Bill Babler

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You know, it is always fun to look a different parts of the lake. One of my clients this past weekend, said Table Rock is like playing a different golf course everyday for a month straight. Great analogy. As far as predicting out till April 5th. usually not a problem. This year is different. We may have a foot of snow on the ground and water temps in the high 30's. It has been very strange. If I were looking for Jaw's, I would not hesitate to fish either way from Aunts Creek. Point 9 to Campbell Point, has as many "Big Jaw's as amywhere on the Lake. Going the other way, Aunts Creek to Long Creek is the "Brood Ground" for numbers. It however is a much larger vast area of unfamiliar water, if you have not fished it. Our Jaws don't exactly act like other Smallmouth destinations. Our's like flat gravel, bluff pockets and transitions. I ask alot of my clients, where if you were trying to catch a SM would you fish? Point out the bank and we will try it if you want. They always without fail point out Bluff Banks and Huge Chunk Rock locations. "YES, they can be there, but for the most part not so much on this lake. I had a guy ask me last year, "Why in the World are we stopping here, this is not a SM bank. 3 quality keepers later he said,"I would have never looked twice at that location, I am glad I came out with you." My client Thursday, had fished this lake lots of times, he told me at least 5 times he would have never thought about the locations we fished and we caught multiple's on every stop. Table Rock is different and very diverse, that's why we locals love it. Fish out of Aunts creek, either way and you will be on one of the best locations Table Rock Lake has to offer. Good Luck

Dave, did you see that SMJ Pic? Go to my site and take a look at it. It was just a magnificent fish. That is the way to start the year. You certainly have a thing with the"BIG SMALLMOUTH." I bet that was the one that took that "Yellow Magic" away from you. It is also on my Ozark Anglers Report. Always great to fish with you. You enjoy fishing as much as anyone I have ever taken. With your job, I am sure it is a magnificent getaway to piece and quiet. Edyer, the Lower James from Point 9 to Point 12 is fishing every bit as good as Shell Knob. Very similar in topography. Shell Knob, may be a bit clearer, as it up until this last rain, was getting about a clear as Table Rock can get. We will see after all of this. It will not I don't think change much as the temps are suspose to be back to mid and upper 60's next week. The Lower James will warm faster, and I just got a feeling that wiggle wart and jig bite will just explode by the end of next week. You will not beat the James anywhere on this lake for that kind of a bite. Good Luck

March 20, 2010 First day of Spring Here is what I know from being out everyday this last week and speaking to guides on every area of the Lake. Cricket Creek/ Long Creek to Point 5. Youcum Creek, Long Creek, Cricket Creek. Surface temp 46 to 50 Crappie Fair on Swimming minnows off the flats staging in 12 to 20 ft. White Bass Main Creek Channels up and down Spoons and Swimming Minnows, hit and miss. Bass, Fair on Suspending Stickbaits, Good on Jigs and Grubs. Point 5 to Point 19 on the White River All Species Poor Surface Temps 44 to 48 Extremely Clear James River Point 9 to Point 15 Surface Temp 50 Spoonbill good to fair Crappie Fair White Bass Fair Bass Stickbait Fair Bass on 1/4 oz Jig head with a 4 or 5 inch grub, swimming on bluffends and thru pole timber good. Upper James River Surface temp 51 White Bass In and Out with some very good fishing, and then some very dry periods Walleye fair to good. Same as the Whites Jigs, Crankbaits, spoons, grubs, swimming minnows. Point 19 to point 22 on the White River Surface temp 47 Bass Fair on suspending Stickbaits on transitions and bluffends. Extremely Clear Visibility to 20 ft. Kings River Surface temp 47 to 51 Crappie Good in cedars and brush piles Bass Good on bluffends timbered points and transitions. Stickbait Royal Point to Arkansas Line Good to Fair on Jigs and Crankbaits in the more stained water White Bass Poor to Fair depending on weather White River Point 22 to Eagle Rock Surface Temp 47 Walleye Good to Excellent off the gravel Flats and transitins on suspending stickbaits Bass Fishing Good Stickbaits and grubs on Transitions and channel swings White Bass and Crappie in the creeks and Roaring River Good on swimming minnows jigs and spoons Gin Clear visibility to 20 ft. Eagle Rock to Beavertown Surface Temp 49 Bass Fishing Good to very good on Stickbaits Jigs, on transitions and windblown banks. Huge numbes of buck LM are up and moving. With the weather moving in and the changes we about to have, who knows. Back to 60 degrees next week and here we go again

Fantastic Report, "Whould you just look at those Smiles."

