Bill Babler

This should go on the Taney Forum, but thought you all would get a kick out of it. There would have been pictures and video if I had notbeen afraid for the lives of the participants. Pulled back to downtown Branson after my Lilleys' trout trip to load out at the public city ramp. I saw 3 guys in the water there swimming around a boat they were trying to put on a trailer. I was afraid at first that someone had drown or there was another problem, so I immediately pulled in and started firing questions. About this time the guy that was at the control of the 20' bass boat shut off the engine and just flat jumped in to 46 degree water that was over his head. That made 4 guys in the water and a lady behind the wheel of the truck. I asked what in the Begeebers was going on and one of them said, " We are trying to get the boat on the trailer, but the current keeps pushing it off. Dude's, If I'm lying, I'm Dying. They had the trailer backed in so deep the crank was under water. I don't mean a little, it was clear under. One of the guys was trying to crank on it and going under neck deep every time he turned the handle. The guy that had jumped in was trying to run a rope under the boat and under the trailer to make it not drift off the trailer He was trying to winch the boat down to the trailer, as the boat floated a good two feet over the top of the trailer. It was just about the stupidest thing I had ever seen. I told them to get out of the water and wait a minute and I would load it for them. The owner said like He-- you will, it will take all of us in this current. I said take a breath and get out of that cold water and wait a minute. I told him to drive it over to the dock and wait just a minute for me. He said who the He-- do you think you are that you can do this? I said please let me try as this is a very dangerous situation getting in that fast moving cold water, with no life saving devices on. The lady driving the truck said "You all had better listen to this man." I jerked the AlWeld out and I heard him comment, anyone can pull out a metal boat. I thought what a complete Idiot. That flat bottom is just about as hard to load as a pontoon. I pulled up my rig and then, I pulled his Ford up till I had about 3' of the back of his bunks in the water with the trailer mostly high and dry. I asked him if he cared if I drove his boat on the trailer, and he said, " go ahead but you will tear it up with no more of the trailer in the water than that. Needless to say the boat went on as if it were greased and slid up and rested nicely on the crank. I hopped off and winched it down and pulled it up. The guy never once said thanks or go to Heck. Only said the current was the problem and it always took a couple of people to put it on the trailer. His wife said now you know not to put the trailer in so deep. He told her it was again the fault of the current. I got in my rig and headed home I started laughing as I remembered one of Ron White's saying," You can't fix Stupid." Have a safe Holiday weekend

Very, very nice.

Be totally surprised if it were Johnny's parked at CP, when he owns Long Creek. Yesterday I should have been off the pond quicker. Took one completely over the bow on Jump Off Island. Had a Wake Boat come by and it was a big one. You could see the boat from the way it was riding in the water that it was totally full of ballast. It was easy rolling 5 foot plus wakes. I got the bow in to it, and the first wave lifted me almost straight up. I got a small wash over with the second wave and the 3rd one came completely into the compartment over the bow. On a positive note, my carpet is squeaky clean now. Good Luck.

The 4th is and has been just terrible here. I will not even think about guiding the 2nd. to the 6th. Best to stay in the Kitchen and help Becky. Keeps my blood pressure in a lot better range. I'm on the water pretty much 300 plus days a year, and it is only a couple of times a year that I have problems. When its a problem you got to screw up pretty bad to get a rise from me, I just usually leave. The other morning was off the chart stupid. I think a cloud was following folks saying "Do Something totally Stupid today."

