Bill Babler

Sold 314-650-6812

Got some great deal on Shimano reels on buy sell trade.

First off, let is really figure out what a dropshot is all about. It is a way to catch fish that you have located using your electronics that are either tightly schooled or singled up in a stationary location. This is not a serach bait it is a fish catching bait. I wrote an article a few years ago, Droppin in on Table Rock Bass. I believe you can still find it. Bry covered it pretty well. My best rig is a 7' Falcon rod with a Shimmano Stradic or Sustain spooled with 8pound test Maxima to a size 12 swivel. From there to my size 1 either Daiichi or Gama dropshot hook , I am using the same 8 Pound line to a either 3/8th. or 1/4 oz. dropshot round ball weight. Swivel to weight is 3'. Hook is tied about 18" down from the swivel using a palamar. If the hook faces down, just run the tag end of the line back thru the eye of the hook and the hook will point up. Need it to do this. Thread on a drop shot worm from the head back about 1/2 inch hook exposed and you got it. For worms it is your choice. I have caught them on most everything. I prefer the Chompers drop shot worms. They are great size and color and they last really good. Used to use Kanami and Yamamoto, but just not worth it as they disinagrate on the first bite and they are twice the price of Chompers. I also don't like the Glup, as this time of year, they dry out and turn to stone faster than a Pork chunk on a hot deck. Table Rock colors are PBJ, Green Pumpkin, Plum, and Sand. You really don't need anything else. The dropshot was made to be used with Electronics, yes you can still drop it into the top of trees or on bluffends that you suspect you know how deep the fish are, but for the most part it is to fish up and down and catch fish that you can see on your graph. Good Luck

I have 5 Chronarch 50 MG casting reels for sale. I am continuing to keep upgrading my equipment, and I cannot get a Pro-Staff deal any longer with Shimano, on casting reels. I can still get and use Shimano high quality spinning gear. Don't ask me what the difference is but that is the way the cookie crumbles. I have recently sent these 5 reels to Shimano to be serviced and they were just returned in perfect working order. Only a few cosmetic issues, otherwise they are like new internally. Currently there is basically no one getting any kind of a deal on Shimano gear. You want it you buy it. Don't care who you are except J'ose Wahabbi the Spanish Fly captain. I used to get a VIP card for 5 reels at a discount per year, but no longer. The Chronarch 50MG is the predecessor to the Shimano Core. New the Chronarch 50 MG was priced at $269.00 and the Core is now priced at $369.00 Even though the Chronarch 50 MG is no longer made it is and will be serviced and parts carried by Shimano, according to their reel service dept. It is perhaps one of the best reels I have ever owned and I'm going to say the best Shimano casting reel, outside of the Old Green Curado. Casts into the wind like a dream and is light as a feather. This reel has a Tackle Tour Rating of 9+ Stars, Extreme High Rating Shimano Chronarch 50 MG Stats 6.2.1 gear ratio 5 SS bearing Super Stopper Anti Reverse Paddle Knob Power Handle Magnesum Body 5.9 oz. ( One of the lightest reels ever made.) Line Capasityy 10-125 yrds. 12-100 yrds. Starting immdeiatly on a first come first serve I will sell you all 5 of these reels in their origional boxes for $500.00 and throw in a 6th. reel for free. It is a 50Mg that is missing a side plate screw. You can get one from Shimano, just did not send it in, as I forgot about it. That is 6 reels for 500-bucks. You can pick them up here or I will ship them to you at your expense. If I have not sold the group as a whole by Monday the 25th of June, they will be for sale for $125.00 each or 2 for $225.00. Any way you stack it up this is a great price on fantastic Shimano gear. Give me a call on my cell at 417-332-7016 or Lodge at 800-544-0257

Denny, you are really right about how the lake is fishing. You just have to get on a deal. It seems that it is on fire for a few minutes and then goes totally dead. I spoke to several guides this morning fishing crawlers and they were struggling big time. I had a very nice run this morning just before full daylight, and then went to absolute nothing for really over 2 hours. I hit 6 locations in that period of time with a nice breeze on them and skunked. Went to your good Hiddy Hole and got hung up twice and lost two dropshot rigs and was just ready to punt when I saw the dropshot fish on a long runnout while I was idleing in to throw the jig that was not working. We dropped on them and they were all keepers. Hit a couple of docks on the way in and caught fish on both, to come up with the save. In 4 hrs. plus, we really had about 30 minutes of great action. We did make the most of it and boated all our bites. Good Luck

