Bill Babler

One is devoted to the Live scope and the other to 2D sonar and GPS

Here is one of my shad. ie bait fish boxes. I'm also running sculpin colors but the shad have been great all year. I also employ this tackle system to prevent rust and I have pretty much eliminated it on my hooks Good luck and great fishing in the new year

Here are some pictures but I'm on a new tablet so I may struggle here I'm running about 3' on 6# leader from the stationary swivel to the bait. Using a 7' rod. Medium lite and a 2500 series reel with plenty of drag surface as we are trying to catch big fish

That's way different than the way I do it. Mine is more of a chuck and duck rig or a modified Carolina bass rig. We are talking about dragging cranks here and not the traditional white river bait drift rig, which is shown above I presume. On the main line I'm sliding a size 12 swivel that is free sliding and attaching my small bell sinker or small pencil lead. I then attach another size 12 swivel as a stop and to attach a leader line of about 3 feet to the crank bait. I'm mostly using 3.5 inch and under floating cranks, with the front hook removed from the bait to prevent snags and to be much easier on the fish. My prior 5 trips including one with my son and 4 of those being multiple client guide trips I lost 1 bait and caught dozens of fish Works well for me

Precision Sonar 270-703-6133

No, and have not heard of any coming loose. I was glad to get the new trolling motor updates and the new locking system put on it as I had heard of several bouncing out of the cradle if it wasn't strapped down I just love the way the graphs can be removed for safe keeping during travel or storage without unscrewing anything and just the snap on, off feature.

Here is my setup

The 5 Fish head is really good, it would be fantastic without the collar as the collar splits the worm without fail. I cut off the collar and glue the bait directly to the head. Very few hang ups and great feel. I just dislike fishing that way, but love a jig. Who knows the difference. It’s all in my mind

I really struggled for 2 hrs. Day before yesterday finding them. Haven't heard much from Dock it this season, hope he is well. He is a great sounding board for the KC area. Fish, there have been deep fish here on the main lake on some of the flat gravel but by deep, I mean DEEP!! and totally unreliable. Point 10 and up in the James, point 19 and up on the White and 5 miles either way from Schooner in seasonal locations, but the shad keep moving so they are there and gone and for sure not everywhere Talked to Pete for a minute and said he can catch them one day and totally lose them the next When the shad move to the main lake they are going deeper. 80' to 120'+. I'm not seeing many fish on them till they get 70' and under. I've had some good trips but I've had to put in a bunch of search time with the rod on the deck just staring at the HDS 12 On another note, no deep cut is to small to check. It does not have to be a major creek arm. If that cut has 50'+ in the gut, give her a peek Good Luck

It is amazing the amount of fish that will approach your bait and fade off Thats why they call it fishing

The reality of this product is it allows you so see fish, structure and your bait at the same time in real time. You can see this 360 degrees and 75 feet from your boat simply by turning the unit and looking the direction you choose and the unit also reads behind you What does this do? It allows you to throw at fish and avoid hang ups. It allows you to present the bait at the best depth and move the bait at the best speed to entice a strike. I fished in a total forrest today and did so for 3 hours and never had a single hang up and totally hammered the bass. I have fished this location for 30 yrs. and it is s solid nightmare of trees. Today I could fish between or above them with no problem as I could see the swimming bait , the suspended fish and the cover Say you have a tree coming up and topping at 40 feet and there is also one closer to the boat topping at 50 ft. You watch your swim bait sink and then swim it back just missing the 1 st tree and then let the bait drop watching it sink the additional 10 ft. To roll it over the next tree. With out the Livescope that would be impossible. It is simply a game changer

You can find these fish without a live scope but it makes catching them a lot simpler. I looked for over 2 hrs today to find them. When I did it was stupid, to tell you the truth, I almost gave up but checked one last spot. I'm guessing I had close to 50 in 3 hrs once I got on them. Probably didn't have a dozen shorts with a boat load of just thumpers. Caught 2 on a Dixie jet on the same cast for cripes sakes. That's a first for me. Caught them on the jet, war eagle 1/2 oz spoon, 2.8 inch Keitech A-rig with only 2 baits. Long story, Spro fat fly and ice minnow. Lots of fish in deep trees. In em, on em, above em. below em and in between them. I just threw the kitchen sink for fun cause they would bite anything 45' to 75' deep for me today and really moving in the water column. Left them biting as good as when I finally found them I really looked carefully in 9 locations prior to finding these. Combination of all 3 of our BB species. 3lbs was my big fish but I had a dozen of them and as many 2.75 or so Never Give Up. Wonder who said that 😄

Understand but that lock is really valuable when tying in the wind and waves. It also saves baits locking the boat up when you have the old hound dog out I'm spoiled.

