Teddy

Well, I have to tell you that we had 10 boats in our bass club. That is 20 guys, so about 6k spent that weekend (your math of $3,000 was wrong). I asked the lodge owner what impact his business would have, if the tournaments and clubs would not book through him. He told me that they accounted for about 40% of his bookings. I don't claim to be the smartest person, however, I own a business and if I lost 40% of my business it would hurt. The fact is that these tournaments and club event help your local economy and provide a great tax base for your schools. I am not calling anyone hillbillies, but you don't seem very smart, if you don't think this helps. We stopped at the gas station 2x's, ate at the OO saloon, bought gas on the lake, shopped at a local grocery store, stayed at a lodge. HMMM..... By the way, the picture below was from that Sunday. My brother and I fished in 20mph winds in a sleet storm. We managed a limit. It was nice being able to pull them out of the well at the end of the day and show what we did. We took second because another boat caught a 5+ and 4+ pounder. It was also very nice seeing the fish they caught. The fish were released in the water behind the picture. I believe in conservation, enjoyment of the world God gave us. This is what my brother and I took part in that weekend. We will have the memories of our fingers freezing while catching a limit for weigh in on TR lake for the rest of our lives. You guys need to get over the idea of weigh-in's. There not going away anytime soon. And you should be glad for it, your economies and schools are better for it!

I am coming down tomorrow to be in a club tournament. There will only be 10 boats in the tournament. I am guessing that each guy will spend between $200-$400 on our fun weekend. You are crazy if you think that club tourney's and the big ones don't help the local economy. I agree with tjm, I enjoy getting away from the stresses of life and just being on the lake. The last thing you local residents want is to push away the fishing tourist due to your obnoxious view on live wells.

Wow, you all have more time than I. I have not read all the comments, however, I just think this is a silly conversation. We all have a sinful nature, cheating would happen. Money makes the world go round. The TR community is in a better place because of Tournament fishing. The economy is far better off with tournament fishing, whether it be clubs or the big tourneys. I love the outdoors. I release most my fish instantly after I catch them, however, when I go fishing with my children we eat them. I feel this helps plant a seed in them the success of a good day fishing. When I am in a tournament I will drive them all day and weight them in. When I go deer hunting with my boys we will eat the loins the same day we killed the deer. Again, it plants that seed. I can promise you one thing. TR is a very tough lake to fish successfully, and the population is not going to be damaged so bad that there are not any bass, due to transport. And if this happens, the MDC can add fish to the population. We live in a commercialized money driven world, this is not going to slow down. That is a good thing for all the lodge owners, boat repair companies, eateries, grocery stores, tackle shops, etc... you get my point. Like it or not, you want the big tourneys. It keeps the economy humming!!!!

Best advise I can give anyone is 'don't buy new'. Especially with sports cars and boats. It is not very hard to find a 10 year old bass rig with very low hours. Most people don't use their boat more than 10 times a year. Boats are very expensive. The average nice bass rig goes for more that what most people make in a year. You can get a very nice used boat for 1/3 or 1/4 of the cost of a new one. Just my 2 cents!

What color wart?

color of water, and color of spinner bait?

I come down every spring, normally about the same time you will be down. Sometimes it is a shad bite, sometimes it crawfish bite, rarely are both really good. Your first task is to figure that out. Once you figure this out look to the suggestions in this forum. This has always suited me the best. My experience is that the Rock is harder than most lakes, however if you take your time with your presentation you will get bit. With this rain you may not find clear water, if you do go with lighter line, Flourocarbon is a must. All that said, the Rock is the most beautiful body of water I have ever fished. I always enjoy the time on it, whether I catch a bunch or not. I am sure you will have a great time.

I would recommend that you use 6# Fluro on your light line/spinning rod, and 10# Fluro on your slow presentation baitcaster. I always have a baitcaster with 15# mono for top water or a reaction bait. I use Berkley Vanish Transition line and have never had a problem with it, however, if the line gets stretched I always retie.

Water was very clear and yes the blades were painted. Here is a picture of my bait... I would not think it would work in clear water, however it worked great!

Fished Thursday through Saturday and fished around KC area. Yesterday I had my best day ever on the rock, caught 7 keepers, best 5 would have been about 14 pounds, Best was 5.5 pounds. Had a mix of LM, spots and browns. exclusively used a Strike King Pro .38 in red shad. Most caught in less than 5 feet of water. I Just love the Rock!!!

Thanks for all the accolades. I was just looking to help others. The only bsit we could catch them on was a PBJ jig with green craw trailer.

otsi=SANR.htm Here is a picture, and by the way. I did not meen that it was the best day ever in all of history. I meant it was the best day on LOZ for me. I am not sure how to just have my picture show up. We did take second in a 52 boat tourney....