Bill P, you are right on the money with that Jig Rod. That Lowrider is hard to beat. That is, until you pick up the split-grip Cara T7 Finess Jig Rod. I am using them for spinnerbaits, and jigs up to 1/2 oz. It is also a great long rod to throw either a light swimbait or better yet, a fantastic Redfin rod. Can't go wrong with either.

3-18-19-2010 Very nice couple of days Guiding out of Shell Knob, Missouri. Cool cloudy starts with air temps in the low 30's and water surface temps in the low to mid 40's. Air and water both warming throughout the day. Warmest water for me on the Kings River was 48.9 at Sweetwater with 46 degree main lake White River Water at the Shell Knob Bridge. Thursday with Don Gable, launched at Viola at 6:50 AM and fished mainly bluffends, timbered points, and channel swings in the River from Royal Point out to Twin Rivers. Fished the Stickbaits extremely slowly, with up to a 30 second pause between twitches, and then just would move the head ever so slightly. About a dozen keepers to the boat up to a real nice 3 1/2 pound Meanmouth, that Don wrestled to the boat. Day netted us about 30 fish, and we lost a couple of big pullers, so it was a fantastic day. One 19 Walter also mistook my McStick for a Gizzard Shad and got poked in the head. We bandaged it and returned him back to the Briney Blue. Friday saw me at Basin Hollow at 6:45, for Dave and a Buddy, Jim. Not quite as many bites on the 1/2 day trip, but did manage 15 stickbait fish to the boat and 3 jig fish. 4 very nice keepers, Hilighted by Dave's, absosolute TOAD. Wonderful SMJ. Really a great day as Dave emailed me a picture of a 19 inch LM he landed after I dumped him off, as he and Jim were going to go it alone the rest of today. They are real quick learners. How about those Tigers, They went and Poured a Barrel of Whoop/butt on Clemson. The test will be tougher for them on Sunday, but you never know.

Try a Falcon Cara Crankin Rod. It is 1/2 the weight of the KVD rod and is very soft thru the mid-section. $199.99. If you are on the Rock, give me a call, and I'll let you try one with a Curado on it. It is what I use with a wart. You would be more than welcome to try it for a weekend. I have 1/2 a dozen of em.

Trav, sorry we missed you. Did you see my rig at Viola? We were fishing the same water with the same results you had. Maybe it was better yesterday, when these guys posted about huge numbers. We did not find that. I had a very good fisherman, and we could only put under a dozen to the boat. Couple of very nice fish however on the wart and the Spro McStick Bandit. I thought it was a very hard day with the cold damp conditions. I to am waiting for the Redbuds. Good Luck

I think you have found your true calling. I want to Book a Grass Carp trip at your first availability. OH!!!! if there are some crappie there also it would be nice. Good job Buddie.!!!!

Rat, I am really a deep clear water fisherman. I usually don't like stained water. I want them to see my bait a mile off, and come and get it. There is no dirty water in any of Table Rock/s river systems as we speak. All is mostly clear. The only off colored water is a Tea Stain in the Kings and Long Creek. Phil Stone says its turn over water, and I don't doubt him. It is very hard to fish multiple clients in stain water, as for the most part it is a reaction bite, and the guy in front is the one that is gona get bit. You have to really consider this before you do anything, as far as guiding. Every person has to have the same opportunity to catch fish. Twin river is the conflux of the White and the Kings. Good Luck

