Bill Babler

Nice lookin Rig Wrench

For most of us big bite days are really sweet, but most all are followed by very down days, especially if we return to the same location we had the slam fest on the day before. Very, very seldom if ever do if fish the same location on consecutive days, especially deep fish. Just not a lot of profit in it. Give them 3 or 4 days and they usually get back to their angry selves. That's why the Rock is very hard for most of the play for pay guys. Locations here don't reload, they either move or sulk. You need several good patterns or really the same pattern in different locations to do well on this pond. Good Luck, look at something new today.

I believe back in the day, Shaw Grigsby had a 7 pounder here and Tom Mann had one. Both were in practice, but I believe there is official weights and pic's. I'm dating myself here as that was 90's stuff. All this talk about BIGGINS has got me ready to dunk my junk.

Weight is very seasonal. This time of the year and for the nest 3 months we will see our largest of the year. A hen completely full of eggs is going to have to be over 20 inches and pushing 21. We had several 19's last year and quite a few at 18 and they were knocking on the 4 pound door. Sumertime K's would have to be 23 inches to get to that 5 spot. No pun intended. That is a very Big Feech.

You all are absolute right on those deep fish, Don't mess with them in the least. Yes, Pictures are nice, but be quick as a cat about it and get them back to the Briny Deep. If you remember those toads that Jack and I caught last Winter, on that Ice Jig, were some of the biggest K's have seen it years. Don't believe anyone of them was close to that 5 pound mark. Several were pushing 4 maybe. I have caught one 5.1 pounder in Table Rock since 1976 I have guided over 10,000 clients on the Rock and unfortunately none of them has caught a 5 pounder either. I believe Beck said he has caught only 1 also and had one client catch one slightly over 5. Since 1965. They are in there and early season derby fishermen catch some. Mostly on the spoon, jerkbait, or the A-Rig. It can be done. I'm green with envy for those that get one of them, and then happy as a clam also. Gives me real faith in our fishery Good Luck All..

If you are catching 4 and 5 pound K's you are really doing it right. Keep up the good fish catchin. Have not seen that size of K being caught in quite a while. Gives me lots of hope. Thanks for posting

That bait has been used here with fantastic success since I can remember, and that's a long time. They would not touch it yesterday, but for me they would hardly touch anything. We only had about a dozen. Saving grace is we had two very quality 3 pound LM. Day before it was ON! On another note, be careful with that little bait. Those hooks are razor sharp. Unlike RPS, I really like the end hooks. They are mean and nasty

I can remember Danny Vasques when he was following the tour telling me he worked on one that had over 300 codes on it. I have had one on the last 3 boats. 99% of these are over rev.

No more freebies. I can remember the day when it was said one out of every 5 Rangers were free. Did not ever believe that one, but it was for sure a high number. Now, 99% of these guys are on memo deals where most have 12 months to either pay for it or sell it. Cost on the boat and the motor are usually about 20% under dealer or very close to total manufacture cost. Most even have to pay the shipping, unless they head to the factory and pick it up. Bo, advertisement was figured in. Most do not make a dime on their boat, as they just tear the holly crud out of them. They have 2 speeds one is full stop and other is full go. Most could care less about RPM's or hours on the rig. I have been in the boats with some of the top pro's and they look like you swept your garage out and then tossed the dust pan into the boat. usually just about every item on that boat is at a discount or a some type of a deal. Not Free. And then they can get dropped in a second, so they are always in the hunt for sponsors. Nothing is free even for those guys. The companies want your most precious thing. They want your time, and insist on it. Of the El;ite Anglers, I am guessing that really under 1/2 of them could do this without outside help and that is not sponsors. It is a very hard way to try and make a living. Being a good fisherman is probably under 1/3 of what you need to get this job done. Being the spouse of a tournament angler is more than a fulltime job. I cannot tell you how much I respect these women. They are not only home makers but more are business managers and go between for everyone and their brothers trying to bug these guys. My total respect goes out to these fine gals.

