Bill Babler

Yes, he is running a brand new Z7 white and black. Really sharp outfit. We pretty much last night had the deal to ourselves. I had orders from the boss to bring home 1/2 dozen male whites if I could get them for a serious crisco bath, but Buster kept guiding me into giant sows. It was really fun, we laughed and visited the entire time and it went by so fast. His report shorted us on the bass, we had 6 all LM and 1 short walleye. Buster had 3 really nice LM on the stickbait and I had 3 on the Rig. Best bite as he said was on the stickbait. Had one Sow White that nearly jerked my arm out of socket on the A-Rig. We threw back sow after sow, looking for males to eat. Every once in a while we would toss one of the smaller ones in the box and ended up with 8 hoping them to be males. half and half. Gona put them to the fish fry test for supper this rainey day. Good Luck

Not speaking for Champ, but I don't think Champ is a huge megabass user. He is a bit wiser with his money than I am. Reguardless of the brand of suspending sticker you use, there are a few basic colors that work really well here. Most often with fishing the river systems and this includes Long Creek, I like some either orange or chartruse on my baits. I also tend to use abit darker colors in low light situations and tend to use brighter baits in light and wind. I also really like some purple or blue in Table Rock baits for the clearer lake sections. Megabass that work well here are ito skeleton and GP elegy bone. In brighter clearer water I just love French Pearl and GP Pro Blue. GP Table Rock is also very good. I also have quite a few megabass that Tim Hughes Custom Baits has sparked up for me. Good Luck

RPS Heard there was a decent bite in Butler night before last. Rebel Jerkbaits for some very nice White bass. Maybe they are starting in there. Have had some great days in Butler in the past.

I'm emailing your wife. If you don't get away from this computer, when it comes her turn she is going to get a new BMW.

My favorite McSticks are in order Blue Bandit, Chrome Shad, Ghost Table Rock Shad and Ghost Norman Flake

Being on Table Rock without electonics makes my right eye twitch and gives me a slight tick in my left hand. This time of the year without it you will know the meaning of earning what you get. I might lose a 1/2 day and head to Marine Repair center and have them throw on a little sumptin, sumptin up on the bow. If not, work the cedars hard with the stickbait and the A-Rig and look for some colored water to throw your cranker. Get on any of the 45 degree transitions banks, where the bluffs blead to the 45 with some chuink rock and put the boat a full cast plus off the bank and fish the stickbait in a slow twitch and pause method. If your movin the bait thats to fast, they want to hit it dead still after you twitch it. On the bluffends, it is going to be almost impossible to know where to put the boat. Most of the time you will be sitting on the fish, without the electronics. Good Luck

All but 1.

Fish I'm catching on it are a bit deeper. I'm holding the boat in 60 to 90 ft. out off the major lake point, and bluffend channel swings fishing suspending staging fish that are right now suspended in the 25 to 35 ft. depth range. Look for these fish and you can see them. Back out and fish it down to them. Good Friend of Beck's. Troy Major is catching them down to 40's suspended in just about the same locations I am fishing. He has had a bunch 6 to 9 pounds out deep, on the Rig. Reading your electronics is more than a key right now. We all have a general idea where they are, but they move in the water column, not only in and out, but up and down as well. Those big archs your seeing setting off those bluffends are not sea gulls, get after them. Good Luck

Anyone that fishes an Alabama Rig would have a very had time putting a package together finer than that. Pairing with the Amistad adds quite a bit of function outside the A-Rig for you and for sure makes that a very high-end multi-purpose combination. Good Luck

Don, thanks. Very few days do I get a solo-bass fisherman that can just about do anything with any kind of equipment. It is really a treat for me to take you and I always look forward to it. We had to wait a spell cause of the weather, but being able to do that made things work out more than good. That was one of those great days that the Rock will give up from time to time and it keeps us gong time after time. I always want my boat and equipment to be on everyones bucket list and even if it isn't I want it to be the best you have ever used and as problem free as possible. "Knock on Wood." Appreciate that you notice, and my goal is to make it better everyday. Again, the pleasure was most certainly mine and I look forward to out next outing. Good Luck and God Bless

Of course we caught those on the James after you have moved to Long Creek. Go figure.

