Troy Gregg

Flippin... the rod will do everything that you ask of it... Like Hoglaw said, it may not be the BEST at either application but it excels in both. just be sure to put a good reel on it and it will perform as well as I think you are expecting. .... if you get it and you're unhappy, I'll buy it from ya

Flippin, I know you are going to get alot of opinions on what you should buy.... but I can vouch for the Compre med action spinning rod. It really depends on how small of a crank you are wanting to throw, but I know the rod handles a crankbait really well... alot better than most would give a spinning rod credit for. I have thrown wiggle warts with no trouble at all. It will handle small and medium jerkbaits really well. I now use this particular rod almost exclusivly for trout anymore.. throwing jigs and cranks. However, there are those days on the rock when dropshot, shakey head, and split shot rigs are needed exclusively. This is one of my go to rods for any of these set ups as well. It makes an excellent worm and jig rod (small jigs of course) and this includes shakey heads. The rod's versatility is its highest point for myself. but it has all the features of a great rod. It is super sensitive, durable, versatile, and affordable. It is really tough to find a rod of this magnitude for $100 bucks or less. Plus it comes with a lifetime warranty. Hope this helps you out Troy

I'll be there... somewhere. I will be helping out during the weigh-in on saturday so I should see you there.

Thats pretty much the same thing I discovered up there Tom... glad you guys caught some fish. Are you going to be at Grand lake this coming weekend?

well if you'd quit working while I am off... (and vice a versa) we might just be able to do that.... gotta go to OK this weekend though...

Lol... on a normal day I may have messed with it and I could probably tell ya.... besides it was just a lil guy, nott much longer than 18" at the most, but definately a cottonmouth.

Thanks guys... and yes it was a great day on the lake. Any day on the water is better than a good day at work.... supposing nothing goes wrong

well I managed to get out and some fishing for a switch. I launched out of Cape Fair early this morning... made my first cast just after 6 A.M. The water was calm and has some color to it. I don't have thermostat on my boat so I couldn't tell ya water temps. I fished from above cape fair down to point 12. The first place I stopped I didn't catch anything, but I did see a cottonmouth (pics posted). The first fish of the day was sitting in about 3' of water on a laydown, ate the jig. I caught some of my fish on the spook chasing bait in this same area. The rest of the day the fish were pretty split up... I was catching some of my fish out of buck brush holding the boat in about 15'. I caught one on a bluff in about 20' of water. I was beginning to think I was safe from the big boats up the river, until about 11 and I looked up in time to see three good sized cruisers coming at me. I made a run to cape fair and up the river to where it bends and caught a couple more. The action today wasn't to great, but just enough to keep me going. I managed five keepers from about 6-12, and they came on either a spook, jig, or trick worm. Nothing to spectacular and they probably wouldn't have gone more than 12lbs. I will let the pics tell the story... weighed in 2lbs 10 oz on my scale... not sure on how accurate it is though 2 lbs 6 oz... nearly 18" long

Motoman, I am no pro, but I fish the Heartland circuit as a co-angler. Of all those guys in the heartland tourney at Bull shols, Pro and co-angler both, there were 8 limits of fish weighed in. To date this was the toughest tourney I have had to fish in. I will go ahead and say that what works on the rock will also work on Bull shoals. Bull shoals is gin clear on that lower end, at least it was during that tourney, you could count the leaves on the green bushes in 15 feet of water.

I hope somebody caught some fish today, because It was TOUGH for me today.... it was a great day of fishing and casting... but not alot of bites. After about a week of the boat being down, I finally got it fixed and took off from Gage's at right around Noon, and headed way down the long creek arm. I ended up down in Yocum creek and hit spots all the way back to gages. I held the boat in twenty to thirty feet of water for the most part... certain areas I went holding in 10' and flippin to the bank. First stop... somewhere down in Yocum, couldn't tell you where cause I have no idea . The water is dirty down there.. not stained, not dingy... Dirty. I threw a spinnerbait and had one hit it and that was it... I threw darn near everything I could think of in that dirty water too.... I tried buzzbaits, spooks, grubs, a wiggle wart, a square bill, a jig, and pretty much everything else (minus the Kitchen Sink). I would fish about a 200 yard stretch and idle to a different spot. I fished in flooded sycamore trees, I fished on chunk rock, I even tried a channel swing. Moved out towards cricket creek marina and the water cleared up a little, but still had a good amount of stain in it. No bites.. Fished along a main lake bank, fished both points going into the pocket and all the way to the back... Fished another little pocket... I think this one was called Hurt Hollow or something or other... fished both banks and a secondary point... still in high stained water and still no bites to speak of. I decided to run to clearer water which brought me back into Missouri, I stayed on main lake stuff and started flippin willows and brush and picked up my only fish for the day... a short KY. Jig was the lure. Flipped the jig some more and the shakey head a lil had a few light bites... but nothing I could stick. I swam a grub, and scrubbed a grub as well, had one follow on the swim and the lil punk took my grubs tail and that was the last fish I saw... I fished one more spot before I called it a day and came Home... I hope you all had better luck than myself, and if you did tell us about it

Spinnaker, there are two ramps on Lower Taney, one at Rockaway Beach and the other is Empire Park.

