Bill Babler

For Cripes Sakes!!!! Bass fishing on lower Taney is by no means a secret nor-has it ever been. People have been Bass fishing down there for as long as I can remember. Late 60's. There has in the past been tons of magizine articles, webinformation, radio talk show info and word of mouth for as long as the lake has been here, and before with the float trips on the river. Charlie Campbell has talked about and spread the word on it for years. Rex Grady was writing articles and doing TV on the Bass fishing on Taney in the 60's and 70's. and beyond. There is no more prussure now than there was then, and I don't expect any even if everyone in the world knows it, and by now they should. It's not Lake Fork or Amistad, There are some nice bass down, on the lower end, but even with todays prussure on the Rock and Bull, you wouldn't want to base your taney catch in a tournament against one of the warm water lakes. For the most part bass fisherman want to fish elite name bodies of water, where their hero's fish and compete. They could care less about catching a few bass on our pond. I have asked clients if they wanted to bass fish on taney, and most say, Why? I have responded there are some nice bass on the lower end and you can have a pretty good day of fishing. 99 out of 100 will say, "Lets fish the Rock" we didn't come to fish taneycomo, we came to fish World Famious Tablerock Lake. Almost 100 percent of our trips are only part about the catching. It's all that goes with it. If you like to bass fish on taney have fun with them, and quit worring about who knows it. I guarantee you haven't just invented the wheel.

The old saying that 90% of the fish are in 10% of the water really holds true this time of the year. It is easy to want to fish the same spots on the rock. Also there is the factor that these guys are only here for a limited time and they don't have time to prospect new water other than the stretches they know. It was a suprise toruanment with only 1 day of practice. You have to stay were you know there are fish. For the most part we could care less who or whom is here, our clients come first and I will fish any water I think my guests can catch fish in. Their $350.00 is just as important to them as a check is to the play for pay guys. As I stated before, we are not for the most part fishing the same water, and I, and the other guides have lots of spots where we don't need bridges or single stretches of bank. We will fish the bridges if they are open, but it dosen't matter one way or the other.

The Touranment you are speaking of was The Busch Shootout. 1st. Brent Chapman James River, Crakin 2nd. Ed. Cowan James River, Crakin 3rd. Jerald Swindel Main Lake Bridges and Deep Trees, dropshot 4th. Zell Roland Main Lake Bridges and Dock Cables, topwater and dropshot 5th. Kevin Vandam White River and Long Creek, Spinnerbait and Crakin 6th. Jimmy Mize James River and Kings River, Crakin This event was sponsored by BP and Busch Beer and all these fisherman had local guide boats as camera boats. This is how we got all the complete information on the tourament. As guides we talk to each other. Plus there were a couple of comflicts that were published about the fisherman getting in each others way. Most all these guys were wanting to fish the same exact water and were hitting the same stretches time and time again. One of my best friends was on the camera boat for Chapman, and he fished the same bank both days and only fished a stretch that was a couple of hundred yards long. One log he must have fished at least 20 times in the 2 days. I believe he had 4 keepers off the log in the period and lost a couple of more or missed a bite or two. That's all I know.

I would not take the same approach if I were fishing a High Dollar tournament unless it was a several day event where total number of fish was a factor. Now again, as it was before the fish kill, you really can't win a major tournament with Ky's. You need the Largemouth as kicker fish and heaver stringer weights. We can most usually come up with 5 fish limits of Ky's in the 13 to 17lb. range and that just won't do it. When you are fishing the James for the LM, However they are not guide fish they are tournament fish. A good days catch up the James from the people that are guiding the area is 8 to 12 fish in an 8 hr. period, if the guides fish. Numbers are way more important on guide trips. 20 to 30 fish are not uncommon on guide trips on the main lake, but the fish will average under 2 lbs and up the James you are looking at weights you would like to average at 3plus lbs. When Bill Beck won the Back to Back Heartlands this summer he caught very few fish. Its hard to get a client to work that hard and fish all day for 6 bites that may win a tournament. People want to get bit. Guide fish and tournament fish are very seldom, the same thing. Using a drop shot and dropping on a flat, or dragging a football jig in 30 ft. of water is something people can do. Percesion casting and extreme patients is not something people do well. Don't know if I answered your question or not but that is the main difference in Table Rock fishing.