The 300D and now E by Shimano is considered by many to be the finest Alabama Rig Reel on the market. I for sure cannot dispute that. This is a 7 bearing reel that has an out of the box before line weight of 10.5 oz, so it is a big boy. It is also a pretty big reel to handle and for me is just a little to large for my hand. It is a large capasity arbor with a 15 pound drag system that will hold all the braid you can buy very easily. The impressive drag system allows you to handle the biggest fresh water fish no problem. Lew's Super Duty 7.8 oz with 11 SS bearing that are made to the highest tolerences, just a step below the Steeze. 14 pound drag system with one of the best selling points a MCS breaking system. (Magnet) vs the VBS bushing that Shimano have in the curado. The reel just by looking at it your would swear it to be a 50 series. It is deep however with a lot of this below the rod. It holds in the palm of a smaller person with smaller hands or someone wearing gloves very easily, with no bulk what so ever. Cannot tell you how impressive this reel is. Price on the Super Duty is something most of us can invest for a speciality type piece of equipment at $179.99 Price on the Shimano is a bit hefter at $249.99. When not fishing a rig, I fish a lot of tandum and big swimbaits so both reels will function in this capasity. If you already got the Shimano, you have an excellent reel, if your in the market, you will be very hard pressed to exceed the top quality preformance and price point of the Lew's. Long winded answer to a short question. Good Luck

Kimberling City, Missouri 3-28-13 Whiteriver Outfitters Guide Service Very seldom do you put back to back days together, and especially this year as we have not been able to get out two days in a row, but we did finaly make it. Picked Don up at Aunts Creek at 7 this morning to a 47 degree air temp, fully 30 degrees warmer than yesterday. Surface temps today in the Mid-James River stayed pretty close to 47.5 to 48 degree. Water is a perfect color, for just about anything you want to do. About 8 ft. of visibility. Don had been wanting to see how I fish a stickbait and my setup, but he also wanted to capture some so we went with the sticker and the Rig. Most locations we fished with the stickbait and then switched to a Pigsticker A-Rig for the final clean up. Don boated 10 fish with 6 keepers up to that beautiful 8 pounder he is proudly hefting. His best 5 would be pushing 23, so we had a great day as far as weights, and a pretty average day as far as number of fish. This has really been a typical day for lots of tournament fishermen. 5 or 6 great big ones and then maybe a short or two, and not a ton of fish. That was us today. But when you catch fish like this, what can you say. Don's first fish on our first locations, was a very nice 17 inch K that he tricked on the megabass French Pearl. He followed it with the 8 pounder and the hits just kept on a commin. We mostly fished bluffends and transitions, from bluff to chunk rock mixed with gravel. Helped if there was a big spawning pocket adjacent to the bluffend. Just nice transition stuff on the channel side and for sure some pole timber never hurts. Nots lots of fish per location, but again with that type of quality it was just great. King's River is by far producing better numbers, but Mid-to Lower James ande the point 9 to point 5 mark are producing way better staging females. Today Don ran the new Lews Super Duty. This reel was built for the A-Rig and handles Big Line, Big Baits and Big Fish in a very compact palm package. For sure without a doubt this type of equipment paired with a 7'6" Falcon Mike McC. Heavy Cover jig rod made a deadly combination for Table Rock Monster Bass. Good Luck

You never know about this deal. We might have a great April, or they may just flat Bum Rush the bank and scatter. Sometimes when the Boys start looking for the Girls, it can get tough. Right now it is Staging and gettin ready time and they are setting as of yesterday where then should be. Can move or not bite at anytime however and I was just there when it happened yesterday. Hope it works today out of the James River, but I heard it was tough as nails up there yesterday. Hard to figure. To tell you the truth and I might get shot here, but I don't really think the baits on the A-Rig matter that much. I have 30 of them each with a different bait from Swimming Flukes, to Expensive Castaic Shad. To tell you the real deal my favorite is the bootailed swimming minnows and use the regular minnows for the teaser. 5 of these baits cost a buck all together, so that is a pretty reasonable setup. I have dyed some tails and some I have not. Cannot see the difference but I keep trying to help. Good Luck

