Bill Babler

Bill, got me fired up with his report on the rock so I ventured out of Shell Knob to fish the upper White from Cambell Pt. to Eagle Rock. Tried to stay on transition banks and the first 100 yrds into cove mouths on the channel side. Fished alot of main lake on the channel swings also using the pointer and 2 different custom rogues. Cambell Pt. to Shell Knob was pretty slow with 5 fish and only 1 keeper, but it was a real nice largemouth, taken off the boat ramp at the Point. Shell Knob Bridge to Big M. Fishing fairely quickly on complete flat water with not a bit of a stir I caught another 5 with 3 keepers. These are mainly honey holes that I have caught fish on for years, that always seem to hold jerk bait fish. Some of the spots you would think that I'm the jerk for fishing them if you didn't know they held fish, they just look deserted and flat. BigM to Roaring river 6 more fish with 1 keeper, a really good one. I work lots of cedars and some really brushy pole that usually hold rogue fish but no fish at all from the trees, only heavy rock banks and a couple on honey holes on flat, flat gravel. Water temp at start 47.8 end of day 49.2 Of the 16 fish 11 were largemouth and I had 5 spots. All the keepers were largemouth. All fish were in really good shape and looked to be getting ready to start transition. Didn't do anything but throw the jerk bait, I felt I had a really nice 7hrs. on the water.

Long time client and friend Dave Mangelsdorf wondered down from Saint Louie to enjoy some of our Spring type weather yesterday. With Dave's buddy Chip Baker we started at short creek on lots of rising fish. Draw down was on with water being slightly off color, and for the sake of me I couldn't get those short creek fish figured out on the fly rod. Went thru durn near the whole fly box but they were zoned in on a size 28 to 30 grey midge, and I just ain't got none that small that I wanted to mess with at that time of the morning. Somewhat blind you know. and didn't want to go to 7 or 8X that early, you shouldn't have to. While I was messing around with reloading Chip picked up a 7ft. spinning rod loaded with 2lb. line and a 64oz. sculpin jig, and commenced to catch one after another. I thought AH, HA! Loaded a sculpin wolley on both rods and told them to start hauling them in and I would just sit in the middle and take off fish. 15 minutes later and without another fish I had, had enough and headed for the restricted area. Taneycomo is like real estate location is everything. All our troubles were forgotten. Fish were midging hard but I could also see alot of flashing and digging. The perfect opportunity for my favorite tandem. I loaded up both boys with a crackleback in size 14 for an indicator and dropped a scud in grey and one in mink under them. We fished until about 5 pm with that tandem and the action never stopped. Only 5 fish came on the crackleback but they are 5 we wouldn't have caught on top with a strike indicator. Numbers were huge with both men well over 50 fish, but the size is very disturbing. As most of you know, I have been fishing and guiding taney, for over 30 years and I can't really remember every catching this many small fish. The upper river is simply loaded with 8in to 11in fish. You can see schools of 30 to 50 fish all over the flats from Andy's house to fall creek. Catch one and a dozen follow it to the boat. Our top 7 or 8 fish were around 15 inch and that is pretty poor for putting well over 100 fish in the boat by experenced fisherman. Good news is that you can catch a fish about every other cast. shouldn't complain I guess. Thought with the new regs, we would be doing better than that. Boys, if you get a chance take some of these smaller fish out of the restricted area,as I know it has to be near capasity there are just thousands of fish in the lower part of the area. In parting, stopped by short creek on the way in so as not to let it defeat me. They ate the tandem like candy. They were still after the small midges but it didn't seem to matter, they really wanted the scud. Water was a bit clearer, maby that was the difference. Who knows

Duckman, Sorry I missed ya. Haven't been on the forum for a few days due to obligations with some sponsors. Would be glad to set you up if I'm around at the same time you are. Phil and I will be in st. louie this week giving a presentation at queenie park if your in that neck of the woods. Again sorry I wasn't around. Bill

