Bill Babler

She has to pay for a new knee first. She bought me a new shoulder last year. The second tooth will just have to wait.

I know you meant 900, but again you would not be running anywhere. Taney is 701 with the water off, so 900 would be river channel. Boy could we do a massive cleanup. First thing would be to take out all the crud that MDC put in around the dam, so the SM will come back out on those locations. Buddy was diving on a bunch of the MDC structure and said the only thing that was holding there much was bluegill and huge flatheads. Sometimes depending on the size of the structure there would be 2 or 3 flatheads that were just massive. Carry On.

Any of those Creek Chub or even Sculpins are terrible fish killers, especially if you are dragging them on a Carolina Rig. I know down on Taney Phil just cringes if someone is fishing Sculpins for Big Browns. You catch it you pretty much kill it. If your fishing a crawler on a drop shot or for that matter even a shiner you pretty much feel them immediately and a quick up set and ya got-em in the upper lip. I have zero problem with folks gut hooking crawler fish. If I use a crayfish or shiner on a C-Rig it is bad everytime. I stopped fishing like that 15 yrs. ago. Were not nitpicking or picking on anyone here, it is just pretty hard on the fish. Good Luck

Woke up this morning at 0600 to brewing coffee. By the time I took my quick shower and brushed my tooth, boats were running and I mean a bunch of them. By daybreak I could count 8 from our Eagles View here at the Lodge. They are continuing to run. Mostly and I have not yet looked out the spotting scope, but they seem to be wrapped and Power Pole boats. Whazz Up? Don't know surface temp here in front of the lodge but the last few days there has been lots and lots of gulls diving the water. Crossed the LC bridge going to town yesterday and from the bridge to Gages, they were just thick hitting the water all over that stretch. Did someone say shad kill? Lots of stuff to do here at the Lodge, so I will not be out till next week. If your on the pond keep is posted. Good Luck

Play Port is good. Whip Poor Will, you have to be dropped in by Helicopter. It is just a very hard place to get to and there are 20 easier places. If you don't intend to leave or go out for 3 or 4 days its ok, but if you need anything you are in a heap of trouble. Here is another one. Its Quail Cove at Shell Knob. I don't know about the pets, but it is completely remodeled this year. They have a pretty new owner and he spent some money. Might not allow pets. PP and QC are under 5 minutes from SK. So is Big Creak Resort and I know they have also spent some money on that place. Lots of quality resorts, but 90 percent don't allow critters. Another deal here is a VRBO there are getting to be tons of them around the lake and it may be your best bet. I'd check it out.

This is strictly hearsay, but I have now gotten it from 3 sources that there is a very good Jaw bite from Long Creek to Kimberling City. This has been a jerkbait bite on both Megabass and Spro. Best bait has been the Pro Blue Megabass or Blue Bandit Spro. Bite is right where you think it should be. Channel bank, transition chunk to gravel and gravel pts. in the major coves and creek mouths. Fish seem to be either on the bottom or suspended in the 15' range. Put the boat a full cast from the bank and they seem to be 1/2 way back. About a 15 to 20 second pause and just turn its head. As I said this is hearsay, but I'm thinking there may be something to it. Good Luck

Level at 8:40 this morning is 907.4 that is only a rise of 2" in the last 7 days, after a very substantial rain in the White River Basin. Looks pretty much like the Corps is going to try and maintain a bit of a lower level going into the Spring season. They are running 4 units this morning and it will be interesting to see how long it takes the lake to start falling again. I'm all for it. Seems like they are starting the year with a bang up job. We fuss at them enough, so I'm giving them a bit of credit where its due. Good Luck

Jason Christie had a good comment on it. Fishing is suspose to be fun. Anytime I'm not fishing tournaments I'm fishing for fun and I will throw it every chance I get. I'm not here to start a debate on it. It's legal and if you are capable of throwing it and learning about it, it is fun to catch them on. Folks always ask me what my favorite way to fish is and I always say the same thing. Whatever and wherever I can catch them.

I personally have caught bigger fish on a float-n-fly, jig and jerkbait than I have an A-rig. Not nearly the number of fish per day that I catch on the Rig. I am not opposed to it as some of you are. It is a fish catcher and it is legal, I just don't have a problem with it. If I can catch fish any other way, I'll do it. Mostly because I don't want to work that hard. Here is another deal on the A-rig, Just chunking and winding it is not going to get you true success with that bait. Ask the guy that won the tournament with it this weekend. It is just like ever other piece of equipment that you use. There are good, better and best ways to fish and use it. You also like any other bait have to throw it where they are, you throw it where they are not, they will not just mysteriously be there. I can remember when the Carolina rig came out and there was a huge stir on this deal. That was a time when I was doing sports show. I heard Larry Nixon tell Bill Dance it should be outlawed as it was a terrible fish killer as they most always swallowed it. Jimmy Houston was part of the conservation and commented that, "The Carolina Rig was for people that could not fish and that there has never been a bait that made more Hero's out of Zero's than the Carolina Rig." I can remember that there was talk about not allowing it also. Main reason was that you strolled with it and if you really wanted to win you let them swallow it. Plain and simple. Two of the most iconic fishermen on Table Rock, in the hay day of the C-rig came in every tournament with Fish Dr's sticking out of the gullet of every fish in their live wells. Don't quote me on this as I don't know, but I bet when Jim Dopp won the BASS event here and that was pretty close to when we started fishing the C rig that a large percentage of his fish were gut hooked. I was personally so happy when Dave introduced us to the Ned. Like everyone else I was using the tube and the C-Rig. Don't know what it is, probably the feel, but we hardly ever hook a fish deep on a Ned. Of course on the Crig using that loose leader you cannot feel the bite as quickly, and they just pound that slick tube right to the back of their throats Fly fisherman have used this type of bait for years using multiple flys and dropper rigs, yet unless your a purest using only a dry fly its ok. Good Job with the Cranker Hammer, continued success