Bill Beck, Table rock lake Guide service reports today that fishing was extremely good from pt. 9 to Campbell Point fishing a pbj. Football jig in 24 to 30 feet on the flats where they break into the channel. Notice how much he moved on his 4 hr. guide trip, from point 9 clear to Cam/pt. catch a couple and move along, they are biting.

Not even a stretch to catch 51 in 6 hrs. If a drift lasts about 30 seconds, thats a fish every 12 drifts. Fished the restricted area today with Brad Hall from Dallas. 1 client, and he insisted that I fish. When I stopped he stopped, and said if I didn't have a fly in the water he wouldn't either. Fished for three hours in the restricted area and I had 34 and he had 16. I tied all his flies on, and released all his fish along with positioning him completely and directing his casts. Even had time to tell him to set the hook at least 20 times, and still caught the number mentioned above. If he would have lifted on all his strikes he would have easily had over 40 fish in the 3 hr. period we fished. Fished the same water on Wednesday, and worked hard to come up with 23 total with two very experenced clients that missed only a couple of fish in 4 hrs. Different day but nothing is out of the question on Taney. When you fish everyday, good things are bound to happen every once in a while.

Hey guys, been off a while chasing the big-en's in Alask'e. Here is whats going on and what will be happening for the next week or so. Most info, is coming from guide reports from the big pay for play boys. Kimberling City to Cricket Creek on the main lake. Most all bass being caught are Ky's with all coming in the 24 to 28 ft. range off any of the bridge pilings or on the bottom off the channel swings or the flats. Good catches are being reported on the bottom in 26 ft. on the ole standby pbj. football jig. Bridge piers are producing nice fish in the same 26ft. range on live crawlers or purple or june bug drop shot worms. You don't have to just fish the piers, fish any of the shade under the bridges. Baxter to Eagle rock, Great fishing on the flats in the same 26ft. range on either a shakey head worm in green pumpkin or the pbj jig. Top water action is occuring on the flats opposite Baxter Marina, Hobb's Hollow, Twin Rivers, Little Mill Creek, and Viney Creek early almost every morning. Depending on light conditions from 6;30 till about 8am. Any topwater will work, from a spook to a yellow magic or a fin. When those fish go down a spoon or a drop shot will work if you have them pegged on your electronics. Have done nothing on bluff's or ends, as most fish are on the flats chasing shad. Lots of whites are still blowing up at Baxter and Red Barn cove, along with Twin Rivers ie needles eye. Also on the flats before you get to big M Marina. Table Rock boaters are late sleepers, so you can pretty much have your way until about 11 am. and then give it to the skiers. Evening fishing has been extremely poor. Mornings are best. You should have no trouble catching Ky's if you follow these directions and the locations mentioned. Remember this however, when fishing a location, don't make a career out of one spot, even if you see alot of bait or fish on your graph. It seems you can catch a couple per shot and then you have to shove off. You can come back later and catch another couple but they have been under prussure for 6 months now and they will just not tolorate alot of attention per location. They are there, but they will just refuse to bite. Good Luck, White River Outfitters Guide Service

This is a fantastic pictorial walk thru the couple of weeks. To be able to guide, do a little fishing and take these kind of wonderful photo's is amazing. You did yourself proud with the camera and all you achieved at naknek river camp. I'm sure the video you shot is equally as good. Can't wait to see it tonight. Being with you and the Johnson's was truly a blessing for me, that I shall never forget. Sincerely, Bill

I don't think our thoughts differ on the river that much, you must not have read what I said, please take another look. I said it was the toughest Alaskan river I have fished. I, being the key word. I also said it has the most traffic of any river I have fished other than the kenai. The key words, being I have fished. Loved the river and the hosts. Across the pond too Brooks falls was exciting and again, I can only speak from the experences I have had. Great Adventure Trip.