Great weather the first week of the new year for taney fishing. River is really full of fish, but they seem to be the wrong size. Couple of wading trips earlier this week fishing the conservation ramp and down abit. Caught fish on a size 10 stimi. Dropped a 18 ginger scud under the stimiulator but fish liked the dry. Boy that's a switch! They quit on it after a while but were still midging, went to a crackleback size 16 and caught about 14 total. Nothing on the bottom sucker. All were extremely small, I mean tiny. Fished the lower section of the restricted area from Andy's house to short creek in the bait area using the stimulator as an indicator and swinging a 18 blood midge under it. fish after fish at both the midge and the dry thru the restricted area and all were again extremely small. Lots of silver bullets. Went ahead and drifted the dock side from fall to short creek with the same patterns and the fish size really improved with several nice fish in the 17 inch class. Had at least 15 fish on the stimulator. Boys on 1 generator or less, if you aren't using a dry as an indicator you are missing alot of quality topwater bites. Try it. To make the presentation with a tandem fly rig all you need to do is to increase the size of your casting loop, to prevent the hooks catching each other. To do this just pull down on the rod handle on your forward cast. By forcing the rod butt down it will open your loop and keep the flies seperated. Just before the line hits the water give a slight tug or haul and this will present your flies in a perfect seperated manner. Lots of fun with the dry on top. Humpies, Stimulators, and Irrestiable Caddis are great drys for this. See ya on the River.

Boys, excellent trapping info. Sounds like you guys have slung a little steel in your time. Trapped pro for about 6 yrs. just after college. Mostly Western land trapping. Did however stay at home and run about 200 sets a day for coon, mink, fox and water edge critters, Nov thru Dec each year. Special criteria for taney is you have a water rise and fall of about 3ft. per day. makes water edge tough if you want water sets. Also its no problem to catch coon! The problem is keeping them out of your mink sets. You can use no bait or no scent or you will have them. Spoke to one of my buddies that has trapped over 1000 mink on taney in the last 30 years and a blind set is the absolute only way to catch them and keep the coons out. Any hole and I mean any hole baited or unbaited will be checked out by the coons. He uses a tunnel set with a 3ft. length of 4in pvc that has been trap dyed black. Sets it at water edge or at a narrow with a 110 conibar on each end and camos it with flat big rocks to hold during rises. If you get a big rise you just won't catch them. He also said he would catch just about as many during the day as the mink work taney all day, so you are ok on the blind tunnel. The pocket will catch a mink if he comes by befor a coon can find it. He says the same day you set it befor dark, cause at dark you will have a coon. You can't use a foot hold cause a coon will still look thru the tunnel and get in it. Sometines you can put the connie in the middle of two pvc tunnels and be ok. Also one must remember that nowadays you can use no killing trap larger than a 120 about a 5 in trap, above the water. As for the coons narring off their pinkies the no. 11 double jaw has really almost entirely eliminated it. Espically south. Around lake of ozarks and north where it freezes every night the exposed pinkies will soon numb and have no feeling and the critter biting at the trap will keep working at it till its free. Coons can't think like that. it just happens, from biting and twisting. Usually the wrong size trap and unswiveled along with cold.. In this area using a double jaw 11 which is a size 1 1/2 the exposed toes on an unbroken leg don't freeze and he is just sitting there waiting for ya. When you are trying to make a living from fur, which I did, you can't loose critters and you can't make a career out of each set. Using an 11 with 4 swivels in the 1ft. trap chain prevents any loss from either bone breakage, twisting and rolling or jerking as he has no room to run and jerk. Drowning sets are great but take tons of time and make a mess of fur. Without a doubt they are the best for hiding your catch and dispatching it quickly. If your just going to put out a few sets and recreational trap they are great. Nice fluffy dry critters on a short leash are best, when your trying to look at a couple of hundred sets per day. Boys there is alot of outdoor woodmanship that will be going down the drain when we go. It's great to hear from you. Bill Babler

B. Babler White River Outfitters Guide service. How typical is that. What a great couple of days on upper taney. I have guided all over including Alaska and nothing and I mean nothing will produce like our little portion of the White River. Build the fly try it and they will come. Man it's sure fun. Glad you had that kind of trip, Thanks for the report.

