Illini Fisher

Came down for the weekend from Chicago and caught numbers but couldn't seem to find the bigger fish. Overall for the weekend, me and two others caught over 100 fish with only 4 keepers. We had a bunch of 14 1/2 but couldn't get the bigger fish. It was better catching numbers than nothing at all. We used 4inch smoke grubs with 1/4oz heads and redfins on main lake points around Kimberling City the entire weekend. Amazed at how clear the water was and the amount of submerged timber. Was supposed to fish with Bill Beck Friday but he advised it would not be a good trip with the huge gusts of wind. Instead he came over and marked up a map, tuned lures, and told us exactly what to do and ended up putting us on fish. Couldn't thank him more. Highly recommend fishing with Bill Beck if you get a chance.

I am coming from West Chicago which is near St Charles, Carol Stream, & Bartlett.

Yea that was the one post that I said I read about on this forum. From that, it seems like they aren't that popular on this lake. Just wanted to see what others thought. What colors in the hard baits are people using (Sexy shad, firetiger, craw patterns, baby bass etc)? Also, does anyone use similar crankbaits that are not wiggle warts? I currently only have 1 wiggle wart, but do have many lipped crankbaits that run around the same depth and dont want to buy new lures if I dont have to. Dtrs I will probably be fishing April 30 or May 1 with Bill.

I am coming down from Chicago at the end of April. I have fished this lake 3 times now but with Bill Beck every time. I am scheduled for a trip with him again, but would like to find out some more information before coming down because I will also be fishing by myself. I have been reading this forum for a couple of months and haven't heard anyone mention anything about using lipless crankbaits like red eye shad or rat l traps other than one post. Are these baits useful on Table Rock? Also I am interested in what color hard baits and soft plastics work on this lake. Any information is appreciated. I will be fishing out of Kimberling City's Ozark Mountain Resort.