RIP Buster Loving

[Bill Babler]

In the build up to that derby Buster, Tim and I had been catching them really well on the Rock on that little swimming minnow. That’s why I remember it so well. 

Flat gravel. It all started catching a pile of small jaws on Bull with the same pattern. 

It kind of all goes back to Bill Beck on catching big fish on small baits. 

One day Bill caught a 6.5 pound LM on a tiny bait and I said “man that’s a big fish on that little bug.”  Bill said without blinking an eye “I’ve heard Elephants eat peanuts.”

Charlie Campbell, Bill Beck, Buster Loving, JD Fletcher and some others. Real pioneers on the White River impoundments have pasted in the last several years. 


 

[frankie2969]

That shocked me. I'm thinking he's catching all these small jaws on a crappie bait. This was back before keitech swim baits, shaky heads. and the whole finesse movement. I'm thinking he was using 4lb test line too.

[frankie2969]

Ernie had some sticks that fished that Central Pro Am, "Doc" Seger, Buster, Mike Webb, you, Tim, most went over to Heartland after Ernie passed. I got out for a few years. Got new MRS. She hooked now on T-fishin. We kick it around.

[Hunter53]

RIP. Too many people passing away lately. 

[Champ188]

Never ever heard a bad word about the man. For a fishing guide and tournament fisherman, that speaks volumes about his character. 

[Nick Adams]

On 12/24/2023 at 10:18 AM, Bill Babler said:

Buster leaves behind 2 daughters and a son. 
Rest in peace.  Buddy, I’ll think of you often. 

Do you know how he passed? Is his family taken care of? Mortality sucks.

[Bill Babler]

All of Buster’s children are grown. 

[Bill Babler]

Couple of quick Buster stories;

1.  Years ago we fished the Homer Sloan out of Shell Knob. Derby got started late due to fog. It was back in the day you weighed in 10 fish. 

We fished around SK for about 1/2 the day and didn’t have squat. Buster picked all his rods up put them in his box and said we’re going to the dam. There might have been 4 hrs. left but maybe not. I knew we probably would not get back for weigh in but we were in his boat and off we shot. 
At the time he was running an old Nitro with a 200 and he had it floored the entire way up and back. That boat was a squirrelly as a red squirrel crossing the road. All over the friggin lake. I was a mite nervous and white knuckled to say the very least. 

We didn’t slow down till we stopped at the ridge running from the Branson Belle  to the island out in front of it.   Buster pulled two rods out of his box and said this is what we’re doing. “Just do it.”  

He handed me a spinning rig. with a 1/4oz. Split shot and a GP Fish Dr.  he said cast the S—-t out of it and we’re dragging to the island. First run out we had 3 keeps on the way back in we had 4 keep and the way back out we limited at 10.  This stretch is about a city block long. 
2 jaws and 8 K’s.  Had time for one more run and culled both jaws with 2 more fat K’s. 
Wound up the Nitro and made it back to check in by the skin of our teeth. 

We won beating Marty Conrad and Lefty by a landslide as it was just tough as heck that day. 

I Fished with Beck the next year and Buster won again.  Bob Tindle was his partner.  Fann boys came in second and Beck and I grabbed 3 rd.  I don’t think he ever fished it again.  Pretty good record. 2 for 2. 

2.  Either the first or second year the A-rig came out we fished a Winter derby out of Buck Creek. Buster said he was totally tearing them up and it would be an easy win. Only problem was he was catching them between Beaver and Swan on an A-rig. 

Boy’s, that’s a boat ride at 6 degree that you just don’t want to make. It was HORRIBLE and I was driving.  Bout as cold as I have ever been.  Buster laid curled up in the floor both ways. Some  buddy!   We were fishing A-rigs with his bait dejure 3 swimming minnows. 

Buster knows where there are crappie piles  all over upper Bull and we were going to run the rig over thru and around them as he had been doing.   My first cast I caught a 7.3 and we said this deal is over. Buster later caught a 5# LM.  Then he caught a 3 pound jaw and then I caught 2 keeper K’s.  The K’s were just keeps. We weighed in 19.15 and never sniffed a check. 

Guys that won it were fishing in Arkansas and using 5 Storm 9” Wild Eye shads.  What a friggin load to throw. I think they had 26 plus. There were another dozen bags in the 20 plus range. We didn’t even get big bass X3 as I think that was 8.6. Then 8.1 then a bigger 7 pounder. 

