Bill Babler

Just talked to Mike, he had a good practice, unlike some if the other guys. Had a 6 pounder one day and a 7 pounder the next. I did not ask what baits he threw yesterday, but he said he had 12 to 15 keepers. You can do what ever down there, but it will come to a big bite. 8-9-10-12 pounder. If your hanging around you have to remember one single cast in that pond is life changing. I think its going to be hard to put a limit of 5 pounders in the boat (probably wrong) but it will be possible to catch one of those hog mama's as a kicker to go with 4 OK to decent fish. Going to be interesting. Day after a big wind can be hard and 2 days after a windy front can be a bear. It is going to warm up down there, starting tomorrow.

Mike is right in there. You can't win it on the first day but you can lose it. He is just 7 pounds out of the lead and that is a half of a bite down there. Friggin Michael Neal can catch them from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. Just does not matter to him, he knows where they live. I really like the guy and root for him every time out. Olliverson struggled. He does that for some reason at least one day in these big derbys and then catches a bag. He is a very good stick and does well, just needs to not have a bad day.

Thanks all we had a busy day. Becky had both a new water filtration and softener put in and a new commercial hot water heater. I guess that was my birthday present as it cost her 12 large, and all I got was a dinner at Little Hacinda. We did however get another offer on the Lodge, so there is that. Thanks again, love you all

They also said that it is 3' low and that's at least 14,000 acres gone and probably another 20,000 acres you could not get to, so at this lake level, its not fishing as big as usual.

Talked to him Monday. Trap, JB, Jig and bladed jig he thought. Olliverson is also fishing. Mike did well on that circuit last year and hopes to get off to a big start. He said its his deal with a 5 fish limit. Hope so. Said it might be tough with the cold water and temps falling. Looks like some guys are off to a good start however.

Air temp 38 degree water temp 49 degree. Most every shot you see, has multiple boats in it. Lots of people fishing in Tejas, besides the pros.

Just a bit ago we had a Cooper's Hawk chase a dove that collided into one of our great room lodge windows. Dove hit the deck, hawk grabbed the dove and lunch was had in the big oak in back of the lodge. Battery was out on the big Nikon with the zoom lens or I might have had a pic. or two. I'm pretty entertained on this now dreary Winter day.

It really is Lakers. One seems to hover, flapping its wings and the other makes false dives. There is a ton of ducks here on the big water this morning. Most look black like coots, but its hard to tell from my perch. At least 4 boats have gone under the bridge headed up Long Creek this morning. I'm only up to 28 degree.

Up at dawn to a red horizon and azure skies, that quickly clouded over. 20 degrees here just prior to 0700. Easy breeze East wind at 6 mph. Duck hunters are again awakening the morning with their spastic volleys of gun fire. I can see flocks or pods of some type of water fowl resting between Clevenger Branch and the Long Creek bridge. They rise and resettle as 3 bass boats Churn by in a 1 hour period of time. All the while the hunters continue the onslaught on any of these migrating travelers that come within shotgun range. A special treat this morning are Eagles diving at the duck pods and doing aerial acrobatics. At least 3 pairs are fishing for duck, in front of the lodge, it is a wonderful site as they try to get the ducks to rise with their false attacks. No catches were seen, but you know for sure there would be no quibbling on the taste or preparation, they like duck meat just fine. Just an amazing morning here on Ozark Hollow Road

Dark duck or goose meat is just something you either love or hate. Don't think there is any in between. Brother in law grinds it with the liver and makes pate'. His family including kids just simply love it. Another friend crock pots it and yet another pounds out the breast and grills it wrapped around a jalapeno or mushroom. If we are doing something special and go to an up scale cantonese or mandarin restaurant, my wife will order Peking duck or crispy duck every time. Just like doves or venison, your either in or out.

I believe he used to but not any more. It like to take that mess over to the Corps office and see the reaction I get.

