Bill Babler

Looks like we are going to have outstanding weather for tomorrow. Look forward to seeing everyone. Phil and I will be there around 7 to help with launching. See y'all there.

What he said. lots of fiberglass or plastic heads out there.

Pig Sticker Bait company makes one with a plastic head. Use the hitchhiker screw lock on the upper two and buy Chomper 1/8th. oz. A-rig jig heads with 3/0 Eagle Claw hooks and that is going to be just about as lite as you can make it. One of my FLW guys last week threw it on 15 pound Triline and never lost a rig. I on the other hand with 50 pound braid lost 2

Got the feeling that jig was on a floater. Champ has been known to use one. Yes you can cast a jig and catch them, but the floater will just kick its tail for suspended early season fish on structure. It keeps the fly in the correct part of the water column and in a position right in front of their mugs. He might have been slinging a jig on its own. You all think that Champ just power fishes. He can get a bit finesseie at times too. Just cause he like to power fish does by no means mean he can't fish the little stuff.

If your a fishing guide you never want that look. I've had it.

I kind of think Dave was right when he said the fish like stable conditions this time of the year. I have not found cloudy, windy days to be much of a help.

Since Monday here at Blue Eye, including today I think we have gotten about 1 inch. Nothing heavy at all, just kind of misty sprinkles and enough to make it a bit miserable. Did talk to a client from Fayetteville and he said they had gotten around 3 inches in that time period. Taneycomo was running clear today. On my TR report to the KC Star on Monday the lake was 914.95 and today it is 915.45 so we really have not had much of an increase. We will see after today, but looks like we dodged this one.

What are you thinking

Looks like we might have gotten lucky. It rained about 1/4 here at the lodge yesterday and that has been it. I can see some stars this AM.

As soon as you make the bend past the ski course on the right above Sweet Water, you will pass a group of houses and I believe a couple of docks on your right. It is that bluff bank on the right. Used to have a concrete deer stature on it. Between Hammer and Bigmo, I'm going to open a restaurant at Royal Point right on the beach. I'm sure I will make a million. You all are just hammering them no pun intended up there.

Bobby, I fished and caught fish in the Indian's both last week, and then again yesterday. I did mention it. Locals here just call them the Big and the Little. Little on the left going in and Big on the right or straight back. It fishes very, very small with certain locations that are way better than others. It gets very crowded and is often stampeded by fishermen. I try not to take pictures in there or really say a whole lot about it, do to this fact. I will tell you I have caught my 3 biggest Table Rock fish in there. It is a very special place if fished correctly and at the right time. It is very good for crappie, of course bass and at times perhaps one of the best white bass fisheries on Table Rock outside the Kings and James Rivers. Good Luck

She was a clean as pure driven snow. She caught the A-Rig and he said nearly jerked the rod out of his hand. That my friends would take some doing, as that is a big man. Thought she was going to jump on two runs but just came to the surface and boiled. Of course right at the boat she power dived, but he went with her instead of pulling against her. and all went well. You could tell he had caught big fish before, just not small jaws. She pretty much made our day. He did follow here up with a male that was almost black it was so dark, Should have took its pic, but was on a very windy point and we were just having trouble standing on the deck. Might not get all the rain as it is 3 PM and it just started here. At least I got this day in.

I'm back to scratching my head after today. Took a couple of Texacans that were pretty good hands. Caught a 14' jaw on the second cast with the A-rig and then it got tougher than it should have right before a front on a nice cloudy breezy day. Fished the same kind of Junk I have been on, but they were pretty tight lipped for me. We had about a dozen with 3 keeps, but had a saving grace. She was a Biggin, looked like a Northern Fish. 4.9 oz. on the Rictor scales. That is a pretty big boy holding that fat toad of a fish. First SMJ he ever caught. He picked the right way to get it rolling

Your on fire. I want to rub your head for luck. Keep em commin Mo.

Chris, that sounds like a blast I envy you with the family. Thanks for the report, made my morning.