March 27th. 2013 Whiteriver Outfitters If you plan to launch at Viola, bring a buddy. The ramp is really flat at this level, 911.8 and you just about have to get your front tires in the water for a splash entry. Rough week as far as cancellations for us guide types, I should have had a double trout trip today but folks could not get here from back East. That put me in the frame of mind to just do my own thing, and that I did. Hit the Viola Ramp at 6:44 with the air temp at the ramp a balmy 17 degrees. Surface water on a very nice color was just under 42 degree. Visibility about 6'. Didn't go far to start as the first point I pulled on I caught 13 fish. Mostly bucks, but I did have 1 keeper LM and one keeper K. Everything on a French Pearl vision 110 megabass. This has for me been my best sticker of late. Talk about getting started the right way. I just caught a entire days worth of fish on my first stop. Only deal was my rod kept icing, and one thing or the other happened and I snapped off my favorite $26.00 stickier. Oh Well. Next location up the river I dragged out the A-Rig on a bluffend. Caught 3 keepers here, 2 LM and 1 really nice K. Decided to run the river abit and did not have to go far to get to pretty colored up water, just above Kings River Beach. Stopped on a gravel transition and slow rolled a crankbait in Chartruse Peral. I'm just on fire as I caught 8 here with 1 keep. Surface temp was 46.8 in the stained water. Ventured up past the Blue Hole and the water really cleared up and got just Ice Cold. Caught 1 more nice Keeper LM here but the water was 39.9 and that was it. Fished up here almost to the 86 bridge for 2 hrs. and just the one. Moved back down past Royal Point and by now, it was Noon and the lake was getting pretty crowded. Starting hitting main lake points, both bluffends and flat gravel. Did not seem to matter as I kept catching a fish or two off each one. Ended up almost back to the mouth of the Kings and stopped on a bluffend, with the boat in 65 ft. Tossed the A-Rig just off the break and started catching them most every cast. Not gona say the number here, but it again was like "Where have you guys been?" I still have not caught any big fish about 4 pounds seems to max me out, but I had a solid bag today, pushing 20 lbs. When you get to fish when and where you want it makes a difference. Just one of those special days for me. Sorry the clients missed out. I am booked the rest of the week, and of course it will not even come close to how they bit today. Did have some really nice picks of crankbait and stickbait fish, but for somereason it said the file was to big and would not load. I'll try to put them on my site. Good Luck

Never saw an Indiana guy with a Blue boat. What are you thinkin?

I'm far from one of the best guides, but I threw that wart the other day in the dam area till I melted the bill and got a big ZERO. Only reason I stayed with it so long is because I got the time. Probably would fish the Alabama Rig in the dam area if it were me. Not one on every point but I would hit the major pockets tops and bluffends leading into those pockets. Don't overlook any cedar tops you see in those locations and on secondary points in the big coves across from the dam. This is a timing bite and what is not there one minute can be there the next. It is really just a matter of days till they turn on down here, from Cow to Long Creek, and when they do the Brown Bass will be the deal. Good Luck

Should not be to tough at all in a couple of weeks. Follow this board and for sure you will get some goodies to put to work. A bit more details on your location and your boat and equipment will help us help you, so give us a bit more and we will see if we can POINT you in the right direction. Good Luck

Right now with the angle of the sun, the coves on the west side and the south facing cuts and pockets are warming the best and staying warm the longest. Look for the pole timber and the shelf and chunk rock stuff. Long Creek to Beardsley Branch are full of dying shad and I'm sure there are some Kitty's working in those areas. Might be a good time in the upcoming weeks to give it a try. I know there is usually a group from Arkansas that come into this area in the next few weeks each year and put out YoYo's and do extremely well. Mostly in the steeper pole timber pockets on the above mentioned side of the lake. Good Luck

Lots of cedars available to toss at. Good Luck

Funny why all these disasters are not happening in Oklahoma where it is not illegal. As I said in my opening comments, this has been goiing on since before most of you were born. Spoonbill are very prolific if allowed to be on there natural spawing grounds. When not they are easily introduced and stocked with a very high success rate. Let's quit sensationalizing this crud about arresting someone with a pocket full of eggs, and turn this negitive into a positive with better utilization of this wonderful resource. As I said, as we write this there are thousands of pounds of them floating bloated up on Lake of the Ozarks, and more in the trash. totally irresponsibe for this conservvation dept.

Fish, way to much common sense it that post. Expect a knock on the door as the Gastoppo is commin.

MDC does not have to invent anything here, it is already being done to our South. Just have to get on board and make it happen. People who are not onboard with the salvaging of Paddlefish eggs have never seen 50 gallon drums of them being poured in the dump. At our resort on Lake O we had four 50 gallon drums that we usually filled every two day, during the early season. We could not put them in the lake at our fish cleaning station as there was hundreds of pounds of rotting mess. Conservation does mean wise use of a renewable resource. This is not wise use of a multimillion dollar resource. Looks sensational to arrest someone for selling a handful of eggs Wonder how 100's of pounds of them would look to people rotting in the dump.

Kind of cuts out fur trapping and commercial fishing on the rivers with that type of thinking. Maybe also guiding. You could easily start at Warsaw with a collection faculity, and they already know about the numbers being harvested at various locations. They just need to collect the eggs there and have them processed at Warsaw. They can sell products over the internet. This can be done.

Both of you guys are right on. This is just a disaster. There are trash cans and fish cleaning stations all over Missouri filled to capasity with eggs that could be turned into a fantastic resource, but NO. Lets just prosecute someone for wanting to use our wonderful garbage. This makes absolute no sense, and MDC need to be told about this. That for sure the general public is fed up with this type of bureacracy. No more taxes. They have the resourses to more than take care of themselves if they don't waste them. I'm just fed up with curd like this.