It's great to be home, I haven't had to swat a bug in over an hour. Really, the bugs were way less than what was preposed to us. I'm sure Phil will chime in with the best setups, but for the Silvers, most of the guys in our group, strickly fly fishing were Chuck and duckers, using a size 12 black wolley bugger. Man what a different application than I have experenced on other Alaska rivers. Shooting lines with tons of weight. Pink Salmon, were caught in fantastic numbers on Popcicles and anything with purple and pink and the rainbows and char, came mostly on beads. This is my 7th. Alaskan river, and by far the toughest. I can usually do all the business I wish on a dry, but no takers the last couple of weeks, everyone looking down. Tremendious ammounts of fish in the river, but also lots and lots of guides, lodges and locals. I have only seen this ammount of prussure on the Keini. Great hosts, fantastic food and the most bears in Alaska, made the adventure trip a fablious one. Phil I'm sure will come with more pics and more on the Naknek River in Alaska out of Naknek River Camp. Jim and Phillis Johnson were the ultimite Alaskan hosts. I can wish them nothing but the best.

Topwater off main lake points early, from 5 am to about 7 am. Most fish are then suspending off the flats and the points in 26 to 30 ft. maby over as much as 70 ft. Start on the bottom with a drop shot at 26 and move out to about the 70 ft. mark, maintaining the same depth. Look for the fish and shad. A green pumpkin or red or sand drop shot worm is working the best. It is pretty much over by 9:30. You can see fish, but they just won't bite. Good Luck. Very hard to catch over a couple on a spot, even though you can see a bunch, when you start. If they quit biting after you get them started, don't hang around as you can stay there all day and they won't bite anymore.

A very conservitive estimate on the number of Herons from Cooper Creek to the dam would be near 75. Between Cooper and the dam are three rookeries one being at cooper and the other on the flat across from the Fall Creek ramp, and the third just above the KOA on the same side. They are always hunting and any small duck is just as much prey as the trout. Saw 1 eat 3 baby woodies one day and there was really nothing I could do. For a while we had the Heron, Canada Goose wars going on. Saw two big geese get a heron on the flat above Fall Creek, and try to kill him. It was when they had small goslings and he was to close. I don't believe he could hurt a goose, but the ganders tried there bset to kill him. Boy was it noisy with the geese honking and the Herons flying and skawking. Wouldn't it be a shame to see about 70 of the 75 floating down the river during generation. Something needs to be done, they are an huge drain on this fishery, consuming thousands and thousands of trout on an anual basis.

MoCarp, I'm just giving Phil a hard time. You have to keep him in line or he gets out of hand. Back in the early 80's myself and another guy, were trapping the Mighty Mo. for a living and we would always pull up the Grand River near Carrollton and enjoy some commercial caught Carp and White Buffalo. The fisherman had a restauant right on the shore and sold fresh fish all over central Mo. The White Buffalo were by far the better fish and he deep fried them in peanut oil, about 2 minutes after they were cleaned. The Carp were scaled,filleted and then scored and they were just a bit too fishey for my taste, and believe me I ate my share anyway. I can remember that Carp was 60 cents per lb. and White Buffalo was a dollar ten per lb. When purchased fresh at the store. You bought the lunch fried fish special for $3.25, and it came with a lb. of fish, slaw, fries and unlimited rolls and tea or coffee. It was usually a mix of Buffalo and Carp and I could tell the difference, but I ate it all anyway. Probably couldn't do as well today. My, how time flys. Wish I had a plate full right now.

Instead of going to Alaska and Salmon fishing maby I can get you a guided carp trip on the Missouri River. I hear the shore lunches are marvelious. I prefer the mudbank baked carp, guaranteed to quench the pallot of even the most discriminating fish eater.