I'm usually going to be $30 to $70 dollars under tacklewarehouse on just about any Falcon Rod. Trouble is with the shipping. I don't ship enough to get special rates, and it cost be about $30 to ship 1 rod or 5 rods. On the Micro's and the MMC Signature I can save anyone a bunch of money on a Falcon. On a single T7 if I have to ship it, I'm going to be pretty close to TW. On multiple rods shipped on the same order, I'm going to blow anyone out of the water. Also when I have my experienced rods that only have a season of use, I can save you money on those. Any picked up at the lodge or if I can deliver them local will be a fantastic buy. I currently do not have any pre-owned rods for sale. I have sold them all for 2016 Sorry. I will have some Fall of 2017, but they are usually spoken for through the year. Last year Falcon Rods were just about impossible to get from Jan.1st. till the middle of June. They sold well over 2 million rods in that stretch of time and to tell you the truth they were not prepared for that. I was really lucky and I ordered correctly and had rods, that people wanted on hand. I sold one fishing client 12 new rods. Some of the most popular rods that Falcon has took a huge price jump. I think that stemmed from the demand last spring. I was talking to Champ last week and told him one of the rods that I was selling last year for $179.00 jumped to $249.00. The Signature Rods exploded as well. It was really a sellers market with the demand for the Falcon Micro Cranker and the MMC which are all Micro simply going wild. Falcon wants all their dealers to order their entire inventory in September, and you pretty much have to, to get their best prices for the year. We can order throughout the year, but at an extremely higher wholesale price and Falcon always sells on a wholesale quantity discounts so its hard for me to order single rods that I don't have in stock already. I pretty much stock what I use on the White River Chain and a few additional items. I only stock the Cara series and the MMC Signature. The MMC Jerkbait special will be the most handsome rod you have in your collection, with gold highlights and the highest quality Carbon Fiber of any rod made. It is a very special animal. I not only use it for jerkbaits but you would be hard pressed to find a better topwater rod and small square bill rod anywhere. I have to have multiple usage. The only topwater I don't throw on it is a fin. The Micro Cranker has a softer tip and a bit of a slower mid-section that is perfect for the fin. ie Cranker. Good Luck and if we can help you let me know.

The BPS mono green is just fine. I would stay away from their FC. Personal experience.

I would say that is going to be just about as close as you will every get to what he's got. Thanks Tim. I will mention it to Buster, I'll bet ya he might just snag one of those to try. I will tell you, a man has to fish that short rod out of the front of the boat and throw the Heck out of it to get the distance you need. When Buster slings that thing, I like to be at the very back of the 22" boat as he winds up and sidearms it hard enough to hit the moon.

Sorry to say that the guys above me have spoken the truth. 2 and 4 pound Vanish work well for trout, they were standbys for years before some of the Hybred Carbon tippets became so fantastic. As you get heaver for some reason the breaking strength of the Vanish goes down and goes there really fast. I think it is not the tensile strength, of the line but I think any immediate pressure even the snap of a cast or of a lure bouncing off an object or the sudden weight of a fish is just about all it takes to separate you from your bait and what ever it is attached to. Have seen this for years and our old Biologist Bill Anderson can tell you stories that are nightmares of losing fish on Vanish. If you want to fish fluorocarbon line I have had just excellent luck with Lew's house brand. Apples to apples, when cash is on the line, no pun intended, most all my junk is spooled with InvizX

Falcon kind of cut their teeth on jerkbait and jig rods. It's how they made their first nickel and it is still what keeps John Beckwith in spending money. This is their 27th. year in the rod business. They make 2 different Jerkbait rods at most every level from Origional to Bucoo, to LowRider, to Cara to the MMC signature that is their flagship rod. Every level increases in performance and quality. It is also weight management as each step reduces weight and increases sensitivity, and cost of components. I keep on hand two different models. I just cannot keep them all and to tell you the truth, 99% of the calls I get are for the Cara T7 and the MMC Signature. MMC-5F-168M Jerkbait Special MH-F-12 guides 1/4 to 3/4- 6'8" Mike McClelland Signature CCB-4-165JBS Jerkbait Special M-MF-9-guides 1/4 to 1/2- 6'5" Cara T7 Of course sorry to say, even with my discounts and the prices I sell for which are the lowest anywhere and even with my pre-owned prices. I usually just use them 1 season and completely change all my rods out and sell them full warranty and discount, but unfortunately I'm way over your $100.00 limit. The T7 I would hazard to say has probably caught more jerkbait fish than every other specialty Jerkbait rod by every company making rods combined. Only competition would probably be the very high quality St. Croix rod company and then you would have to spread it out over their entire line from Premier to Legend and that would probably not even be close.