Champ, it is just now getting started. The fish we caught were not near where they were headed. They were just out on the windy flats having a feast and gearing up. Let me tell you some nice places to look right now. If you are up the White River and the wind is blowing on the flat just above Rock Creek between there and Owl Creek, they really stage in that area in the flat windy coves. You can troll these locations with a shad rap or a flicker shad until you find them or see them on the graph. They blacked me out the other day. Look of the flat across from Roaring River from the bank out to the channel. Be careful here as it is quite shallow and there are a ton of obstructions on it. Also the flat just below Panther Creek between there and Owl will hold whites this time of the year. Just inside Roaring River the flat on your left is a big pocket before you turn to go on up the river if the wind is blowing in there, hang on. A pretty secrete place is the small shallow flat and swim beach area from the Corps ramp at Eagle Rock to the bridge. This small area can just completely fill with white bass if there is a wind blowing into the pocket at this time of the year. There are so many other spots out there, you just got to look. Good Luck

Blind, to become a much more complete bass angler, you need to move into the baitcasting world. My clients and myself use a spinning reel perhaps 60 percent of the time, but you need to be proficient with a casting rod and reel for many applications. Perhaps the best reel to get started with on the market is the Lew's Tournament MB Speed Spool, LFS series. This extreme low profile reel comes in at only 6.7 oz. and fits the hand like a glove. To make casting perfect, it comes with a dual braking system with magnetic casting control and centrifugal braking The reel has a10 baring platform with very good matched ball barings and you can find it from $119.00 to $139.00 Pair this with a Medium to Medium Heavy 6'10" to 7' dual handed casting rod and you have a piece of equipment that will serve you for years and years, and fit most any application that may arise on the Rock Spool the pair with 12 pound Carbon line and you got a really good start. Tighten the Centrifugal brake to 10 on the side scale and tighten the round magnetic brake till it is finger tight. put a 1/2 oz bait on the line after you run it thru the rod guides and depress the reel spool. The line should stay on the reel. Turn the round magnetic brake one click at a time to the left or counter clockwise until the line starts to unspool, Let the bait drop to the floor. If no back lash is inside the reel you are ready to go. When casting place your thumb on the spool release with the very tip of your thumb resting on the spool be in a position to be able to make a full cast. Place your left hand on the butt of the rod in a two hand grip and throw it in a lob, WITH FORCE. Your bait should go higher than it does far. Repeat this procedure lowing you heights and extending your distance. One good tip, is to never cast to the water, cast to the shore or trees behind the water so the bait sails and falls. You will get many other tips. Come to the tournament this weekend and you can throw any of mine for practice. Good Luck

Forecast is showing on weather.com between 3 and 5 inches thru Saturday for Blue Eye. Weather Underground is showing about the same deal, depending if it stalls. What they all seem to be showing is 100% chance for Tuesday thru Thursday and still 60 plus percent for Friday and Saturday. MSN and the Weather Channel are saying close to 7 inches thru Saturday. What ever the deal, it is going to rain. I do believe that. I think anything over 5 is the worst case, that will probably not happen. Like I said, I might qualify for a Weather Forecaster Position, cause I just don't know. I'd rather talk about catchin Big Basses.

Probably going to get totally hammered Bill Beck just called and said they are calling for 11 inches possible in the area the next 3 days. of course I have them all booked, after today

I don't think Evers gets accused of being a great guy very often. Might go down as one of the most unpopular winners ever. I've met him 3 times and did not walk away with a cheery, warm feeling on any of the 3. Don't think what jig he was using made one smidgen of a durn. He found a couple of places they were stacked on. The guy really did the right thing. He made a total new move from his first two days. He thought there would be fish there, but knew he had to have the right wind. Very much like a hunter that stays away from a location without the proper wind. Got to really credit him however with how he worked the locations over after catching a fish. He put his nose to the grindstone, stayed focused and fished with great enthusiasm. He deserved to win, no doubt.

Don't know about the rain, but if you are out there today, I bet you will hammer them. It's cloudy, breezy and 72 degree, absolutely perfect for March 7th.

