Crappie on Monday

[Bill Babler]

I have fished Table Rock since the early 70's and Lake O, since the ealy 60's and we have just about reached maximum satuartion point.

At one time Monday during a trip up Long Creek, I counted 42 boats in site, all fishing the same patterns I was. Somewhat.

If you are a Tracker Boat owner, God Bless, but you need to take a fishing ediquite course. I was cut off by 5 different rig, pulling, no more than a couple of boat lengths in front of me. All Bass Pro Junk.

No, One,that really knows anything, fish's anything that Bass Pro has to offer. The Johnny Morris moto is if I can make anything cheaper and more worthless than WalMart and sell it for less, I am the Top Dog. Cheap is better than Cheaper, and someone will buy it, No matter how worthless it is.

A really good friend has worked in the sales dept. of Bass Pro for years. and commented to me, for every one we sell, we get 100 complaints. Johnny said that's great as long as we sell em. If we can make any disclamier or void any warranty we will. Just sell boats. The quicker they deteriate the quicker we can sell them a new one.

Our last year with the resort, my mom bought 5 trackers, we had always used lunds. The dam things didn't last the year and if it had been up to me we would have taken them all to the dump. Had three sink due to suckie welding and cracks. A ten year old Lund with no warranty is so far superior to a new tracker that it should be 5 times the price. Don't mean to step on toes, but facts are facts, and I have been there, on the commerical level.

I have never had a problem with a person in a Lund, Alumacraft, or Crestliner. Wonder Why?

I am just venting, but junk is junk. And anyone fishing junk is almost always a problem. If you are trying to get on the water as cheap as possible, maby you should stay on the bank.

Even my dearest friends that guides for Big Cedar, and have to Fish JUNK, hate it. I mean, just physically hate it. It's all about money. It is just what they feel they have to do to make a living. One thing to think about is these guys are using Bass Pro junk for free. Are You??? Are You????

Crappie were harder to catch and I am mad that so many 35 year olds don't have to work during the week anymore. I am just venting.

The cove our marina and resort was in on Lake of the Ozarks had 9 boat dock with only 3 fishing boats in the docks, when I was a kid.

Mark Mauss my best High School buddie was up there last week and said the cove had over 100 docks and it was just filled with fisherman.

Everything has changed and I am telling you , it is not for the better.

I am very perplexed. Sorry.

Take what you can get, and be darn proud of it. I am wondering how much longer any fishing will last. How can any species sustain with everyone trying to catch them during procreation. and trying to completely eliminate a species.

Let Er Rip, I know I desereve it. I just could not be sadder than I am at what I am seeing in the boating public and the way things have become.

[Tightline]

After owning some kind of bass boat for over 30 years It got to the point that every time I went to Table Rock I had a day like you had Bill.After a bad confrontation with another boat one day in June 2 years ago I decided to sell my Ranger bass boat and give up lake fishing.I now wade fish and once in awhile I'll go out in my buddys boat,but my blood pressure is much better now.

I don't remember any particular kind of boat being the culprits,it just seemed like everybody was rude and inconsiderate.

I keep hoping things will get back like they use to be,catching 80-100 bass at night on a June full moon in Aunts Creek in the late 70s or seeing thousands of White Bass and Walleye cramed in the mouth of Swan.

I guess I am just dreaming of the good ole days.

[Bobby P.]

I hear you! I have been fishing the long creek arm for 30+ years out of Twin Island estates (Beardsley cove). My Dad has had friends living at Twin Island for over 30 years and we always used to go visit them and I would fish daylight to dark. My Dad retired there about 15 years ago. Now that you have Big Cedar, the big state park ramp and docks galore, Chateau and Emerald Pointe (where they stack the boats with forklifts in that big barn) there are boats everywhere!! There is so much darn boat traffic it is just almost no fun. I take my family down for 2 weeks the end of July every year. You can usually crawler fish the main lake spots until about an hour after the sun comes up but after that forget it. I have a 19 foot Nitro and I remember the day a skier came right by my bow while I was crawler fishing the community hole at Clevenger and the waves came up over my bow and soaked my boat. Boy what a way to ruin a beautiful quiet July morning on the rock. I remember one time a few years ago I was out with Tim Sainato fishing a main lake crawler hole out in front of big cedar when a boat pulled right in on us. I will never forget Tim looking at the guy and saying: "Big lake isn't it?" The guy was too dumb to even know Tim was being sarcastic. I really hope people at least try to be a little more courteous when I come down in May and July. I only get to fish the lake about 2 1/2 weeks a year now and I have really noticed, each year, that the boats just keep multiplying. Come on there are lots of places to fish. Don't crowd people or rock them out of the water. Find another spot and give the guys some room.

[Bill Babler]

Tight, you and I have been there and I don't think we are going to get to go back. It just hurts sometimes. Wish everyone could have see those day's.

I am extremely sorry for my first post, but it is just getting the better of me.

People book guides and wonder why we can't produce as they remembered as fishing was when they were kids. It will never be so, and those that expect that are living in a dream world.

Our resort on Lake O, took 2 to 5 guide trips per day 120 days per year and never ventured more tha a couple of miles from the resort using 15 ft. Richline and Lund guide boats and 10 to 30 Hp motors. We always caught fish, in not only numbers, but size. Sometines I would guides for days in a row in Rainey creek on Lake O for Whites and would only see 1 or maby two boats per day.