Its a real problem with dock builders building and assembling docks at the ramps. The hardware they leave is unreal. If a screw drops just let it lay and reach into your pocket for a new one. Last month at the downtown Branson ramp on Taney, I picked up 2 screws and a piece of wire. Tire ruined.

It's 10 am and they are still hammering. Sounds like 4 people in the blind this morning. They have shot at least 50 rounds. This group are extremely experienced hunters. They have came to this same location for the last 17 years at least in January, and they hunt everyday. Don't know a durn thing about water fowl, but I'm surprised on such a sunny day they continue to fly. Only thing I can think is lots of migratory birds in here this morning They are usually done blasting by 8 am or so.

13 degree this morning at the lodge. Duck hunters have been pounding since just prior to daylight. I've heard at least 4 big volleys. I think there has only been maybe 1 or 2 days since around Christmas that I have not heard them pounding. That's a lot of duck and goose meat.

Sure will it's a total hoot. Dock, I had it last year, and did catch some using live scope. It was not great. Float n Fly bite only lasted me a few days. Might be better this year. The most remarkable bite I've seen on the live scope was using a Dixie Jet, about a full cast in front of the boat on fish that were chasing shad balls below the surface. You could see the spoon fluttering down and the bass just slamming it. Another day I had them coming out of deep trees eating an A-Rig, saw every bite. Hard to believe but you can also see them eat a top water, like a Whopper Plopper, and watch the collision.

You have read my mind Dock. Kind of easy reading.

15 degree here straight up, but the sun is out and shining strong. Durn N. Wind is going to hold it down however.

No one yet this morning. Yesterday by this time 2 boats had gone into Big Cedar Marina. It's really white capping here this morning, the wind is just howling. I'll look at that app, sounds handy. Becky thinks we need to empty all the cabinets and clean them this morning. I'm really excited about that. Sounds like busy work on a cold day to me. I might some how get lost around this big house.

I don't think we are going to see a turn. Seems its staying at upper 40's to low 50's mid-lake. Cooler as always up the river arms. Cool the next few days but back in the 50's next week. February gets here and it will start warming back up. Might get a big March or April snow, but by that time we are most often ticking upwards. Man that moon has been beautiful. I'm with you Jeff.

Totally understand. Thanks Wrench.

After that report, who can guess what I'm thinking? It might involve a pretty small bait. 😄😄😄

Good info Muddy. I would just about bet your high voltage feature on that Ulterra is not working, and that may be a good thing. I know of at least 8 to 10 guys that have had issues and could not figure it out until they were told to depleted some charge, then it was right as rain. Wrench most likely knows the answer.

Durn, Bobby, that's number 3. You can put it all behind you now as that's your 3 bad things in a row. Speedy recovery to the missus and hope its an extremely mild case.

I was told long ago when charging your battery to leave the rear hatch open so gasses could escape, even with an on board charge system and to keep the bilge clean, always have. Another great point, love the information. (Back to my old Water Patrol days.) C4F also makes a great point in with all the advertising out there right now, It's nice to see all the testimonials on this thread of how well these Pro-Guide batteries have preformed for our forum members. Hands on performance by people you know is always the best medicine. Thanks all that have contributed, good stuff.

BPS Excel works great in line sizes 4 and 6. If you get above that, and I have discussed this with several of the guys totally sponsored by BP for some reason, it just does not work well. I keep on and keep on trying but 8 thru 12 continues to let me down. Either breaks at the knot, chafes and splinters turns off color or just wants to grab it self. None of these guys have the answer, and really don't use it. I have had nothing but Sterling success with the 4 and 6 for trout. I will tell you 5lb. Maxi is softer and stronger than 6lb. Excel and will throw further. I use it exclusively when swimming a small Keitech or fishing a Ned. Down side of that is it cost 3X the price of the Excel and is super hard to get. Excel in 4 to 6 is always available in bulk and I go thru a ton of it on my trout outfits. Maxi would just be to pricey for the trout when I use so much of it and the Excel works great.