Started this AM out of Viola and worked a stickbait, grub and Wart from there to just above Sweetwater. Total for us was only 9 fish, but had 7 keepers up to a very nice 4.5 pound LM, on the wart. About 10:30 they completely shut down, and it was raining like all get out, so we went to lunch and relaunched at Viney Creek. Went ahead and ran up the river to just across from Devils Dive and fished our way back to Viney. 9 more bass with 2 nice LM keeps and 1 19 inch walter. "Released." Really don't know if we did good or not by reading other posts. We sure didn't catch a hundred. Seems like folks caught them much better yesterday than we did today. Best 5 however for what it is worth, were probably at 16 pounds. No pattern what so ever. Gravel flats, channel swings, transitions, bluffends, wind blow chunk rock, colored water up the Kings River. I thought it was freezing cold and very tough. Water in the Kings was 47.8 In the White River at Twin River and up toward Big M at 44.5 at Viney at 46 and way up the White River above Eagle Rock at 48.9. I was told yesterday on the Kings above Sweetwater it was 51. It was not that warm today. Be out again tomorrow, and hope to gosh it warms up some. I need to see just a bit of a rise in surface temp.

Dewey, Just putting that much gear together, wears me out. Just hearing your fantastic explaination, wears me out. When I was a kid I guided Spoonbill out of my folks resort on the Ivy Bend Arm of Lake O. That also wore me out. You are hung up constantly and trying to get unhung with that huge terminal gear, wears me out. I was 12 years old and that is way to big a job for a kid. IF I even see one of those prehistoric behomiths that is not a white fillet swimming in a crisco bath, I will scream. I'm worn out, but you hit the nail on the head. Great Post.

This Subject has been answered perfectly. With an Avatar like the one KCNITRO man presents, I will follow his advice to the letter. "GO TIGGERS, BEAT THOSE ACC Kitty Kats."

Great Job, Donnie, that is getting her done. Have a muscle relaxer on me this evening. Super Post

Phil and I will be more than glad to have any of you electronically challenged fishermen car pool with us up to the "Webster's" How to session. Phil will get on here and tell you what time the wagon train pulls out of Branson for the Big City. I am really looking forward to it, as we will have perspectives on both Lowrance and Hummingbird underwater eyes. Hope for a good turnout. Would love to see you all there.

James, Beck and I finished off what Shuffield missed. There might be another one or so just now coming up from the Deep Blue Sea. Fishing Report and How to. "What Eric Said."

Early Guide Trip this morning, fished the Landing area, but with 1 unit running and extremely low water, I had an idea there might be something special going on the restricted zone. My clients were spin only and wanted to fish down, so I really had a hard time waiting till noon so I could go up and have a look see. As soon as I entered the restricted area, I could see trout midging on all the shallow flats from Andy's to Fall Creek. Some of these takes were just swirls, of very nice fish. Set up the Orvis 6wt. Zero G, with a high float Orvis Leader to a Irresstable Cadis Dry Fly in Size 16. Swung a size 16 zebra midge dropper, 18 inches below the dry. Phil Calls the midge ugly. Most people call it the Babler Midge. It is a Copper Tungensten Headed Midge with a black body wrap and Red Copper Wire. Ugly or not, it catches fish. Today in only a couple of hours I boated 8 on the dry and 12 on the midge. I jerked the dry away from a couple of more, in my excitement. Very nice suprise to be able to catch these late Winter Rainbows on the dry.

Only had a couple of hrs. yesterday, so I launched at Gage's and went up Long Creek. Surface temp at 47.1. Threw a McStick Bandit, the entire time. Table Rock Tackle and Marine has a limited Supple of them, so if you need any they are there. Got a feeling when this bite gets really good. We will be out of baits as usual. 7 fish with 3 real nice keepers on the Stickbait. Did not catch any in Arkansas, caught them all on the Missouri Side. Fished little cuts and major cove points with the boat in about 25 ft. Bite seemed to be halfway back to the boat. Decided to turn the bend and go back out toward the 86 Bridge to a point I like. Cold Wind was a howling and the surface temp was 44.3. Did not get a bite on my secret spot. Went back up Long Creek and loaded the boat, just as it was getting dark. Still don't believe the fish are up on the bank, still staging. You just cannot pick a bank and go down the entire bank and hope to catch anything, or that the next cast you will catch one. This is not going to work this time of the year. You need to fish locations. Transitions, Timbered Points, Rocky Rolloffs, Channel Swings. Have a reason to stop. Don't stay to long. As for the most part there are not a ton of fish in each location. Yes if your in dream land you may find an Elier location. I'm not that lucky.

