Bill Babler

Finished up yesterday at 1:30. Probably our slowest morning 11 fish and everyone of them was a 2.5 cookie cutter. No big gals but a fun morning, with everything on a 5” senko GP red flex. If anyone wants any info just ask, fun trip.

Had one of the best days ever. 25 fish with the best 5 at 29 pounds and change between my buddy and I. My best today was a 5.8 which was barely included in the 5 fish limit. Ken had a 7.2, 6.10, 5.10, 4.10 and a 4.02. All on a 6” GP Red Flex Senko. I had 7 total all on a C-Rig. Windy as heck. No one on the water to speak of, maybe saw 8-10 boats. I had the day of my life netting all his big fish, he just had one of those days he could do nothing wrong. Could not have happened to a nicer guy. Becky and his wife are Besties and they are great neighbors.

Great start to our trip. Ken and I had 15 fish with a 6.8 pounder and 5 over 5 pounds. Ken lost a total Monster he could do nothing with. We’re thinking 8 plus , Read a lot of reports of dangerous water, but if your careful, so far not a problem. Best 5 today at 27 plus pounds with a 6,8 pounder and another 4 at 5 or better. Local small derby today and the winner had only 4 fish but they weighed 28 pounds. What a frigging bag. Reminded me of the day Charlie Campbell weighed in 4 jaws in a Table Rock derby that weighed 20 pounds and change. Beautiful weather however it did get to 93 but had a breeze. Don’t expect to catch 25 fish a day here but the quality is fantastic. Once hooked they will try to destroy your junk. Best baits sinko and a Magdraft. Had good eats and a cold barley pop at days end. I’m

Looks good. What is the price against the 2.8 Keitech

Wow. 🤩

Have you been down to see it? We launch at 155 a lot. Lake is 1.2’ lower than last year at this time. Got to be super careful SLOW. even so, you will hit stuff. Fishing it is worth it as it’s a 5/7 pounder Mecca. We don’t catch a ton of fish a day 15 or so but multiple over 5 pounds. They simply try to take your junk away and hit like freight trains. LOP is really a crappie lake and you don’t see a lot of double digits, and this holds the traffic down as far as bass fishing. Neighbor was at Fork last week and said it was so busy it was unfishable. 12 to 15 boat trains all over the lake. He dropped by LOP and did not see a bass fisherman. We are super pumped. Weather is going to be Purrrfect.

Facebook is showing some topwater action up the White. Surface temps at 61 yesterday. Neighbor and I are leaving for Lake of the Pines in Texas Tuesday. Surface temps down there at 68. I’m taking a bunch of topwater junk. TR should be on fire when I get home next week. I will tell you I caught a couple and missed a couple on a Magdraft this last week. They get on that big bait and it’s lights out.

I absolutely have to have some wind for either the crank bait bite or the hard head. It gets slick and I’m in trouble. I can move out and catch quality K’s on a small swimbait to some degree, but for the Largies I have to have some wind. I’d say we are going to have surface temps today and tomorrow here at SK in the low 60’s range. The afternoon bite from 3 till dark is by far the best. Yesterday was a zoo out there at SK, had to fish behind folks all day. Boats were running here today in the dark this morning at 6:00 Day before yesterday the good fish were 5’ and under LM. Yesterday they were 14/17 and they were big K’s. Had 2 that were 19 inches. It’s a shame they die prior to getting to be 15”. Sunrise photo from yesterday. Pic. does not do it justice, it was really something

Man that is just a flat great day. Congrats.

Just a look at the stuff I’ve been finding them on. Mostly 45 degree points up the White and Kings. Have been looking for walleye on the same locations but coming up empty. Most all are under 10’. If you get the slightest breeze the stick bait is the deal. If not a 3/16 th. Oz. Jig and a small swimbait.

Played Pickleball from 8 till 11:30, grabbed a bite and was on the water by 12:30. Perfect day with the overcast. Launched at Viola. Be extremely careful in front of of the curtesy dock as a concrete barrel with 2 inch pipe sticking out. It would make you really sorry quick. Surface temps have really cooled down. 45 degrees at 12:30 and 46 at 5:30. Fished the King’s and a bit of the White. Really didn’t have to do much as the fish have pretty much rushed the bank. Pretty decent color in the King’s but super clear on the White. Fish are on softball chunk 45 degree transitions 25’ and in. They were on everyone I fished. Shad are in the small pockets by the thousands, but most all the bass I caught had crayfish pincers sticking out of their craw. You could also feel their stomach was full of the hard bodied little lobsters. Just really fun fishing I have no count on numbers or size, but it made this old man happy. Here is a picture of the baits I used. If you would have fished an A-Rig they would have worn you out.

