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Bill Babler

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Everything posted by Bill Babler

  1. Bill Babler
    Absolute Toad, thanks for posting the pic's and congrats.
  2. Bill Babler
    Guys, I've been bow hunting for a week and we are completely out of touch at our deer camp. Had to run home but am headed back to Central Mo. in a few minutes. I will be home November 15th. after rifle hunting. I've taken 2 Gobblers with my bow for the first time ever, no luck on the deer last week as weather was horrible. Hoping for a good week prior to gun season. I've gotten a lot of texts and emails on Falcon Rods. I'm not forgetting you all but please resend me what you are wanting after the 15th as I just don't get or have trouble doing any kind of business from Deer Camp. Tight Lines and Shoot Straight, see ya November 15th. Tks Bill
  3. Bill Babler
    It's 9 AM and they are still running 4 and 5 wide in front of the Lodge. At least 3 dozen boats in site. With no stocking and extreme over fishing I really don't know where we are headed. My Federal Lic. lasts 2 more years and it will by then be time for me to hang up the cleats. ie if I make it that long. I still just love fishing the lake during the week, most weeks and Taney is most often a joy. For some reason Taney is giving up the biggest trout I have seen in quite a few years. Not big total strings, but most days a rainbow between 2 and 5 pounds, and Duane has caught some wonderful Browns. It is pressured heavy but stocked heavy and anymore 90% of my non resort clients let the trout go. If their staying in a local on the water resort they like to eat them but most are staying in town or with us and just like the fun of catching 20 to 40 fish in a 4 hr. trip.
  4. Bill Babler
    Your right, I was over there today and the BASS crew was setting it up. We have a house full of Toyota fishermen and they are saying 230 plus owner entries and this is a team event. Today most of these guys were beating the lake silly and tomorrow will be worse.
  5. Bill Babler
    Most of the guys throwing the Rig these days have dropped the braid and are now throwing it on either Carbon or Mono in that 25 to 35 pound test. The braid is just simply a major headache as it sucks down inside its self on any hang up and at times it just throws terrible. It will also cut the heck out of you. As you mentioned lite wire hooks are an absolute must. Chomper's makes a lite wire A-rig hook that is the best I've used. I believe it is an Eagle Claw size 2/0. They put it on their own very streamline jig head and it comes in 1/16 to 1/2. oz. It bends out easily and can either be rebent or it pretty much cost but a few cents to replace it. I did not lose a single A-rig last year using the 25# carbon and the Chompers hooks and have never had a fish bend one out and escape. No split ring on the head and I'm using a Flash Mob Jr. On another note from what I'm hearing this morning, they are on the A-rig. Weights in these derby's are getting ready to go up. Good Luck
  6. Bill Babler
    Regatta permits for this weekend show easy 600 plus and that's not counting the Toyota tournament. Lake is full outside the window this morning.
  7. Bill Babler
    For the last week and probably going into next week I'd be happy to be a Single Engine Prop Job.
  8. Bill Babler
    Probably in 30 yrs. this was my toughest morning on the Rock. Started at Old 86 with 2 very mature fishermen, a husband and wife team that were basically zebco 33 type folks and just could not get anything to work. I mean nothing including live bait. Other guides telling me the live bait deal is just terrible with small gills stealing your bait at any water depth. It's true. used 3 dozen crawlers and never had a bass bite on them. They caught gills from 15' to the deepest gill coming on the bottom at close to 70' All were just small bait stealers and were thru the entire water column, top to bottom. Guys here are catching a few on a Hard head and a hula grub along with swimming a Keitech or swimming a small 3/8 jig and small trailer, and a Rock Crawler but that would have been above our pay grade this morning. Right now this lake is just flat Brutal and that's from daylight till 8 AM. It gets hard later in the day. Good Luck
  9. Bill Babler
    Tks Quill, I'm out of the dam area tomorrow and will report. I have been hearing the dreaded talk about the Umbrella coming into play with the fish up and all over the water column, but won't use it tomorrow. Rumor has it that the top 2 places in the Joe Bass event this past weekend were throwing it. I know second place was for sure.