Dutch, Phil told me the fish they were keeping, at first they thought they were males because of their size, under 1 pound. Also, it is very unusual for sows to be up there this early in the year. I have fished with Phil for years and he turns 99% of all sows loose if he can reconize them. I doubt, that anyone has a better eye. He has caught and released litterly thousands of Whites, they are his pashion. On another note, Table Rock is Full to the Gills with them. We are seeing just an early pitence of what is yet to come. There are 10's of millions in the Rock right now. We grafted them by the thousand and thousand last Fall and Early Winter. Most believe they are really working on the Shad. I will tell you this, no one will miss a few whites, especially this early in the spawning season. Please enjoy this bloom, and harvest a very renewable resource. Good Luck Bill

Power generation has been from 4 generators to 1, with a pretty constant flow. Upper sections has lots of very bright colored up Rainbow. Fly Fishing is excellent size 14 scuds in ginger and grey are working extremely well. Yesterday I ran a tandem of a egg or a pink micro jig with a scud on the down fly. The stimulator pattern produced more numbers, but the scud lots great quality. Spin fishing in the restricted zone with spoons and inline spinners worked yesterday, just about as good as I have ever seen them, taking fish through out the afternoon on the slow moving water. Fall Creek to Monkey Island. Almost all the folks on the Cooper Creek Public Dock had limits of fish yesterday along with boaters fishing from Fall Creek down. Again spoons and inline spinners and orange, chartruse, and white gulp powerbait is catching fish. Monkey Island to Bull Creek. Spoons inline spinners powerbait and probably the best bet, a sculpin 1/8th oz jig are taking very nice rainbows in the 12 to 17 inch class. Lots of fish thru the Monkey island area on the jig. Move down to Scotty's and fish gulp powerbait thru the Landing to Roark Creek, and then bounce jigs on the rocky banks and you will catch fish. Size is much better from Branson to Bull Creek. Lots of fish up top but not near the quality.

Bill, I don't touch the hooks on the McSticks. They are very good Gami's. I do change the hooks on the megabass and the rogues.

Guy's and Gal's one of our very own, from this board presented the 1st. place trophy in the FLW derby yesterday. Doug Weston presented it representing the National Guard and Table Rock Lake. Great Job Doug, thank you for what you do.

Needed a better picture of the boat. Guess you and your grub, were working as that was a major contributor in the FlW win today. Good Job and great fish.

Still tough for T. and I again today. You would have thought different with the cloud cover and wind, but still mean. Water didn't really warm up much today. 41 at the start and 42.9 at the finish. Fish hit very short for us today. We did manage to trick 8 Bass with 6 Lm and 2 K's. 2 walleye 1 was a really nice 22 incher, the other was 17. 3 of the bass would have kept with the big boy at 3 pounds. Everything is still swimming in the Ice cold lake. Mainly fished cove and creek arm transitions. Only had one location, with multiple fish. I missed easy 7 very nice bites today. The fish were just not commiting, or I was running the bait into them when I moved it. I believed T missed several also. REally all day only had two hard takes. The Big Walleye, and the Big LM. All the others were just there, when I would twitch the bait, I would feel weight, not a bite what so ever. Line used were 8 and 10 pound Maxi in moss green and 8 and 10 pound Seugar Fluracarbon. McStick and Megabass baits were used and the colors we used really would not help you, as they didn't help us to much. Tried the swimming minnow, hula grub and small Eakins jig today, but the Stickbait caught all the fish. Good Luck