Champ188

Fat Boy, I'm a major fan of Rob McGilvrey at Fall Creek Lures when it comes to custom painting. I don't have a contact number for him but I'm sure someone on the forum does. I believe he's in Aurora.

http://www.batteryoutfitters.com/ Doesn't give prices but gives all store locations, hours and phone numbers.

I use the 225-amp Pro Guides and love them.

Here's the article about the 10-pound, 11-ounce fish. It was caught Dec. 1, 2007. BEAVER LAKE LARGEMOUTH THE BIGGEST IN YEARS A 10-pound, 11-ounce largemouth bass caught from Beaver Lake on Dec. 1 was not only the catch of a lifetime for Aaron Adams of Springdale, but also the largest reported from the lake in 15 years or more. District fisheries biologist Ron Moore with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission in Rogers had to probe distant memories to recall a bigger bass. “The only one I can recall is an 11-pound bass we shocked up while electro-fishing in War Eagle Creek, and that was at least 15 years ago,” Moore said Friday. According to my own memories of Beaver Lake bassin’ over the past eight years, the biggest bass have been a 9-pounder caught the Monday after a FLW Wal-Mart Open several years ago and an 8-pounder caught during the annual Buddy Bass Tournament in May. Adams’ big bass came off a main-lake shoreline between Prairie Creek and Rocky Branch, suggesting it may have been released after a bass tournament in recent years. Most lunker largemouths come from the lake’s White River arm. Adams and his partner, Ronnie Bell of Hindsville, were casting crank baits along a short stretch of rocky, wooded shoreline where they had already caught largemouths of 5 pounds, 3 ounces and 3 pounds, 8 ounces. “I threw between two standing trees in about 5 feet of water and she hit right between the two trees,” Adams recalled Friday. After hitting a phantom orange-colored Original Series Wiggle Wart, the bass went down and stayed down, giving little clue to its identity. “It felt so heavy, I thought I had hooked a big catfish; I had never fought a 10-pound bass before,” Adams said. It wasn’t until the fish was netted that he saw what he had. “I was totally shocked and amazed,” Adams said, adding that he was glad he didn’t know it was a bass until it was safely in hand. The big largemouth was exceptionally healthy and beautifully proportioned for its weight, with a length of 24 1/4 inches and a girth of 22 inches. It also was strong and lively during its short stay at Prairie Creek Park for weigh-in of the Christian AmBASSadors Bass Club tournament that Adams and Bell won with a six-bass limit totaling 22 pounds, 12 ounces. Adams said he would be more than content with a replica mount of his fish and was grateful for the $150 donated toward the cost by Aaron Jolliff at Hook, Line & Sinker in Rogers.

Guys, I will look it up when I get to work (at the newspaper) and post again, but as I recall, that 10-pounder was caught during a small club tournament. It was wintertime but I don't believe it was during the Polar Bear. I do definitely remember that it was caught on a Wiggle Wart in phantom brown.

Shimano Compre is right at $100 and has an over-the-counter free replacement warranty. If you break it, take it to any Shimano dealer and they hand you a new one, no charge. They come in all lengths and power/action ratings. If you want a good all-around rod, the 7-0 medium heavy/fast would serve you well.

The new Lew's Speed Spools are out and the SS1H model is commonly selling for $89.99. I looked at one yesterday at Hook Line & Sinker in Rogers, AR and they seem pretty smooth. Even though it's the budget model of this revamped and revived line of reels, it has 10 stainless steel ball bearings. HLS had both the 6:4:1 and 7:1 models and there's a 5:4:1 for cranking. There are also some new Lew's higher-end reels. http://www.lews.com/reels.htm

Nice bunch of meat, chipper.

I know some places I wish there were one. lol

Yeah, it's New Year's Day. Always great to kick off the new year by getting my butt kicked on Big Beav.

Dave, Racetrack Hollow is at mile marker 28 along the main channel, left side of the lake going upstream from Glaize. It's just a couple of miles downstream from Linn Creek. Glad you guys had a good trip.

Serious crappie fishermen catch a lot of them around the docks in Racetrack Hollow. Donna and I caught some big ones in there a couple of years ago. I was swimming a white bass jig and she was throwing a LC 2.5 crank bait. Of course, look for docks with floodlights pointed toward the water, rod holders mounted on the docks or any other sign that people fish off the dock. Chance are they're fishing for crappie and that there are brush piles around the dock.

Sore Thumbs, no reason that purple-tinsel jig shouldn't work well on Table Rock. It got its start as a football jig on Beaver, where J.R. Beehler used to catch a lot of good fish on it. He used a Yamamoto cinnamon-purple flake double-tail on it.

Happy Thanksgiving to all. I too am grateful for the many things I've learned here and the good friends I've made.