Hear is the deal with the rods Buster uses. He has 3 different rods, and none of them are available for his clients, They are all as old as we are, kind of like Snakes deal. His favorite is a custom build 5'6" pistol grip made by the Rod Shope in KC. Tom Knox made it for him about 15 yrs. ago. Next in line is a 5'8" pistol grip glass rod that is a bionic blade no longer made by Bass Pro. His third is a Castaway 5'10" short cork grip. He says he does not know if it is still made. He doesn't think so. He will at times let his very best repeat clients use the Castaway. That's why he is very protective of his stuff, as it is not replaceable. Buster is not very tall, kind of like me and he needs the shorter rods. Buster is a downward jerker. He believes this contributes to his success in that he is able to get the bait maybe a foot or two deeper, QUICKER. He wants it at depth quickly and to remain there. He will start each presentation with between 5 and 8 extremely hard downward jerks and they are "Violent." Most all his walleye fishing is done in extremely cold weather and he likes the feel of the pistol and the warmth of it on the cold days. Now you know the rest of the story.

I'm thinking a scoop shovel

IF you wouldn't try to put a gallon in a quart bottle you wouldn't have that problem Donna looked dressed for it. After yesterday I'm not that mad at them for a while. Took me 15 minutes to get my boat off the trailer as it was frozen to the bunks.

I really like the original Alabama Rig, but they are just out of my price range. I could probably get a deal on them being a guide, but I'm sure it would only be 50% and the durn things are $25.00 each. It has a center wire that is fully 3 inches longer than the others and it's really made perfect. I just like the feel and the looks of it. On guide trips I will usually lose 1 or two a day. That is on the client as I do furnish them but if you lose it you buy it. Same with Megabass jerkbaits. I do give everyone the alternative of using each of those products, it's their option, and they understand that prior to throwing them. In all these years I have only had one client balk and said he did not want to throw the megabass. I put on a Spro Blue Bandit for him and of course he smoked his buddy. They were both on the bandit in about an hour. That's the way it is some days.

It was not Chilly, it was freezing. I had a guide trip for Phil yesterday. We started downtown to keep out of the way of the tournament boys and got on the water at 11 AM. I was the only boat at the downtown ramp. Had to let the boat sit on the trailer in the water for 15 minutes as it was frozen to the trailer. It was 14 degree at 11 in the morning. I had 4 really nice guys that were all dressed correctly and we had a decent day. Mostly fly fished and used the Berkley Power worm under an indicator. Had 21 rainbows to the boat, and probably missed the same amount, mostly in the Monkey Island area. Size was really good 13 plus inchers, with the best at 16 inches. Our line was still freezing thru the guides at 2 PM. When we ended at 3 PM it was 34 degree. I know my boat is frozen big time now, but its going to get to 60 mid week here and that ought to thaw things out.

Personally you cannot really beat the Flash Mob and the Flash Mob Jr. I caught them this Fall at Walmart in the discount bin and paid $5.99 a piece and bought 20 of them. Guess I should have bought them all, but they had a bunch. I think they usually sell for 11 dollars. Walmart is really funny. I was there last Spring looking for them and everytime I went they were sold out. They said they had a huge shipment coming. My question is why in the HE double HECK would you just not put them in the back and sell them in the Spring when they are hot. Nope you got to sell them cheap now and then not have any next Spring. I bet Sam Walton would have really liked my advice. Rig bite has not been as strong on the Rock as it has on both Beaver and Bull. Bull has by far been the best. Don't know why, those 3 ponds are usually apples to apples, especially with TR being in the middle. I spent 2 full days with the floater and the Rig on the Rock and it was hard. Floater was hard on Bull but they Gulped the Rig. Good Luck

That would be my guess too.

I have 2 Okuma Steelhead 11footers that I fish the float-n-fly on and they are just super. I have tried the reels, BUT. On any spinning reel, I'm just to the point that if it doesn't say either Shimano or Daiwa on it, it stays on the shelf.

Dude, way beyond the call. There you go boys, everyone is wanting something else and here it is. Probably one of the best written articles I have seen posted on this site. I can remember when Eric posted this and there was no such thing as a A-Rig. Pretty much way before its time. About that time Mike McCelland was fishing a similar 2 bait rig with Storm Wild Eye Shad. Beck and I used it to win a Big Derby. I think it was 5 or 6 yrs. ago, maybe more. The beauty of Eric's rig is you can fish this on much lighter tackle, even a spinning rig. As he pointed out it is also pretty durn weedless. On the Wild Eye Shad deal you still need a pretty heavy rod. Thanks Eric

? Did you mean the spinning rods? Shipping is no charge with the purchase of the A-Rig outfit. I'll just throw them in the tube together.

JJ Junction carries 91 octane with zero E. 86 and JJ just past Blue Eye headed for Big Cedar.