This will be my last post on the subject as most of my post get continuously misconstrued. As I’ve stated sub-legal or immature spotted bass ( under 15”) are available under most commercial docks. They are schooling fish and a lot of times, not all, they will school with similar size of the same species. And yes, at times there are mature spots on docks, that’s why they are targeted there. Docks however are for the most part a nursery or safe haven with cover for the juveniles There is a caveat. Mature spotted bass are open water predators and almost constantly on the move One day there can be 100 on a transition and the next day but a few or none I have been enthralled with spotted bass since the early 70’s on TRL when tutored by the late great Rex Grady. He called the big ones “Grey Ones” usually 18” to 20 plus inches. Since that time I have spent 1000’s upon 1000’s of hours strictly fishing for spotted bass and following their 4 season migration and adaptations. There are dozens of locations that spotted bass spawned in the 80’s and 90’s even the early to mid 2000’s, that hold very few if any breeding pairs in season. In conjunction there are locations that in the past that showed no spawning K’s that are loaded with spawning fish in season. By repeated study of spawning locations I sincerely hope the biologist are taking this pattern movement into consideration. The bounty I mentioned is not a monetary bounty it’s one the bass will pay with their lives. As far as seasonal surveys, I personally have not seen the survey checkers out in the past and I’m guessing here last 7 years. After the fish kill they were out in force years ago. My concern is not only harvesting spotted bass prior to them reaching their potential but also the harvest of both LM and SM that are sub-legal. In my 30 plus years of guiding magnificent clients on TR, maybe 10 out of a hundred knew the difference between a LM and a K. Maybe 50% knew the difference between a SM a carp or a walleye. These are the folks that fish 8 or 10 days a year but come to the resorts and fish off the docks or hire a guide for a day on the water. Someone mentioned they don’t think there are many bass harvested. I believe with the new reg’s there will be as MDC is saying by this measure we want the numbers reduced. By harvesting 12” to 14” fish it truly diminishes the number that can get to that 18/20 inch mark that has made TR one of the top 10 spotted bass fisheries in America. In the past most guides were in protection mode and the 15” limit helped in the preservation allowing the bass to help reach potential. With the new reg’s with MDC wanting harvest that takes the arrow out of the quiver. It will be virtually impossible if the client desires to not harvest 12” under 1pound fish. I respect everyone’s opinion on this topic, but mine comes from spending a lifetime in the study and pursuit of these marvelous scrappy unpredictable creatures God has blessed us with. I!d hate to see they’re demise or ability to be truly magnificent as they currently are on Table Rock Lake.

I’m not a guide I just fish here 200 plus days a year in all 4 seasons and have for the past 50 years. Guides release bass so as not to deplete the population. By lowering the length limit they are obviously stating the population should be reduced. If your not seeing this your not realistically looking. Never said guides are catching 30 plus 15” K’s per day. They are however exceedingly that number counting short fish most days. Scientific evidence is already here just thru the tournament weigh-ins. This isn’t about science for MDC. signatures wouldn’t make a difference MLF rates TR as the 7 th. best Big spotted bass lake in the US. So you’re saying removing small bass and reducing numbers is going to perpetuate that? Tournament anglers are pursuing the largest 5 fish bring to the scales limit they can catch. They hope it doesn’t include 2 and 3 pound spotted bass. However spotted bass are easier to catch than LM and are by far the majority of fish weighed in by tournament anglers. This of course doesn’t even mention the numbers of spotted bass that are released on the water by anglers that cull caught spotted bass to replace them with larger LM if they catch them In catch weigh and immediate release tournaments spotted bass far, far exceed LM. The reason being spot’s are social schooling fish that anglers can catch in numbers. LM though larger are for the most part solitary fish that have to be individually pursued. Keeping in mind that spotted bass as well as any of the black species must be at least 15” to be weighed in any TR Lake tournament format. You seem very passionate about killing bass, that’s fine.

Ott didn’t do well today, but he fished a float-n-fly for quite a while. First time I’ve seen an MLF Pro fish a floater. Was going to mention prior to this cold snap last week they were really getting positioned for it. I didn’t throw it, cause really didn’t need too but with this low clear water it will work. Unless it rains a bunch this should be the best year for it in the last 10 years. It’s a Big Fish catcher. Baxter to the dam with the KC area being the Gold Mine for the Floater.

