Bill Babler

Good Client of mine has a 26 acre lake on one of his farms at Savannah, Mo. His daughter caught this monster there 2 weeks ago. He is a Dr. and money is not an object they built the lake 20 years ago with a maximum depth of 60'. Huge undertaking. He stocked it 12 years ago with Florida F1 bass. He puts about 500 lbs of shiners a year in for both the F1's and Northern LM, He also stocks it with the fast growing sunfish, and believes that the bass eat them too. They didn't have a scale but the bass measured 27 inches on a yard stick. Said they also found about 150 morels. Sorry about the photo quality I just sent it to myself and took a picture to post it was coming up Jpeg and my computer won;t handle that.

The White bass on TR are notorious for not spawning. In my uneducated opinion it seems a cool Spring and water levels going up and down hold a certain percentage of them off. From now thru July if you catch them schooling they are simply full of eggs and shad that they spew all over when caught and handled. Fun but a huge mess. I had a client a few years ago that wanted to keep some and they totally wasted my livewell, with blood, eggs and excrement. When I filleted them they were a total mess of red and soft white meat. This was a 4th.of July weekend. Mike said when he fried them his family left the cabin and did not come back till it was totally aired out. They are a total blast to catch on topwater but I try and keep them outside the boat when I release them.

Jeff, those photo's are amazing. Congrats on such a fantastic morning.

That was one fantastic report that took a ton of time. Really appreciate it. Phone has started to ring again and hope to see you all this weekend. Lots of interest in TR as the fishing up here has simply been just about as good as it can be. Thanks

IF he were to have caught it anywhere on TR, that would have been the area, but I don't think so. I would love to see it and I don't really know if there would be a DNA profile that would prove or disprove its origin. 7 pounds is the record out of Stockton for Missouri so it would have been 4 pounds bigger and that is probably very unlikely.

Is that Dan Gapen and his daughter Bobber Annie. Used to see them if its the same people at every fishing show across the country. I think I still have quite a bit of their stuff. I have not done a sports show in 15 years at least so that was a while ago.

Looks like you did really, really good. Hope you paid your net man well.😃

You are very lucky. I've been in a boat with 50 of them and they all lift and deploy hard. Mine, I have to pull and snap the release pin and then pick up the motor head hanging onto the pull cord to deploy it. To pick it up I have to get both feet set in front of it and again snap the locking pin free and then really lean back to lift it into the boat. I have had Rotor Cuff Surgery and am not as strong as I once was however it is very heavy for me. I have had it up to Marine Repair center for some issues and always address the hard deploy and lift and Scott lifted it and says, Yep that is about as good as it gets. My Ultrex weighs 89 lbs MG. new Pro Tour weighs 60 lbs. Lowrance weighs 65 lbs. Garmin weighs 75 lbs. All motors are the same configuration. The only one I have not gotten to retract and deploy is the Lowrance, the Garmin and Pro Tour when you snap the pin to release on deploy start raising to assist you in deployment and when you again snap the pin to retract they pretty much lift themselves with little or no effort from the operator. The sheer weight of the Ultrex is as much as 30 pounds heaver than the Motor Guide and 14 pounds heaver than the Garmin.

The Ultrex cable is great. Only problem you have to be a Pro-Linebacker to lift the durn thing out of the water. If you tried to fish the last few days in this wind without spot lock you were really working.

Per your instructions I caught my first LM on topwater this year. And, yes, my client was fishing a Pooper and he got slapped 4 times and no hookups. I was using a Zardo Spoof, or some such bait. Thanks

I'm tickled, glad you all just got all over them.

Update, the guy I took today Don, canned a 2 year Solix and bought a new one to go with the new Mega. The new Solix has to have 2 updates for it to work with the Mega and there is somewhere another problem so he is taking it back to KC. I listened today as he spoke with the Bird tech. That person was sharp as a tack, she told him that the NEW UNIT he bought could have been sitting on the shelf at BP for over a year. She said the other day she had a new in the box one that was sold from BP that needed 4 updates. She said if possible and I think this was confidential info, don't buy them from the Big Box Stores as they buy high volume to get backend discounts and they are not fresh. They should be the same price or just a bit more from your boat dealer and he of course orders them and they will be fresh. These units are still great and will work find, they just need to be programmed in the correct manner and that is not as easy as plugging in a lamp. Problem is if you want your "Mapo" right now. And anyone that knows what that saying "I want my Mapo.' is over 40. IF you buy a fresh unit and I mean the last 90 days she told him it would still need 1 update most probably, but if you buy it from a Marine Repair center or a dealer it is painless. On a brighter note we had over 20 keeps today with some toad K's that looked like they were ready to bust and they were back in pockets getting ready to do the deed. Good Luck

If you mean Old 86 it is open with limited parking as usual. Don't park in front of the ramp if you launch there unless you have Arkansas plates.😁

From what I'm hearing this is going to be a great imaging unit. BUT If you have an older Solix/Helix unit even a few months please purchase the 360 from a retailer that can install it and put all the updates and diagnostics into your machine to make it work guys are getting default and diagnostic messages and can't get past it.. 2 different friends have purchased this unit online and tried to hook it up themselves and at this point they have not been successful, even with the online tutorial and phone help. If your buying this unit with a new Solix/Helix I don't think you will have a problem and from what I am hearing will love it if it is professional installed and has the total set up procedure. Also it is very sensitive in its power requirement needs. Thought I was going to be able to see one tomorrow, but we're taking my boat due to the issues. Guys trying to run a Garmin sv12, Panoptix a Solix 12 and a mega 360 on the bow, better have that boat wired with dedicated lines and enough battery to host it. Whew this stuff is quickly getting out of hand. Once its set I think it is a go. I have heard a few problems with 2D sonar from your Ultrex transducer to the graph,after installing the 360 but the 360 imaging is from what I'm hearing fantastic. Getting the communication between the unit and the graph is probably more than most of us go fishing guys can handle. if your over 30 years old. have a professional set this up. Good Luck

Did they bite?