B. Babler White River Outfitters I have really enjoyed reading your various thoughts on boat operation. As a former Water Patrol Officer and a guide of over 20 yrs. let me give you my procedure, on how I for the most part operate. First and formost, you must remember that you are always responsible for your wake. Federal Law. If your boat wake damages or causes capsize, you are responsible. Lets talk about Short Creek to Fall Creek. Extremely narrow, and very shallow on the South Side. On flat water if there are boats anchored it is very easy to go to idle speed. This does not mean plow, it means slow. On running water keep it on top. If boats are anchored during running water in this area they shouldn't be. It's time to move. Still be curtious and move as far from them as possible. In the short grass around Fall Creek, nothing frosts my you no what, by boats anchored in the channel on the South. This is a navagation channel and should be kept open at all times. Still yet, what are you going to do? Slow down if you have to and just bite the bullet for a couple of minutes. STAY AWAY FROM FALL CREEK DOCK AT HIGH OR PLOW SPEED UNDER ANY WATER CONDITION Or Phil or I will hear about it and it is just common courtesy. If you want a reputation as a bad boater you will get it in this area. Fall Creek to Lookout. Flat water, for the most part idle speed on the 1 1/2 mile stretch unless you have a jet and use the flat side on Point Royal. In the channel on the South East you should be at idle speed. Only takes a couple of minutes to get ot lookout. Don't worry about passing people to close at idle speed in this area, every knows that you have to keep in the channel, and If they don't, they shouldn't be up there. Running water, same as below Fall Creek. Let her rip but stay away from other boater. If I can cast easily into a boat that is passing at high speed, you are way to close if I am drifting and you are flying. Gosh, all this is, common sense. Lookout to dam, flat water watch out for the jet boats, is all that I can say. Have also heard some complaints of the drift boat guides anchoring in front of people fly fishing flat water. Let's just get along and move a little bit. The drift boat guys are ok up there down to lookout on flat water but if power generations starts they only have a couple of seams they can do any good on, and for the most part they beat those fish up so bad, that after a while its like throwing rocks at them. They are pretty harmless. As for speeding jet guide boats. There are only a couple and for the sake of me I couldn't tell you what to do about it. Is it really a huge proplem? If so, just in a pleasant way say something to them. As boat guides they have a lot of river they can fish. On generation, you need to be on top to get anywhere in this area again stay as far from other boaters as possible. As a guide it's my job and responsibility to keep my people in all the fish that I can, and on our stretch of the White River, ie Taneycomo there is no better way to constantly be in fresh fish than in a power boat. This is just the way this river/lake system works. If everyone would just think how you would like to be treated instead of whats good for me, we wouldn't have a bit of a problem. Good fishing Ya'll

Yes they are the same jigs. Merlin Olsen was one of the chief clebs. to promote the jig. The manufactor is Turner Jones formerly of California, where the jigs has been used for over 30 years. They are made under the name of Turner Jones Micro jigs and come in sizes of 556 oz. size 20, 256 oz. size 14 and 126oz. size 10 Bass Pro Shop used to handle them under micro jigs made by Lucky Strike but they were of very poor quality and came apart quite easily. Due to some patent infringements I don't believe BP has them anymore. They are completely hand tied and the srink wrap holds the hen hackle tail to the body. The eyes seem to make a different on the natural colors, but the bright colors for moving water a crome head seems to be the best bet. You can find them in any fly shop in the west or down on the white river. Phil also has them. Never use a forcept on them simply put your finger on the head and push the hook out. You can literally catch a 100 fish per jig if you are delicate with it. It's not sliced bread but it is another yummy goddie to have in your fly box.

When it's good its real Good.

B. Babler White River Outfitters Guide Service Gosh! If it was like this every day I'm sure I would almost know what Heaven was to be for me. Don and Mike from St. Louie told me that last years fishing extravaganva was good so the pressure was on. Thanks to the trout it was off fast. Drifting 264th oz. micro jigs in pink with crome heads from Andy Williams place to Fall Creek was out of site. I KNOW, I KNOW if you don't tie it you don't use it. As Phil will atest, nothing and I mean nothing will out produce this nymph on moving water. The micro is constructed with tungston, hen hackle and shrink wrapped and it is a monster. Used throughout the west it has surely found a home on the White River. Today many, many trout in the 12 to 19 inch range found it fasionable as foder and they kept on and kept on biting it. These folks wanted some fish to eat and it was all I could do to come up with a limit of fish under 12 inches. Not only were they biting the micro, but the 2 in. strike indicator that they were throwing on the 7ft. spinning rods were consumed almost as well. Man, what a day it would have been for a dry fly. No one on the river. Get Down Here.