Bill Beck and I had a similar situation this past week. I did not stay calm, I went ballistic. Beck was about 50 yards awayt with his group, and he said he could see steam rising from my head as this unfolded. We have really been catching quality fish, and quite a few of them in the Kimberling City area. These fish are pretty deep, they are way off the points suspended over trees with the tops of the trees in the 20 ft. range. You have to make a good effort to get there early and to get your clients moving as this bite last from about 5:30 till no later than 7 and it is flat over. We have been getting up at 3:30 every morning to get around and be on the water with the clients by 5 AM to get to these locations and get ready to catch them. The fish have been a mixture of all of our 3 black bass species with some very nice fish up to 6 pounds. Long story short, Bill and I were set up, both with our boats off the point making long casts with the Dixie Jet, letting the spoon flutter to just above the tree tops when the first boat came in at about 6 AM. Bill's client had a fish on and this guy drove around him, threw down his trolling motor and starting fishing while sitting directly on the fish, not a half a cast in front of where Bill's client was tusseling the fish. When you run a boat over the spot like that you force the fish down in the trees and for gosh sakes, come on how can you possibly do that to another fisherman. About this time my client hooked up and I'll be durned here came another boat out of the same resort and threw down right between Bill and I and started to come and get directly in front of me. As you can guess, I did not handle it as calmly as Bill did. My first scream could have been heard to Shell Knob and we were fishing between the dam and Kimberling City. I'm afraid my language was a bit off also, as the "What the $$$$ are you doing, you silly $$$ $$ $ $$$$$ is still ringing thru the timber at the point. My client said I handled it perfectly as he said in Texas someone would have gotten shot or at least Bull Whipped for a move like that, to pull into and in front of people that are fighting fish. I simply told my client to reel his fish in we were leaving. I netted the fish we loaded up and I plowed 3 circles around the tree tops and two circles around the A-$$$$$ that pulled in on me. Bill tried to get away from them being much more of a gentleman than I was and the fools cut him off again. He made a pretty strong statement in their direction and took off for other parts. Not 2 hours later we are fishing the ned down a bank and I had a guy with a boat full of kids troll in front of me and catch my ned rig. How close if that. I pulled my rig and snapped it and I'll be durned if the guy did not throw down his trolling motor and start fishing within 25 yards of me. I just looked at him and he looked back and said "What, you don't own the lake." He had a boat full of kids and I had a guide client or this would have ended differently. Right before we came in we were fishing another point with the ned and a guy pulled a wake boarder right in front of me between us and the bank, and we could cast a ned to the front of the bushes if that tell you anything. It was time to go in.

I stopped by the visitation last night in Mt. Vernon. They had it set up really nice with pictures of Jim and some of his fish catches. Also had his Ranger hat and Jersey on his casket. The casket had bass on all 4 corners, I bet Jim would have been tickled with that. There were lots of people when I was there and I just kind of got in and out. Did not have the opportunity to meet his sister, but could feel her pain. All in all you could tell Jim had left his mark, by the amount of folks that were stopping by. Great tribute to a very nice guy.

Very nice post. Those are all good locations he marked. Topwater bite is all but non-existant, but they will hit a flutter spoon on those locations. Good luck

Anglers in Action, only took 15 pounds 10 oz. I thought the bite was very good Sunday. We had 14 keepers and 30 fish all on a Dixie Jet 3/4 Chrome. Best 5 would have been right at that 15 pound mark. Bill had about the same amount catching some on a jig and then later switching to the spoon. Talked to 1/2 dozen people working bushes and there is just not a bite there. Most of our fish came with the boat in 45' off the long runnouts or setting over timber on the bluffends. Fish seem to be in the 15 to 26 ft. range and they will just hammer that spoon. When you catch one it will have multiples following it. Greg Wood said they caught just a ton of squeeker keeps in the derby and at times it looked like bee's swarming around the hooked fish, so many were following it. Bill said the bite was really off today. I guided trout. Said the water is really getting stained in the Kimberling area and he thinks that will hurt our good spoon bite. It is also dropping about 2 inches per hour, and that will put a further hold on the real shallow stuff. Might get real hard for a week or so. Good Luck

Do any of you all have any information on arrangements, visitation or funeral home?