  10. Bill Babler
    Kid had won $135,000.00 so far this year, so I didn't question what he was doing or what he was doing it with. Thought it was great of him to tell me how and where. He caught the majority of his fish in Big and Little Cow and Spring Branch. Said he would throw it as far as he could right in the middle of the cedar clumps, count it down and reel it back. If it got hung up he would not go get it for fear of scaring fish, he would break it off. He was fishing it on 20 pound carbon the first day and switched to 50 pound braid the second day. If you have a bait that you can throw in that mess in a National Championship during tournament conditions where the Classic is on the line and fish it using the technique he was using and never lose one you indeed are special and have something special. Good Luck
  11. Bill Babler
    4 key baits in the BASS. The bait that won the derby was a Spro Rock Crawler in Red Craw fished by Jared Lintner. I believe he caught all his keepers on it. Maybe one or two others on a jig or a WP. Did not fish the same water any of the 3 days. Jared is a very close friend of Mike McClelland's I know they fished several days together during the allowed practice, and I spoke with Mike quite a bit. That kind of help is what you need this time of the year to win here. When you have the Table Rock Hammer helping you, and you listen probably enough said. I try and keep a couple of colors in stock most of the time. Drop shot with a 2.8 inch Keitech either on a jig head or a drop shot hook 3/8 to 1/2 0z. wt.. Best drop shot bite was 40' to 50' over trees in the creeks. Whopper Plopper and a buzz bait early 3/4 oz. blade fished deep in the cedars, not buzzed thru the tops. If you were not losing spinner baits you were not fishing it correctly. Sumrall lost 8 blades the first day and I think 5 the second day so he lost 13 spinnerbaits in 2 days. Remember I said I didn't not do what he was doing. If I did that with guide clients I would have to do odd jobs to pay for the baits. or get a bank loan. The blade pattern was completely over Friday and anyone throwing it Saturday got a very poor result. Ie the Friday Leader. For the last several days the bite of any kind is pretty much over by 9;30. You don't have them by then, its tough going. Yes you may get lucky, but best bet is to catch them early if you can. Good Luck
  12. Bill Babler
    New in box bow mount 2018 Motorguide Xi5 Saltwater with Pinpoint GPS, remote key fob 24 volt 48" kevlar shaft 80 pound trust, Machette prop. $1,200.00 That motor is $1,649 plus tax at Bass Pro. If you can find it anywhere near that price I'll beat it but I've looked for a week and I'm over $400 less than anyone. Call me 417-332-7016
  13. Bill Babler
    Couple of things. First boat returned with no damage and full of gas to go. No problem at all and was glad to help. Next who ever pulls their troller up to go across a pocket, not me. Next that was kind of misleading on the electronics, you can either use scan or sonar. GPS unit cannot be displayed with way points. Yes he is using another boat of one of the guys that did not make the last day cut, so my boat was off the hook. He only had 6 keepers yesterday and I was suprised he caught that many. He will have trouble weighing in a fish today with his pattern. He thought he was in deep trouble, but in this deal 2 or 3 bites can win it with a 5 pound bite.
  14. Bill Babler
    Beat me to it.
  15. Bill Babler
    Caleb is fishing out of my 921 PHX. The way he is fishing my boat might refuse. He has been catching them all week on a pattern I just usually don't do and is losing a ton of baits but catching fish. Said he had 8 keepers yesterday all LM. My boat has never been rained on and the carpet on it looks new. Yikes
  16. Bill Babler
    With the cloud cover and the wind this morning I believe it will be better, but am not in any way guaranteeing that. I had 6 bites yesterday, all keepers and just about as strange as it gets. That topwater bite may last a little longer this morning and it is a largemouth bite. A slow rolled blade on some of these secondary chunk/shelf banks with deep cuts and timber may get you bit, outside of the small jig. It is a complete zoo out my front window with at least 2 dozen boats in sight. as I write this. The day will completely dictate the catch, what you did yesterday in a condition will mean about as much as nothing everyday now, for a spell until they get where their going.
  17. Bill Babler
    Got a news flash late last night and I'm sure it is very reliable. The last place I usually look is shallow, but it seems the LM and the Jaws went really shallow, 10' and under, and the K's went Super Nova to 70' on the larger schools. Also locked tight to the bottom and almost invisible. Will feed throughout the day and night but are thinking about moving to the deep creeks. Water warmed to 70 degree, plus or minus yesterday afternoon and there was some wind. Rumor has it that there is a small jig, ned and shaky head bite up close. On the jig 5/16 or 3/8 with a small craw like the Yamamoto fat baby or any smaller craw as long is there is some gold or orange on it. Same with the shaky and the ned. I threw a blade in the surf yesterday up close and also a RK Crawler but I didn't get bit. Guys are telling me the jig and soft plastic bite is working but the presentation needs to be super slow so that is no doubt where I screwed up. Bill Beck told me they are always biting on Table Rock you just need the who, what, why, when and where. Good Luck and get ready for the bombardment this weekend. Probably not a good time to fish if your not in one of the big derby's.
