Bill Babler

That is just about as good a vacation as you can have. Thanks for sharing it with us. You were in a location to throw a big swimbait, I'm talking 6" to 9" and it is the right time of the year. Did you all throw any big baits? Usually a week up the James like that in May or June will get you hung up on a "Big Mama."

This is really going to relate. I prefished a BLF guy that is a very close friend and a great client. In a Top 150 quite a few years ago, he fished with George Cochran down here. They ran to Leatherwood and up past Holiday Island and threw warts. Cochran was so close to the bank all day even after catching over 30 keepers that Dave never got to fish other than throw behind the boat, or out the lake side. Cochran told him that was the way it was going to be. He also fished with Zell Rowland and got the same treatment, only worse as Rowland was quite demeaning. Said if he ever drew him again he would just forfeit his entry fee. He also has fished with Mark Davis and Davis told him, "If I catch fish, you catch fish." All these guys are way different. The day we pre-fished We had 7 solid keepers and to many shorts to count. Caught them all swimming a big Kiethch on either pole timber or flat gravel. I noticed all day that Dave was not following his swimbait when he casted it out on the drop and told him to let it fall on a tight line at least a dozen times. This would come back to haunt him. He started out in the Kimberling area with a non-boater that brought one 6' white spinning rod. It looked to be a med-heavy, with what Dave said was Clear Stren in at least 12 pound, on a 4000 size older spinning reel. He had this attached to a GP tube with a hook described as rusted to the point of being without a point. Dave told him he had Tube jigs and would be glad to give him a handful. Nope, he thought his would work. First location, Dave threw his swimbait and was counting it down and said right where he threw a nice 4 pound LM jumped. He was kind of amazed and watehed it jump a second time before noticing his line shooting sideways. Of course it spit the SB. Dave said OH. SHIRT!!!! BAb's told me all day to not let it fall on slack line. His next cast he caught a keeper Jaw, Squeeker. Nothing for a couple of other locations, and then he was dragging a Varmint on a long point and heard his Non-Boater say I got one. Reeled in a nice Jaw, that Dave netted and unhooked for him. Dave tossed his tube back and was measuring this fish and the guy squeeled I got another one. Dave did the same deal, measuring the fish and be durned a third time the guy says "I got another one." 3 keeps in 3 cast that Dave said were going about 20'. By this time Dave was tying on a GP tube and getting ready to get in on the action, and again, the guy in the back says, "I got a Big, big one." Dave looked around and there is easy a 5 pound LM gong airborne multiple times behind the boat. Really not to airborne, but mainly just shaking its big head and whollering on the top. The old boy started to pull pretty hard on it and his line broke Dave said right at the tip of the rod. He lost is 4th. fish which would have been a kicker for anyone and his GP tube and enough line off his reel that now it would not cast even the 20'. He sat down in his seat and Dave said he did not fish for at least an hour. He finely tied on a peach tube as he only had one GP and Dave only had a couple as he had left his tube box at the truck as he was not fishing tubes. Dave was not catching any on the tube however and offered to give him his. He would not accept. He did however end up catching another on one of the peach tubes and finished the day in the top 10 with 4 keeper jaws. Dave on the other hand weighed in 3 keepers and said he caught at least 30 fish between 14 and 15. He did not catch them on the Varmint, but had the best luck dragging a GP fish dr. on a splitshot.

You have created the Wobble-Ned.

Sometime your the windshield and sometimes the bug. You were for sure the windshield on that deal. I have landed on some pretty heavy fishing, usually in the Winter or post spawn. I really cannot say I have ever had the action you had with that many quality fish that fast, it is 0ne of the Ages and I truly envy your morning. For the last week I have been guiding every day, one day I will have a ton of little fish and the next day some very nice keeps. Had one day in a 6hr. period we had 12 solid keeps and I thought that was pretty good. Most days we guide type people are averaging 20 to 30 fish with 6 to 8 keeps. I can however see a good run at this time of the year. With shad and action like that I'm surprised you did not nail a White or two. They very seldom are absent from the Table on a buffet like that. Thanks for sharing your morning. Good Luck

Sub-legal go back in the pond, everytime.

I'm to the point now, where my clients have caught hundreds of Ned ie Varmint fish, and I'm going to say less than one percent has swallowed the bait into a position that it cannot be removed without need of anything but my fingers. These people don't fish everyday and still the little guy lip or roof catches the fish the overwhelming majority of the time. I have 10X the problem on a split shot rigged Fish Dr. or a tube bait. I am an advocate of leaving the hook in the fish if it is deep hooked or gut hooked. My clients catch at least one fish a day or every other day with a hook in it. I had one several years ago that had 3 small No 1 worm hooks in it. Most I will guarantee you came from a split shot rig. If you deep hook a smallmouth, with just about any bait just cut the line off short and put him in your livewell running full tilt for a couple of hours. Cannot even count the number of times that bait, usually a tube is sitting in the bottom of my live well. If I had tried to dig it out, he would be dead.