Battery topic got to long so I'm going to do a short quick post. I and most guides here and also weekend tournament anglers have been using Pro guide batteries for year. I have 4 in each of my boats. AGM 31's in both boats. Depending on the age and the number of charges, and I will usually put 600 to a 1000 charges on them before I change them out or usually get a new boat and repower. They most usually charge up to between 16 and 18 volts on a 12 volt battery. They are the Gold Standard as far as I'm concerned. These were put in my Phoenix in April of 2017

Very nice reports guys. Don't know what it is but a few of these Jaw's are as dark as I have seen this year, almost a black/green. I am presuming it is a water color depth thing. Thank for the reports and congrats.

Never fished it like that. 99% of the time I throw it on Bluffends and the front of Deep Docks or long points to suspended fish. I can see where you would have to give it a ride fishing it over shallow bushes.

Yep on the 1/4 down. 3/8th. is to big, have to go to a 3.3 I'm still not on those K's like i should be. Dave how deep were they?

White River Outfitters Guide Service Table Rock Lake current fishing report 5-5-20 Baxter to Campbell Point Got out a bit late this morning at 0800 but it really didn't matter. Was greeted by a 3 ft. surf coming directly in on the launch ramp and that's always interesting. Water is super clear and the moss is totally breaking up. Lots of it coming up and floating. Good. Surface temp at 64 degree. You can get a jig or bottom bait down now pretty easy in the Baxter to Shell Knob area and they seemed to like the 1/2 oz. Pig Sticker pretty well in GPO. Today the bass/ Goggle Eye were in the wind blown flat pockets and boy were they. You really need to get down and get you some of this. As Bobby said not nearly as many fishermen today but that doesn't mean the lakes empty, there were folks out but they are just not fishing the way I am. The majority of folks I saw were pitching docks and bushes in under 5' of water and as clear as it is I am presuming they were sight fishing. There is a lot of fish up, but there are 10X that many out. Lots and lots of both Jaw's and K's suspended in 15' getting ready to move up. Boat most of the day in 20/25ft. Concentrated today on flat pockets and long flat points running into those pockets and it was pure bliss. SMJ on the points going in and most of the pockets had lots of Gog's in them. I turned them loose today as we really enjoyed what Becky fried up last night, but she said she had fried food overload today. One of the pesky rascules even tried on a megabass and caught the durn thing. Caught fish on a jig, a swim bait and a jerker, really did not matter as long as it was wet. Bite lasted till about 2 then I got tired and fished poorly so it went away. On another note as usual I'm the last guy to find out these things, but started using some of the Big Bite swim bait heads today. Gosh and Golly they work good, with double keepers and a touch of Super Glue I caught 10 fish on a single Keitech and I have never done that before. Going to be my go to swim bait head in the future. If the wind and the clouds stay its going to keep on keepin on, till it gets really good and they move out and stage up post spawn. Right now that jerk bait bite is something if your in the right place. Keep it moving even reeling it between head turns as they want it moving. The Keitech and I also fished the Pro Blue Big Bite some today both worked like magic. I used a 1/4 oz. head in the wind and would not be afraid to go to 3/8th. This is just a ton of fun, I wish I had some clients to share it with. Of course when the calls start the fish will be gone. Right now is Right on. I'm Giddy.

Buddy just bought a new Bird 360 and we are going on Friday so I will try and post on that. Unlike Panoptix the Bird 360 builds information and its history rather than real time, but I'll let you know. Pretty soon with all this weight on the bow, your going to have to add weight to the back of the boat to get it on plain.

Couple of things that 196 pointed out. The weight will really help and you have to reel it very, very, very slow. I mean 5 to 1 slow, on Carbon as he said. He gave you some fantastic extremely hard learned information on the Magdraft. Kind of like fishing a redfin, I have seen people do crazy things with it, stop it jerk it mess with it. If you throw it out and wind it in the bait will do the rest as that's what it is designed to do. Just go slow and let it swim. When a fish bites it, let the rod load and just pull back when you feel the weight of the fish, everything slow and methodical and you may catch a big-en. A few years ago, BP had a year end sale on them. I think it was the year or the year after they bought Cabelas and I bought 10 of them for $5.99 each. They were not in stock and I waited 6 months for them but they finely showed up. They will be good thru post spawn along again with as he mentioned the Dixie Jet. That is elite information that you got in his post. Thanks 196

The Holly Grail of ned rig rods is no longer made, due to some health issues in Harrison Arkansas. Falcon Cara/ Nestor Falls Spin, later called the Jeff Kriet Squirrel Tail. I'm lucky to have about a dozen of them left. Pair that with a Shimano Stella and Maxima 5lb. test and that is about the kit and ka-bootle. You can also throw a 2.8-3.3 inch swimbait with a 1/8.3/16,1/4 oz. head out of sight. On a fishy note, they never stopped biting. I went back for a 3rd. time and dumped the boat back in at Old 86 at 2 and fished till 5, Just dropped the troller and fished the same water again and caught just as many. Was trying for more Gog's just for fun but kept catching those durn small jaws 😁 They pull to hard and just plain tucker a guy out. Hope all were safe from the storms yesterday and last night, nothing but rain at the Lodge. God Bless and Good Luck

I know.

Had a couple of buddies out in the same area on Saturday. Said they caught them pretty much at that same depth, only they caught them on a 3/8th. oz. jig and a 3/8 tube. Tube in Road Kill and Jig in GPO with a smally beaver. Said anytime they would catch one they would catch 3+ and as you said they were not everywhere.