February 7th. 2016 Table Rock Lake current fishing report, Branson, Mo. After flouncing, flogging and generally taking a lesson on humility, Table Rock has opened her non-forgiving heart early this February. With water color varying from stained to aqua to clear from lake section to lake section and with surface temps ranging from highs of 59 to lows of 46 this pond is in a very early and very fast transformation. Last year on this week, we had surface temps of 41 degree and we were in the midst of some fantastic deep structure fishing. This year the cage door has swung open and the inmates are rushing the bank. Three days of fishing this weekend with Tim and Matt from for far North East has started the ball rolling. I feel pretty qualified for a full White River report as we fished 3 lake sections in 3 days, hoping to help these guys qualify for the FLW on an up and coming tournament here in mid-April. Friday the 4th. found us launching at Old 86 and starting at the Mo/Ark line up LongCreek. I did not mess with it and started throwing the Alabama Rig from the git go. They can use it so, lets catch some fish. First two casts Tim had fish. We are fishing it right on the bank looking for transitions with shelf near spawning pockets. Boat in 20 to 35 and one full cast from the bank areas seem to be the best. Might say its working. LongCreek was fishing at 48 degrees. Also had a report from Buster that the crappie are just thick up there. No quality but lots of bites right on the bank. Fished to Big Cow Creek and just had a stellar day with the boys, all our fish were on the rig. We had close to 18 pounds and 35 plus bass. Caught some fish on just about every stop and stopped a lot just to show the boys some lake and different water from runnouts to humps to transitions. They caught on fast and could pick them out really well. We fished, Beardsley, Powerline, Clevenger, Jakes, Jaques, Big and Little Indian, Bergans, Rice Camp, Big and Little Cow, Spring Branch and a dozen or more other locations. We found water as high as 58 degree in some of the flat pockets across from Cow. Saturday the 5th. I picked them up at the dock at Ahoys. We fished from Lazy Lee's to the Shell Knob bridge just stopping at each location for a dozen casts. Our numbers today in this lake section were in the 25 range with half that being keeper size fish. This section is the most colored and really the coolest water. 46 to 51 degree. We cranked a bit but it is hard to put that Rig down when they are hammering it. Baxter area is starting to clear. we went in and caught 2 quick keeps on the rig. I had struggled in there earlier in the week, but by this weekend it is going to be back to normal. Sunday the 6th. Adventure time. We headed for Eagle Rock and fished from Devils Dive to the mouth of the Kings. Big, big mixed bag day today with lots of white bass, a walleye and close to 40 bass to the boat with 10 keeps. Surface temps ranged from 50 to 52. This is the clearest water on the main lake system. Whites are on the wind blown flats from Roaring River to Carter Creek. Bass were not a challenge as the bucks have just rushed the banks and the backs of any of the flat creeks. Roaring, Panther, Owl, Viney, Cedar, Carter. You could if you want go in with the Varmint and just put the complete wack down on them. Several doubles today. No quality fish in the backs, best fish were on the transitions going into the pockets. We caught fish on the Rig, a Rock Crawler and Jerk Bait. White Bass are just about to get on a rampage as we were in pursuit of the basses, we kept catching these critters. Going to be very interesting to see just what this upcoming rain does. Can it mess things up? Yep, but they are really getting ready and I think we are headed for one of the best Spring seasons we have had in a spell. You might also get you a Toothy Critter. Come get ya some. View full article

More later, but they really bit. We had about 16 keeps with right at 18 pounds. Water temps in some of the pockets at the dam was 58 degree. It is starting. Hang On.

Big, you painted a picture for us that maybe even I could follow. That is one information fun filled, action packed report. Thanks for the lake picture. Just about as nice of a contribution as your going to get on any board. Boys and Girls you find current lake information anywhere other than here with that type of detail and you have found something to follow. Again, thanks a bunch, that was just swell. Good Luck Had to come back and edit my post. Really read this report. There is more information in this than the law permits, especially after his report yesterday. This man is telling you everything about how to catch the fish that he found and just durn near where to throw to catch them. I'm telling you, I have written close to 4000 blogs and read 10 times that amount and cannot remember more information in such a concise manner. We all owe him a big thanks and I'll be the first to throw out my hand. Thanks Bigmo!