mjk86

Great post and report, those are some very nice LM. I cant catch a crankbait fish to save my life unless im cheating and trolling them...that said, this year i caught more fish trolling cranks (and at outrageous speeds) than in years past. I wonder if this year is a better crankbait bite than normal?

Im a braid guy, 10/2 or 15/4 for almost any application with the exception of horizonally moving baits (save longlined crankbaits...braid is a must for that) in which case i like the stretch of mono. Anytime I have to feel for a bite, i like the sensitivity/no stretch qualities of braid. That said i should probably experiment...as ive only ever used spiderwire stealth and power pro depth hunter. I do prefer to use a fluoro leader, although i have no evidence that it helps anything other than makes me feel better, and allows you to break off when you want. The pound test on braid is ridiculous. 10# braid will cut your hand off before it breaks, and it will last for several seasons without respooling. Ive used the same depth hunter on my trolling rods for 3 years now. No problems. Agreed on the faster jig rod, any vertical technique, i like the fastest tip possible, along with the braid you can feel the fishes brain waves as its deciding whether or not to eat it.

Great report and pics! Very nice smallmouth! Thats the most realistic craw bait ive ever seen, really incredible. A bonus bikini picture too... this is an A plus fishing report.

ah thanks. Im such a noob.

Whats a blackie? Great report. little fish are a great time on light gear.

When in doubt try Main lake gravel 20ft down with ccrawlers. also the table rock info is usually applicable to bull shoals. Although admittedly its an odd year.

We catch em quite frequently at busch wildlife while crappie fishing. Usually they are 10-15", although this year we caught several "stockers" they were like 5". They love to eat crappie jigs.

16 Keepers in a night of fishin is a heck of an evening...fish kill, Low O2, meat eaters, tournament guys and "fish transplanters?" and there is still a DANG good population of healthy fish in table rock. Obviously merc1997 is better at fishing table rock than most fellas but there have been other good reports as well. Low O2 is just eliminating the dumb fish, prolly good every so often. Great report.

Table rock boat traffic is manageable in a small boat. Just have to be careful. I have a 17' tin can and was able to fish kimberling no problem. How come Stockton has no docks, tr has lots, loz has em avery 100ft? How do those rules get set? There are literally no docks on stockton accept like marinas and such. Or is it just a population thing?

Vultures use their sense of smell. They are very quick to detect organosulfur (carrion) compounds compared to most other creatures. One flew close enough....got a whiff, told his buddies, aaaannnnnnnddddd its gone.

Well, im certainly no trout fisherman, but thats awesome. Never woulda thunk it.

According to precision trolling the speed does not affect depth. Its all about line out, line diameter, and lure. Ive found this to be true unless your bait is out of tune then it will spin up to the surface. What I typically do is start about 2.2-2.6 (slowest my outboard will take me) but I zig zag and pump the rods. This tells me if the fish are showing a speed preference. Ill speed up or skow down accordingly. If I have to go much slower than ill switch to the electric motor. If thats the case ill switch from a longlined crank to a bb.

Very nice fish! Great report thanks fir posting!

like crappie fishing under lights?

The bottom bouncer is awesome and the info on here is golden i aim for 0.7-1.2mph. I learned how to do it from the guys on here, but if your comfortable pulling cranks and using jigs and crawlers. Either of those will work also...see bob Bennett's report. Especially this time of year draggin cranks around faster than you'd think can produce. Last week on table rock I didnt get bit trolling cranks 2-2.8mph....sped it up to 3-3.2 and started catching.

Yup ive noticed that late summer gills stack up in "bass places" on lakes like table rock and stockton. Youl see a lot of bass reports like "caught a couple of short bass and a GIANT blugill on bass gear" when that happens there are prolly a group of em down there willing to eat small stuff the bass guy just got the most agressive one with a big jig. Pound for pound not much fights like bluegill! Love those things!

Get the most expensive one you can afford. Even then it wont be enough. They are great but dont expect your catch rate to improve significantly right away. It takes a lot of learning to see what your looking at and understand it there are some reallt great threads that discusd them in detail.. Humminbird and lowrance make all the models u need from 100-infinity dollars

I struggle with that thing man. Ive only managed a few dinks on it. One thing about it is sheer effficiency. Tons of time fishing zero time messing with terminal stuff. Say a lure gets half the bites of another lure but allows you to spend twice the time fishing than the two even out in effectiveness. Herein lies why the ned rig is so effective imo...it gets bit often yet allows the angler to immediately be fishing after a fish/bite/snag. No rerigging retying or anything just back in the water. Thats why im in love with slab spoons although admittedly it doest get bit like a ned.

Oh man id be too scared to use it. 1 pc rods die young in my hands. Especially 8 footers lol. Sweet rod though enjoy it!

Get a transom mount 12v electric motor. Idk what the biggest is maybe 50# thrust? It will last forever its cheap and the only maintenance will be a new battery every so often. I use a minn kota I got for 100$ like 8 years ago. Its perfect for a 14ft jon.

Thanks so much for the explanation. I appreciate you taking the time.

On larger lakes (stockton, kinkaid in my experIence) I find crappie post spawn through fall at the mouths of spawning coves suspended. They are suckers for flickers #5,6,7 and bandit 200. Plus as youve shown you dont have to wade through as many little ones.

Does this go for most Midwestern waters that jave been running way up? Is it because the fry have flooded vegetation which protects from predators? Also do you think the extreme water temps and lack of oxygen will prevent survival? Last one...why dont the walleye naturally reproduce well in the lakes, but there are small native populations elsewhere in ozark rivers? Thanks in advance for answering any of these auestions.

This is true...something about the tug on the end of a line even if its a little perch brings outs the kid in us. Plus....when table rock bass suspend over nothing, you can use light gear. 6ft 6in light fast rod with 4# mono and a 15" spot in 200 feet of open water is about as fun as it gets. Im glad that your finding the suspended fish. I was really really having a difficult time with that, only a few little spots and my usual locales.