Really good infor about the multi-color patterns. A hot red dot on any of the patterns you described has worked very well for me in the past. Also using a bead or a small size 12 or 14 jig head can be very effective. Yesterday, they would not touch the egg if it were on a jig or beadheaded. I had to run a solid color on a size 14, 2487 and split shot about 1ft. above the egg. We were drifting 4ft. water, so I ran my egg about 8ft. deep. On a rare occacasion, the split would hit bottom and fool us, but most of the time, that was the correct depth, for the drifting boat on 1 generator. Try tying your eggs on McFly Foam, and you will throw out all that yarn you are running thru the straw. Your patterns, will be as tight as a tick. Thanks for all the good tips, looking forward to seeing how you did.

Here I am again expermenting with my clients. Power generation was a bit late coming today, but it didn't matter, as we had a smattering of wind to hop the bug a bit. Jim and Dave Well's were my lab rats today and they preformed at Top level. We had 40 plus fish on flat water and when the creek finely moved, it was just not the free for all it was yesterday. The ole size 12 scud in ginger still caught fish, as it has for the past several months, but I just had to have another pattern that would get a look. I have over 10 different color egg patterns that I tie, and if you think an egg is an egg, think again. Early Girl is a very lite pink egg that is almost netural and it was the one today. It outproduced the sucd at a rate of over 3 to 1. I tried several other colors and it was the appropreate color for the flow conditon, that we had today. Darker and brighter eggs just would not get the fish to respond on the clear mid to slow moving water. Early girl from Clay Banks thru Fall Creek, was the ticket. On one pass in the two mile section we had 20 plus takes with about 9 really nice bows hooked, and one, 18 inch brown. I continued to alter the egg colors, but today was the day for Early Girl. If you think they are not on an egg pattern, during generation, just keep switching colors and see if it makes the difference between bite or no bite.

Myself, for less mortaility, I have been using streight florocarbon with no fly attached. I have not harmed a fish and Joque Coustoue has deemed me one of his favorite fishing guides. Lets get a life.

The lower end of the restricted area can be a fantastic place to wet a fly, and it can also be very fickle. Great to get out this AM with no fog. Had the Mike Hawkings crew from KC and no matter where Mike fishes, he catches em. Thought the wind was going to blow, but the clouds helped on this mid-90 degree day. Started out where I have been starting for the past 3 weeks, just past the ramp at Fall Creek, fishing the chanel bank with ginger and olive-orange head 1/2 micro's. Buster was already there, doing the same thing and I guess both guide boats had 10 or 15 fish apiece till it started getting really hot and flat. He took off to bait fish the flat, below Cooper and I was just about to amscray myself, when the horn sounded. In about 20 minutes, it was the absolute dinner bell as the fish positioned themselves and turned on. Again, the water was running clear and low, so I went to the size 12 ginger weighted scud. We boated over 30 fish in the next hour and a half using this pattern, driftiing the mid-channel of the river, from Point Royal thru Fall Creek. We were catching enough, that I experimented with Mike going from the size 12 and graduating down until I reached a size 22, all in the same pattern. Had to use some shot, to get the 22 down, and it just would not pickup anything in the moving water. The 12 was by far the better size and it just caught fish. Nice to try different things when you have people who like to play the game. A 14 worked pretty well and he caught 1 on a 16,18,and 20, but none on the 22. Mike is a great fisherman, and goes with me about a dozen times a year, so it was great making him my guinea pig and haveing his son and son-in-law hang it on him while he tried the bitty bugs. When there is a generation pattern, these trout, will wait on it and just fiddle fart around until the water flows. It dosen't have to be on a hourly time schedule, just so it runs sometime during the day. When it runs, they feed.

