Bill Babler

Don't know the capacity, but very seldom do you see the buoys at Fall Creek completely submerged but they were yesterday and 2.7 mph as the late Hark Stram said is, " matriculating" right on down the lake.

4 units running this morning and just blowing down the pipe. We were drifting crawlers from Fall Creek down and the drift speed was 2.7 mph thru Trout Hollow. Bite was unreal with quality bows coming to the boat in lots of doubles. Guides Rick Lisek and Steve Dicky were catching them aplenty on the pink worm. 10' of tippet below the strike indicator with one BB 100 oz. jig head on the worm.

Randy there have been several reports of a buzz bait bite as well as a frog. Very limited on the Pooper. Bite has been right on the bank from what I'm hearing. I have had lodge work to do the past couple of days but I'm on the Rock tomorrow and some next week, so we will see.

Well said. Surface temps at the dam yesterday 77 degree really very warm We also had 5+ inches here at Blue Eye

Sounds like a fantastic trip. Couple of points Here is a couple of tips that will even make your next trip better Ditch the carbon and bobber stop. Tie a traditional drift rig using 4 lb mono with a tag line to attach your split. No worry about crimping the main line I’m starting with 4’ of four pound test mono and tying a double loop leaving a 1’ tag section to attach the split on the tag and the No. 8 bait holder on the longer leader section This does a couple of things. 1st. It puts your weight on the bottom and let’s the worm float free helping keep it out of any moss on the bottom. Carbon sinks like a rock so it’s also a problem in dragging. When your weight is on your main line plus the carbon you will get moss on that bait this costs you bites You can still catch them no doubt but there is a better mousetrap Most all the guides use only the top 1/3rd. Section of the worm to the blood sack and throw the bottom thin paper section away. I like mine hooked in thru the tear and ran out thru the blood sack to keep it perfectly in line. This prevents line twist If the water is slow you can also inflate the worm slightly. I use a size 8 bait holder hook which also helps retain the worm in the correct attitude Lots of different ways to catch a trout. Glad you had a great trip

Totally Pressure. Especially this time of year at the dam. Rick Lisek caught them at 30’ up the white today. Had over30 drop shot fish. From point 5 to LC Table Rock is a complete different fishery with constant fishing pressure, from May thru October

Nope, brush piles deep. These fish are really hard to come by. We went a hour without a bite and then it was just one here and one there. If you see one and hit the spot lock they just vanish. Just about as hard as it gets if your not a everyday fisherman or you get really lucky. Some of these fish just run when you stop the boat over them even prior to dropping the bait, you can see them take off.

File Photo Worked a Corporate deal for Buster this morning. He had a group staying at BC, pretty much non-fishermen but very nice guys. These were drop shot people and I don't mean soft plastics. Dam/BC area is more than a challenge no matter what your using. I fished 3 hours yesterday to get a handle and only caught 3 jaws. 2 keeps and 1 short on a 1/2 oz, Pig Sticker GPO with a Smallie Beaver trailer in Goby. 30' Surface temps 81.3 water is a little dingy. We had 9 spotted bass, all keepers up to 17.5 inches and 2 if you can believe it crappie. The crappie were a double out of a deep tree on crawlers. Most bass we had on any location was 3, the other 6 were one and done on 6 different locations. All on the bottom 35' Every bass, all 9 had at least 1 hook hole besides ours, and one of them had at least 3 as his mouth and jaws looked like he had a serious case of acne. The fishing pressure from point 5 to the Arkansas line up Long Creek is just insane with not hundreds but thousands of guide trips on top of normal fishing. This is not even counting a single derby. MY how times have changed. Looks like a break coming on Wednesday. Good Luck

Were in the same boat Wrench.😎 No matter how fast we paddle, one more oar would really help.