Really a good report with both shallow and deep water fishing Pete interviews Justin Mcclelland about current Winter tactics baits and presentation. Not including the A-Rig. The guys caught a lot of fish including some real Toads. Mike had 28 pounds in the 2 day event cranking shallow placing 2nd behind Justin. Justin had almost 37 pounds fishing as deep as 80'. Good information in the video about presentation that will help us all.

Buster Loving caught a huge one last week 1lb. 10 oz. 15.5 inches fishing for walleye. 4oz. Off the state record K-dock area. Swim bait.

If the GPS lock on that motor is like the Motor Guide Xi5 it will be 5X better than the Minn Kota for speed and sound and same speed but quieter than the Garmin. If your using the Garmin and see a fish while your moving and hit the lock, it slams to a STOP, that is pretty much the only time you hear a peep out of the Garmin. I think its due to a much quicker response from the Motor to the satellite and return than the MK. THE Xi5 is just as fast as the Garmin but I believe lowered gear and a bit smoother to the lock and super quiet. Considering an entire set up the Force paired with the Livescope and the Ultra UHD graphs are for today (probably not in year or two as this is a leap frog deal ) the current pinnacle.

I had fish both Tuesday and Wednesday that were suspended between trees in the 40 to 50 foot range with the boat in 70 to 100 feet. I could see them plain as day on the livescope, way out front of the boat. I would cast the 3\8 headed 2.8 Keitech to them and see them start to move up. I could at times see the small swim bait with my gain fairly high but saw most all the fish we caught. Anything under or slightly behind the boat I could see the fish and the bait in real time either on the bottom or suspended. I've been a Lowrance guy my entire life but the Garmin echomap ultra HD 126SV'S 2D sonar is stupid wicked. Pair it with the Livescope and you are feeding the fish by hand. On another note I have my range set at 70' out front and it is super easy to see a bait and fish it either above or to the sides of trees without hanging up in them. In 4 days of fishing deep timber last week we only lost 6 swim baits and 2 of those were on a dock cable and the other was a boat side splash down. I'm fishing the small swimmer on 4lb. Maxima, 7' Falcon Cara and a Shimano Stella 2500 series. With water temps in the mid to low 50's with that rod reel and line combo nothing is breaking that line and the 4lb. Is dropping faster than 6lb. I have been asked why I'm not sitting over the fish right now with them under the boat and Bo answered that last week. If they are suspended they are biting way better casted to rather than sat over. Bottom fish not as much Good Luck

No need to fizz them if you put em right back. Be calm and slow bringing them up. I don't often take pictures of deep fish, I try and get them back in as quick as possible. This might be the week this deep deal really turns on On another note I'm finding some schools of deep fish on main lake gravel run outs. Most often they are in deep guts, but there seems to be more than usual on the main lake Last Tuesday the shad were 40 to 60 ft on the maIn lake. Friday they were 100 ft out to 130 ft. Goes with Phil's taneycomo post for late last week. Lots of shad in the river and creek arms at 60 to 80 on the bottom

This trolling motor game is so fickle it is a complete one up right now. For about a 4 year span the Ultrex was the absolute deal. Now it has fallen off the cliff and has a firm grasp on becoming a forth choice. I will say I never liked mine. To heavy, to noisy and 3 breakdowns in under a year of use with a top speed of 2.6 mph. The MG's spot lock will be way better and it is fast and light as a feather to raise and lower. My friend and client last Thursday runs an Ultrex and after seeing and not hearing my Garmin he was totally amazed. Also could not believe the speed. We ran a deep cut in a creek channel wide open a shade under 4mph looking for deep fish. I'm sure the race will continue and after all, it just takes money Good Luck

Nice report fish. Was out Thursday with a friend and we had 6 nice keeps and 6 shorts. All deep and I mean deep. 65 to 72 most on the bottom. Lots of shad but nothing around them, had to have shad near but the fish we caught had to be a city block from them to get them to bite. White spoon and swimming a small swim bait deep was the deal for us. It takes a long count to get a swim bait down 60 plus feet 😁

They got hot. That's about the only thing that hurts them

Paul has a lot of experience catching big fish. Phil not so much. Great fish😃

57 degree at Shell Knob. Caught a dozen deep fish no keeps and 2 super 3.5 lb LM on top chasing. This was Tuesday. Think if I had to do it over I would just go back in every creek and look for swirls on top and throw at them. It is super fun watching those deep fish on Livescope

Thanks Ron. I bet like most any other kind of fishing these days if you don't have a live scope you go home a sad fisherman

Ron, did the guys you were with catch fish and if so how many and on what kind of stuff.