Andy, AKA troutfitter77 I would take many things into consideration in choosing a guide... and there is a group of well versed anglers who guide on both the Rock and Taney. things I would take into consideration are: the number in your party if there is a certain style boat you would like to fish from different areas of the lake you would like to fish from certain species you would like to catch tactics you would like to learn Each guide is well versed in many of the tactics on the rock but each also has their strengths. Bill Babler, Bill Beck, Mike Webb, Brian Snowden, Chris Tetrick, Tracy Frenzel, Keith Greenough, Buster Loving and Tim Paige are just a handful of the guides on the Rock and are some of the best gentlemen you could choose to fish with... They all know the lake as well as some of the best anglers in the area and many of these guys fish both lakes you are interested in. by the way, taking a guide does not guarantee a boat load of fish... Fishing is fishing, you can stack the odds in your favor and still come up empty handed, but thats what keeps us coming back for more

I would have to suggest a bright, contrasting sticker to put on both sides of the motor. a sticker wouldn't do much good unless its on both sides of the boat. A sticker on the side of the boat could work, but colors would be hard to distinguish on some boats. A ribbon on the trolling motor isn't a bad idea but I could see several mongolian clusters as well as a well trimmed ribbon coming out of that deal. then again I guess we could wrap the shaft of the trolling motor in a bright pink ribbon...... personally that would cause me to almost feel like I left a piece of fruit on my dash.... I suggest a fl. green, orange or pink sticker about 3 or 4" in diameter that say OA.com in black print... located on each side of the Motor. For starters, the dark color of the motor would make the bright colored OA.com sticker stick out like a sore thumb. Secondly, the sticker on both sides of the motor would make it visible, regardless of which direction you are fishing.

A pic of the ole' rig...

As I was reading Motoman's topic on Tablerock Hospitality, I felt it neccessary to start this topic... I have to agree as the hospitality in this area is unrivaled across the rest of the country, I mean everybody has a certain amount of hospitableness, but here a complete stranger will usually be welcomed as a friend. Of course there are instances in which this is not the case but they are usually isolated situations Anyways, this is for those of us who like to say hello on the water, for those of us who don't mind taking time out of our day to give a wave or lend a helping a hand, for those of us who welcome new friends and fresh faces. This is for us to share what our rigs look like so we know if we run across somebody on this forum, after all it is a small world and in the light of things Tablerock is only a speck... so come on and tell us what your rig is and come say Hello or give a simple wave. My rig.... a 1995 model Ranger 354V w/ 150 'rude on the back. 18' long and blugreen w/ silver stripes.... Usually being towed by a bright orange ford ranger w/ stickers on the back glass... the boat may blend in but the truck sure don't Its an older model 18' in length.... but its a big step up from the kayaks, canoes, and 14' jon boat I used to fish from Anyways, I will be out of Kimberling area on sunday... if anybody sees me come say Hello, I don't mind in the least. So whats your rig?

Nothing like the Ol' bonus fish

are you going from the bank or bringing a boat?

That spot is as big as the black

Tried in Swan this afternoon, just as the dirty water started to appear and it was extremely slow at best

Gotta have a few pet names for spots on the three lakes.... Table Rock... 4 timbers, the gravel bar, 3rd pileon to the left, the crappie hole, the for sure spot, and I am sure there are more.. just can't think of them rightway. Taneycomo.... Got alot I could name here, but I will only name a few. The air conditioner, the bend, the pits, and had one called the sycamore... but last years floods kinda moved that one, have to find it again. Maybe its under Trav's dock by now Bull shoals.... Flathead alley, Tin Horn, mud hole, Crappie Haven, Mocassin straight ( had an interesting encounter with the fanged kind), the deep hole

