Champ188

Hopefully they saved some money for ice and Rejuvenade for their livewells. Otherwise, they'll kill a bunch of keeper bass. And with reports of another oxygen-related fish kill already starting just a few days into official summer, we sure as heck don't need fish dying needlessly because a tournament organization decides to make their annual stop at Table Rock six weeks later than usual.

You had me at half-price Sonic shakes. I won't comment on the white bass limit because I have no experience fishing for them on Beaver. But I'd SURE like to see these "citizens" busted if they're selling their catch, and I'd bet they are. Unless, like you said, they're feeding everyone they know with them.

Incredible. You're trying to introduce a relatively new species to a lake and get them up to fishable numbers. You protect them from rod-and-reel anglers with length limits (a very good thing, IMO) and then you shoot yourself in the foot by allowing divers to run a spear thru them. Oh, wait. I forgot. You have to accommodate all user groups. Man, how many times have we heard that one in regards to AGFC regs? I'm sure the rule-making folks at the commission will say the spearfishing harvest is negligible, and they're likely right. But I also guarantee you that if a rod-and-reel fisherman got caught with a short walleye, he couldn't get off by saying, "It's just one fish. It's negligible." If one short fish is too many for one group, it's too many for all groups. Rant done. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

I would have loved to tried Cabela's as the fishing tackle/boating manager is a good friend but they only deal the aluminum Rangers. I think that was because ROS was already a Ranger dealer and Ranger didn't want competing dealers in the same town. So that may change now. Anyway, I believe I was told that Cabela's is the No. 1 Ranger dealer nationwide. As for Pete, he's a fine fellow. Used to fish Central Pro-Am events against him. He was always a tough competitor and he also made a very fine home-carved wooden crank bait in several models (TC Cranks).

Dang right, and with 3 in the boat, you can legally bring home a lot more crappie!

LOL bout the yankee treatment. I'm as southern as southern gets and they didn't want to mess with me either. So they were equal opportunity snobs. I even asked to talk to the "boss" and was told he was busy. Their loss. I've even avoided going there for a couple of Ranger parts, ordering them instead directly from the plant in Flippin. Bill, I hope you bought yourself a new motor somewhere else.

Please tell me walleye aren't open to spearfishing. Seems it would be a little difficult to get one to swim up and let you measure him before firing your bolt, or whatever they call it.

Not surprised the boat sales business is closing. Three years back, they basically acted like they didn't care if I bought a boat or not and flat refused to take my well-kept Champion 188 Elite on trade. It wasn't a credit deal ... we never even got to the point filling out a credit app and besides, Donna and I have spotless credit. So two days later, I dragged the Champ up to Warsaw, MO, and got a very good deal on a new Ranger Z119. It's a 4-hour drive, but Pete Peterson and crew at Angler's Port Marine will take great care of you. However, I will drop in and see what ROS might have in the way of tackle deals.

That's awesome, Joe. You guys are obviously doing a great job of parenting. Donna and I are big into cat rescue, including trapping, spay/neuter and releasing ferals --- or adopting out the ones that can be tamed. Again, congrats on having such a fine young lady for a daughter.

bferg, I have lived in and fished in this state practically all of my life --- from age 9 until now, and I'm 55 --- and I have been checked ONCE by a notably aggressive former Benton County deputy out here in Bella Vista. Never, ever have I been checked in Arkansas by a game warden. I don't blame the wardens themselves nearly as much as understaffing. One or two wardens to cover an entire county just doesn't get the job done.

HLS carries the Dixie Jet flutter spoons but I don't believe they have the slabs.

Where else are you gonna get THAT kind of info? Love this forum. A lot.

Hope you have a great time with the family.

Well, regardless of the no limit on white bass, it's illegal to sell gamefish --- period.

I have to admit that I literally forgot about the XD series crank baits from Strike King. I haven't tried them but I know they will definitely get on down there. And Alex knows cranking as well as anyone, especially on TR, so I'd bend an ear to whatever he says.

That's certainly another reasonable option, except for one thing --- the tournament world around Beaver Lake is a fragile environment. Shake it up with something like that and half or more of the anglers will disappear. To say the least, change is not well received, regardless if it is for the well-being of the fish. This whiz-and-moan negative culture is just one reason that after 35 years of fishing everything from club tournaments to BASS Opens, I'm done with derbies. The old camaradarie seems to have dwindled to nothing, and the backbiting and throat-cutting that goes on these days is over a LOT less money than we were fishing for in the 80s and 90s. Jerry Rapp and probably a lot of others know exactly what I'm talking about. Not only do I hate that these days are gone, I hate more that today's young tournament anglers didn't get to enjoy and benefit from them.