Now, there are hundreds seeking less ammounts of fish, and willing to do anything or get in anyones way to catch ONE.

I'm old and its a sign of the times.

next post, more upbeat.

[Hunter91]

Bill I fish TR, Stockton and lower Taneycomo a lot every year. I have run into the same problem as everyone else people being rude while you are fishing even while fishing with my 15 yr old son we have had people come into a spot and cut us off as you say within a boat length or two. It kinda ruins my day and I point it out to my son and tell him, that better not be you EVER!! But I also believe there are just as many true sportsman that would never cut someone off and always lend a hand to people who's boats are broke down in the middle of the lake and people like most folks on this site who are very willing to steer folks in the right direction to have a successful day on the lake catching a few fish.

[Bill Babler]

Thanks, Here, Here

[bassman1308]

BB- Sounds like you had a bad day.. It will never again be like it was when i started bass fishing in the 70's. No crowds and an expectation of getting ahold of a big bass at any monent, which happened almost every trip. i think i can put up with not catching many bass better than i can deal with all the fishing boats & pressure. Talked with frank at kings harbor a couple weeks ago. He said he thought there were still alot of fish in tr, but the aggressive fish have been caught and the fish left are not as aggressive, and harder to catch. I guess theres no way to prove this but may be right. Fished monday at skell knob till 10:00 pm. Beautiful evening and not many boats. All watching ncaa bb i guess. 10 keeper to 3 1/2 lbs. A great combination for an enjoyable outing.

[Don]

Bill,

If I remember correctly, you had a post that was similar to this one last year.

Yeah, it's amazing.

So many people think it's the family thing to do by buying a boat, camper, etc. It's comparable to the golf boon in the 90's.

Too many times I can't get a campground because of RV'rs have reserved most of excess of capacity. When time comes, they don't show and we can finally find a site. Boats and campers have become almost commonplace that I'm still waiting for prices to go down on used units.

The mentality I describe (Lord knows I've been there)For example, I've seen a man fish a spot that I caught many trout out of in a few hours. The thing is, he gaught two trout out of this spot today so he isn't about to move. It's just the price we pay for the growing popularity of flyfishing?

I need to learn to share.....Don

[Sam]

Dang, Bill - that first post. Don't hold back, tell us how you really feel.

Re: Tracker Boats. I'll admit they're not the best quality available, but like anything, if you take care of something and use it right you can get some real good out of it.

The only "bass" boat I've ever owned is the one I've got now. It's a 1991 Tracker TX-17, and I bought the whole package new in 1990 - boat, trailer, and motor. I've made well over 1000 fishing trips in that boat, and that was by far the best money I've ever spent.

My boat has never spent a night outdoors or got rained on unless I was in it at the time, fishing. Over the years I've put in extra under-deck compartments, an icebox, wired it for a front-end depthfinder, black light, and cell phone charger, and kept it in new condition. I like the lightweight aluminum boat because I fish by myself a lot and it's easy for one person to launch and take out. Also, when I'm towing I can't even feel the weight back there.

I've never had any leaks or problems. I had to replace the bilge pump after about 14 years, but everything else is original and works fine. I was going to trade boats this year, but I finally decided I like my boat just the way it is - what I needed was a new motor. I replaced the original 2-stroke 40 hp Johnson with a 4-stroke 50 hp Suzuki. What an improvement!

The brand of boat doesn't have anything to do with the few ignorant or inconsiderate people you meet on the water. I don't like being cut off either, and I'd never do it to anyone. There's been quite a few times that I've helped other fishermen out though, and even towed a few back to the dock. I meet a lot more good, friendly people at the lakes than the irritating kind - the ratio's about 100-to-1, I think.

So far as overcrowding - yep. I was on the Chamber of Commerce board here for a while, and their whole theme was "How can we get more people to move to the Ozarks?". Well, all the towns are like that, they've succeeded, and the lakes are under more fishing pressure than ever before. It'll never be as good as "the old days" again.

Fishermen are like lemmings, though. If people want to crappie fish, they all go to Cricket Creek, James River, or Kings River - by the hundreds. That's fine with me, because the whole lake has crappie - just look for the same conditions elsewhere. I brought over 15 lbs. of crappie home on Monday, but from where I was fishing I could see 1/2 mile of lake in both directions and sometimes there wasn't even one other boat.

Incidentally, I blame THIS forum for the Cricket Creek phenomenon. I'd never fished there until about January 2006 when Phil started posting good crappie reports about Cricket/Long Creeks. Based on those reports, I had some great crappie trips there in the spring of last year - and I kept running into other fishermen who'd heard about it here or knew someone who did. Now there's been over a year for a friend to tell a friend, to tell a friend, etc. It's not surprising that there's such a crowd and the fishing is tough.

[Phil Lilley]

Incidentally, I blame THIS forum for the Cricket Creek phenomenon.

May be I should move to Shell Knob and fish that area, report and draw people away from Long....

I'm flattered...

I get blamed for a lot of things- just ask Vince and Bill.

Been doin' this for 10 years and I'm not changing, no matter how loud the guides yell (at Bill).

I really get a kick out of Bill sometimes. I type out posts like his after a bad day but most of the time I don't hit the "Add Reply". I know him pretty good, unlike a lot of people who read his grumpy posts. I love him anyhow.