Champ188

Great report, Bill. Seemed a few weeks ago during the heat that this was shaping up to be an unremarkable fall in terms of color. Then we got that big September rain just in time to perk everything up. Haven't been up that way in a few weeks but it's sure pretty in our neck of the woods. Glad you had a great trip and actually got to catch some fish. Maybe the bite is starting to turn on finally. Gotta say in closing, it's beyond me how folks can think for even a minute that God's wonderful creations "just happened."

Should be a promising day with the big cold front moving in.

Edwin, this time of year with the water level down, you mainly throw it on rocky stuff. You aren't apt to lose near as many as you might in spring when the lake is flooded. Of course, some of Babler's guide clients like to throw brand new ones on top of docks and into weathervanes and such. If you run out, you might just follow him around and retrieve the ones they leave behind, depending of course on how good a climber you are.

Will preface this by saying it's all my own experience and opinion and I do not claim it to be gospel. For me, this ongoing funk is one situation where the blade may not shine, but it will outproduce a lot of other offerings. While what we're experiencing right now is unusual in duration, it's not uncommon for fall fishing to turn tough on TR. Through magazines and other media outlets, we're coached to slow down when fishing gets tough. Many times that's exactly what we need to do. Other times, it's not. IN MY OPINION, when a fish isn't feeding, you can't hardly pry open his mouth and make him eat. You can drag a jig, shaky head or other morsel in front of his nose as many times as you want and he'll likely just sit there and ignore it or turn and swim away. However, you may be able to provoke him to lash out at a fast-moving bait that invades his space and disturbs his peace, particularly if it keeps coming back into his space. That's the reaction strike we've all heard about, and sometimes it's your best bet to catch a few fish when they just won't eat your slow-moving lures. Like T did Sunday, you get in the wind, pick up the blade and don't put it down. Chunk and wind and make multiple casts to any likely looking piece of cover. The results can be surprising.

LOL Old Novice, good tactic.

We are men. Reading the manual can be construed as asking for instructions/directions. Wouldn't want to lose our "man cards" now would we?

Combo deal sounds like fun but you're right, probably best to look toward spring for that.

Just my opinion, but I don't think it'll be a big hit in our super-clear water.

Hey Phil, you gotta bring Babler. We can't have an OA golf derby without our TR forum moderator!

Either of those courses work for us. Like Edwin, we're open to wherever works best for everyone. I'd suggest that we pick a date first and make sure whatever course we want to play can accommodate us on that date. We can hash out any other details from there. I'll nominate Nov. 12 or 13 for starters.

Seriously, count me and Donna in. I can come up with at least a couple more players.

I'd be fine with the combined weight format. It's been done before and not sure how it worked out or why it was dropped. And for clarity, I'm not complaining about the cost of anything. It is what it is and I can quit fishing altogether if I don't want to pay the price. This entire ruckus started over a CO-ANGLER complaining that Roland Martin asked for a certain amount of gas money. I don't know how many ways I can say it but my ONLY gripe is with the VERY FEW co-anglers who get in the boat in the mornings with an entitled attitude about how much room they're going to get to cast and by gosh Mr. Pro you aren't gonna screw ME over and yada yada. And then at the end of the day, when they haven't caught anything because they spent the entire day trying to compete with the pro rather than watch where/what he threw and do something different, or because they just can't fish a lick, it somehow turns out to be the pro's fault. It's not the gas money. It's the principle.

All adds up to one thing: Certain co-anglers feel entitled to ride for free. I do have to say on #5 ... I also pay for gas to and from the tournament site (pulling a boat), hotel, meals, entry fee and lots of gas and oil during practice (yes, there's also a little matter of $25 a gallon outboard oil). PLUS boat payment, insurance and maintenance on it. And if it really comes down to helping with gas or not making it home, maybe you should just stay home to start with. I've had my say. Some front-deckers are jerks. So are some back-deckers. We're not gonna change any of that here.

You know, I've never been one to ask for gas money. If it's offered, fine. If not, I blow it off. NOT TO ALL, but to those who don't want to offer or don't feel obligated to at least help with some gas money, my question is: What the heck entitles you to ride around in a total stranger's brand new bass rig all day for free? That entry fee you paid is so you can fish for $1,000 or more yourself against other co-anglers. None of it goes to the boater for furnishing you a plush $50,000 ride, taking you to his fishing area, netting your fish, sharing his other equipment (measuring board, etc.). I'm beginning to understand why some boat owners settle the gas money issue up front. It might play a role in just how many productive casts a co-angler makes over the course of the day.

Welcome Dudley.

Sounds like fun to me. Donna and I play weekly, sometimes more.

Nice thing to do, Sore Thumbs. I'm sure it was greatly appreciated after the shock subsided.

