Bill Babler

Hey Randy, welcome to the forum. Guys, Randy and his family have moved to the area and they are fishing fanatics like the rest of us. Please give him a big welcome to OAF Starting tomorrow I have several trips out of the Chateau area and will let ya know if I can find a keeper bite in the wild and uncut.

That was one fantastic report, glad You got all over them. There are still fish on the deep locations you just have to force yourself out there. Currently the best of the best is between Baxter and Shell Knob, they are off all those bluff's and vertical walls. From point 9 to Long Creek there is just to much trash in the water to swim the bait effectively to them. Most all these fish are suspended at 15' to 25' over depth. Right now the question is why mess with the deep ones unless you have it dialed in. Lots of fun fish on the Ned -rig and the guys are wacking them pretty hard on a tube and bigger k's on a C-rig fish Dr. fished in the 15 to 25 ft. range out past the moss or up the river where there is no moss. On wind also there is just a fantastic jerk bait bite up the White. Keep it moving where you would fish a small swimbait and you will get it almost jerked away from you. 99% SM on the jerker and they are getting a run at it. Another pattern that has been working from Baxter up the White is swimming a big 7" to 9" swimbait past cedar tops. Have been hearing of some really big fish coming like this. Yes you would think top water, but not so much, they have been hitting the swimmer's better and for cripes sakes still hitting the Alpha Rig pretty heavy. If your fishing from point 9 to Long Creek and have your unit set for clear water, turn on the filter or there is so much moss in the water right now it will almost black you out. On the golf deal at Buffalo Ridge, spoke with one of the head grounds keepers and he said do not even think about any reduced rates. They are going to rise with the reason being they do not want rounds. Less rounds the better. He told me the number they wanted for both complexes including Top of the Rock and I can't remember what it was but it was pretty low. Said they really cannot do it but if only BC guests played Buffalo Ridge and they had some corporate and charity events that would be more than enough. This is a labor of love for Johnny and he is hoping to one day get a PGA regular event here. I was told that those courses don't need to turn a single nickel of profit that is not what they were designed for. Again, fantastic report

5-15-18 Follow up; With two units and a level of 706.5 fishing is just about as good as it gets. There is enough water movement and depth to get just about anywhere you want to fish. We are currently working a corporate retreat out of Lilleys' I believe this morning we had 6 guides each taking from 4 to 6 clients per boat. I fished the restricted zone from Andy's into the keep zone to just above Short creek dragging a tandem fly set with an egg and scud combo, using a 1/8 oz weight. We made 4 passes in 4 hrs. catching 12 fish per pass with the best a couple of chrome bright 15 inchers that jumped several times. The size 12 grey scud caught I'm guessing about 90% Surface temp was 48 degree and the smallmouth are still chasing shad especially from Fall Creek to Short Creek on the Channel side. We caught several trout that spit up shad, with some of the shad being 4 inches in length. You can also see single and very small groups of shad skimming right under the surface. Never a big school like TR but for sure enough to keep our fresh stocking of SM interested. And NO MDC did not stock any smallmouth, they stocked themselves with a 200 ft. plunge thru the flood gates the last couple of weeks. Chuck from Anglers said he was the only guide in the upper restricted zone this morning. Fishing the same tandem I was dragging he fished them on a fly rod on 10 foot of 6X under an indicator and said they had several trout up to 17" and a constant bite.

That's what I thought too.

I'm really fortunate living where I live, I can be at Tucker in under 30 minutes at Diamond in 45 and at K dock in about 30 minutes. Bull fishes a little different than TR but you can figure it out pretty fast. One thing on Bull that you don't see as much is fish really like the small pockets and bluff cuts over there, much more than TR. For sure way less traffic and at times a better bite with more critters snapping at your baits. Also look at the long runnout points with buck brush on them. You can also fish the flats where they meet the channel and if there is a cove present either side of the flat as it relates to the cove channel dumping into the main White River channel. Bluffends can be a thing of beauty on Bull with both bass and walleye suspended off them. There are multiple in the Horseshoe bend area that hold bass year around and if your timing is good you will get a smile from a walleye suspended out there with the green fish. They just love them some jerk bait. Good Luck down there and you can always PM me for info on that end. Much below Diamond and I don't go down there a lot, only a couple of times a year.