Day was just getting started at this point cause then Buster locked my keys in the truck with it running on the ramp. Got Becky to bring my other set and she got in a wreck trying to bring us the keys.   We both also puked several time riding in the back seat of a smoked fill truck with a whisky drunk driver driving back from Buck Creek, but that’s another story. 

Hope you enjoyed. 









 

[huntest]

Buster introduced me to Bob Tyndle and we became good friends and fishing buddies. Bob was a great guy to be around and a very accomplished fisherman He once had a Ranger 487vs like mine that he had used on the pro tour. Needless to say I let him drive and run the trolling motor. I feel like he knew TR as well as anyone. 

Fond memories 

[Champ188]

16 hours ago, Bill Babler said:

Couple of quick Buster stories;

1.  Years ago we fished the Homer Sloan out of Shell Knob. Derby got started late due to fog. It was back in the day you weighed in 10 fish. 

We fished around SK for about 1/2 the day and didn’t have squat. Buster picked all his rods up put them in his box and said we’re going to the dam. There might have been 4 hrs. left but maybe not. I knew we probably would not get back for weigh in but we were in his boat and off we shot. 
At the time he was running an old Nitro with a 200 and he had it floored the entire way up and back. That boat was a squirrelly as a red squirrel crossing the road. All over the friggin lake. I was a mite nervous and white knuckled to say the very least. 

We didn’t slow down till we stopped at the ridge running from the Branson Belle  to the island out in front of it.   Buster pulled two rods out of his box and said this is what we’re doing. “Just do it.”  

He handed me a spinning rig. with a 1/4oz. Split shot and a GP Fish Dr.  he said cast the S—-t out of it and we’re dragging to the island. First run out we had 3 keeps on the way back in we had 4 keep and the way back out we limited at 10.  This stretch is about a city block long. 
2 jaws and 8 K’s.  Had time for one more run and culled both jaws with 2 more fat K’s. 
Wound up the Nitro and made it back to check in by the skin of our teeth. 

We won beating Marty Conrad and Lefty by a landslide as it was just tough as heck that day. 

I Fished with Beck the next year and Buster won again.  Bob Tindle was his partner.  Fann boys came in second and Beck and I grabbed 3 rd.  I don’t think he ever fished it again.  Pretty good record. 2 for 2. 

2.  Either the first or second year the A-rig came out we fished a Winter derby out of Buck Creek. Buster said he was totally tearing them up and it would be an easy win. Only problem was he was catching them between Beaver and Swan on an A-rig. 

Boy’s, that’s a boat ride at 6 degree that you just don’t want to make. It was HORRIBLE and I was driving.  Bout as cold as I have ever been.  Buster laid curled up in the floor both ways. Some  buddy!   We were fishing A-rigs with his bait dejure 3 swimming minnows. 

Buster knows where there are crappie piles  all over upper Bull and we were going to run the rig over thru and around them as he had been doing.   My first cast I caught a 7.3 and we said this deal is over. Buster later caught a 5# LM.  Then he caught a 3 pound jaw and then I caught 2 keeper K’s.  The K’s were just keeps. We weighed in 19.15 and never sniffed a check. 

Guys that won it were fishing in Arkansas and using 5 Storm 9” Wild Eye shads.  What a friggin load to throw. I think they had 26 plus. There were another dozen bags in the 20 plus range. We didn’t even get big bass X3 as I think that was 8.6. Then 8.1 then a bigger 7 pounder. 

Day was just getting started at this point cause then Buster locked my keys in the truck with it running on the ramp. Got Becky to bring my other set and she got in a wreck trying to bring us the keys.   We both also puked several time riding in the back seat of a smoked fill truck with a whisky drunk driver driving back from Buck Creek, but that’s another story. 

Hope you enjoyed. 









 

I could listen to stories like this until I fell over dead from laughing. God blessed us magnificently with his creations, but he blessed us even more with friends to share our experiences. And when all is said and done, it's rarely the fish stories that we tell and re-tell over the years ... rather, it's the kind of recollections Bill just shared where things went awry (locking keys in truck, etc.) but left us with an indelible memory. 

Hope that makes sense. I just know that I have plenty of experiences that seemed disastrous in the moment but were howlers to re-tell years later.

Bill, thanks for sharing these memories of Buster. I didn't know the man well but these stories helped me learn a bit more about a darn good guy.