Smithvillesteve

Thanks for the report. I'm thinking about heading down mid week. Looked at the weather and it is supposed to drop down into the high 80's. Also looks like lake level is dropping down slowly. I'd like to target some eyes but tough to do there with sunny skies. Looks like the guy from Stockton Guide Service has been on some lately. Also like to fish for smallies. Any advice on that would be appreciated. I will try and hit some bluff ends with plastics, Ned and drop shot.

There was a guy cleaning some white bass last week at Mutton Creek. Claimed he was trolling spinners in shallow water. Less than 10 ft.

I'm certainly not a qualified drop shot expert myself. But my Field and Stream magazine had an article on it and i cant wait to try it. This guy said to use 10 lb braided line with flurocarbon leader. He uses a small finesse worm and he texas rigs it so he doesnt get hung up in brush. I havent been down to Table Rock in awhile but i got my set up ready to go. Need these lake levels to stabilize!! Good luck.

Not trying to sound too heavy here but its great you are fishing/thinking about/remembering Sac River Jim. I didnt know him personally. Just on here. I had a wife die of leukemia back in 1984. I dont think about her everyday. But sometimes when i am fishing alone, in the back of a cove and i realize how beautiful it is outside, I look to the heavens and think about her. Everybody have a great holiday weekend.

There is an old boy down at Tanneycomo that likes to park his truck at the ramp where we launch and "watch the show" as he puts it. Last year we had a guy that backed his truck so far into the lake he couldnt get it out. Had to call a tow service. Very shallow at that ramp and when they are running water is not easy to put your boat on your trailer. Better know what you are doing. But there is always idiots at a boat ramp. I'm retired and have the luxury of fishing during the week. I come home on the weekends. But last week i took a couple of buddies down to Truman for wipers on a saturday. We were trolling in a cove where a major marina was. Big mistake. Seadoes were getting it between my boat and the bank!! Unbelievable. We got out of there quickly. These people had no idea. Clueless to what was going on around them. I fish LOZ in the late winter/early spring. Then I'm done. Everybody have a great holiday weekend. Be safe out there!!

I think i saw that scene in Caddyshack!! Rodney Dangerfield was driving the boat!!

How about some info boys? What is a slow death rig? A pic would be really nice. I was in Cabela's the other day and never saw anything in the walleye area that said "slow death rig". A couple of buddies of mine will be down Sat, Sun and Monday. Hoping to get on some "eyes!!"

Great to hear you are back on the water Agressor. We cant let them win!!

I have caught several fish on the Ned Rig this year at Table Rock and Stockton. I have had one small bass get the hook in the gullet and killed it. 90 % of the fish i catch have the hook in the top of the mouth. I believe that if i fished a plastic worm as much as i have the Ned Rig this year i would have had a lot more fish with hooks in the gullet. Especially if I Carolina rig it. I have had several trips this year where the fishing was pretty tough and the Ned Rig has saved the trip. Yes, i do believe the Ned Rig has a tendency to catch smaller fish. Although a buddy of mine caught a nice 4 lb LM at Stockton on it. I just think it is another arsenal in my tackle box to hopefully allow me to catch fish. There are times unfortunately when every fisherman kills a fish. I dont care what they are using. It happens. I do know for a fact a bass wont live in the frying pan!! I release all bass. If a fisherman wants to keep some bass to eat thats his right. I dont complain. But i dont think we should rip fishermen for using a Ned Rig, an Alambama Rig or a spider rig. As long as it is legal. Just my two cents.

Dont let this beat you Agressor!! 99% of people are good. 1% makes it bad for all of us. I gotta believe fishing is important to you. Find a way to make it happen. And like a previous writer, be thankful you are ok. All the material goods can be replaced. 2 years ago i was putting on at Crabtree Cove and a guy was pulling off the ramp and told me to be careful. Somebody had dumped a bunch of wood screws in the water on two of the ramps. There are a lot of morons in this world!! Take a look at Baltimore today!! Hang in there Agressor!!

