Sunday April 7Th. Report

[Bill Babler]

Might be my biggest Table Rock Bass

Really struggled this morning launching at Old 86 and fishing Long Creek to the Dam. Still millions of shad and gulls swooping on them

Surface temp at 49 degree. I did everything I could think of to get a bite. Called all my buddies that were fishing and they were doing exactly as I was ZIP. Fished 4 hrs. without anything and tried everything I could think of.

Just got a dose of it and cranked the big engine for Kimberling City. First stop after I started running out of gulls and shad and I had 5 keepers on a timbered transition. And stopped several other similar places in the next couple of hours and caught fish on every location.

The Largemouth was 22-3/4 inches long and had a girth of just over 25 inches measured with Becky's yellow dress tape. It is the first time I have ever caught a fish with a larger girth than length. Don't know what she would have weighed but she was just about as big as I have caught here.

15 keepers in 2-1/2 hrs. after nothing the first 4 hrs. Don't even tell me that dying shad and gulls don't matter, cause I here to tell you they do.

Spoke to two other boats while loading out at the ramp that fished the dam and mouth of Long Creek. First boat the guys were at the ramp when I launched at 6:30. They caught zero. Other boat with a coulple on nice you guys said they caught about 20 very small shorts on a shaky head right up on the bank, with no keepers.

I will not fish this area again, till the gulls are gone. There are fish biting really well on this lake and it is a waste of time from Point 1 to Long Creek.

Good Luck

[eshay]

Bill,

Congratulations on a great looking girl. Any guess as to how big?

[Bill Babler]

My old Rapala was reading 9.1 pounds, but I don't know. Her girth was so great it was really just obscene looking. I have never caught a Table Rock bass that was 25 inches around. She was a clean as a pin and just unbelieveable fat and heavy with eggs. I think that scales may weigh on the light side, I'm going to go and test it on a 10 pound weight in a little while.

[champ187xr6]

Nice fish Bill!

[dtrs5kprs]

Stands to reason they would stay away from swooping birds, even with all the shad. Great fish.

[dougdean]

Are you saying to avoid the gulls? What is the thought there?

[Chunk Rock]

Thats a Hog!!! bass calculator puts it at 10.8!!! Congrats!!!

[Jerry Rapp]

I was reading something the other day, I think it was a tribute to Doug Hannon, but he had developed a different calculation for the pigs caught in Southern California because they are so fat from trout gorging. Bill's beauty sure looks a California pig. Great fish Mr. Bill.

[snakem]

way to go Bill

[dtrs5kprs]

Are you saying to avoid the gulls? What is the thought there?

Difference I think is between gulls working live shad and schooling fish, and birds diving on a shad kill.