On Saturday my brother and I fished for about 7 hours. We caught about 40 bass with 8 keepers. Our best five were 14 pounds. We fished from 40mm to 44mm. We used a pbj jig with watermelon craw trailer in 2-6 foot of water.

I will be down the week of may 28th. I have not had much luck bass fishing. I know the crappie fishing most post, however, I would appreciate any guidance. I will be fishing from mm 30 to mm 45. Thanks, Teddy

I will be coming down tomorrow and was wondering if you all know what patterns and baits were used by the elites. I know that many of you watched them on the lake. Thanks, Teddy

After seeing the elites number I think that the Cape Fair tourney is BS. Guess I should be happy to boat a few. I did not realize how tough TableRock is. Will be there in 5 days.

Thank you for your insights!!!!

Mr Babler, I am confused by what you are saying. Your quotes: 'When you come to Table Rock you come to TRY and catch fish. Take the best information available and develop patterns from it and feel durn good when you put one in the boat.' 'Jim had a good day, boating 16 spotted bass mostly in the 14 to 16 inch range with 3 of them just being toads. .... Total for us for the day was 32 fish counting the 3 late ones I caught' 32 bass with half as keeper and 3 that were toads. I may not have your skills, I was just wanting help in having a day similar to the slow day you had on the 30th. With Respect, Teddy

Mr Babler, I respect you very much. I watch this website and many times see folks catching lots of fish. You make the arguement that if you catch one fish you should be happy. Here is a post that was on this website today: From the Cape Fair Marina Facebook page: You may have heard the new song that that says "this girl is on fire, well it applies so well to yesterdays Sunday Open bass tournament and we can say "this Rock is on Fire." Table Rock lake is on fire. What I'm about to put down from Sunday's score sheet is just awesome!!! We had twenty five boats along with some of the finest fisherman all fired up and ready to go fishing and the fog was so bad that you couldn't see the fellow you were talking to if you was outside. I finally got the boats out at 9:15 that morning and told the guys that weigh-in time would be changed tp 4:00 p.m. and reminded them that this tournament was a 4 bass limit and the marina cove is off limits and please be careful. I also teased them a bit by offering them $50.00 extra above the big bass pot if anybody could bring in a 9 pound bass today and boy did I think I was going to have to pay up. Remember this is a four bass limit and first place went to the team of Mike Sisco and Alan Muenks with 4 bass that weighed 19.78 pounds. That also got them the big stringer side pot and some good pocket change. Mike was just sick because they were culling 3 and 4 pound bass hunting for that big bass. 2nd place went to Brian Thompson and Talia Smith with 4 bass that weighed 19.68 pounds (you can't much closer to first place then this) 3rd place went to Gary Willis and Anthony Willis with 4 bass that weighed 19.06 pounds. 4th place went to the team of Shawn Freeman and Josh Busby with 4 bass that weighed 18.58 pounds. 5th place and big bass and big bass side pot went to James Kilgore and Robert Siegart with 4 bass that weighed 16.70 pounds. Their big bass weighed 7.90 pounds. 6th place went to Richard Woodard and Cole Baker with 44 bass that weighed 13.08 pounds. Again Awesome!!! We had 4 bass that weighed over 7 pounds and 3 more that went over six pounds. By the way as I told the guys before they took off, the evening before I had weighed an 8.11 pound big bass that a couple of guys brought in. So I am going to extend that extra $50.00 to next week and lower the standard to any bass that weighs over 8 pounds will get the extra pocket money. Oh yes, those guys turned that big girl loose in the marina cove and our cove is off limits guys. Again I respect you, but wanted some advise on how bags like the above were being caught.

All my casting rods/reels are Lews. I would highly recomend them!!!

I am glad I posted, my wife and I have decided to wait a week and then come down. As I get closer I will see if you can give any advise. Thanks, Teddy

Maybe we will hit Branson Sat and Sun and fish in the week. Thanks for the advise and any other tidbits as I get closer would be great.

I will be down with my wife 4/5 through 4/10. I am fearful of the conditions. It has been so cold and I will need to put my wife on some bass. I would like her to be able to catch many and size does not matter. I on the other had would rather catch bigger bass. We will be fishing out of Kimberling City so I guess that we could run 5 miles or so in any direction. Thanks in advance of your help.

Dad and i fished a jig and pig in watermellon. we caught alot of fish. even satuday and sunday. the temp droped 28* saturday afternoon. each days weight would have been 12+#'s for best five. could not get them to bite a shad pattern.

Just finished four days on the lake. The best bait was watermellon jig and pig. We just nailed them. Caught 24 or so each day. Never caught any bigger than 3.5#'s. But a lot of fun.