Have now had close to 130 days on the water this year, between Taney and the Rock. Back and forth a bunch. Keeps me out of trouble and off the computer. I am on a first name basis with Tackle Warehouse. Table Rock this morning is in the low 913's and if we don't get rain it will be moving on down. Taney needs the water to keep the fish going and it has really been coming thru sparingly. Water is still off color with the Algie bloom and the surface temps have risen to 83 degree, in the dam area. If I'm on the Rock, I'm trying to start by no later than 5:15 AM. Bite really falls off for me after about 9 AM. First deal in the mornings I have forsaken my beloved topwater and am throwing a Swimbait or a big Crank. Has worked very well for me and I'm catching far better fish on this than I have in years past on the topwater junk. Fished the dam this morning and our first fish was a very nice 3 Plus pound Meanmouth. Followed it up with a 4 pound plus Jaw and 4 other keeps, including a LM. Caught 2 on a Spro-Little John, and 4 on the Swimmers. I'm thinking about 16 pounds for the best 5. Had the boat in 26 ft. throwing in. Caught the big Jaw in the same place I lost the big fish last week. All of this by 6 AM and then it got tough. Went fishless for about two hours trying to throw a jig, and then went to the dropshot. Had 8 dropshot fish, nothing huge, but all keepers. We did not have a short fish this morning, and that should tell me something, but I can't think of what. Dropshot fish were for us at 36 ft. in the Point 5 area. We fished some docks and some runnout points at that depth. All our dropshot fish came off the bottom. Pretty nice keeper K's, all on a Chompers 4" cinnamon purple dropshot worm. Best of the Lot were in the 16.5 inch range. I'm going to tell you right now, 14 keepers in 4 hrs. is what I call a SUPERDAY. Seemed slow because we went dry for a two hour period, but give and take, I'll take that in a morning. Spoke to several guys that stayed out till noon, and said they just beat their heads against it from about 9AM on and should have come in.

Rogerdoger answered your question.

I never really had them going all year. My bite is a bit different in that I'm not after the chasers as much. Like to bring those fish out of deep trees bluffends or cove mouths. Did not really happen for me this year. Kind of the same thing as the float-n-fly. Never worked. Topwater fish I have had this year are a 3 yr. old class that is fisty, but not much bigger than the fin. Had a couple of days decent. Instead of pursuing this bite I have switched to the deep crank and swimbait bite and am doing pretty well catching bigger fish in the first magic 2 hour window. Pretty similar locations, but down. Might give it a try and see what you all can come up with. I Know its hard to put that topwater bait down, but you might get a suprise with a big one. Good buddy Eric Olliverson that won the Central on Saturday, had 2 over 5 and another over 4 on a DD22 early the other morning. Not so funny, they all jumped off so he had to catch some of their buddys later in the day. That big crank may get you a big bite first thing. Try it. Good Luck

Looks way bigger than that with the gut she has. You are an inspriation for us all. The way we teach the young folks will determine the longivity and productivity of this lake after we are all sitting with the big guy upstairs. Thank you so much and God Bless

Most all the guides are really working hard for their clients right now. Especially in the dam area. It is a very tough bite and the biet you get may be small. There has been some topwater fish up early in some of the big coves, but it does not last long and then it gets really tricky. Mostly over by 8 AM. No White bite yet at the dam but hopeful.

Big Paddle tail. No treble hooks. I have some Storm Perch Swimbaits. May try the after what I have been reading.

That is just an incredable fish. Any idea on size? That ole gal has layed us a lot of eggs, and done her best for the Rock. Congrats.

Sounds like a duplicate of my day with the exception of the dropshot and the blade. Stayed with the Swimmer and the jig. Thought they dropped the jig alot. I think they were abit testy today.