Had not seen the post. Denny texted me this morning while I was on my guide trip. Really had a hard time keeping it together, My wonderful clients asked if I needed to go in. I told them that Jim would never have permitted me to quit on a morning of fishing. "NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS." For the past several years, Jim and I have spoken at least once a week, sometime more. He would call me with a tip or to let me know how he was catching them, even without me asking. Jim would have gladly given me any location on any lake he had regardless if he was fishing them or not. Never anything but praise and never any controversy, always a true Ozark Gentleman. If I had a $100 bucks for every time he asked me to go fishing or asked Phil, I could pretty much just fish without clients for the rest of the year. Always gave me baits or would call and tell me he did not want to bother me, but he was catching some really nice fish either here or there and if I needed them, to hustle my clients right over to them. Jim was working at upgrading his equipment and doing a really good job of it. He was also working at getting his Federal Guide ticket. I will tell you now, he would have made a good one. As all the people that fished with him knew. Jim was the kind that if it came to him or you catching a fish, he would always be more tickled if it were you. Jim had been fishing lately with a young lady and he was proud as a speckled pup to take her, just enjoying himself like crazy as she caught really nice fish. I can see that big smile now. This entire board including the Table Rock board will never replace him, and Jim will be in my heart as someone that made me a better person for knowing and being around him. Dear Friend Jim, you will be remembered and will be sorely missed, Rest in peace Good Friend.

Absolutely.

From now thru Fall, Tom Murphy's Dixie Jet 1/2 flutter spoon is tied on everytime I get into the boat. Tom is just fishing it around boat docks and piling, and for the most part I fish neither. Especially in the Summer. Just to much controversy getting around these houseboat docks. No need to sit there and argue with people, when there are lots and lots of places to flutter the spoon. This spoon is fantastic in open water as well as fishing it over the trees. I am not a fan of the Mustaid Triple grip on this bait. I replace them for these reasons. 1st. it is a fish killer. I'm out to catch them not kill them. Quite often especially with clients they will let the spoon get way to deep in the fishes mouth. With the triple grip with its circle style hook, it is just almost impossible to remove from a gut, gill or a back throat catch. It is extremely soft. A White bass will destroy it the first time he smacks it. You really cannot put a plier on it or it will totally bend out and when you try to put it back straight it will snap. They also have a very week weld at the junction of the 3 hooks and come apart very easily. 3rd reason is it is just a Bear to get a hook in a fish with one for clients. They want to jerk. Tom sets the hook on these baits most of us do not. We simply let the rod load and pull back. If you jerk a Mustaid circle hook you will miss lots of fish as it hits their mouth on the bend of the hook. It you let them take it to long they swallow it. I don't like them. The spoon however is the most balanced flutter casting spoon I have ever seen and is truly one of the best fish catchers I have ever used on Table Rock Lake. It takes 15 seconds to replace the hook with one of your choosing. Good Luck

No. The jigging spoon has fantastic applications, and will catch anything that swims in the Rock, but it is not a drop shot.

What a difference a day makes. Have really not had time to post much as this is the busy season. Been going from one to two trips per day weather permitting. Most days up until the middle of last week, had been really successful with between 20 and 30 fish to the boat on a 4 hr. trip with some really nice quality LM. For a lot of us, fishing the Indian Pt. Dam area, last week stuff really changed. Top water just about vanished and the fish moved off the bottom and suspended. We do have a thermocline at 26ft. but the fish are deeper, running about 35' and not relating to the bank or the drops, but over the deep trees. That makes it extremely hard, as some days they will scream out of the tree tops as soon as the dropshot is in the water and other days you can see them sitting over the tops and they will dive into the middle of the tree as the DS approaches. Surface temps the last couple of days have been the same from the Dam to Point 19 on the White River. 81 degree. Yesterday I had Matt and Ross a couple of really nice guys from the North. We just flat struggled, no matter how much ground I covered I just could not get them going. We only had 10 fish to the boat. 4 on the Dixie Jet and 6 on a dropshot. Had a couple more that came off, but just not enough bites. It just kills me when I cannot get folks bit, and yesterday was a work day. Today, I started at Kimberling and fished up the White River. Same exact conditions, overcast with a nice breeze. They bit like they were starved. Over 30 fish to the boat with a 5 a 4 and two solid 3's. Best 5 was probably 17.5 lbs. and all were on the Dixie Jet. Jerry and Warren got to be the "Wish you were here yesterday guys as they pounded them taking turns." Not on purpose to see who could out do who. One would catch 2 or 3 then the other would run off 4, it was just as good this morning as it was hard yesterday. Wish I knew the answer. Fish are much shallower from Point 9 up the White than they are back the other way. Fish up the White are still on gravel runnouts, out close to the breaks. Lots of scattered and suspended fish in both locations, but I really believe it is just as much about pressure on the fish. There are boats sitting on everything from Kimberling to the dam, and up the White we fished without seeing anyone. A week ago both Beck and I were fishing the Kimberling to Cow Creek area one day. He had fished a big runnout and had not gotten a bite. I pulled in 5 minutes later and we caught 17 off of it. He looked back and saw me over there and called to let me know he had just gotten off of it, so I would not spend a lot of time there. On my guys first throw with the 1/2oz Jet, all three were hooked up. I told him we were hammering them. Just simply a timing deal. When the fish suspend this time of the year, a flutter spoon is the perfect bait to not only find but search for scattered suspended fish. It is also a great bait to fish for chasing fish with. Perhaps not as dramatic as the topwater bite, but fish sure more profitable as they seem to like it sub-surface better. There are some tricks to fishing a flutter spoon as it is not a jigging spoon, it is meant to be casted and retrieved. Good Luck

