Champ188

Those bedding fish have to be seriously flaky for Robbie Dodson not to be high on the leaderboard. Seen him catch some ungawdly sacks this time of year on TR. Nobody always catches em anywhere but I would have bet a fair chunk of money that he'd have made both cuts to fish the last day.

I don't like fish being taken from their nests either. Hate it. But the bottom line is that these guys are fishing for their mortgage payments, electric bill and grocery funds so you can't very well blame them for catching a fish any legal way they can. As long as state agencies and tournaments allow sight fishing, our fish are gonna get plucked off their nests.

I "third" the motion of buying local. I can go to my local tackle shop, pour a free cup of coffee, pull up a chair and sit a spell. Haven't seen free coffee or a chair at BPS yet.

Pretty darn strong for a day when the fish didn't bite worth a darn anywhere else on the lake!

Dang, what a gut! Obviously a combination of a large stomach and eggs to boot. Hey ab, FLW will cut to 25 for Saturday and 10 or 12 for Sunday so maybe that'll help the crowding a bit.

Donna and I met Denjac for breakfast at 6:30 Saturday morning at Ma's Place. Glad we fueled up because we proceeded to fish til 5 p.m. Launched at Mill Creek at 7:30, well past daylight, and counted only seven other trucks/trailers there. Was really surprised there wasn't more. Saw some schooling fish in an established spawning pocket near the KC bridge and caught one out of them. Had two fish, including one that appeared to be a big smallmouth, come up and roll on a Fin but wouldn't eat. Fished most of the good gravel in Schooner Creek with only one keeper spot to show for it. Went to the Cows and caught a few more spots off of steeper, rocky banks with timber. Broke and ran for lower end of the White and fished several of my better areas between the mouth and Baxter and pretty much came up dry except for a couple more spots off steeper stuff with wood. Bottom line ... only way I could get bit was shaky head or finesse jig on 45-deg chunky stuff with wood. Obviously, that kind of stuff is gonna hold spots. Went to the very back of some excellent spawning pockets and saw no beds and no fish. Threw a Fluke weightless for at least 45 minutes and had NO FOLLOWERS, not a single one. When fish are shallow and about to spawn, you will have little bucks by the multitudes follow that Fluke. Warmest water temp we saw was 60, very late in the day. Otherwise, was 56-57 most everywhere we went. Yes, some of the James River fish are spawning. Some are already done. Not so on the main lake. Not even close. Rick Clunn once said that one of the reasons he moved to Missouri was to become better at fishing highland reservoirs. A few years later, he said, "I've been trying for years and these White River lakes still kick my butt on bluebird days." I'm with him. I figure a good part of the problem on the middle to lower lake yesterday was that those fish in that clear water have had cloud cover every day for a week until Saturday. First bright day after several dark ones is never a good thing.

Seemed to lack detail compared to Babler's reports. At least we know the fish are active around Cape Fair.

Only two people who know for sure how he caught them are him and his co-angler.

Not to be a pest but thinking about coming up to fish tomorrow and had a couple of questions. How many places are paid (1-in-5 entries, 1-in-6?) and what percentage goes to first? Thanks.

Thanks Hunter91, sounds promising.

Any word on water temps up in the James around Bridgeport?

Pretty telling report, I'd say.

Shhhhhhhhh.

Good Wart and jerkbait info too, T. Didn't mean to leave you out.

As usual, a goldmine of info and now artistic photography to go with it? Probably shouldn't even utter the words but this ought to be a pay site! All kidding aside, there isn't another site on the whole darn Internet or another guide in his right mind who shares as much info and detail as Bill. It's a wonder he doesn't have an entourage chasing him around the lake the way they do KVD wherever he goes.

Only reason TR has a bank is to hold the water in? I may laugh the rest of the dadgum night at that one. May be your best quote ever, Bill.

Hmmm, Central Pro-Am polled 220 anglers and the response was 69% yes (allow the A-rig) and 31% no. So CPA will allow it in their tournaments. Pretty wide disparity between that group and the Friday night Mill Creek bunch. Gotta say, I have to agree with cullinby9 that the same guys are still gonna dominate derbies. There is a certain crowd who is able to spend a lot of time on the water (guides, independent business owners who set their own schedules) and there is no substitute for that. The A-rig may make 20-pound bags possible for the weekend warriors, but it's gonna put 30 pounds within reach of the big guns. Already has.

Well put, bobw. I too remember the heyday of the Carolina rig. Couldn't beat the fish off of it with a broom handle for a couple of years, then they got conditioned to it. Same will likely happen with this A-rig. But by gosh, it's gonna be fun til then.

Like Sore Thumbs said, there are always some fish shallow. Always. Especially if you consider shallow down to 25 feet.

That's a darn fine day, Bill, and a good report. We're going to continue to learn a lot about this A-rig as the year progresses. We now know that big brown fish will smack it, and those of us who've been hurling it are already well aware of what those big K's will do to it. Yes, a 4-pound K is a tank. I know the popular vote goes to the brown fish, those big K's are my favorite swimmers. Magnificent creatures. I think we're all developing our favorite attachments for the A-rig. I know that Donna and I have one in particular that's been heads above anything else we've used. Of course, I look for the fish to change their preferences as the seasons change. We'll just have to learn as we go.

Bet you hammer em, Jason. Good luck and have fun out there.

I'm using a Palomar and so far have managed not to tie my nose or an ear up in the rig. Could happen though. Certainly takes quite a loop to pass that whole contraption through.

Sore Thumbs, I'm lookin' hard at the Nitro Z8. It fits in my garage, fishes real nice and kinda got the urge for one more go-fast rig before I get TOO old for one. Darn Z8 will flat-out fly with a 250. I putt around 40 mph or less 98% of the time but when you're making a long run in a derby it sure is nice to be able to put miles behind you faster than I can in the Champ.

No, Sore Thumbs, haven't put my boat on Craigslist yet but may be doing so very soon. Getting the itch to make a change. Be happy to let you know when it goes up for sale.

BASS Central Open is here the last week of April. You might want to avoid that week.