My best friends wife's company just had their annual and she got a 100K bonus. Gal works her tail off usually 60 plus hours a week, but she gets paid middle 6 figures anyway plus the 100 grrr bonus and the buddy says she was not near the only one that got that much. She will also get her company Christmas present and that for the past few years has been 20 grand. Our son just turned 35 and he has been making low to middle 6 figures for the past 10 years. He is single and probably could afford a reel or two if he needed them.. He probably won't buy one as he is still driving the car we sent him to college in. He is somewhat close with his money. Had a trip a couple of weeks ago and had a guy look at his phone and said "Holy Crud Jason, GM is recalling trucks for a brake issue." I asked Jason if he got a new truck that he was worried about. He said, " Ya, I just bought 200 new GM trucks for my sales staff." Right before I went to Alaska I took a guy and his 10 yr. old son. Last year he and the son went to the Super Bowl, World Series, NBA finals, Stanley Cup and Final 4 Said he had always dreamed of doing them all in one year and he could afford it now no problem. He lived in Rogers Ark. I'm going to say he was probably about my sons age 35. Right now there are a lot of people with serious money. Took an investment banker yesterday. He was my age and he said the amount of money young to middle age professionals from 25 to 50 are making is completely ubsurd. He said for the most part these are tech people, engineers, and medical field employee's and there are 10's of thousands of them just here in the mid-west with 6 figure incomes just like Snagged said. Lots of folks with some disposable income. On the other end, lots of have not's too.

Thank you, that seems to be the deal. By mid October that will be a super bite. Can you even believe how hot it is out there. Just stupid right now.

Lew's new reel is a 7.5 to 1 with a weight of 4.2 oz. Pair that with a Falcon McClelland JBS or a Finesses Jig rod and you have a combo of under 6oz. total weight for the entire outfit. 6 0Z..... For a absolutely top quality bait casting rod reel is simply insane. If $400 for a reel like that sounds to expensive for you, it probably is. Same thing I tell folks about guide trips or vacations or any other leisure activity or high end product. You don't have to stay at Sandel's Resorts, Big Cedar Lodge or White River Lodge, there are a ton of options. You don't have to eat at the Level II Steak House or at any expensive restaurant. You don't have to drive a Mercedes Benz or a Cadillac or put $70 to 100 thousand in a new bass boat or $135 to $250 grand in a wake boat. You don't have to fly first class or even fly for that matter, drive or take a bus. You for sure don't have to use upper end fishing equipment. I have people say when they price a fishing trip, "thank you but I just can't spend that much." I have others say, " I'll book 3 days at those prices, I don't know how you can do it that reasonable." Right now between Kimberling City and Shell Knob there are probably 50 lake house starts going up. That's the most new projects I have seen in quite a while. Most all these houses are 5000 sq. foot. and up. Got a buddy that is a contractor and he has a 1/2 dozen projects going on right now in that area. Most are coming in at $180 a sq. ft. Not including the 100 grand quarter acre the house is sitting on. He said all the ones he is building are lake homes and not permanent residences. He said his framing crew right now is one year out. That's approx. 50 million in lake houses and that would not be a 1 mile stretch on Lake of the Ozarks. Four hundred for a quality reel is not a problem for lots of folks.

That was a completely literate post. Huge Thumbs Up.

You must not have ordered much or you would have gotten a free shirt to go with that. When that happens you are truly a Professional.

Sponsorships vary in huge degrees. I also get a kick here at the lodge, as most of our guests either know someone or have a relative that is sponsored by this fishing company or that. Sometimes its a free shirt, free hat or perhaps some line or a lure and they are sponsored. They also get a sticker for their boats and truck.😂 Most true sponsorships are much more than that. They include free merchandise to an extent and merchandise at factory cost if the fisherman needs large amounts of products. 40%-50%-60% and at times up to 70% are true sponsorships and fantastic savings and discounts. Lew's Bait Casting reels have been my staple along with Daiwa now for probably the last 10 yrs. On the spinning end I strictly use Shimano or Daiwa, as the drag systems and the ergonomics are so far ahead of any competition that its silly not to use them. Lew's has worked for years trying to perfect their rod business and they continue to modify and change it along with their spinning reels to the extent that these products are there and gone. If you like one it may not be available the next time you want to purchase as it has been discontinued. I'm sure they will get it right as they are working as hard or harder than anyone to be one of the best companies in the fishing industry. They for sure have the casting reel down as their quality is in the same range of the upper end Shimano and Daiwa gear. As we have talked about many times here the number of bearings in a reel is probably the least important factor in the purchase. They quality of those bearing is the most important and one of the most expensive things in a reel that dictates the price to a huge extent. 4 quality bearings will beat 10 non-uniform bearing to pieces. 10 non-uniform bearing are cheaper to purchase than one quality bearing. Lew's uses top quality materials and their standards are rigid in their casting reels. Don't be fooled by the number of bearings in a reel. I will tell you Lew's have some new casting reels coming out in October that might very well change the industry. I got a preview last week and was totally impressed. They will have a higher price point in the $395.00 range but from what I have seen, worth every penny. These SP "special purpose" reels should fit most every fishing application. I can't wait to get my hands on some of them. Good Luck

I think that Eric Prey offers that service but thats about all I know. You would have to call him.