Well said.

We need to address ALL the issues that negatively affect our fish populations with equal diligence --- not waste time debating which is worse. In a perfect world, tournament organizers should be responsible enough (and a FEW are) to either suspend derbies during the hot season or come up with some sort of system like Phil suggested that allows for immediate release of the fish. But, as we all know, the world is far from perfect and neither of those scenarios are likely to happen. Tournaments will go on in adverse conditions because no matter how much some CLAIM to love the resource, they love fun and money more so they're gonna keep entering derbies and dragging fish around in hot livewells, bagging them in far too little water for the weigh-in and then tossing them (literally) back at the shoreline where the water temp is near boiling and oxygen levels are nil and none. Secondly, MLF-style scoring isn't likely (in my opinion) to ever come down below the professional level for at least a couple of reasons. You will never find enough marshals/observers to ride along because it just isn't a lot of fun to go watch someone else fish all day/night. An even bigger reason is the concern of cheating. Yes, cheating can still occur in a traditional derby where the fish are brought in and weighed, but apparently there is something to be said for the cheater to actually have to produce the fish in the flesh. Seeing is believing, it seems. Tournaments are all about numbers, as the amount paid in entry fees directly determines the payout. And tournament organizers aren't willing to risk losing ANY percentage of numbers because they are already very, very low. The recent season-ending Central Pro Elite derby at Stockton Lake drew only 36 anglers. Therefore, only seven places were paid and it's probably safe to say that only first place ($2,500) and second ($1,500) recovered their expenses for several days of fishing/lodging/eats/tackle/entry fee, etc. So at least for now, and probably a lot longer in my opinion, nothing is going to change about when and how tournaments are conducted.

abk nailed it ... drop shot or spoon. And 100-fish days just might be stretching things more than a little bit. Babler can weigh in for himself, but him and Beck are two of the best deep-water kingpins on the lake and I can't recall either of them ever reporting any 100-fish days this time of year. I'm only a fair hand at deep cranking, but I've spent a good amount of time in the boat with a guy who is one of the best in this region, having won well-paying regional tournaments on Beaver, Grand, LOZ and Dardanelle using this tactic. He preaches that you have to come in contact with the bottom as much as possible during your retrieve. With a DD22, the big Fat Free Shad or a DT-16 (his favorites), you will struggle to reach the bottom at the deepest point of your retrieve in more than 15 feet of water. That is making a LONG cast with 10-pound test line (mono or fluorocarbon, your choice). Unless you are "strolling" or you tie a catfish weight to it, you will never get a DD22 to 22 feet. Just won't happen. My point is (brace yourself, Bo ... here it comes!), even largemouth on Table Rock rarely come into water shallower than 15 feet in the hot summer months. Very rarely except for at night and perhaps super early in the morning. Therefore, the deepest of the deep cranks just aren't gonna get down there where they are at. The better mousetraps I mentioned earlier are jigs, shaky heads, spoons and drop shots. Oh yeah, and the varmint --- can't forget The Little Guy!!!

Yeah, except there's no Kirstie Alley up there. Oh well, as bat-poop crazy as she turned out to be, that's probably a good thing.

More than half, C4F. Waaaaay more. Trust me.

Just for clarity's sake, Table Rock is not known to be a deep cranker's paradise by any means. If you're gonna try it, you'll increase your odds of success by targeting the stained river arms like Long/Cricket creeks, the James and perhaps the Kings. There are just better mousetraps for clear-water bass. If you really want to enjoy some good deep-water summertime cranking, head over to Grand Lake in NE Oklahoma.

Yup, that's what QB, Babler, myself and thousands of our closest friends like about the river arms ... solitude. No competition for fishing spots up there. No sir!

If I was going to specifically target largemouths, I would probably go to a football jig with a large profile craw trailer (Big Bite Battle Bug is a good one) and keep myself close to bluff ends at all times. The presence of standing timber or brush piles could only help.

Wow, your bro-in-law has a "body twin" out there on the internet. Google is a powerful tool. A quick image search for "big flathead catfish" turned up this pic on the first page.