A 40 yr. old Marine Repair business on Table Rock lake with a excellent reputation for service parts and satisfaction should really not threaten anyone. Everyone operates his or her business in a separate manner. Kelly is trying to continue a tradition here and I just wanted to let folks know about the change. Did not think by doing so I would get a negative reaction to trying to help folks in extreme SW Mo. On a Table Rock Lake forum. Main jist was that all our MotorGuide and Lowrance items can be serviced here and we don't have to drive 50 plus miles to Springfield. I could not have taken a good thing and turned it into anything worse. I truly apologize for this thread and mentioning any type of LOCAL Table Rock news that we are usually not only looking for but begging for and screwing it up any worse. Good Luck

Not at all. And I very much apologize if my writing made it to seem such. What I meant to express is that they are and have for years and years carried in house the largest Mercury parts department in the Midwest. They are going to expand that In house inventory even further. Wrench, Ulrich Marine in this country has always been and will continue to be extremely reliable and reputable. The speed and reliability in which they preform repairs from the most mundane to the most challenging is accomplished always before or on time. I have done business with them for over 25 yrs. and have never taken a single repair back. It is fixed right the first time and on time. I have never had to wait for a Mercury part, they have always had it in house form a block to a lower unit, from a compressor to a electrical line. Needed an extremely hard part last Fall on the electrical side. Called at least a dozne places and was told everytime it had to be ordered or made. On a whim I called Kelly, he said " Shoot Bill you know to call me first, we have 2 of them." Bring it right over and your on your guide trip in the morning. Don't know why you took this shot at them, but I'm going to say it was my poor writing style, cause they did not deserve to be called any type of a derogatory name. These are great people that base their business on Customer Service.

Ulrich Marine Center one of Table Rock Lakes premier Marine Service Centers was purchased Mid-Summer by local tournament angler Kelly Power and his family. At a Distributors meeting yesterday hosted by Kelly and Atwood regional Rep Jeff Smith, and Lowrance guru Rick Lisek, Kelly outlined how he wanted to see Ulrich Marine (He is not changing the name) continue into the future. For us locals Ulrich Marine has for the past 25 yrs. been our go to service center for most all marine repairs, and Kelly vows it will not only be your get it fixed today location, but he is increasing an already mammoth parts department. Kelly said yesterday we want everyone in and out in a day and never wants to tell a customer, we will have to order that. Mercury, Motorguide, Lowrance and any of the Atwood family of boating parts and accessories will be in their showroom and in their parts department. Where in the past we have most often had to head to Springfield for trolling motor and electronic repairs, sales and service we now have it in Branson West. Kelly will have a complete line of Lowrance New Generation Electronics and sales persons to explain them to you. His prices will be competitive and his local downhome in house service second to none, in a continuing welcoming manner that both Fred and Janet had made customers used to and at ease with. He will also feature all of the new Motorguide products for 2016 that are simpatico with the Lowrance Electronics. Lots and lots of new and exciting features here with the CHIRP and 3D and how it relates to your total fishing program. I have been running the new Motorguide Xi5 for 6 months now on my trout boat with the gateway system connected to my Generation 3 touchscreen Lowrance HDS7 and for me it has career extending results for my guide business. The Motorguide X5 is going to do the same for my next bass boat. Before repowering or purchasing new electronics, take an easy drive over and visit with Kelly and his staff about purchasing and installing your new lookie lou underwater eyeballs. There is so much involved now with batteries and power and single one purpose cables that to get the performance you are paying for you had better have it installed correctly. With some of us running 3 or even 4 pieces of electronic units and power poles the drain and strain on batteries is pushed to the max. Kelly carries ProGuide and can fit the right battery to your power requirements. All of these new products will be available from Ulrich Marine. Sounds like an infomercial here, but it is far from it. We probably get as many questions on this forum about trolling motors, batteries and electronics than we do places to fish. We now have it at its very best in Branson West.