Hit the dam area at 5:30 this morning and started out with the 7" Storm Swimmer and the DD22 off a major flat runnout. Immediatly locked on to a very good fish on the Swimmer. Boat was 30' and she hit it half way to the bottom on a very long cast. I will tell you this. I was throwing from 30' out toward the main lake so as not to throw in front of my client Dave. I'm guessing she hit it at about 20 ft. over 40 or 50 ft. Immediatly i knew she was a toad. Could not pull her one little bit on the big Falcon Flippin Stick. Here is where it gets a little messy. Last night when I was knotting the Big Bait I did not have enough line to tie my usual palamar so I tied a very short line imporved clench. As she passed the boat at full steam the knot came loose. I screwed that up big time. The line was pigtailed on the end, so I knew immediatly what had happened. Never get in a hurry. I would have had to retie the whole deal last night and was to lazy. It cost me a toad strangler. Might have been a big cat, but if it was, it was suspended. Got to believe it was a Hog Mama Bass. This is a modified A-Rig,. with two baits and is a bugger to tie. Should have bit the bullet and did it right. Nothing on the DD, but we did catch 3 nice keeps on the Swimmer, and I had a double on Jaw's to the boat and was going to swing them and the smaller one fell off. Did not count it. Memo to self; Don't try and swing 6 pounds of Small Jaw. Kind of reminds me of a deal with Beck. We were fishing a derby and had already put two over 7 and 1 over 6 in the boat. I had another one on the leash and was getting ready to swing it and Beck screamed at me. What are you doing? Stop right there and let that fish swim till I get there with the net. Don't try and Swing that 5 pounder. KInd of a brain fart on my part, but after seeing the 7's and 6, I thought the 5 was a young one. Me bad. Do you get the feeling I was not on my A game this morning? Not a huge day for us at the dam. Ended up with 18 fish but now that I recount 6 keepers. Had two very nice LM on a jig at about 3.5 each. Dave caught the 1st. one and I backed him up on the next cast. Had to hit lots of locations, only a fish on most spots and lots of spots with none. Could not get a depth all day and don't know why. Would have seemed to be perfect, but I learn something everyday.

For me that gill bite was outstanding about a week to 10 days ago on the flats and off the points 18 to 25. D5keprs is going out I believe next week for them so keep posted I'm sure he will find them. Thanks Vacation, I tend to forget to tell peep's to keep their topwater junk handy, it comes so natural to us, just to always have it on the deck Here is abit of another tip. For some reason, these chasers, weather it be Black Bass or White's, are right now hitting a spoon, better than the topwater stuff. If you see a boil or a chase, have a 1 oz. either white or chartruse spoon on and if you got it, have it rooster tailed. Just hammered them out of Baxter on it yesterday. They would just slap at the topwater or blow it up. They ate the spoon. Good Luck

If possible, get out in the morning. Table Rock this time of the year can be a very hard evening bite especially around the dam if you are not just flat keyed in. Best dropshot bite has started in the mornings at 28 ft. but moves rapid to 38 to 45 feet. Fish are now moving off the bottom and starting to suspend and that makes it harder for those who are not from here. Same long points and bluffends, but move it on out. As Champ said the jig and Hula Grub bite is very good. Really off the hook, but you need to get with the program. Early, I'm starting most often at 5:15 and off the water by no later than 10 AM. Just hard to get a bite after 11 or so till just before dark. If you want to catch a big fish, start at daylite throwing the DD22 or a 5 to 7 inch swimbait out off the long runnouts or bluffends. On the runnout flat points, put your boat in 40 ft. off the ends and make long casts to the top of the ridge, with the big crankbait. With the swimbait put the boat in the same locations and make long cast, letting the swimmer go completely to the bottom and slow roll it back to the boat. You should have your baits landing in 15 to 20 ft. on the cast. Off the bluffends throw the swimmer and let it sink to that 20 plus depth level and reel it back. Fish this time of the year do not need structure. Most don't want it. They just suspend or hover in these locations, in open water. Hard to get used to but that is Table Rock. Can't tell ya any more without you being in the boat and just seeing or fishing. I'm at the dam tomorrow and will let you know how I do. I'm starting at 5 AM I know Beck had over 20 keepers there day before yesterday in 25 to 45 ft. Drop Shot. Done by 9:30 AM For the most part these fish can get enough in the first couple of hours of daylight and will then just retreat to depth and wait for night or early morning. Threadfin shad are just thick, cannot remember ever seeing so many, lake wide. Good Luck

Would rather have a guy run past me wide open than slow to a plow. Never have a problem with complete on top operation. Yes they have these boats at LOZ, but believe you me Shell Knob has had big boats for years. At one time Sports Boats was one of the biggest dealers of Cobalts in the nation. Now the Mastercraft dealer at Shell Knob is for sure up there. The boats I'm speaking of are built to throw a wake. With a passenger capasity of 18 people 25' in length, a 100 gallon fuel tank and and a water ballast tank of over 1000 pounds they throw a 6 ft. plus wake for wake boarding and wake surfing. Yes you heard me right. you can surf behind these boats, on the huge wakes. With a price tag depending on the goodies you want at over 1hundred thousand dollars, these are quite a toy. Throw in that lake home, dock and the Escalade to pull it with and that is a pretty tidy sum. Saw over a dozen of them and the other culprits from Viney to Twin Rivers on Sunday. Completely Unreal the ammount of money people have. I may have to turn into a river, bank and cove fisherman and leave my beloved deep water. The Battleships have taken it over.