Absolutely, MDC has put a bounty on spotted bass by lowering the length limit. By doing this they are saying we have to many bass in the lake and need the numbers reduced. This is totally ridiculous. Our forage base can support many times the number of predators we have in the lake. This is going to put enormous pressure on the guides to kill fish. 99% of Table Rock guides are currently, catch and release on bass which supports the population. With the new moratorium on spotted bass it effectively takes away catch and release. MDC is pretty much saying we want them removed from the lake. Pretty hard for a guide to be catch and release when MDC is saying we want the fish killed. The harvest by guide clients along with the current number of yearly 2 person trips will account for 50,000 to 100,000 dead fish a year. Now take in consideration the yearly visitors and locals as far as death numbers and a rough estimate is the removal of 1/4 million bass a year from a population that instead of being decreased should at the minimum be sustained. Even the removal of 1/2 that number of 12” to 14” bass are Kentucky’s that will never exceed that 15” mark. Let’s face it, a 10 year old with a zebco 33 and a can of worms can go down on most any community dock and catch 6 spotted bass under 15” just about any day March thru October. Table Rock lake is one of the best Big Spotted bass fisheries in the country by killing 3/4 pound to 1.5 pound fish you reduce the number that can become 2.5 to 3.5 or even 4 plus pound fish that Table Rock is known for. The idiocy of saying that they are dying prior to reaching 15” is pretty much a straight out lie, or totally uneducated observation. That crud is totally dispelled by tournament fishing results and MLF coming several years ago and fishing 2 tournaments here over a several week period and catching 1000’s of pounds of 15 plus inch bass. There is absolutely no upside in this new BS regulation. The biologist and commission that thinks this is a good idea, so out of state visitors can come and kill our fish and promote fishing licenses sales are going to have a legacy of the people that destroyed one of the best bass fisheries in the country.

This is what you get from uneducated people that spend almost no time on a lake and have no idea what they’re doing. I had one day last week I had 40 K’s between 15” and 19”. My neighbor the day before had 30 plus K’s over 15 inches. This is strictly a money grab. Within 3 years this wonderful BIG spotted bass lake will be nearly devoid of 15” plus spotted bass. The idea that they are dying of old age prior to being 15” is totally unsupported by any type of prolonged research. This is more stupid than the brilliant idea of reintroducing otters.

Been seeing a lot of posts on Facebook, and they are catching. I’m guessing jig with a live minnow or small swimbait. Neighbor has caught some this last few days on A-rig.

I enjoyed watching them at Guntersville with the exception of way 2 many F-bombs on camera and constantly throwing cigarettes in the water. There is probably only a dozen to 18 of the fisherman I recognize and was glad to see Cherry win it. Mercer kind of turns my stomach but I really like the format of having other anglers give their perspective of the action on the water. MLF production quality as far as camera and sound is on another planet ahead of them. Not a big fan of watching them catch 10 oz. K’s this last week that were legal. Let’s just hope our lake doesn’t go to 12” or we are going to have the same deal. That was really bad. That evening April event should be fun to watch, thanks for posting.

Put in at ER. The walleye guy’s were out. Probably saw at least 15 dedicated walleye boats this morning. Lake from Arkansas line to Big M was at maximum fisherman capacity. Bass fishing was tough for us. 15 fish in 6 hours with 3 keepers. It’s simply amazing how many fish will approach a jerkbait and reject it. A-rig and jig for us.

Nice I was wondering about the surface temps. thanks.

Thanks so much

This tree had latterly 1000’s of acorns around it. They just started eating them last week. I presumed by now they would have no nutrients in them at all, but this happened last night.

Fished up there 2 days this week and did fair to middling one day and embarrassed myself the next day with the bass Only plus for me on the tough day ie 2 short bass was catching 19 crappie, 13 were released unharmed but maybe smarter. Everyone I caught was over 10”. Most were 13” to 15”, Crazy. Had the neighbors over for crappie last night, that’s 4 adults and 6 crappie. Fried 4 and grilled 2 Becky and I each had a crappie sandwich for lunch today and there is still enough for another sandwich. Last nite we hade Mac and cheese along with a big salad and cornbread with the fillets. Each crappie made 8 nice filleted pieces. Looking online it seems like the crappie are just being hammered on TR right now. You can see some huge limits of Monster crappie Mine came out of a deep channel off multiple limb hardwoods. I fished 3 trees in a 100 yard circle. There were also some roving packs just suspended and swimming in the channel. Water was 50’ to 60’ with the tree tops in 15’ to just above the surface. Crappie were 15’ to 25’. Surface temp was 54/57 degrees, in January. I know the guys from Red’s Guide Service. were doing the same as I heard lots of cheerful yelling come from the guide boat. They were fishing live bait. I was swimming a small 2” Keitech. There are lots of walleye from Baxter to Beavertown on the White River and they are shallow but for me super hard to catch. Eric Olliverson told me how he is catching them but I’ve not tried his method yet. They are schooled up and I’m guessing starting to head up the White and Kings. I might try some live bait next week. Eric is using totally artificial. Didn’t mean to hijack your thread Jeff but I didn’t have any pictures. Good Luck.

Durn, I was hoping for a secret 🤫 Got it, however your recognition skills were top notch. Thanks for all you do.

Nice. They were actually chasing on top up the White day before yesterday. I never barged after them as I was getting bit decent on the bank. Was pretty sure if I chased them they would be gone when I got there. Your acumen with the FFS is fantastic separating the K’s from LM. I can discern species do to school structure and of course gar and spoonbill, but I can’t pick a LM out of a school of bait if the K’s are the same size. Any tips are much appreciated. Thanks for the report.