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Thanks Champ:)

I agree.

I feel your pain. We got 11 inches of snow in 20 hours. 3 foot snow drifts. 50 degrees on Sunday though.

If I was going to buy four or five colors to use for Table Rock, what ones would you recommend Champ?

Good read Bill. I've been visiting your lake almost every spring since 1980. The only walleye I have ever caught was on the deep diving Spro McStick 90 (I think that is the size)off one of the shallower points in Big Creek. It was a chunky 20 incher that made a nice meal. Up here in Michigan, I catch a lot of walleyes on jerk baits(mostly gold or perch patterns because of our yellow perch forage). A few years ago I started casting Rapala jigging Raps because that was a bait one of the guys that is somewhat oder than me was catching them on. He was catching most of his vertical jigging in deep water, 40-60 feet. Being that I'm a bass angler first, I used a technique that fit my style better. After I shared this with him,, he has added this to his repertoire now too.You cast ahead on the break, and pop it off the bottom like you might a jigging spoon(which is also a good walleye bait) and work the bait back to the boat. Sometimes they bite it on the initial fall, but sometimes almost vertically under the boat. The body of water that I have done the best onis a flooded reservoir that reminds me of Table Rock, but in a much smaller version. A plug knocker comes in handy because you get hung up a lot. Just thought I would throw this out there because I know a few guys have the Jiggin Raps for winter vertical jigging for bass. As always, I appreciate your reports Bill.

Thanks for the report. Phantom Green Craw RK Crawler? Were you bumping bottom with it? Sounds like the fish are moving up a little. Should get better this weekend:)

Looking like you might get a early spring this year. I was ice fishing this morning up in Michigan in 1 degree temps, but the weather people are say 50 degrees by this weekend.

Bill, when I first came down to Table Rock in 1980, I was told that the V 38 Green Craw and V 37 Brown Craw were the two bait colors/patterns to buy for Table Rock. Makes some sense to me, that when you are fishing the clearer waters from point 9 to the dam, that the Phantom Colors would be most effective. Fishing in more off-colored water like the Kings or the James River, do you stick with those colors, or do you throw a V 37 Brown Craw, V 209 Red Nat Craw, or even a V 45 Spring Craw or V 74 Fire Tiger? Michigan waters are usually very clear, similar to Table Rock, and I have used a lot of the techniques I have learned from from the great Table Rock fisherman here, for some great days on the water in Michigan. The Rock Crawler seems to be similar to the Mag Wart as far as length and depth go, but I rarely hear anyone using them here. I did see Brandon Palaniuk throwing it some on a Bull Shoals Elite tournament. I've had some success with the Mag AV 74 when the wind was blowing hard, but the fish were hanging out a little deeper on the point. Thanks for sharing all your knowledge.

As Bill knows, the more you know about fishing, the more you know how much there is still to learn. I try to sit in at any seminar I can. There is always something you can learn.

Do the smallmouths in Table Rock like the A -Rig as much as the smallmouths in Michigan Waters? The last two falls, I also have caught a 48 and a 49 inch Muskie on the A-Rig as well.

In my 185 Ranger I usually carry 15-20 rods, but when I flshed the Bassmaster Northern Opens as a Co-Angler, I could only bring six and a medium sized tackle box. You really should be able to narrow down your selection depending on the seasonal pattern on the lake you are fishing.You can usually fish two or three different techniques using the same rod/reel combo.I'm planning at looking at some new rods and reels at BPS myself. Thinking of picking up the Lews Super Duty that Bill Babler recommended for an A Rig set up.

I know a lot of guys that feel this way. It makes me glad:)

I love catching them on the crank baits also, and find I carry way more than I ever use. I try to save my good warts for Table Rock because you don't have the Northern Pike that we have on our lakes in Michigan. Pike eat a lot of jigs and crank baits and we loose a lot of baits to them. The Rock Crawler looks good and Spro usually makes quality baits, but if I have a wart, I'll throw it. I don't have confidence in the RC that I have in the wart. I've had great success using Mag Warts for both smallmouths and largemouths in Michigan, and have caught them good at times on Table Rock with them as well. I don't hear you guys talk about the Mags at all. Secret weapon?

