Phil Lilley

Table Rock Lake was named from the large, table-like rocks along its shores. Limestone bluffs tower high over the rivers that flow into this beautiful lake in Southwest Missouri. The main tributary is the White River, but other rivers such as the James, Kings and Long have their own distinct characteristics, but most still have these bluffs along their banks. USACE Water Levels ~ Current Generation Conditions ~ Call 417-336-5083 for a Generation Recording. Because of the rocky bottom of the lake and its tributaries, Table Rock's water stays very clear. That can be unnerving to some anglers who are not used to fishing in such transparent water. Lighter line and other techniques are needed to fool the lake's wily bass and other sport fish. The "Rock" is well known for its smallmouth, as well as spotted and largemouth. It is an annual stop for the top professional bass circuits including the FLW Outdoors and the Bassmasters. Actually, you can find a bass tournament on Table Rock about every weekend of the year, if you look. The lake is also home to other fish more suitable for table fare such as white bass, walleye, crappie, goggleye and blue gill. Spoonbill make their run up the Kings and James rivers each spring where men in boats wait with big treble hooks. And those who like to set limb lines and trot lines for catfish will enjoy the river and creek arms of Table Rock where channel and flathead cats roam. Table Rock is a "Corp Lake," meaning its shores are owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers up to a certain elevation or "take" line. The dam was constructed in the late 1950's and the lake was filled in 1958. The deepest part of the lake is more than 200 feet deep, but most of the fishing is done on points, in coves and on flats in less than 50 feet of water. Informational Links: Missouri Department of Conservation Fish Structure Map (Interactive) 2018 TABLE ROCK LAKE ANNUAL REPORT (1).pdf US Army Corp of Engineers - Table Rock Lake Map Seasonal Lake Levels, Power Pools Table Rock Lake Top Flood Pool: 931.0 Power Pool: January 1 to April 30 ~~ 915 feet April 30 - May 1 ~~ 915 - 916 feet May 1 - June 1 ~~ 916 - 917 feet June 1 - November 30 ~~ 917 feet November 30 - December 1 ~~ 917 - 915 feet December 1 - 31 ~~ 915 feet Bottom Power Pool: 881.0 USACE Little Rock App (very useful!) Fishing License Costs: Missouri Resident Annual License is $12 Non-resident annual license is $49 Trout permits are only sold annually, and they are $10 for adults and $5 for kids under 16 years of age All Missouri licenses and permits expire on March 1 Non-resident One Day - $8 Non-resident Three Day - $24 Missouri Residents over age 65 only need a trout permit $10 Fun Facts Table Rock Dam is the second oldest dam on the White River, completed in 1958. Later, Bull Shoals and Beaver dams would be built creating four lakes in the White River Chain of Lakes. Table Rock Dam was constructed primarily for flood control, hydroelectric power and water supply. Electricity generated here at Table Rock Dam is used to meet peak energy demands. Table Rock is a link in a chain of power-producing stations that provide about seven million end-use customers in six states (Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas) with power to meet peak demand periods. The Southwest Power Administration is our governing agency, and it sells and delivers this power to about 100 electric cooperative systems in these six states. Table Rock got its name, from an actual rock formation that, today, is the scenic overlook on Highway 165. It is a large, flat rock that was to be the original dam site. The Army Corps of Engineers, after drilling and taking core samples, learned the ground below Table Rock was too unstable for a dam of that size. There are caves and sinkholes in the immediate area. The dam site was moved a mile and a half upstream to its present location near Braid Mountain. The lake filled to capacity in 1961 — almost a year ahead of schedule.” — from John Fullerton, Branson historian, September 17, 2008. Table Rock is loved by many people for a variety of reasons. Its clear water makes it popular among scuba divers for deep dives, and its cleanliness makes it perfect for swimming, skiing, tubing, and kayaking along it shores, camping on its rocky banks, cliff diving and just cruising. Then there's the fishermen! Current State Record Fish Caught on Table Rock Lake Hybrid Black Bass - 5 pounds, 10 ounces, caught March 17, 2004 by Mark Fann of Nixa, MO. Spotted Bass (Kentucky) - 7 pounds, 8 ounces, caught April 6, 1966 by Gene Arnaud of Branson, MO. White Bass - 5 pounds, 6 ounces, caught March 19, 2002 by Scott Flood of Billings, MO. Smallmouth Bass (Jug Fishing) - 4 pounds, 3 ounces, caught September 18, 2002 by Paul V. Elder, House Springs, MO. Blue Gill (Limb Line) - 9 ounces, caught on June 13, 1995 by John Hardin Farmers Branch, Tx. Paddlefish (Snagged) - 140 lbs. 9 oz. Caught on March 21, 2015 by Andy Belobraydic III Richwoods, Mo Find all MDC State Record Here Buy Missouri Fishing Licenses Online! Bass Clubs -- Table Rock Bass Masters View full article