Guy's, I'm only going to have one comment on this. Take a look at Hilton's flag ship hotels, and convention centers, and tell me how many they have built for non-gaming in the last 10 years? You will find many hotels, and all are gaming. It's what they do. They are a multi-billion dollar corporation, and could care less about renting nightly rooms in Branson. They could care less about selling condo's, reguardless of price. They could care less about bringing in conventions to the Landing. They are after gaming dollars and that is why they are on the Branson River front. There would have been a million cheaper places to put a strip mall that dosen't utilize the water front. But, you must have the water for gaming in Missouri. This is the end of the story, and if you don't think it's going to happen, you are living in La La land. I have been told, it's progress.

Well, I got to the Landing. As most of you know, I have not been the biggest fan of destroying the Branson river front for mall shops, but I got there to take a look this evening at around 4pm and stayed till around 8pm. If you are not a stranger to this fourm, you know my wife and I operate a Bed and Breakfast Inn on Table Rock. We felt, when constructing the Inn that we would gear ourselves to people that would be willing to spend in excess of $200.00 per night for lodging if it were of the highest quality. It has been extremely successful and the kind of people we get as gusets, are looking for very upper end entertainment. We have had some 400 plus guests go to the Landing since it opened. NONE were very impressed. and most say they have never seen as many cheap crummy shoe stores in one location in the USA. Of our 400 plus guests that have visited the Landing we asked how many spent money, and how many would return. The 400 probably spent $2,000.00 total with almost all on food from famous Dave's. We have not had a guest that said they would return to the Landing. My impressions were that getting into the Landing were quite easy, as we drove right up to Bilks and parked and just walked right in. Hardly anyone on the streets. I thought the street brick work and the horticulture were very nice in the streets, but thought the buildings and the overall theme was completely out of place with the Ozarks, with nothing at all to seperate the various town sections of the Landing from one another. We have one neighbor on the North that has a 7000 sq. ft. brick house for sale on the lake for $650.000.00 They can't sell it. The neighbor to the South, just sold their 3500 hundred sq. ft. cedar and rock home for $850.000 thru the same realitor. The realitor was quite honest with the brick house owners, and told them their house though big and on a great lot, just had no curb apeal and I hate to say this but boring. This is not KC, or St. Louis, you must blend in or you just do not fit. The Landing just does not fit. Brick and Concrete are just boring. WE have friends that are operating 4 different shops in the Landing, and they say it is only a matter of time at this rate before they are gone. We counted 36 closed store fronts on our visit. Maby they are just not open yet? We had also asked people about the water display. Most said ho-hum just vertical up lifts with no cross or intrigated water features. One lady said the one in her yard at home was very compreable. It was ok, if you have never been to Vegas and seen the one there. I was also amazed at the ammount of broken or cracked concrete on the sidewalks. Probably 70 or 80 percent of the pieces of walk are already broken. Maby the Landing will fit a certain Branson crowd, maby it will attract conventions, but is it the people we want? I am sure time will tell and the Landing will be a great success, but for now they need to hang the designer up by his toe nails. It couldn't have been made any cheaper, cheezer or more boring. I am just amazed there is not a big walmart on the town square, they have a bass pro, so it would have fit right in.

Guys, the biggest key to power generation, is you have to be in a boat and drift the seams with the flow. If you are fishing a stationary position, your bug will only be working in a very small fraction of the drift, due to getting it in the correct colume of water. And hopefully having trout in that 30 ft. drift. During heavy flow, trout hug the bottom and your bug must be presented to them in a manner that requires little movement from the fish. Why move, when another bug will be by in a few seconds? Most all our large fish or fish over the magic 20 inch barrier come on heavy flow. Great patterns during the flow depend on the clearity of the water. Really clear water is almost the same as fishing flat water. The trout can get an eyeball on the fly a great distance in advance and naturals such as brown sanjuan's and heavy scuds in 10 to 14 work really well. On cloudy heavy flow go with red sanjuan's and egg flys. Also one of the great flys during this period is a red or an orange beaded midge in size 14 using a tungsten bead for the head. The stickbait fisherman really shine during this period throwing the rogues, rapalas, lucky craft and youzuri 4 to 7 inch stickbaits. A couple of the stickbait guides are catching over 50, 20 inch fish per year, on a normal year. And it used to be even better than that. The best day I have had is 10 fish over 20 inches, and that was a while back, but both rainbows and browns luv em. One of the Arkansas guides was up here last week and had 5 over 20 on generation. On the stickbait. Good luck

Might try Cooper Creek.