I have been using the BPS Cranking Stick in the 7-6 length Medium heavy and up here in Michigan have used it to catch six pound smallmouths, Largemouths, and have also caught a 48 and 49 inch Muskies on it.Works great for the smaller A-Rigs like the Flash Mob JR. I have been using couple of different revos to throw it with no problem, but I would like to try the Lews Super that Bill says he uses . The same rig works on Table Rock as well.

There are some good Face Book sites that you can buy and sell warts with no selling fees. Most use PayPal. Last year you could sell some for $60 to $80. The prices this past fall and now have come down quite a bit, but the craws are still very popular.

Two years ago, during the first week in April, my buddy and I caught 50 nice 1.5-3.5 pound bass on 1/2 ounce FB jigs in the eastern most arm of little sister's creek. Most of the fish were in 10-15 fow. Last week we got on some topwater fish and some great action on bass and whites chasing shad.

Sturgeon Bay is awesome for sure, but anything on the great lakes can be dictated by the weather.Any of the drowned river mouths to Lake Michigan on the west side of Michigan has trophy potential smallmouths all year round, but especially in September and October. A lot of the inland lakes in NW part of Lower Michigan have unbelievable action on smallmouths in the 4-6 pound range, with a chance for a 7 or even an 8 pounder. There are so many good places to fish, they are usually not crowded at all. On the east side of the state, right now, guys are catching 100 smallmouths a day with a lot of fish in the 3-5 pound range. I'm heading there Saturday.

Those 3-3.5 pounders were great fighters! I thought they were much bigger than what they were. If you like the smallmouths, come on up to Michigan in early June when they spawn, or in the fall when they are getting fat for the winter. 4 pounders are plentiful, fives are brutes, and I have a couple over 6 pounds the last two years. I have seen a 7 and an 8 weighed in before. Crazy.

I fished Little Sisters Creek not too far from the dam, and caught a few on top water and also got into some big whites chasing shad. A couple of bass were caught out of the shad as well.

I had a better experience. I caught a fish off a point and had two guys that were in a tournament pull in ahead of me on the point at first, but then decided it wasn't cool and went around behind me and let me fish the whole point first. These guys ended up being with a group of around 25 teams from St. Louis and actually won their tournament that went out of the Lakewoods Resort we also were staying at. Sometimes good guys finish first. They even shared their deep jerk bait pattern I used to catch two nice smallmouths the last day.

Second time ever fishing BSL. We stayed at Lakewoods Resort with new owners Sarah and Mike. Good people:) Water raised about 7 foot just before we arrived. Caught some fish in the dirty water up Big Creek on Wiggle Warts. Could not catch them consistently, so tried to fish Flukes in the Buck Brush. Had some success in the back end of pockets, but not consistent. Caught a few nice fish off deeper points with jerk baits and A RIgs. No consistent numbers:( Thought we could catch more out of the Buck Brush, but never got on a strong pattern. Heard the bite was tough all week, so it was hard to tell why, except the Lunar tables said it would be tough and it was.

With the water warming up, The fluke bite should be happening along with Zoom lizard. Watermelon/red or cotton candy catch a lot of fish. I have been hearing the spinner bait is happening also.

Sounds like throwing Super Flukes around the buckk brush in pockets would be real productive this weekend. I'll be on Bull SHoals, hoping the same thing is going on.

Thanks for the report. I'm coming down from Michigan with 3 other guys(2 boats) for a week of vacation fishing. Any help to give us any techniques or areas to fish would be appreciated . Usually on these trips, it takes us four or five days to figure things out and then it's time to come come. We will be staying in the Buck Creek area from April 4-10. Looks like the water will be warming up and rising yet.