Thank for the info Dave. I'll be going down to TR this thursday thru sunday. I'm going to need some more jig heads as all my friends are borrowing mine as they watch me catch fish!! I have a question: You guys on here talk about a "swing jig". Is that the same as the wobble head jigs? I see rain in the forecast for friday, sat, and sunday. You guys down south are getting all the rain. We could actually use some up here in the north. Smithville is actually 2 feet low. I caught a nice 6 lb LM on the Rock Crawler on Smithville last friday. And just read in KC Star where a guy won big bass honors sunday with a 9.2. I may have to cancel my yard work and get out there today!!

Anybody got any advice on how to fix my boat leak? I have a V bottom Lund boat. I was in Canada last year and was breaking ice with my boat and that may have caused this problem. Not sure. Going outside today to fill up with water and locate the area(s). I really dont want to take out the flooring. I cant turn it upside down. Any help would be deeply appreciated. I got a good working bilge but this is kind of a pain in the butt!! Sounds like the bite is on down at Table Rock. Hoping to get down soon. Thanks.

Thanks for the input boys. I will definitely give it a shot up here at Smithville. By the looks of some pics here on the site it looks like the Table Rock area got hit pretty hard by heavy rains. Now a nasty cold front has arrived. Ahhhh, gotta love spring time in Missouri!! Headed to LOZ for crappies monday and to Stockton tuesday for bass and eyes. Weather supposed to be back in the 70's. Cant wait to get back down to Table Rock though. I love that lake. Hopefully the water will be clean by then and everything is stable. You boys down there hang in there!!

Good video Dave. I got a question. I see some of the guys on the forum will fish the Ned Rig on Stockton as well as Table Rock. Both very clear waters. What about up here north? I fish Smithville Lake and i guess the water clarity at around 2 ft right now. Will the TRD work in water with that much color to it? Thanks for any input to my question.

Thanks for posting the video Phil. Sure wanted to be there but just couldnt make it happen. You guys let a couple of Kansas guys come down to a Missouri lake and win this thing?? Just kidding. I know Kbilb and his son personally and they are a couple of great guys. I fished with Kbilb the weekend before the tournament and we really thought it would take a 6 or 7 pounder to win. But the fishing has been tough all over the state. But only going to get better!! Really a great job by all you guys putting this tournament on for us on the site.

I contacted Dave about 2 weeks ago and ordered some of his jig heads. I got them in the mail about 3-4 days later. He also answered all my questions. I had used the Z Man jig heads from Cabela's in early feb. and lost all 15 heads i bought in 3 days of fishing. No weed guard. I fished TR the last 3 days and lost one of Dave's jig heads. I would really recommend anyone wanting to use the Ned Rig to contact Dave. And for a guy living in Kansas he is really a nice guy. My buddy and I fished the Big M area friday afternoon and saturday. The water temp was 40-41 degrees. We struggled but caught a few fish. He used a jerk bait both days and caught 10 bass with 7 keepers. I caught 10 bass with only 1 keeper. That was on a jerk bait. Caught the rest on the Ned but caught smaller fish than my buddy. It was soooooo nice just to get out and fish however. Hoping to get back this weekend to fish in the OAF tournament. And hopefully meet some of you guys and put a face to your name.

Thanks Abeekan for posting this video. Good stuff. I wish he would have told us exactly what the water temps were. And he was fishing the late fall into winter v winter into early spring. Buddy of mine and I are coming down this weekend. I'll definitely give a shad rap a try after watching this video. I'm anticipating high 30's into low 40's water temps. But like a lot of you guys on here i am dealing with big time cabin fever!! My friend and I would also like to fish the OAF tournament on March 14th. Not 100% sure of this however.

With as big as the Classic has become, why in the heck isnt it on tv? Espn has multiple channels and there are several outdoor channels now. I dont have wifi at my house so watching on a computer is not an option!! Somebody needs to take this over and do it right. I agree with Dave. Watching pro's not catch fish is ok with me. Lots to learn there. I watch pro golfers make bad shots! And i agree there needs to be a quiet place, like pro golf again, where qualified people analyze what is going on. I also agree that the Classic needs to be moved to later in the Spring. Taking off in 10 degrees friday is just not right. I know NASCAR starts its season with its Superbowl but i dont believe BASS needs to do that. Unbelievable these guys are catching 15-20 lbs in this kind of weather. I think I'll hook up my boat and go fishing!!! Oh wait, ice all over the lake up here right now. Crap!!!