Got that right, Sore Thumbs. And as for speaking your mind Bill, keep it up and so will I. One of the special things about this forum is that there's a standard of honesty and accountability to each other, and an understanding that it's OK if you don't catch fish every trip — whether you're a full-time guide or a twice-a-year novice. We learn just as much from folks not catching them and telling what they tried as we do from the good reports. Checking our egos at the door makes this a place to exchange information, not a braggin' board. We've all benefitted greatly from Bill sharing his deep knowledge in much detail. Can't get that kind of info just anywhere.

Sore Thumbs, good to hear that Beaver Craw/Purple works. I've always liked that color but haven't experimented with it much. I'll have to add it to my arsenal.

Similar to Bill, two of my favorite jig colors year-round are Jelly Flash and Green Pumpkin Candy. I generally use the 5/16-ounce finesse jig with a green pumpkin Lil Critter Craw by Zoom. I know lots of folks like to match the PBJ or Jelly Flash jig to a pumpkin or cinammon craw but personally, I like the green pumpkin on it. For my 5/16-ounce jigs, I use BassX jigs. They're made in Rogers, Ark. and can be seen at www.bassxlures.com. For heavier (3/8 and 1/2 ounce) ballhead and all of my football jigs, I like the War Eagle jigs, which are also made in Rogers. Their website is www.wareaglelures.com.

Puzzled us where the better fish were, too, sfiser. Weather like that usually gets them moving. I had a big ol' smallmouth come to the boat with one of our keeper spots, trying to get my blade away from him but that was the only good fish we encountered all day. I got frustrated at 1 p.m. or so and we pulled out and went home to Bella Vista. Finished up the day on Loch Lomond and caught a few but still not as good as I thought it'd be. Going back to the Rock this weekend, Sore Thumbs. Winter series derby up there Saturday out of Ahoy's. Be interesting to see what this forthcoming arctic blast brings. Donna and I aren't quite ready to commit to the Polar Bear yet on Beaver. Be the first one we've missed in a long time. Probably a pretty good bet that we'll be there to make yet another donation.

OK T, since you admitted to wanting to ruffle feathers, I'm gonna have my say here and be done. 1. Fact: Fishing has been tough lately for everyone including the likes of Beck, Babler, the Davis brothers and the Fann brothers. Opinion: I'm at least slightly suspicious that only you are waylaying them in the shallows every time out. You aren't the only talented shallow-water angler on the lake. As you repeatedly stated, you aren't required to prove anything but likewise, I'm entitled to my opinion. 2. I suppose I lean toward the modest side, but I can't recall anyone here posting pic after pic of average-sized fish. Lots of us catch our fair share of fish. Donna and I have managed to beat out five-fish tournament limits two out of our last three trips, even tough as it has been. I post results of most of my trips here in hopes of helping others. If I catch em, I say so graciously. If I don't, I say so. Far as I can recall, I've only posted one pic since joining this site several years ago and that was a couple weeks ago because the fish was a rather large meanmouth. 3. The comment about "no fish left in the dam area" was not mine, but denjac's. Rest assured, I'm not the only one here suspicious. That's my 2 cents' worth and the last I have to say on this subject.

Didn't see you Sunday sfiser, but one or the other of us might have been down in the trough of one of those mighty swells when we passed each other. LOL. It was another one of those frequent days when I'm proud to be in a Champion. We fished from break of day to 1 p.m. and managed three keeper spots — two on a spinner bait and one on a watermelon seed Wart. Caught a bunch of shorts on the blade and one on a grub but it was nearly impossible to throw anything but a blade that wind. Man, did it blow. By 10 a.m. it was 20-25 mph steady with gusts over 30 mph. Nearly all of our fish came off flat, windblown points in the Cliftys. Pea gravel with scattered chunk rock was best.

The wind may blow, but no worries — it's for money. http://winterbassseries.com/

What's up with the little white patch in exactly the same spot on the left gill plate of all those smallmouth? Is that specific to Table Rock smallmouth? Even the two in the pics from Thursday have it.

Maybe some of 'em will escape the onslaught and make it up the river. They aren't nearly as apt to get caught up there by us hacks.

Can't hold a candle to what a couple have been reporting, but considering that the top guides and derby fishermen on the lake are struggling mightily, Donna and I had a decent trip Friday. Fished from Baxter up to SK, then up the Kings to Sweetwater. Kings was dead for us. Did manage six keepers for the day, including a glorious 4-pound meanmouth and a LM about the same size. All told, our five best would've weighed 15-plus. Spinnerbait, buzz bait, Redfin on flat, windy points produced all of our keepers. Fish came from both main-lake and secondary points. Water temp was low 60s all day.

Fish shallow? That's crazy talk.