Champ188

Nice of you to say, Pour Dennis. Back atcha, pal.

You are right, Fins. Left mine out for a couple of days once to dry out after fishing in an all-day rain and the Nazis had put a note on my door within 48 hours.

Thank you, Ron. We are well pleased with it so far.

Thanks, Capt. Joe, Jeb and Bill for your thoughts and observations. Good info to ponder.

Some days just aren't meant to be. Donna and I had a similar experience on Beaver. Fished 11-dark for two short brownies and one nice keeper LM.

OK, here's the deal ... I know we have to be responsible and pay our bills and take care of necessities first, and Donna and I do just that. But we are not gonna sit around and not go fishing because of some doom and gloom economic forecast. If I have money to make my boat and truck payments and a little left over to put gas in both and buy a couple of baits, the economy is pretty sunny in my world. Just sayin, some people are gonna sit around and fret until they wake up dead one day.

Well, just as I was starting to wonder if I'd bought a lemon, Donna and I managed to put some decent fish in the new Ranger. Started at 8:30 a.m. at the mouth of the White and finished up at dark in Baxter. Total was about 20 fish with 7 or 8 keepers, best five going 13-14 pounds. Caught a few the first couple of hours on a lavender shad War Eagle blade, then switched over to a jerk bait for the rest of the day. Threw a SPRO of undivulged color. Pretty much ran main-lake bluff ends with wind all day. The few times we did get off the main lake, we quit getting bit at all. One thing is certain ... I CANNOT get bit on a bank with less than a 45-degree slope, and truth be told, it needs to be more like 60-90 degrees. I guess it's the low water level, but these fish are on steep stuff. That goes for LM, SM and K's.

Thanks for the report, Quill. Donna and I are going tomorrow. Not sure just where.

Good to see you back, Troy. Hope all is well.

LOL, abkeenan. Now that's funny right thar. Actually, I was pointing Thumbs to the lower end of Beaver Lake albeit on the wrong forum. I'm sure you're right about TR, though. No smallies anywhere near the dam. Never. Aunts Creek to Bridgeport up the James. All of em.

Thumbs, I don't usually do a thing to those Spro jerkbaits. Mike says you can hang an extra split ring on the front hook hanger if you want to achieve a very slow sink or if you happen to get one that wants to rise slightly, but other than that they are good to go. I throw mine on 10-pound flurocarbon although I will probably experiment some this year with 8-pound. I haven't thrown one a bunch this season because frankly I get really weary of fishing that way by the end of winter. No need to prolong it on the front end in my book. Not sure about the wart bite. It's pretty much on from what I hear at Table Rock. Not sure about Beaver. Now that Donna and I have the new boat, gonna be spending a lot more time on the water. Hope to have better info in the near future.

I can't adequately express how strongly I would suggest two of the original Spro McSticks over one Megabass — one in Blue Bandit and the other in Ghost Table Rock Shad. These baits were hand-designed by Mike McClelland, who cut his teeth on Ozarks lakes and is one of the best stick bait anglers ever. If you must go with Megabass — and I own a fair number of them myself — I suppose the can't-do-without color is Pro Blue.

Not taken that way at all, Thumbs. Your frustration is understood. Happens to all of us no matter how much experience or ability we might have. Besides, you are scaling a tall hill in trying to learn to catch them consistently on Beaver. Only a few people I know can do that and I am not among them. But don't kid yourself about those pea gravel points. You can catch some darn fine brown bass out there. Go down to the dam by the camping area next April-May and throw a brown-purple or PBJ football jig with a green pumpkin double-tail trailer on those gravel points. I bet you'll start seeing some results.

Thanks, Thumbs.

Slow-tapering gravel points seem to always hold fish in our Ozarks lakes. Most likely, the guys you saw were dragging football jigs. You can also throw tubes, grubs, hula grubs or even shaky heads on these points, and if you spot a school of fish on your electronics, you can drop-shot them. On cloudy days or during other low-light periods, you may want to position your boat in 20-25 feet of water and throw up into 8-10 feet. Under sunny skies and/or later in the day, move out to where the boat is sitting 30-40 feet and you are dragging your bait 15-30 feet deep. Lots of guys go deeper than this. I like to use a 3/4-ounce fb jig and a 1/4-ounce head on my grubs or shaky heads. Not every point will hold fish, of course, so don't sit and fish too long if you aren't getting bit. Move around until you find some fish.

Chris, we couldn't have asked for better treatment. They were great.

Thanks again, all.

Goes to show the days that seem perfect aren't always that. Glad you salvaged the day with the Senko. Nice recovery.

Thanks for all the compliments, guys. Really looking forward to picking it up Tuesday. About the dual console, it's not going to be one for long. The extra console is coming out and Donna wants it out more than me. She honestly prefers the room over what protection the second console provides.

My mistake on the Z8 last year. First prize was a Z9 the first year the tournament was held. I know that because it was won by a friend of mine, Brady Meredith.

Mark, the obvious translation of your comments is, "We'll hold the darn tournament wherever we want and if you don't like it, don't fish it." That mentality is oh so typical of Bass Pro Shops in general and is one reason that many people are very glad that Cabela's came to NW Arkansas and not BPS. Dennis and GNS made a valid point in that it would be nice if the weigh-in was more centrally located on the lake, particularly for the river fishermen. Yours is valid, too, in that BPS now owns Gages Marina. But your tone comes across as rather condescending. Also, how is it that downsizing the grand prize from a Z9 to a Z8 is upping the payout? Good luck with the event. Hope lots of fish are caught.

Yup, after a great partnership of many years, I dumped her. No, boys. Donna is not on the market. But the old Champ is available thru Anglers Port Marine in Warsaw. Donna and I henceforth will be skidding the waters of Table Rock and surrounding venues in a new Ranger. I know, Bill. At best, it's a middle-class boat with a low-end ride and a top-end price. But we'll manage somehow. Everyone stop and say hello if the chance arises.

Since winter has apparently been canceled this year, we should do that sometime soon.

Pretty rig, Chief. And welcome to the forum.

Techo, no post by you is "butting in." Good to hear from you.