I've looked at these and seems the smaller one's are 10" long. That is a pretty big bait and from what I'm reading and seeing they were developed for pike and musky. Very interesting, thanks for posting the pic's

Could not get a bite on it Friday.

That is one cool mixed bag. All you needed was a catfish and a walter to really have the Bull Shoals slam.

I have caught several in Viney, and several at Emerald Point but you really have to get past the mouth of the Kings and better yet the Baxter area to the dam, if you want to do your best work on them. They love little gravel pockets and most times they are right in the gut. They only live in the lake late April thru June and then I think they move to either KC or St. Louis cause they sure are no long here. Quill you need to launch at Baxter one time and you will think your on a totally different lake.

You know I did not. Saw some carp jumping but they were not on the bank either. Of course that's the dam area, and up the river they seem to go before down here.

Very light boat traffic for a Saturday and only a couple of guide boats, Lisek and I. He started at Short Creek with a Power Worm and I started at Fall Creek drifting minnows. All along the way from FC to SC brown bass were chasing shad and also busting some small trout. Several times we saw trout being chased on the surface by nice SM. I was just amazed that these trout did not want a minnow we had one fish from FC to SC ramp and I switched to a power worm 7' under an indicator. Immediately we had a double. Why in heck with the water holding shad did they want that stupid pink worm? We started at 6 and from 6:30 to 8:30 we wacked them really good. At that time on that stretch the sun hits the water pretty hard and it was over. Early and late had been the key up top with the gates open on the shad fly for me too. Threw a spoon at the brown bass for a while but no takes, but I bet a jerk bait or a swim bait would have caught them. At that time we were to busy catching trout to change. Had one pretty nice male rainbow but could not get it to post. I sent it to Phil so he might be able to post it. Most all the fish were just completely full of scuds and midge larva. They fought hard and were really thick across the back. We were catch and release today but we could have put a very respectable string of 12 to 15 inch fish together. Lisek said he thought they were restricted area fish that had come down when the water shut off. Regardless, they need to scurry back up there or someone will be eating petty well.

I tried a fin a Strike King Frog a Ribbitt a spook and a Spro Poppin Frog and the best blows and finely the catches came on the Pooper 110 size. Around and behind the bushes they would knock the frogs clear into the air, but nary a nip on them. Rick had guided the same area he caught all the tube fish the day before and caught them really good on a Plopper, but they did the same thing to him that they did to me and Dutch. Only top water fish I could manage were the chasers and was luck to find them. On another note I have never seen the tree pollen like this if your on the water you can see it blowing thru the wind like a wind wave. Stuff right now is simply terrible

Welcome to the forum and you are not going to get off that easy. You need to post a picture of a top water DUCK Imitation. Again welcome aboard.

Thought I would be sneaky and launch at Cow at 5:30 yesterday morning and fish some top water before it got crowded or the sun came up. Well it was already crowded, as I think a small derby was going off. Parking lot filled as I was leaving the ramp. Surface temp was 66.9 when I started 69.6 when I quit with water clarity at 10' with a film of green pollen floating to of course adhere to my white boat, which turned chartruse. Fished every top water I had in the boat and got blow up after blow up and did not hook a fish in over 2 hours. They would jump over it swirl under it, slap it out of the water but would not eat it. Never saw a chase or a rise on the dead calm slick water until 7:30. We are talking 2 hrs. with no fish to the boat. At 7:30 I saw a chase off a point and went after it like a vulture after a road kill armadillo. Nice brown bass were chasing and I caught 3 keeps and 1 huge white, then it went dead. Gave Rick Lisek a call and he said he was wacking them at Indian point on a Road Kill Tube right on the bank so I switched to a Ned in PBJ and it was on and I mean on. Kind of funny as I threw the Ned in after several of the big swirl misses and never had one pick it up. Fished mostly gravel pockets and caught them right along, nothing of size but loads of fish with the best squeeker keeps at maybe 16 inches. Most of these were bucks, and all SM really thin and no weight at all. Tried to swim the Keitech deep for females or some bigger K's but that is not happening from Kimberling City to Long Creek. Lots of this moss now has broken free and is in the entire water column. When you are trying to swim thru it the moss slides down your line to the bait and you know it immediately. When fishing the ned you just hop it like you would pitching a jig in bushes and it stays pretty clean. If you try and drag anything your in trouble. I would say a tube, shakey head or a jig will fish the same. This was my only day to fish till June 4th. as I'm booked full and I was going to stay on the lake. One huge problem was the wind it came up strong at 10 and with it blew wave after wave of pollen. You could see it rolling across the water with the gusts and it totally was enough to swell my eyes almost shut. If I would have stayed out I would have been in trouble Rick said the same with him, he cut his guys trip short as they just couldn't take it. I had about 30 total fish with and Ricks group had 47 so it can be done around the dam. Good Luck This post has been promoted to an article

