Champ188

Good day and nice report, wareaglecamo. About how many total?

I think gitnby got loose on his keyboard before his Folgers kicked in this morning. Ended up duping something from a previous message.

Joe, I can pretty well tell you right now that the old knucklehead on the trolling motor will be flinging a Luck E Strike RC STX jerk bait and the wise woman on the back will be dragging a jig. The only thing that might change is if the water temp breaks 50, a Rock Crawler or slow-rolled half-ounce War Eagle spinnerbait might come into play. If you see us, come say hi. I'll do likewise. That goes for anytime.

I had a decent Walter on down by the dam once but I was fishing close to Alex and an 11-pound LM that he was fighting swam over and ate it.

Alex might be tied up that weekend ... just sayin.

CPR is great for small club events where big money isn't involved, but we are nowhere near moving away from standard weigh-ins with the bigger events. Aside from the "gotta see it for it to be so" mentality, weigh-ins are increasingly about exposure for sponsors of the tournament and the anglers. Tournament organizations like to boast about their live-release rates being at or near 100%. Granted, livewell systems are state of the art these days and anglers who take the time to properly care for their catch probably do no harm most of the time. But we will never truly answer the question of delayed mortality. As long as all fish were last seen alive, tournament organizers will claim 100% live release.

Barring a crazy-early spring, it will take the tournament off the spawn, which can only be a good thing. Weights will be what they will be --- for one and all. However, it stands to reason that prespawn weights will be higher than with a midspawn or postspawn event. Should be a good tournament. Might fish it myself this year.

Should be no reason for Beaver Lake walleye to be skinny, given the overabundance of shad in the lake.

Good tip, M_Taylor. I leave about 1/3 a spool of old backing on all my reels ... maybe closer to a half with smaller line. The Bass Pro Shops Excel line is very good mono. I use it almost exclusively and like the green tint. The 17-pound is great for spinnerbaits and topwaters and I like the 10-pound for cranking. For jerk baits I use 8-pound P-Line CXX mono. Also, agreed on the Red Label Seaguar. Bad experiences for me. For my money, the best valule in fluorocarbon lines is the Cabela's 100% Fluorocarbon. It's about half the price of the premium FC lines and performs just as well for me.

I suppose one good aspect of holding a "big bass" event on Beaver is that you can get in the money without even catching a 2-pounder. Hope lots of money was raised for the kids in need.

Alex, I'm glad you're a nice guy. Otherwise, I just flat wouldn't like you. Seriously, congrats on a darn fine fish. And a pretty one to boot. Nice and healthy.

Color me impressed. And humbled.

I see your point perfectly, Plug it And I see examples of too often. Wife home in a shack chasing 3 toddlers with another on the way and hubby rolling around in a new crew cab pickup pulling a new bass rig with all the toys. I've known a few of these rednecks who were "unemployed" and drawing all kinds of government assistance while actually working for cash when the mood struck them and otherwise spending their days on the lake.

Studies have shown that getting a sponsor wrap and power poles for your 4-wheeler, plus attiring yourself in a hunting jersey with your name on the back, should bring the trophy bucks right to you. As with fishing, do not concern yourself with securing actual sponsorships. Just pick some companies you like and plaster their logos all over your 4-wheeler and jersey. The deer will recognize you as a "touring pro" and will walk out of the woods on their hind feet, front feet raised high in surrender.

Phantom green, phantom brown, spring craw.

I'm with you, Plug. Tournament jersies and Power Poles for fishing Table Rock come to mind.

I would own at least a dozen of them if I'd caught 27 pounds on it. Not sure if I've ever heard of a 27-pound topwater sack. Impressive.

Fished Central Pro-Am against James Watson for several years and really enjoyed being around him. Super friendlly guy who'll do about anything for you and will walk across the parking lot to say hello. I'm happy he won.

That's my buddy's buzzer. He was throwing a Hart. I was throwing a War Eagle. Good eye, though.

Buzzbait caught most of the keepers, followed by the spinnerbait and crank bait. Small crawfish crank easily won the numbers competition.

We just don't want anyone getting the mistaken idea that there's a fall wakebait bite on the Rock. Coz there ain't. Promise. Mean it.

Took a guest Monday and fished the upper White between Big M and Shell Knob. Cloud cover and breeze made for a great numbers day ... about 45 in all with lots of little ones but also 9 keepers. All fish were caught at the mouth or in the front two-thirds of bigger pockets. Chunk rock was the deal. Nothing too steep/bluffy. Spinner bait, buzz bait and crank bait all played a role in the keepers. Jig also helped capture a couple of smaller ones. Bite was best early but lasted throughout the morning. We started at the crack of dawn and quit at 12:30.

May fish that Everett Big Bass deal so prefer not to reveal everything right now. Not a spinnerbait, spoon or dropshot, though.

Good friend and I got out for a bit Wednesday. Front corners of windblown docks over 15-40 feet of water. Water temps 74-77. Mid-lake area. These were our two best out of a total of 26 bass. Best five 14-15 pounds.

LOL C4F, I can assure you Brian doesn't need my help. He's a darn good stick and if the dock bite is on, he could be very hard to beat in this one. Besides, he's just a nice fellow.