Thanks Quillback for posting Pete's fishing reports here on the forum. I'm 63 years old and dont do Bookface, Tweeter, and know very little about Innertube. But when I'm home i do check the forum page for Table Rock daily. So it really helps an old timer like me to find it here. Now, i laughed out loud at Pete's dog dragging his butt across the carpet. So i missed that valuable info there.

Very good info. on both topics. I was fishing LOZ a couple of years ago and was up in a cove. Went to start my motor and nothing. The guy at Bass Pro told me that is the way your starter battery will go. Start up and then next time nothing. He told me to use a starter battery for 3 years and then bite the bullet and get a new one. Even though your 3 old battery seems fine. He said it will leave you hanging!! Mr Wenner on here talks about the Pro Guide for 5 years. This is the 3rd year on my starter battery. I will take Mr Wenner's advice and definitely buy me a Pro Guide. Thanks for all the valuable info I get on this website boys!!

I agree with Mr. Babler. Gotta buck up and get a replica made of that big girl!! Does anyone on here have an opinion why Table Rock is not a good crappie lake?

First off, thanks Quill/eveyone for all the info! Fished the same area, Sat-Mon.......pretty much 11 to 5. Awsome weather for early Feb. Water temp didnt move much, 43ish. Sat....12 fish 3 keeps, ned and arig. Sun....14 fish, 4 keeps....ned. Mon.....19 with 7. No biggens. Caught em in 10 to 30ft, mostly around timber. So for the first time nedders.....much better than expected. Wanted to throw the arig, spoon and stick but ned kept us entertained. More keepers than expected. Fun bite! Liked the zman heads, got hung up a bit....went through some heads. Plastic stayed up real well on the shank. Wasn't sure about the 6lb.........but gotta have it!

I am not the expert Table Rock lake guy myself like a lot of guys on here. But I would start with crawdad colors. They are effective in the late winter/early spring. Last year I was down there watching some pro's fish their tournament and almost all of them were throwing them. The key is getting them in there and bouncing them off rocks. Mike McClelland, a local pro from that area, has put out a crankbait called RockCrawler55. A lot of guys on here have purchased them. They are expensive. About 10 bucks. I bought two of them and they look good. Good luck.

I am headed to TR this weekend. I have never fished a Ned Rig. But I have been reading about them on this forum all winter. I went to Cabela's today and bought a bag a ZMan's Ned Rig plastics in green pumpkin and PBJ. ZMan is also selling the jig head so i picked up a couple bags. 5 bucks for 5 jig heads. They only had green pumpkin and black. I think i got a bag of 1/10 which I never heard of before. They did not have weed guards but had a little catch on the hook shank to help keep the plastic up on the head. I would be interested in ordering some of Daves jig heads. I will email soon. And yes, good video Dave. Fishing with your son is priceless!!!!

A bunch of married guys with cabin fever had a trout tournament over this past weekend down at Tanneycomo. 2 buddies of mine and I went down wed afternoon and fished through the weekend. Wed afternoon was beautiful. Last day of that warm weather. No running water and fishing was slow. A few fish on a jig with a strike indicator. Fished thursday and again no running water. We boated about 40 trout mostly on jigs with strike indicators again. Woke up friday and they were running water. We boated only about 25 trout. I caught quite a few on a spoon. Saturday early they were running water, but not much. We boated 65 trout. Mostly on trout magnets. Buddy of mine had a nice 16.5 brown trout and i caught 2 nice 15 inch rainbows. Most of the guys, 30 total, claimed the fishing was quite slow over the weekend tournament. However, it took 2 rainbows over 4 pounds to finish in the money. Somebody on this forum posted that trout are in the pre spawn phase right now down there. And the fishing is slow during this time. I am not the trout man. Anybody on here give me some info on that it would be appreciated.