Wouldn't you know it. I think in 25 yrs. if I try and get a jump and have every rod rigged I have been right twice. That goes for today. Back to the shed to rerig for generators. Put all the 3/8th. weights in mothballs. Nice report anyway.

Appreciate it 21. There is no Just in service writing your the first contact and probably the last with customer service, much appreciated.

Buy Quills, he should be ready for a new one and we all know that boat is an experienced fish catcher Tell him to leave his way points for both Beaver and Table Rock and you could go into the guide business or just catch lots of fish on your own. Probably just need to turn the key on that Phoenix and it will take you right to the good ole goodins I hazard to say that Jeff has caught more fish up the White than just about anyone including me over the last 5 or so years and I call it home.

Man I apologize from the start here, but Smalls21 I have been down off the forum for a while. I'm sure I'm in the dark here but do you own a boat dealership or a certified Mercury service center? If so and again I apologize for not knowing could you please let everyone here on the forum know about your business and your name and who to contact as we are all looking for certified centers to take our motors, Again I apologize for not knowing if this is common knowledge and I'm the one holding the snipe bag. Thanks so much Bill

Read the forum, there are reports hot and heavy. Were seeing 50 topwater bite days up the White to huge swimbait days midlake. Right now I don't think you can find a bad location. What Magic said was very true however if your looking for brown fish and lots of them concentrate from Campbell Pt. to Long Creek on the White. However those beauties that Quill posted up the White just shows they are everywhere.

Thumbs they only make one of the 7 series and its the 721. It was their flagship boat when they started and they have kept it in the lineup. The only difference in it and the 921XP is from the bow seat forward it has a tighter more pointed nose. If you are a big man the XP would be the better boat. They are a young man's tournament boat. They will just scream and can handle any water. The same configuration and hull is on the 921XP EXCEPT it has a wider nose and is much more easily accessible for bigger and may I say more experienced fishermen. ie, mature. The 721 is also a national sales promotion boat with all the goodies added at a very great price. If you don't like the electronics on the 721 you can substitute anything but the reason it is priced on a national sales event is because of the equipment it has and when you sub it out you change the advertised price. As far as ride and performance the 921XP and the 721 are going to compare right down to the ground. When you move into the 921 PHX, that is where the difference is in hull and organization. It is pretty much a totally different boat than either the XP or the 721 Price point on the 721 is fantastic. I'm guessing you are about like me and either this one or the next one will be your last so you want to get what you want and ride with it. Good Luck and if I can do anything to help your process I'll be more than happy to assist anyone with a Phoenix. There is not a better guy in the country to work with than Howard at McCallister Marine Highlandville, Mo 417-443-2277

Yuck. Bout time for the Big Cedar Night Bow hunters to clamber up that way

Had the morning off and just hated to get all that road slime on the boat. I just gave it a spit bath and waxed the entire rig and nothing makes a bigger mess on a boat than road rain muck. Sounds like fun on the Stripers have they been surfacing? We will of course expect to hear about it.

All devices still working well this AM so I wonder if the shut down changed something. Glad to be back.

Thumbs your more than welcome to take mine for a spin at anytime. It eats big water like I do BBQ. I have the Super Charged Merc 250 four stroke and it is a fishing machine. Extremely low attitude in the water, dry as the desert and you need gps cords to keep track of where you are on the front deck as it is so big. The 2019's are coming out with some fantastic new features including heated seats, rail mounted bow lights and some super tackle storage options, including day boxes that keep you fishing without moving around much. Resale on the boats is second to non and they are the fastest growing BB line in the world. You might have noticed how many pro's were running them in the classic, both this year and last year. I've been very blessed to be able to pretty much run what I want at some super discounts and have not found another boat I would run. That shows in the fact that I could have run other top end boats for less than my current Phoenix deal. Good Luck