Thanks Dave, always a great report and lots of information. I guided and fished out of Shell Knob two days last week and the boating and fishing traffic during the week, was really unreal. They were wake boarding at daylight during the middle of the week. Was fishing a bank up the Kings throwing the bank with a WP. Not usually that close to shore, but had some intel. Saw a big deep V bottom boat approaching down the bank trolling and just assumed he would troll around me as he was moving fast. Nope, he trolled between me and the bank I was fishing. I threw up my arms and he yelled over that I did not own the lake. I mean this guy is trolling 4 rods which I think is not legal but the funny part is they all went down at once right in front of me. I'm sitting in about 10' throwing shallower and he drives between me and the bank. All four rods were hung on the bottom at once or a log. 2 lines snapped before he could get stopped and the other two I could hear just spooling the drag. I lifted up my trolling motor laughing and slapping my leg as he tried to get stopped and unhinged. All locations up there are just getting hammered. None of us know something that the other doesn't so locations are getting hit multiple times on a daily basis. For one thing that is the reason for small numbers per location. I was rained out this morning but easily counted between 40 and 50 bass boats in front of the lodge. I think some kind of a mid-week derby, but for sure just unreal amounts of fishing pressure on this pond right now. I really cannot remember this much after Labor Day in September. Usually starts a bit later but it has not lessened a bit here all year.

Fish, post a picture of your new boat. That thing is a beauty.

You can look in the menu for a color pallet setting. Mine just naturally has this screen.

They were back at it this morning. See my graph shots on Bobby’s post. Don’t know the difference in yesterday From today but the fish were totally eating

Very seldom do you see bass layer stacked in Table Rock like that. I don't think I have ever seen it. also the individual images don't look like bass to me Some shots from this morning I know most of these are bass as I wacked the tar out of them

Let me unmotivate you. Last 3 days I have had 13-11-3 fish with a total of 11 keepers. That is in 16 hrs. of hard fishing. Just to hot and slick. Time of day seems to be no factor. You can fish a location that you can see fish and they won't bite and then come back in a hour and catch a couple. Early does not seem to matter, except to get you out of the extreme heat. Yesterday when we quit at 11 AM the surface temps were pushing 87 degree in the lower James. Today they were about 84-85 This is kind of like really early Spring in the aspect that if you catch one you better stay close and hang in there, cause they are not biting everywhere.

Bobby, those don't look like bass to me. I'm sure there may be some in there, but I don't believe the majority are. I'm probably wrong. Pete Wenners has been looking thru an Aqua-view camera a lot in the dam area and he said he has been seeing huge schools of Gizzards and gills in that depth range. That school pattern looks like gill and gizzards or gizzards and a few gills. Probably a few bass up above in the column from time to time are also present.

Had 11 keepers yesterday with the best couple being at 3.10 pounds. One LM and one SM at that weight. Lots of other keeps in that 2.8 pound range. Only had 4 shorts. Everything on a 5/8th. GPO Pig Sticker with a Beaver trailer in GP. KC area 15' to 22' Bite was a solid jig bite unlike my earlier deal. Buddy simply tore them up at Shell Knob past couple of days on a modified Ned Rig with a skirt and a slim senko trailer. I'll try and get a pic. Ned was 1/4 oz. custom built mushroom head. Fish in 15' to 22'

Today was my last day on Taney for a week or so. Guided a regular client that is an excellent fisherman. He likes to keep his limit and is super fun to guide as he names every fish we catch and keep or release. He is an absolute Hoot. Some of the names he gives these fish is not for an open forum. My sides usually hurt laughing after he is done. He said today i was in for a treat. He would just have a very short time to fish due to some family obligations. He was only going to fish for 1hr. He got in trouble cause he stayed to long. I think he went thru the alphabet naming fish in about 2 hrs. I'll take that any day, but really we could have been done on the first pass after about 20 minutes as he had 4 fifteen inch bows in the boat that quick using a fly rod and the PW on 7' of tippet under the indicator. Off to the Rock to chase Smallmouth this week.