Champ188

Shell Knob, in the White River arm. On Highway 39.

I'm with you, Thumbs. Too many fish to be caught here and up north.

Wrench is dead on the money with this one. I have a 958 up front and a 998 along with a HDS-5 on the console. They are just tools and aside from mapping/GPS, I'm honestly not sure any of them help me any more than the old Humminbird Super 60 flashers I used 30 years ago. My graphs primarily tell me how deep it is, the bottom contour/structure and whether shad/fish are present. In the winter, they tell me water temp. Nothing, and I mean absolutely NOTHING, is of more value than knowledge and intuition, and those are gained only from time on the water. Can't buy 'em from JohnnyMart, Cabela's or Tackle Warehouse. Some of the best electronics readers I know can hardly catch a fish, and it's a documented fact that drop shotting rarely produces winning sacks in tournaments. That goes for Aaron Martens, as well. Yes, he won AOY a couple of years back but he didn't win a single tournament that year. He had several second-place finishes back when the Classic was held in late summer, but some power fisherman always figured out a way to beat him. Yes, electronics are important tools, but I'm in the same camp with Wrench when it comes to using your head over your computer. The more you know about fish and their habits, the more you'll catch. The more you know about electronics, the more seminars you can give at JohnnyMart (and they'll take about anyone with a Nitro jersey these days) while I'm on the lake fishing.

You said a mouthful there, Enforcer. Every word true.

Had a co-angler like that once in a Central Pro-Am derby. I was ready to put him on the bank by 8 a.m.

There isn't a bad piece of info on this thread but the best may be to reserve a seat in Babler's boat. His 6-hour rate is $375 and in that amount of time he can have you catching drop-shot fish from now until your fishing days are done. whiteriveroutfitters.com

Good job figuring out that big crank bait bite. That's kind of an underutilized tool on the Rock. Granted, the lake may not set up ideal for it but there's potential at times to really catch a good sack on it.

I wouldn't turn my back on that thing for one minute around here ... someone will take a Bubba Blade and saw the sides off it!

Is that a Gunfish in that middle pic? Almost looks like a Dalton Special but the lip is different.

Some days it comes easy, but more times than not you have to grind. Way to keep your head down and beat out a limit. Pretty rewarding in retrospect when you catch 5 of your weigh-in fish on four different lures.

Great job, guys. And thanks for all of your work to keep those brutes alive and well. I'm going to add an Oxygenator to the Ranger soon, particularly if I decide to fish the BASS Open in October.

Thanks for the report, Brett. Sounds like you guys had a pretty good day. Gonna fish tomorrow up the White.

I'm voting pure smallmouth, too. And a doggone nice one.

Awesome, Cody. You da man!

Dang it, Ham, pay attention! You can't be napping around here.

Dave, that's crazy talk! You'd burn 3 gallons of gas going down there and back!

Totally awesome, Dave. Congrats on the big catch. Has to be 10 times better than catching that fish yourself. Hope you find a reliable taxidermest to do the replica mount. I'd stay away from the BPS mounts judging by what I've heard.

No need for more of that tomfoolery. Ignore the trolls and they'll go find something else to do. Not always easy, I know. But if you'll notice, the ones stirring the pot have nothing valuable to contribute to the forum and never have.

You would've won the tournament, Bo. No pics?

Look forward to seeing them, Tim.

Should be able to launch there no problem, even if off the parking lot. May have to use your creative side when parking, but that's going to be the case at any ramp with the water this high. I say hook 'er up and go enjoy.

Looks like our guy Tim Hughes may be busy painting Rock Stars.

Dave, if I'm not mistaken, there was actually water splashing up over a portion of the bridge pavement in 2011.

Believe you're right there htower.

96 CHAMP, it's primarily because I'm a shallow water fishermen anytime I can be. Donna and I enjoy catching them on a drop shot when that's what it takes. But like I said, I'm going to start as shallow as I can and work my way out to the deeper stuff. Has a lot to do with the way I was raised fishing down in central and south Arkansas.