shade and/or wind, along with forage and cover. And more times than not these days, cover doesn't come in the form of wood. Our lakes are aging and the wood is getting sparse. Moreover, what's left gets beat to death. There's so, So, SO much more to shallow fishing than just the little bit I've mentioned here. Just don't automatically assume that every guy you see fishing skinny water is a shallow-minded bank beater.

A lifetime of being around these derbies (whether I wanted to be or not) has proven time and again that open-style events attract a good amount of guys with far more money/time than brains. Some can't learn because they already know it all. Others can't quit fishing the history book even though the particular chapter they are stuck on was written at a far different time and place. And still others are ... well, just plain old stupid.

Some in the Deep South would say that if you drop a ball to the floor from waist high and it bounces straight back up, it ain't a sport.

Great job, Mike. Keep it up.

You guys beat a bunch of the Open guys. Yeah, the Opens definitely draw a fair share of donators with questionable skills. Oh well, sweetens the pot for those who can actually catch a fish or two.

If you leave the blood in them, you don't need ketchup. They're both red. What's the difference?

Good stuff, 176. You'll love those Stinger trebles. Just keep them out of your hands.

If you want them charred, Dave is the man for the job.

Spent Thursday on Grand helping a cop buddy get ready for the BFL over there on March 11. Let's just say the big girls are starting to show up. Put 10 fish in the boat, including 8 keepers. Best five around 17 pounds. These were our anchor fish.

Glad you're back among us, Macsimus. Looking forward to seeing you soon.

I'm not sure they had mechanical reels of any description when Babler was a pup.

Probably wrong, but I don't know if anyone can sustain a 15 pounds-plus pace over three days. I'm gonna say 44 pounds and if I had to pick one, I'd take Mike McClelland.

I'm staying out of this. Waaaay out.

Mike, unless you are fishing strictly for keeper/big bites, you may be missing out on a lot of action. A jig that big just isn't going to get you the number of bites that a Ned rig or shaky head will. And before anyone slaps down the small fish card, I introduced a guide buddy at Broken Bow to it a little over a year ago. Last spring, he or clients caught two 10-pounders and a 9 on it.

Couldn't agree more that Pete's a very straight shooter. However, tournament directors should know better than to ask someone to stand there and tell your competition for next week's derby exactly how and where you caught them.