Very nice picture of the boys on the bridge, that is the best keeper you got for the trip.

I have seen this in every species of fish that I have caught, from crappie, to pacific salmon. It has to be some type of an injury that is sustained during hatching or shortly after. I'll try and get the run down.

Spoke to several really good brush flippers this past week, including Kelley Powers. He says it is not the deal. He can catch a few but just not the quality he needs. This water is dropping like a rock. I was out at 5;30 this morning, and it was tough. We ended the day with 17 fish with 7 keeps, but only had two on a top water and another 2 blow ups. All our fish came on the Dixie Jet and drop shot. I believe Beck had just about the same deal, with the Jet.

Have not had the opportunity to get up my beloved White River. Beck and I have been guiding together most of two weeks straight now and we have been fishing Rice Camp to Maybe no further up than point 19. We have gotten a topwater bite most everyday, and they have all been on extremely flat gravel. Lots of white bass and regular basses up close on these points. Topwater deal has been over most mornings, even with the clouds by 7 or 7:30. These have not been schooling or chasing fish, we just kind of have been fishing where they should be. Not had time to post pictures, but we have had some very nice LM and Jaws, up to 5.5 Catching lots of the LM on the Dixie Jet. Seems to me it has been way better than a Fin and just about even with the Spook. Great Trip Quill and Muddy.

Been so busy, I have not had time to post or comment. Just a deal or two that is going on with the fin right now. We pretty much have an off color water situation and have had lake wide for the past couple of weeks. In these situations the fin just will not preform as well as the chugger, popper or splasher type baits. Fin water with under 10' of visibility is really pushing the limit here for a wake bait. If you run it subsurface even an inch you might get a bite, but it is best waked. That is why the fin has never taken off on Lake of the Ozarks. Even on the Dam and Gravois end 10' is pushing the visibility. Yes, they have caught a few on a fin up there, but it is not the bait of choice. Currently the Zara Spook, and any of the Chugger type baits, mostly including the big chug bug are kicking the fins tail. You also can throw a yellow magic with stunning results, if you have the nerve to throw this expensive of a top water bait. It is best thrown on either braid or mono to keep this very lite bait on the surface. Of course all of mine have replacement hooks and split rings. Phil Stone and I were fishing a long run-out with clients last Thursday. Out clients were getting hammered by big Jaw's. I heard a boulder hit the water near the back of the boat and saw my client standing there with a slack line rod. A big Jaw had taken his junk. Well, it was my junk, a modified Yellow magic. This story has a happy ending, as about 5 minutes later my other client said, "look at that dead shad on the water right there." It was my Yellow Magic that the bass had so politely given back. Good Luck and keep your powder dry.