I believe Campbell Point rents bigger fishing boats. Give Linda a call and see what they have. Good Luck

Duck, we really had a fine day. Couple of deals. started out with the DD22 and the Storm Wildeye Swimmer. I just am not fooling with these baby chasing fish. 90% of them are not worth a hoot, and if you get started right, there are some bigger fish to be caught early. Tried to keep the boat in close to 40 throwing up on either the bluffends or long runnouts with the cranker and the swimmer. Multiple fish on almost all locations. I believe most of our fish came in that 18 to 25 ft. range. I know your dropshot fish were deeper. We never messed with up and down cause we really caught fish non-stop all day to just before the Armada Hit. Big Ed that I had with me is a very good hand. He can catch them and loves to Bass fish. He is a fine client and good friend. Jig and Hulleo, were the deal for us. Most of our keeps came on those. That is of course after the Swimmer and Cranker bite died. Most all of our fish were LM, and that is what you would expect the way we were fishing. Traffic from Shell Knob to Big M, after 10 AM was very heavy and we got "Clobbered." Have you all see a boat called an "XSTAR?" Good golly and Typhone Sally, they throw a complete MONSTER WAKE. Good Luck

I'm guessing age at middle to upper teens. After Phil and Bill got done with her, I worked with her between guide trips for about 30 minutes. Sorry to say she didn't make it. But a fish of that age and size putting up a fight like that, even at one point moving the boat as they chased her was probably more lactic Acid than she could stand. She lived long and prospered now she will rest in a place of extreme honor above his mantle. Better that than the buzzards picking her after death. Many, many people will have the chance to admire her. I know Bill's folks caught and released another 70+ fish today on a salmon Trout Magnet. In two trips today my clients caught and released about 60 on cotton candy Trout Magnets. And another 40 on crawlers. Great day for the Lilleys' gang.

All kidding and joking aside, there is still a warning on the consumpiton of the Black Bass Species in Table Rock Lake. LM,SM,K's are all on the list. Not quite as bad as what Quilback said but and you can look it up. Adult males not to consume in excess of 8oz per month, children and pregnant women zero consumption non- pregnant adult women I believe only 8 oz per month. Lead and chlorade levels. Does not suprise me that the signs are being posted. State has to cover there rear. Warning are only for the black bass species as from what I understand the majority of the polutants are in the crawfish. The bass are the largest consumer of the crayfish. This has been mentioned before and everyone has thought it was a joke. "It is not." Yes someone may have eaten them for 15 yrs. and say I'm fine. You don't die on the first bite. 1 cigerette usually does not kill you either, it is an accumulative thing. As you know, I as a guide and fisherman do not and have not for the past 25 plus years killed or consummed bass. If I were a guide that did however I would for sure have anyone that wished to eat bass sign a waver aleaveating me from any responsibility. I would also have them kill and clean their own bass. i just do not want a part of it. The liability could be huge. Can you imagian a child coming down with a toxic reaction to lead in fish that you cleaned and said it was alright to consume after knowing there was a warning on consumption? By the time the legal system got thru with you, you could not afford a stick and string to fish with. Something to think about.

You are are outdrawing Central Pro AM.

Reports like that make my job a whole lot easier. Great day on the pond and there is life in the back of the boat.

D5Keeps you are right as "Big Wave Water." The Shell Knob Chamber likes to sell the area as the quite part of the lake. "I say Toad Tracks to That." With the width of the lake in that area and the number of Cobalts, Ski Natiques, and Master Crafts up there, that part of Table Rock on a Holiday weekend is simply more than a nightmare for us fisherman types. Big M has the cheapest gas on the lake and that stretch of Big Flat water from Viney to the Mouth of the Kings is an Ocean. From the Kings to Campbell Point is just a complete Zoo. I am having no part of it. Howard, RPS will for sure have great info and get ya on them if he is. Good Luck

Thanks for the report, but if you are calling a 20" German Brown trout only decent, and it was his first trophy certificate fish, you guys are way above the most of us in expectations. I have fished here since 68 and guided here since 1990, and I then and still think 20 inch Brown Trout are very Special. Good Luck