Could this have the makings of the inaugural Ozark Anglers golf tourney?

Edwin, yes you are required to have a co-angler with you. Boaters sometimes fish alone in CPA if there are not enough co-anglers but in BASS and FLW, you are required to be accompanied. Let me say lastly that there are some boaters or "pros" out there who I wouldn't want to fish with on a dare, so I too have compassion for co-anglers. In fact, my wife has fished the past 4-5 years as a co-angler in CPA and BFL events. Incidentally, she pays a minimum of $50 in gas money and if the angler refuses it, she stashes it somewhere safe in his boat then calls him later to tell him where it is. Done that several times.

Definitely my two favorite sports as well, gitnby ... both to participate in and to watch. As you said, every niche in life has a few bad apples. I agree with you, though, that they are few and far between in fishing and golf.

Ham, you're right on target and you'd be a fine co-angler to fish with, just like 90% of the ones I've drawn out with over the years. Mic, no way does RM pay for his gear. MAYBE his boat on a delayed billing setup but I doubt that. Far as someone mentioning pros being furnished gas, that usually is not the case. I think Swindle and Marty Stone probably got free gas years ago when Citgo was their main sponsor but otherwise, pros are pretty much on their own at the pumps.

OK, some of this probably won't go over well and so be it. But there are two sides to every coin, and those who fish from the front of the boat in pro-am events spend quite a few coins to do so. I have spent the last five years fishing the front of the boat in Central Pro-Am events, along with the occasional BFL. During that time, co-anglers have won a lot of money fishing behind me. Not sure if that speaks more to the fact that I'm a nice guy or not so good of a fisherman, but you can take your pick. I will say that I make a concerted effort to be sure my co-angler has room to fish and a fair chance to catch some. Our own Jeremy Rasnick here on the forum drew out with me in a BFL tourney on Table Rock. Don't recall if he made a check that day but he can tell you that I treat my co-anglers with respect and kindness. Two springs ago (May 2010), my co-angler WON that division and more than $1,000 from the back of my boat during the annual BFL Ozark Division event on Table Rock. When all was said and done, he didn't so much as OFFER me a penny for gas for the day. And we burned a bunch. Just grabbed his gear out of the boat after weigh-in and left. Oh yeah, I netted every fish for him and gave him a jig when he ran out. In my personal experience with Central Pro-Am over the past few years, as gas prices went up, co-angler offers for gas contributions went down in amount. The average amount that I'm offered is $25. Heck, the gallon of Mercury Premium Plus oil that I burned that day cost that much before I even turn on the gas pump and put $75 to $100 worth of gas in the boat. There's also the fact that if I'm fishing a Central Pro-Am event, by tournament day, I've been there at least two days practicing and was probably there the weekend before and the weekend before that. So, my co-angler friend, a lot of work and expense went into locating those fish you caught today. There's also the fact that the front-end guys pay a pretty penny for the boat, not to mention insurance and maintenance of that boat that co-anglers climb into on tournament morning and out of in the evening without us asking a single thing of you except maybe to wipe your feet and store your gear (I provide an empty storage box) so that I don't trip over it while trying to get around in my own boat. James Watson fished for quite a few years in the back of the boat in Central Pro-Am. He won a good bit of money doing it and learned a lot about fishing along the way. I highly doubt that anything he did during the recent Central Open was done with any intent of hamstringing his co-angler. If he was fishing faster than the co-angler preferred, then maybe the co-angler needs to buy his own tournament-level boat, fill it up with gas and oil, pay his own pro division entry fee and get in the front of the boat where he can fish the way he wants. Tournament pros (or front-end anglers, pro or not) are not guides and they aren't out there on tournament day to tend to the needs of their co-angler. They should not operate the boat in a way to handicap the co-angler, and they should net the co-angler's fish. It's common decency. They should be friendly, although co-anglers should realize that some of us don't like to chatter all day long while we're fishing. That's my 2 cents worth and again, chances are if any of you ever draw me as a pro-am partner, you'll likely enjoy your day and probably catch a good bunch of fish. P.S. Been an outdoor writer all of my life and shared a boat with Roland Martin for the better part of a day back in the 80s. He's certainly no peach to be around.

I'm with Martin, it's gotta bust loose sometime. It's a fact of nature that fish feed up for the winter. Maybe it has something to do with the incredibly hot summer and water temps/oxygen levels. And after the great spring we had, no one can dispute that the fish are there. What makes me think it's related to the summer weather is that it's not limited to Table Rock. Grand is fishing unusually tough, too, and so is Beaver. Not sure but bet it's the same on Bull. Whatever it is, I know we're all ready for em to snap out of it.

Fish seem to be mythical creatures lakewide right now.

That would be upper end James.