  18. Bill Babler
    Boys at the Dam said the thermocline went out either late Saturday or early Sunday and you could see it from the derby weights on Saturday vs Sunday. Been off the lake a few days but got back in the saddle at first light this morning at 6:45. First hour was good. From the start till 7:30 I caught 4 fish on a Whopper Pooper and they were all good. Best was a 4 pounder and they just hammered it. It got really still and bright at about 8 AM and the fishing went to zero. Just nothing out to about 40 ft. Probably about 11 pounds for the four of them. Next fish came at 9:45 on a drop shot in just about 47ft. on the bottom and that was it for the morning. Fished Cow to Mill Creek on the White. The group of fish on the graph is the only fish I saw all day, clear out to 70'. Stopped for lunch and it clouded up and the wind started so I thought this is probably good. Back on the water at 1 PM and fished till 5 and had one more, a long lean brown fish out of 57' of water in front of a dock on the cable. I saw him sitting on it as I was throwing docks with a flutter spoon and dropped the shad shape worm to him and that was it for the day. Launched at Old 86 after lunch and fished to Indian Pt. 9 hrs. 6 fish all keeps. Small guide/client tournament out of Big Cedar yesterday and they were allowed to use Night Crawlers and 3 fish won it. Pete said all the bottom jig fish are gone and I can attest to that as I dragged that durn thing around from BiG Cedar to KC. He is chasing suspended fish under shad up the James and said its a risky deal, but he had a good day yesterday. Not so much today. Chris Tetrick fished Shell Knob today and had 29 bass with about a dozen keeps and he said they were good ones. All with clients on live bait fish were at 45' suspended over eternity. Said he fished a bunch of locations and would catch 3 or 4 on a spot if he was lucky. Said he never even saw a fish near the bottom and I can attest to that. Good Luck
  19. Bill Babler
    Your right, by Noon it had completely blown out. Between 9 and 10 o'clock it was over 4 footers blowing the point 5 stretch. If your used to fishing in 4' water you should have come to lake Superior and been my guide as he canceled my trip due to 3' wave action. Coast guard flies a warning flag for 3' surf and none of the guides will fish with the flag flying. Anything happens in a commercial or guide boat caring clients when that flag is up and you can bet your probably going to jail and lose everything you own not to mention ruin peoples lives for ever. We have had more than our share of rough water problems down here and were not going to take paying clients out in that kind of wind and wave action.
  20. Bill Babler
    Would not have wanted to be on the Rock this morning in anything other than a big 20' deep V Lund type boats or the big 22' bass rigs, as far as fishing boats. Temps this morning when we started were 78 degree and at 8 AM the winds switched South West and were howling with the air at 61 degree that happened in a 1.5 hr. span. 3 footers out in front of the dam and at the Combs Ferry Point going down that South stretch toward point 5 they were rolling at least 4' I turned around. Pretty tough morning with the fronts. 8 fish total with 7 keepers. Fish are still at 30' and all on the jig, but man it was touch fishing from a trampoline. Could not keep the trolling motor in the water. Surface temps at 76.5 Be careful out there
  21. Bill Babler
    I thought it was about time for you to head up the river. Nice report and great afternoon.