Ulrich is probably a couple steps in front of the rest, not only due to quality and very prompt service, but they have the biggest inventory of Mercury parts on hand at all times. Very seldom if ever do you have to wait on a part or parts to get there. Fred has them on had. Couple of years ago he told me he keeps at least two full engines of parts for every size mercury down to 90 hp. I know a guide friend of mine up on Lake O. that broke down and was told by two different Mercury dealers he would have to wait up to 3 days for parts. He called Fred from Camdenton and Fred had 3 of them on hand. Ulrich Marine Center 417-272-1851 or 1852

Well done Gents

Ab's you need to tell the entire story on the Big Brownie. Seems to me someone in the boat when we pulled on that particular location, handed two guys both rods with Swimbaits on them. What happened? Oh ye of little faith. Thanks all for the wonderful trips this past weekend, my job is made blissful taking fantastic folks like yourselves. Dave it was as hard as a starlets heart yesterday, I think I tried everything but a spear gun. I thought we might be in trouble when early they were not taking the fin and just blowing it up. Most of my guide buddies had the same deal. Fish were just a mite off. We fished some great locations and should have only had to fish about 1/2 of them. That was a very nice Largie, wish we would have had a 1/2 dozen more like her. On a brighter note, the daughter of one of my good friends has gotten her Masters degree from kU in economics. She has also gotten her dream job that she is almost qualified for. If she could only remember to ask folks if they wanted fries with that or to super size it, she will have it down and should be in line to move from the drive thru window soon. Got to get after them, have a good day all.

AAD, very good points, and this is for sure an event that I have seen unites either father sons or Brother, Brother to fish and enjoy Table Rock lake. personally I don't look at this as the participants being rude or really insensitive. Frankly there are just not enough places on the lake to fish with a tournament this size, especially when it is operated at the extreme end of the lake and also in a very small confined lake section. Folks, just have no place to go. The old adage that 10% of the water holds 90% of the fish is just about as right on as can be, and even fishermen with lack of experience soon are educated in where the majority of the fish live. How close is to close to another angler? Is there a boundary or a limit? Not really, but common sense and past experience on these major impoundments have set presidents on how you should conduct yourself on the water. Table Rock is a very hard body for competitors to read. It is hard to tell if a boat is going down a bank, fishing a deep point or for that matter just fishing deep. The issues we had were going down a bank and having folks instead of pulling behind us, simply drive around us and throw down a trolling motor within talking distance. On each issue I simply pulled up my motor and moved. This happened 3 times and I had already told my clients the lake was crowed this weekend but if everyone fished in a common sense manner, we would not be bothered a bit. I just happed to have an older couple that had fished the lake for years and were no longer able to operate there own boat, so I take them. The gentlemen a local said he had fished the Rock and Bull for close to 45 yrs. and had never seen people pull in front of him and start fishing. The old Codger and I call him this to his face at 86 yrs. young was ready to go to fisticuffs. I'm sure the OBBT staff has addressed this to their fishermen as it is gone over at every tournament that I have ever fished. If they don't address proper etiquette perhaps that might be a teaching point for in the future. Both FLW and Bassmaster Elite have protest rules. Something to think about. I really think the folks running this are doing as good a job as they can, but they really have no control of the participants on a once a year event. The only recourse is the protest or disqualification rule where if you are called in you will forfeit your entry fee and are DQ'ed. It kind of reminded me of the events that car dealerships used to have putting a huge bouncy balloon in the parking lot full of 1 dollar bills and then putting a dozen people in a 8'X8' space to grab all the money they could. Just a little out of hand. But Fun.

Just a complete ZOO out there yesterday. This deal might be out of hand. I got cut off so many times that my guests said lets just go in. We did catch some early Redfin fish and caught several swimming a grub, when I could find a location to throw it. I was out at 6 up the White and there were already boats on every point from Baxter to Campbell Pt. Buster reported that on some points around the dam, there were as many as 5 boats fishing the same point at the same time throwing into the same locations.

Nice report, wish I had time to come up and fling around a bit for those big gals. Got a kick out of the gin clear deal at 6' of visibility. We were looking at beds on Wednesday in a calm pocket here that had fish on them at 25'. Probably going to murk up a bit. We have had an even 7" of rain here at the Lodge since Thursday nite. Good Luck up there.