Fished the same water yesterday. You should have been in the Port of Kimberling Tournament, 15 keepers is very strong. The wind was just a bear, but the fishing was still good for us also. Caught a lot of fish on a jerkbait, most were just up in the water column. Varmint caught some and did better when we pulled off the bank. Was keeping the boat in 25' and kept seeing fish under me so we started backing out and dragging the little guy in 20 to 25 and caught some very nice K's. Mostly flat gravel by spawning pockets. Most everything up close was either a jaw or a LM. Water temps for us on Monday at the weigh-in were 64.6 degree at Port of Kimberling Dock. Yesterday I never saw water above 58.9. This is an annual 2 day derby and they keep track of total keepers and Big fish. Both Beck and I have guided this for years. Bill usually beats my group on Big, but we can keep up or win on the numbers. Ha he was not on this deal and my guys got lucky and won both the two day numbers and also the big. I think they won around 6 grand. They always pick a charity to donate it to. We had 29 keeps in the event and our big was a whopper at 3.75. Got a feeling of Billy would have been with us we would have lost the big again, but he was not. Good Luck

Really nice report, keep them coming from the beautiful White River Arm of the Lake.

Very nice. Glad you got the father daughter time together. My wife being a former teacher would disagree on the hooky part however. Great Report

Dave, those scent sticks are the bomb for the float and fly. We reduce the amount of material in the fly and then make it full heavy so it does not even wave a bit, using the stinky material from the scent stick. It works. Saw on a video, that you wanted the tail solid from the stick and it works way better than a moving body. Hard to figure.

Like it when the walleye get around Big M. That is just almost out of Randy's reach. I believe we put a cut off on him of the mouth of Rock creek. Great Report

Please give us a report and pic's. As I said, it is for sure a bucket list deal. Many Thanks

Sturgeon Bay has always excited me. I have however taken quite a few fishermen from Chicago and up that way that say it is extremely crowded. I have had them tell me it is so bad they no longer go back even with the tremendous Smallmouth fishing. They say it reminds them of a mid-west trout park on opening day, only everyone is in a 22' boat with a 250hp. motor. Kind of made me sad to hear that, I sill would love to make the trip sometime.

Thanks for the report, we don't hear enough from what is happening up there. That is one thing about the River systems on this lake, you can catch just about anything up there. It's really fun to get the mixed bag. You just missed the spoonbill. Gives you a reason to come back and try it again

Where's Mom? I miss seeing and fishing with her.

Just super fish, thanks for posting. Guys, be very careful lifting those fish with the boga. Bass and Trout, seem to be really bad about tearing out, and splitting completely thru the lip. Believe me this is the voice of experience. I have taken the thing out of my boat. Thanks and Good Luck

Great fishing. That however is the biggest Varmint Rig I have ever seen. Works so what the Hey.

Mike, I like the way you think. Falcon has 2 stickbait rods, one is a Mike McClelland signature and the other is a 6'5" stickbait special. Both are fantastic, but the Stickbait Special fits me like a glove. It is a perfect fit for a guy under 6' tall. It also doubles as a great spook rod, so you get it Winter and Summer. Guys thank you much for the terrific response to this blog, lots and I mean lots of wonderful information here on Rods, Reels, and line. Good Luck

You might be exactly right. And I am talking about the 7' medium and 7'medium lite on the Falcons. That Jeff Kriet Sq. tail is just a fantastic rod, really for just about everything we do on either Bull or the Rock

Mike, I feel your pain. I for the life of me do not remember the T7 being under $199.00 I know they have had a price increase and are maybe going to do it again. I also remember catching them on sale one time for I believe $179.00. Remember this however if you don't go with the St. Croix in the Legend Elite, you are not getting a rod even close to the T7 The Premier and the Avid series are down the depth chart. Most of the Northern Walleye and Small Jaw guys I have been guiding the last several weeks, fish those two series of rods and I have really had everyone of them tell me, and it usually starts with a "Good Gosh, what a rocket ship." That to even be close in the St. Croix line you have to be in their upper rods. We are talking $330.00 big ones for those rods. That is a load that this old country boy even being the gear horse that I am would find extremely hard to cast. I will pony up for a Steez or a high dollar $400 plus spinning reel on the by and by. But, a 1/2 a grand on the rod is just a buck or two out of my price range.

5, I have yet to find any type of a FC that I can fish with clients on spinning tackle. Just to much memory for folks that do not get to fish a lot to cope with. I need a line that spools with no memory and is forgiving as a politicians wife. Have not found a Carbon line that is that. The search continues, but the Maxima although as expensive as Carbon is as Randy put it the bench mark for all others. Just cannot even find a decent competitor.

You do that and you are in a world of breakage. I tried to be the Nanofil guy with you Ham, but it just kept breaking on me. I lost over $100.00 in spinbaits on it, trying to make it work. It just would not. 12# Nanofil will break much easier than 6 pound Maxima. It breaks on the cast or on the snap, no stretch and no forgiveness. You make one mistake, any type of casting mistake and it is broken. In my business we make lots of mistakes.

More bites on the little guys.

You would have to take a boat ride. I don't think he has started the big engine on that boat in 5 yrs.