this is a very interesting topic and I would like to see how Bill feels being a full time guide and part time tournament fisherman. I can say that boxing, football, soccer, Mixed martial arts and all such sports are physically demanding... some for two hours, some for a mere 10 minutes. the conditioning and training that goes into such sports has to be accounted for as well... but for the Pro fisherman who travels across the nation fishing tournaments and fishes the four practice days and the four tourney days, My hat is off to him. These guys prefish for four days with the same routine: up at dawn, stop at 3, re rig, modify a gameplan, prepare the boat, rest for a few hours and do it all again. then comes Tourney day, some may feel Revived (so to speak) because they get to try out their game plan, then the night before a front moves through and changes everything... back to square one on the day that it counts..... Mentally you are scratching your head, confidence just got shot to the ground, and you have 8 hours on a boat chucking and winding to figure out a pattern and produce five quality bites. There you are fishing an unfamiliar lake for your chance at $100,000 payday.... what do you do, you go fishing So starting out you fish for two hours and not a single bite... you start mentally breaking down, your game plan is gone, you have no mental plan anymore, you dig through your rod locker picking up whatever sounds good and start chucking... you maybe get bit after you ran another 10 or 15 miles up the river... now you're 65miles away from where you started. you produce a couple of decent keepers, and maybe start to put a pattern together. This is the physically demanding part.... that hour long boat road up the river has your face wind burnt or your neck sore from wearing a helmet being pushed back by a 70mph wind. now you have run a trolling motor while standing or leaning on a butt seat for the better part of the day... drinking enough water and eating just enough to keep you energized and hydrated. 12:00 rolls around... you don't know where the morning went cause it just flew by you have two fish in the live well in 5 hours of fishing.... you have to keep yourself mentally stable and keep a positive mindset... not the easiest task when bites are few and far between. but look on the bright side... the best is yet to come.... you have three more hours of getting beat in the face and on the head by the sunshine, rain, snow or sleet or that god awful 30 mph wind... back lashing that occasional cast and casting all day, for the most part non stop and for those of you who chose to throw that wiggle wart or even the jerk bait for the better part of the day, I am sure that arm is starting to feel a lil fatigue.. kinda like a pitchers arm. Chuck and wind, chuck and wind, chuck and wind, and do it some more 1: 40 70 miles to the ramp, a nice limit, but in your mind not enough to secure the lead, but its time to go (that 1lb a minute late penalty simply isn't worth it) another hour long boat ride flat out, wind in your face... Rain and sleet feels likes bullets or sounds like hail bouncing off the helmet. you have now been standing on the boat for 7 hours... you have been scorched by the sun, dried out by the wind, beat to death by rain, or nearly frozen as it snows or is just bitterly cold. Your weight finished 15th... top ten advance, you have day 2 yet to go... 1.3 lbs out of the cut... make your adjustments and prepare to do it again. How would you feel after day one? would you want to get up and do it all over again... get your confidence stuffed by a 15" lil green fish, get physically beaten down by mother nature, and have to mentally prepare to catch more weight than the 14 guys above you? My hat is tipped to these guys, you may think it isn't the most difficult, but I would Wager it tests a mans strength and endurance more than any of the other sports... Courtside or even on the field those guys get a bench if they get winded, get fouled, or are getting frustrated by the competition Ringside you have a corner you can retreat to In fishing, you are on your boat for 8 hours, confidence being tested, Maybe even get a hook in the head by a co-angler or by your pro if your the co-angler, back aching from standing on the bow all day, and getting every little thing you try stufffed back in your face by a fish.

Bill... I knew it had to be tough, with a capital T. Like you I cannot get bit real well on Flat water, and I was throwing finesse baits. Grub, shakey head, and small jigs. It was tough sunday, it was tough on monday, and I know it was tough again today even though I didn't make it to the lake. The fish pond at Big Cedar is filled from the Rock and cycles about once a day. I can kind of use the fish in our pond as a guage, as we have bluegill bass and catfish. And the past few days nobody has caught anything out of the pond. Today we had 120+ kids all around our pond and a grand total of 6 bluegill were caught for a three hour period. The Green ones are giving myself fits, as well as everyone else I have talked to, I hope those whites kick it up a notch or two... I am ready

As many of you can imagine the conditions for the Rock were at best TOUGH today. but don't get me wrong in this group of anglers there are those who always find the fish.... on the pro side.... Limit of five, 80 boat field, only a handful had 5 Robbie Dodson found a 7.23lb kicker and a sack that weighed over 19lbs Bill Beck weighed in a solid sack at 17lbs and some change... all of his fish were about the same size and a mixed bag Mike Fan brought a 5.79 lb pig to the scales and weighed in a touch over 16lbs... the kicker though, that 5.79 lb fish was a smallmouth. Big bass was 7.23lbs followed by a 6.88 and another 6 lber but don't let these three heavyweights fool you, the weights fall dramatically and many of the pros were weighing in with 3 fish or less On the Am side.... limit of three, 70 person field, 4 limits were weighed 9.00 lbs took top honors... can't remember the name 7.44 lbs took second by Travis Hutton 6lbs and some change took third Big bass on the am side 5.98 I believe... I could be wrong, but three fish over 5lbs were weighed in on the AM side. Needless to say today was not a day for the Rock. Personally with very little to no wind, all of the pressure the lake has had over the past 4 days, and the cloud cover we had today made for a difficult bite to say the least. In the end a few persevered and showed us some beautiful tablerock bass. The tactics.... the jerkbait produced some fish as well as the wiggle wart, but these two took a backseat today.... the winning tactics today was finesse syle; Shakey Head, Grub, and finesse jigs.

Sorry Guys I put up some misinformation as I was tired and getting ready for bed when I posted this.... It took 16 lbs to place in the top ten and took 13 lbs to place in the top 25

Lilley.... you yourself said this a family site and I take great offense to that post... I think it should be edited