I think it must be someone coming over from the campground. My clients helped my throw rocks off the ramp today and pickup glass. Spoke to the gal that cleans the restrooms and fixes up around there, really nice person. Says you can't believe the mess and destruction I have to clean up on a weekly basis. Just goes to show you, you can even mess up concrete and steel. You would think someone would hear them throw down the rocks on the docks. They keep patching them but its a real shame. Not a big deal, but one day last week when I was getting ready to pull my boat, there was a family with 3 kids on the ramp, throwing as many rock into the lake and on the ramp as they could, while the parents stood there and watched. Guess they thought those rock had dropped in out of the heavens and it was ok to throw them into the lake and on the ramp. Another big WHY.

Man, after today, I need to be a Timex Watch, cause I took my licking, and I hope that I can keep on ticking. I had two fantastic fisherman from Tao's New Mexico, and you know what that means, Ya, the SanJuan. I just don't think it could have been any flatter or tougher for me. The water was extremely low and the only movement on it is when you would breath. Maby saw 10 fish midge all morning and that would be a real emblished estimate. We caught 16 and the largest was maby 11 inches, and again I am probably stretching him a mite. It was so bad, they were digging out 24's and 26's and couldn't talk them into it. We even waded abit on the gravel bar above fall creek next to the boat lane. Absolutely no fish at your feet. Fished midges and scuds from 14's to 20's and fished dry's in the shade of the bluff banks as long as it was there. Hung droppers off the drys, scuds and midges and that's how we caught the few we had. The 11 incher came on a big stimulator being used for the indicator. These guys were casting 40 ft. and laying it right next to the bluff. They knew how to fish and how to dead drift and just flat couldn't get bit. I had taken them a couple of years ago and we had a great day with water moving. They remember, we waded and had lots of fish at our feet,and had them eating the ginger size 14 scud, before it started to move and then we really hammered them on the moving water with Pink Micro Jigs. They said it was not uncommon to have over 100 fish at their feet and just down on the SanJuan, and Midging almost constantly. Of course these guys were completely catch and release and they just didn't believe a fishery as small as taney, could sustain with the removal of 4 fish per person per day. With the fishing prussure we have. Both commented they saw more fisherman from Lilleys' thru Andy Williams than they see in a week on the SanJuan. There was lots of folks out there today, i bet Fall Creek dock had at least 30 fisherman, and there were about 25 boats in the lower restricted area. With all the traffic just getting there in the fog,was a chore. Thats another topic. No wind and they didn't kick the generators until after 11:30. You could flat ring out your shirt with the heat. Where were the generators when i needed them. Maby tomorrow, I'm starting later.

Guy's the last few days at the Cooper Creek Launch have been a real embarrassment to me. I am bring clients into the area the the first taste they see of taney is the lanch site. Someone from the middle of last week, thru today has decided to see just how much damage they can do to this marvelious faculity. They have taken large rocks and broken holes in the plastic planking of the dock, they have broken bottles on the ramp, and they are not beer but pop bottles. They have taken large chunk rock that is holding the banks and thrown it in the water covering the ramp. There has not been a day this past week, when I have not cleaned something up down there. There is a crew that work very hard at keeping this clean for us, but they cannot fight this destruction alone. If anyone see's anything at the ramp, please report it. I am wondering if this is coming out of a neighbor resort as it may stop just as soon as it started. If it is not ongoing we will know it was probably some kids on a vacation, they didn't want to be on. My problem, is I just cannot understand Why.