Both yesterday and today were good bass days reported by the Dam area guides. Lots of fish in the 35 to 60 ft. range. Some of these guys had bags in the 20 plus pound range and 50 to 70 fish. Most of the really good bags were on a 1/2 white or chrome jigging spoon. Lots of fish also both days on drop shot. Spoon and drop shot fish were K's and LM Others reported yesterday was a very good day for the jerkbait in the dam area on the flat gravel sweeping points mostly SM. Boat in 30 throwing in. Buster also had them pretty good reporting 17 keepers on a 3/4 oz. football jig dragging it in 40 to 50 feet. Just about the same location they were catching the spoon and drop shot fish. Those deep fish were not really worming much, but would lift and return pretty quickly to the bottom. No whites where the bottom seems to lift up, these were all bass. Guys also reported that shad were not present in any huge amount the fish were just positioned where they usually are and waiting. That is the reason there probably was not a ton of whites there. They seem to follow the shad where the bass will get to their Winter haunts and wait. Good Luck

Nope, Dave It works that way for both of us.

Today, I was invited to a pretty good sized meeting featuring some of the top distributor representatives in the boating, motor, electronics and general boat product industry. All of these vendors sell to both BP, Ranger and all the bass boat as well as the pleasure boat manufactures. By being the little mouse in the corner and keeping quiet while I munched on my piece of cheese I learned a WHOLE bunch. As everyone that reads me knows, I am not nor have I ever been the biggest fan of BP. Nothing at all against JM, I have meet him a couple of times and have no problem with the gentleman. I just do not agree with their marketing I'm kind of one of those guys that will pay a bit more for something that is top quality and will last a lifetime instead of something that cost less and will come apart, usually at the worst possible moment. Have nothing against folks that buy like this, I just don't. First I learned that folks in the industry are really not to sad to see this dynasty come to an end. Lots of behind the scene and late night deals and deals from 40 yrs. ago on a handshake are coming to an end. Lots of huge salaries, bonuses and commissions are coming to an end. Lots of under the table money is not going to be put under the table any further. Bass Pro may have gotten this one right. Some of the top Ranger Pro's that have been with the company since near or at the beginning will not be getting that cash in their Christmas stocking this year. Lots of changes and we may actually see a better boat company for it. It is my understanding that everyone of the top management people at Ranger could have retained a position. This includes the sales staff and all of the line managers. However the days of the 7 plus figure salary and bonuses were gone. Commission sales and high 6 to low 7 figure salaries were and are going to be turned into extremely high paying salary jobs, just not that high. When Brunswick purchased Mercury they did the same thing. Some of the Mercury sales people were making middle 7 figures selling motors. A 1 million a year commission sales job was turned into a quarter a million salary. Same thing is going to happen at Ranger. Ranger has always operated at a higher profit margin per unit than any other company. These guys were saying today most boat companies operate on a 2X margin to even at sales time a 1.5X. Ranger has been rigid on a 3X ie Material+Labor+Facilities+Manufacturing X3. For most of us this means on the X2 Total cost of production and marketing and then double it. This formula takes into account material quality in the price of production. If your materials are more then that reflects into the cost before the X factor rolls in. Say for argument that BP and Ranger are buying and using identical materials in their boats from carpet fiber to box latches, from wiring from the same companies to resign and composite materials from the same company and their manufacturing cost are the same, total cost of production the same. A boat that cost BP to build is $15,000 They double this production cost and sell it for $30,000. They add the motor and all the goodies that we want that they do not manufacturer, but purchase and they come up with a $65,000 price tag. Ranger would have a base price on that boat of $45,000 prior to adding the accoutrements to finish the package with the parts that they do not manufacture.$75,000 same boat, due to 3X They however do not use the same materials or the same productions methods or have the same initial cost on production. Ranger is higher. When you add this to the 3X profit theory it makes the boats quite abit more expensive than according to these distributors they should be. Bass Pro is going to bring that in line by better and more ergonomic production methods, sharing cost for materials thru all their boat companies and reducing industry leading commissions and salaries to a level that is inline with the industry, at 2X. They maintain that the quality of the materials used in the Ranger will not change nor will the quality of construction. In fact the distributors think it will improve with better management and leadership. I also heard word on this and tend to agree on the leadership as if what they are saying is true you will all know the name of the new leader of the company and it is by far one of the biggest names in the bass boat industry. Another quick point and I'll get off this mammoth thread. I believe one of you had spoken to Forrest and he had said one of his biggest sorrows was when Ray Scott went to Triton for BASS. Long story short. When Ray approached Forrest about perhaps a greater advertisement budget from Ranger for BASS, Forrest ask him how much money he wanted to make. In turn Ray asked Forrest the same question. Forrest did not reply. Forrest Wood was a very astute businessman, make no mistake about it. Good down home folks, but business has always been about business and both Ray and Forrest can agree on that. Now you know what I know or maybe think we know.

