Champ188

Good stuff, m&m. I'd say it's more often than not that Donna and I catch all three major species, and it's not at all unusual for us to touch 'em all (4-bagger) with a meanmouth, too. Good heavens, people, we are blessed to have this fishery.

Wow, that's good information to know. I'm gonna check mine before I go this weekend. Sorry about your prop. That's a chunk of change but probably not worth filing on insurance and risking being cancelled.

What happened to the cotter pin?

Well, you could if you wanted to illustrate the fact that not all boats are created equal.

Makes all the difference if someone knows the guy and can vouch for his ability.

Sounds fishy to me. No doubt there are walleye that size in TR but when you start noticing things like no leaves in August/September, it kinda destroys the credibility of the report.

I'll share with most people on the forum, as many will testify. All it takes is a PM. Just not putting a lot of detail out here on the main page for reasons that I won't go into because we've been around that block way too many times.

Carry an old metal stringer with all of the hooks open except the one on the anchor end. When you drop/kick/otherwise send a rod overboard, drop a buoy on where it went in, then tie the metal stringer onto your heaviest rod, back out a bit away from it and cast the stringer across the area, dragging it along the bottom like a Carolina rig or fb jig. You'll get your rod back nearly every time, especially in 10 feet of water.

Couldn't have been mine. They travel in mini PT boats, wear armored vests and they shoot back.

Maybe you're a lot smarter than me and can find a good sack of fish with relative ease. I tend to have to work for mine --- in practice and on tournament day. I don't have a problem saying what I caught them on, but that's as far as I'm going. To each his own, but I don't see it as my obligation to go find fish and figure out how to catch them for someone else's benefit.

Glad to be reading a BB report again. Take care of yourself.

Thanks for the report, Sprint.

They are pretty accommodating of all C&R anglers and anyone who isn't wearing a jersey, although PowerPoles tend to put them on high alert. Quill, is it possible you were wearing your buff and sun gloves when you came across Razor up in the White? He may have mistaken you for wannabe profeshunal.

Bo, I see your point and there was a time when I did the same. But two factors have changed my mind in recent years ... First, fishermen in general seem to want everything handed to them these days, including how/when/where to catch them. I know there have always been some like that, but now it seems to be more the rule than the exception. Second, there is a fair number of guys these days who run their own businesses off the front of their boat using cell phones. You give these guys a spot(s) and they'll flat wear them out. And if you give them a pattern, some of them are good enough to put 2+2 together and end up on your spot(s). Yeah, I'm getting old and crabby to a degree, but the truth is I enjoy sharing most of what I've learned over the years. I just don't like handing it out to the lazy bums who are just looking for an effort-free leg up on the competition.

Missouri state law allows for one of these trained attack critters for every 10,000 surface acres of water. I currently have three ... one each in the White, James and Kings river arms.

Never believe a word a guy says from the weigh-in stage ... me included. I don't know why some tournament organizers even ask a guy to tell a crowd of total strangers where/how he caught his fish.

Sounds like you're around them. Keep plugging and thanks for the reports!

Larry, I'm not sure how that works anymore. Pretty sure there's a testing place in Bentonville, though.

As I said, you will save yourself SOOOOO much time in trial-and-error mode. Bill will straighten out the learning curve for you in a hurry.

I know one of the senior managers at our Cabela's in Rogers very well and he's out on the floor quite a bit.

Thanks, guys.

Ah, gotcha now on the LU. Some sort of newfangled jet drive deal. LOL. And yes, that's quite a nice accessory on the front deck. I might have one or three of those myself if my kids hadn't slept thru health class on how-to-hatch-a-grandkid day.

That's good if they are honoring COE passes. I haven't launched there in a long time but was told of the $5 fee to Mr. Johnny. Long Creek is OK but NOTHING like Beardsley Branch. I think every fish in the lake has a relative that lives in Beardsley. That place is packed with big uns.

My beef with Mr. Morris is his history of manufacturing or putting his personal brand on shoddy products --- i.e., Nitro Boats, Johnny Morris Signature Series tackle, and any number of BPS-branded lures --- and then not standing behind them when they fall apart like a used Yugo. The internet is chock full of horror stories about Nitro owners getting the royal shaft on warranties, and the same stories can be heard frequently in local fishing circles. Don't know if things have improved since the 80's and 90's, but I sure hope so. I've personally experienced the anger of paying darn near $100 each for three JM Signature Series spinning reels only to have every dang one of 'em fall to pieces in a couple of years. The last one, which was a cannibalized version of all three, bit the dust a couple of weeks ago. Good darn riddance. Bought a couple of Pfleuger Presidents a month ago, so we'll see how they hold up. At least I was only out $59 each for them ... even less when you factor in a $20 discount coupon on a $100 purchase at Cabela's. Finally, it is my understanding that JM has leased the former Long Creek park and is charging $5 to launch a boat. I'm not crazy about paying $35 or $40 for a Corps pass every year to use ramps that we've already paid for, but I REALLY despise the idea of paying a private entity $5 EVERY TIME I want to launch. At least with the Corps you pay once and you're done.

Triple like for Ham's comment above.