Champ188

I'll need to see a current Coose permit first, mister.

Interesting to hear, Ron. I fish that Pt 5 area fairly often so it's possible I've caught and pitched em back without paying much attention, just thinking they were juvenile white bass.

And one last thing about college sports: What kind of man is Nick Saban? The kind who retires not for his own gratification, but because at 72 he could no longer promise recruits (both players and coaching staff) that he would be there another 4-5 years and didn't want to mislead anyone. In my opinion, hiring Dabo from Clemson would certainly give the Tide another man of impeccable character at the helm. Same probably goes for Norvell at Florida State. Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss? Not so much. Again, my opinion.

In case anyone wonders, we're talking about Barry Lunney, Jr., former Hogs QB and son of one heckuva high school coach who won eight state titles at Fort Smith Southside and Bentonville, both of which play in Arkansas' largest classification. The younger Lunney is a pretty good hand at fishing, too. He served as interim head coach at Arkansas in 2021, went to UT-San Antonio as OC when a UA coaching buddy became head coach there, then was hired as OC at Illinois by former Hogs head coach Bret (I'll Have a Double) Bielema. The Illini promptly became one of the most-improved offenses in the Big 10.

I do think things may be slightly different this year ... I fished last Thursday on Beaver and we STILL had water temps above 50 ... up to 52. That apparently causes shad to get careless and wander shallow because I graphed them in good numbers at depths less than 20 feet in the creeks. This is all new to me coz I've not seen water temps this high in my 24 years in the Ozarks in January, nor have I seen this many shad in the creeks this time of year, but I'm thinking some of those will be killed when the water temp drops dramatically, kicking off a good jerk bait bite. If not, guess I'll just have to keep catching those toothy fish on my jerk baits. Not such an awful thing, come to think of it.

Been fishing Beaver for 24 years and have never caught one, nor has anyone that I know of in NW Arkansas. Don't blame us for what's in Table Rock. lol

Getting buffed up for a potential NIL deal? 😂

My comment was a reference to Mr. Bill's preference for fishing deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. Attempted humor ... not criticism. Bill is one of the last people I'd ever criticize for his fishing abilities or anything else ... even though he still fishes too deep 98% of the time. LOL

And you get two heads for one, essentially, given that his dad was a multiple state title-winning coach at the highest high school level in Arkansas. You know they sit around and discuss X's and O's a lot.

We have a couple of feral cats that we feed and house on our back deck so we don't have many chipmunks around. We did a TNR (trap, neuter, release) and they never left when we brought them home. Figured they might haul tail and never return after all that but they were smart enough not to abandon their food and shelter. They have gotten pretty docile around us and keep trying to come inside, so we will probably "merge" them with our four indoor cats very soon. Especially with the weather that is forecasted for next week.

Vern, don't plug that thing into those lithium-ion boat batteries. It might fry you like an overdone piece of Col. Sanders chicken.

He can't catch anything there ... except that "log trout" that broke him off. Has to be at least 60 feet deep or he's totally out of his element. It's painful even watching him try. 😂

I was sure hoping they'd bring him home when they hired Petrino. I'd rather have your friend as OC any day. And he was also in charge of recruiting for the state of Arkansas the last few years he was here. Did a fine job of that, too.

Yes, it's a bad feeling sliding down the ramp on ice. Just keep it as straight as possible and remember, it's not frozen from the water's edge on out, so eventually your brakes are going to stop you.

And those of us who stayed to hear them would still be laughing.

That was a very good friend (and his partner) who won the Polar Bear and yes, they did catch em on jigs. However, he does have FFS and they used it some.

He's flamboyant, at the least.

Bill, you've posted some pretty incredible fishing wisdom here over the years but not sure you've ever written truer words than what you said above. For the record, I was livid when Drink rented out two digital highway billboards in Pine Bluff to celebrate ... or gloat over ... the signing of 4-star WR Courtney Crutchfield and an equally talented Pine Bluff HS teammate to the Tigers. I even texted Mr. Bill after hearing about it to say what the frick is up with your dude? Who does that? I thought it was a douchey move and, honestly, I still hope it comes back to bite him in the bum. What I did not know was this is apparently a thing that coaches across the country have done recently. Still seems classless to me but hey, it IS 2024 and things have changed. College athletics certainly have changed, as has the entire world. No, I won't stop watching despite my wishes that the sport had spurned NIL and the transfer portal. (Love the Dr Pepper Fanville ad where the sheriff hollers, "It's the transfer portal! It's outta control!" As for Arkansas, go Hogs! Coach Sam may not be the long-term answer but I can say in full confidence that he has left indelible examples of CHARACTER upon his players that will accompany them throughout life. Petrino, meanwhile ... well, you can't say it much better than Bill already has, so I'll leave that where it lays.

The swimming squirrels were a real deal indeed. We were at Bull Shoals for the Central Pro-Am championship that year and Brad Butler was practicing in an offshore spot when, unbeknownst to Brad, a squirrel climbed into his boat and took refuge under the driver's console. When Brad finished fishing that spot, he pulled the TM, went to the driver's seat per usual, started the engine and took off. Apparently the squirrel was not a fan of high speed and came out from under the console, climbing straight up Brad's bare leg (he was wearing shorts). I don't recall the details, but mayhem at high speed ensued and when Brad got the boat stopped (probably by activating the kill switch while trying to escape the squirrel). Eventually, the squirrel bailed over one side of the boat and Brad nearly bailed over the other. And yes, he was presented with a toy stuffed squirrel at a weigh-in later that week.

Happy new year, pstone!

I've seen you on the water plenty of times. There aren't that many of anything where you usually fish. 😆😂

Generous of you Dock to share a pic of your best lure. Thanks, brother. Helps us river rats/bank beaters at least understand a little about what you're doing.

I could listen to stories like this until I fell over dead from laughing. God blessed us magnificently with his creations, but he blessed us even more with friends to share our experiences. And when all is said and done, it's rarely the fish stories that we tell and re-tell over the years ... rather, it's the kind of recollections Bill just shared where things went awry (locking keys in truck, etc.) but left us with an indelible memory. Hope that makes sense. I just know that I have plenty of experiences that seemed disastrous in the moment but were howlers to re-tell years later. Bill, thanks for sharing these memories of Buster. I didn't know the man well but these stories helped me learn a bit more about a darn good guy.

That's a bruiser for sure. Congrats!

Never ever heard a bad word about the man. For a fishing guide and tournament fisherman, that speaks volumes about his character.