Only part of the time. You always hope that part falls on your day.

Guided Fishing trips are always in good taste.

Nice lookin Bait

Anyone with the Heart to get out there yesterday in that misting driving cold rain has got to be a lot madder at them fish than I am. Thanks for the report, you the man. I did however see several boats cruise past the Lodge from my cuddly big warm chair by the fireplace yesterday. Might have been more cause I quite possibly could have dosed off a couple of times.

Great info guys. Go out and grab ya some more jets, fish seem to think there food. On Lake O that sounds like a blast. Got a good friend that guides up there Big Ed's Guide Service. He has been hammering the whites on top water in the backs of the pockets early and late. Using a Chugbug, PopR and a spook. I fished with him a week ago and we had some decent LM off the front of condo-docks. The amount of Gizzard Shad in the backs of the pockets up there is unreal. Just millions upon millions. I can just see a wind blown bank. Bet they tried to take that Jerker away from you.

This is misposted and will be moved to the TR forum. I bet you can look up last year at about this time on the TR forum and find it.

Chunkin and Windin or Fishing up and down. Fall is the time to explore new Underwater Worlds. Usually starting around Turkey time, Table Rocks Bass start thinking about a holiday feast. If you are a chunker and winder, there is a place for you and if you are one of those guys that is all about electronics the holiday table also has your place set. When the Rock reaches that magic temp of around 60 degree these fish are triggered to put on some pounds. At this time crayfish and also both of our shad species are in more than abundance and are extremely active. Chunk Rock wind swept banks are excellent places to toss your WarEagle SB or your RK Crawler. Most any speed retrieve at this time will catch some interest. This past week, the cedar tree bite was on using Zara Spooks, Whooper Ploppers or SB's. Yes the topwater bite is still going. There were also lots of reports of fish chasing up Long Creek and in the mouth of the James. Main lake gravel roll-offs and long gravel flats where they meet the main river channel especially up the White River. the James River and Long Creek hold fish that can be either caught using electronics and vertical fishing or dragging big Football jigs. Start in 20' and move out to 60+ If you are a vertical fisherman like most of the guides and longtime locals, now is the time to catch big limits of White Bass on the jigging spoon. These fish are also caroling with LM and very nice K's. One of the local guides yesterday had over 70 fish with 35 keeper LM and K's to the boat, spoon feeding them. During the tournament last weekend some of the guys were having a very hard time keeping 3 pound Whites off their junk while trying to catch bass on the spoon. A lot of times this will really test your skill with the electric pencil. Instead of looking for hooks or fish, look for an extremely wide line on the bottom, sometimes really nothing more than what would appear to be a wide marker line. When fishing the spoon drop it into the line and just start winding it up slowly. At times the entire bottom with rise with the spoon. "If you catch one, its on with worming and lines streaking everywhere." Another method that is a real fish finder on these large gravel flats is the 3/4-7/8 or 1 oz. Football Jig. Start in that 20 ft. range and slowly drag it out to where the flat dumps into the channel. Make circles along the edge of the flat and drag it thru any ditches or guts on the flat. If you catch one, mark it and I'll bet my Bippy that he will have friends that you can get to check out that jigging spoon. Very soon the shad will start moving back into the big creek channels and either suspending or hunkering on the bottom. I usually start coming into the creeks, looking at 70 ft. and start slowing moving in. Again some times you see fish but most often it is just an abnormal bottom hump or signature heavy line. If you are lucky enough to see fish working these shad balls you are in the money. The deep vertical and the deep dragging bite will continue well up into the day and is not quite as time sensitive as the crank and wind bite. Folks like Bo are already on the deep bite and if you all enjoyed his video last year, the same deal is getting underway. Spend some time with your head looking at your on board TV screen in some of the locations I have mentioned here and it will for sure get your Holiday season off to a resounding fish catching start. Good Luck View full article