  22. Bill Babler
    Sweet, great afternoon on a super hot day. Congrats
  23. Bill Babler
    Surface temps the last few days has been hanging in the 76 to 79 range depending on area of the lake. This morning at Shell Knob it was 77 and pretty much stayed there. I'm going to go ahead and do the K-Knob first. Lets just say Shell Knob to Big M and Shell Knob to Baxter as it is all pretty much the same deal right now, with one note worthy exception that I will tell your about in a minute. Lots and lots of drop shot fish in the 26 to 40g foot range not so much really congregated but several on a lot of locations, mostly gravel. There are also fish chasing all day long, some in the middle and some just about everywhere. I can't catch them worth a hoot on top water, but they will eat a under spin with a 2.8 inch Keitech decent. What they will eat the best is a 1/2 oz. Little George in Silver or Chrome. I started at the end of last week with 5 most of them probably 20 yrs. old and I now have none. They took them from me. Today especially, as I saw something I have not seen for 25 plus years on the Rock. Today I witnessed at massive school of LM chasing shad. The last time was up the Kings River near Blue Hole today it was at the mouth of the Kings. I was fishing the point going into Mill Creek at Twin Rivers and saw them bust right in the middle of the White River Channel. Its 98 feet deep right there. I really did not pay a total load of attention as I thought they were Whites and would be up and down. Deal was they stayed and stayed up. Finely after about 5 minutes I just had to go check it out as they just kept surfacing in about a 40 acre patch. I pulled out there and tossed the Little George. and it was a total slam and while I was reeling in the fish I saw that they were LM. busting all around the boat. Got the fish to the boat and it was a solid 4 pounder. When to reach over for him and he dived and snapped off the George. I had another one rigged so I calmly did the same frigging thing and lost another Little George. These were on 6lb that I had been catching K's on with out a problem. These LM were not that by a long shot and they were moving and slashing at top speed. Picked up another rod with a yellow magic and they were still busting all around me. Some of these feeds were as big as a bushel basket. Tossed out the YM on 8 pound Maxi and as soon as it hit the water if was gone, I mean it was like you threw in a 500 lb. boulder. It was there one minute and I had a slack line the next. I had 2 remaining rods with baits, both were under spins on 8 pound line. I boated 6 LM on them all about 3 pounders before the Keitechs were torn off. I also caught 1 more on a drop shot and one on a swim jig. All cookie cutter 3 pounders. These fish were on the surface at least 20 minutes and then they were gone. Wish I would have had a camera guy but the futility and craziness would have really embarrassed me. Reason for all the lite tackle was I was to have had some extremely mature fishermen today and that was what they were comfortable with. Due to the rain at Shell Knob they did not get out, so I was on my own after the drive over. I has also been catching some up there swimming a jig thru deep trees, and that has been a hoot. Now for the rest of the lake. The deep Football jig bite has really tapered off, and the drop shot bite is back on again from Kimberling City to the dam. Guides are telling me a half day trip they are using 6 dozen crawlers and fish are both suspended and on the bottom in the 26 to 35 ft. range. James River is still fishing well on the Football Jig at that same 30' depth range with some really solid K's and LM along with the big boys. Hope I don't have to wait another 25 years to see LM surface on the rock in a massive school like this. I don't believe there was any other bass in that 40 acre school but LM and as I have said, for the Rock in Post LM kill that is just something few people have ever gotten to see. Good Luck
  24. Bill Babler
    Fished the dam area the past several days and the deep jig bite was back on. McClelland is simply destroying them on a 1 oz. hard head with a huge Big Bite Craw on it. Chris Tetrick, Buster and I have also had great days. I tried a smaller jig yesterday and a GP 3.8 inch Keitech on a 3/8th. oz.head swam slowly on the bottom, and it worked to some extent, but when I put the big Nichole's on the 3/4 Pig Sticker Quick 5 and went back to that it was night and day. If your either dragging a jig or reeling that hard head and you miss a bite, stop the bait and shake the Heck out of it and they will get on it again about 1/2 the time. Don't just reel it in. If you have one interested in it he wants it and will try and stay with it if you let him and have not stuck him. Mike had 17 keepers on his 1 oz. Hard head yesterday, Buster had 18 keepers, My clients had 12 keepers and Chris had 8 last I talked to him. I mean nice 2.5 to 4 pound fish. We only had a couple of shorts and from what the boys are telling me they had very few short fish, most quality SM or LM That's 50+ keepers from the Long Creek Bridge to Indian Point. That is pretty solid fishing for a Saturday in the Dam area, and there was a boat just about everywhere you looked. Depth the last few days with surface temps approaching 80 degree again is 30' to 40' with 35 being a great number on the gravel roll offs. Did not have a single bite under 25'. Mike has also been catching some early at first light on a Rock Crawler. He said, quality no measure keeps but as soon as the sun hits its over, all small mouth. Short gravel pockets near deep water, and you have to hit several as you are going to get one bite per location. Good Luck
  25. Bill Babler
    Mine too, but don't forget that jig.
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