Click the following links to download a full area lake map (pdf format). Starting with the upper lake near Beaver Dam - Beaver Tailwater.pdf Holiday Island Area.pdf Big M Area.pdf Mill Creek Area.pdf Lost Hill Area.pdf Kings River Area.pdf Campbell Point Area.pdf Baxter Area 1.pdf Baxter Area 2.pdf James River Arm Lower Map.pdf James River Arm Mid May.pdf Indian Point Area.pdf Long Creek Arm Lower Map.pdf Long Creek Arm mid Map.pdf Long Creek Arm Upper Map.pdf Long Creek Crappie Map.pdf Kimberling City Area.pdf View full article

Keep an eye on Table Rock's level. They slowed the flow down after TR dropped to 916. You can see when they slowed it down. That's the magic level, I guess.

Sorry I didn't see your question. The lake cleared out but is high again. Babler did real good early this am but the fish shut off late in the morning. They've been catching good rainbows on egg, San Juans and big scuds up there. Just have to keep in contact with the bottom or you won't get bit.

Excellent! Thanks

I'm sure it's blown out. That area took the brunt of the storms last night. But I was not there today. Hopefully I'm wrong.

Generation has slowed here on Lake Taneycomo, after almost a week of all-out generation-- but no flood gates. Last night, the U.S. Corps of Army Engineers shut the turbines down about midnight, then cranked it back on at 7 a.m. this morning. The level built to three units or 708 feet, then this afternoon rose to four units at 710 feet which is four full units again. This could be a pattern in the days to come or prerequisite to things to come, namely even less generation. That means we'll see levels dropping to even lower as the lakes above us keep dropping. But rain is in the forecast, so we will see. First, the hot spots from the last couple of days: A group of trout fishermen found fishing close to the Branson Landing and the Fish House had a fruitful yesterday. They caught between the three of them more than 50 rainbows on jigs of various colors, some of them pretty nice-sized trout. The creeks still have a good number of rainbows in them, too. Our lake water is 43 degrees coming out of Table Rock and that's a little chilly for them. They like it closer to 50 degrees, which is why they're liking the creeks, and there's less current. They're chasing spoons and spinners as well as taking jigs and Trout Magnets under floats four- to five-feet deep. With the rain, worms are washing in to the lake from creeks and runoffs, so night crawlers are hot especially below Fall Creek and Short Creek. Twin to the night crawlers, the San Juan Worm is hot above (and below) Fall Creek in pink, red or white. Our guides are adding a #12 light gray scuds 18 inches below the SJW and catching some quality rainbows and browns in the trophy area. Even with 4 full units, Steve Dickey's clients were landing big rainbows, drifting from Lookout down to Fall Creek. Minnows have been extremely hot the last few weeks. Drifting them on the bottom above anywhere below Fall Creek or tying up in or at the mouth of the creeks and tight lining them, hooking them in the lips. Tim Dyer caught this 23-inch brown trout fishing in the mouth of Fall Creek a couple of days ago on a minnow. He and his group fish were there for several days catching quite a few browns but only one longer than 20 inches. He released his trophy. I've been trying white jigs right below the cable at the dam to see whether the trout are seeing any shad come through the turbines from Table Rock, which sometimes happens this time of year. So far my findings are inconclusive. The other day, before they cut the flow back from four units, white jigs were hot, but only at the cable. Drifting away from the dam, I didn't get any interest. Yesterday, when only three units were running, they weren't really interested in the white jigs at all so I don't think they've seen any shad -- yet. Duane Doty just returned from a guide trip. His clients caught some nice rainbows drifting from the cable down past the Missouri Department of Conservation boat ramp using cheese- colored egg flies on a drift rig, 1/8 ounce bell weight. They wouldn't touch a SJW or scud. We had a small storm blow through about 10 a.m. that, Duane said, shut the bite down. That's fishin'! April 3 More rain last night has sent Table Rock's level jumping again, this time not too bad. But the speed and volume of the water that fell muddied up the lake a bit but it's already cleared out. But they have bumped up generation back to 4 full units today and that's sent our clients into the creeks again. We'll see what the next couple of days bring. Bill Babler did have a guide trip this morning. Drifting with egg flies below the dam, he and his client boated some very nice trout.

The rain gauge on the Corp site says we got 1 inch of rain last night but I don't believe it. Taney is running a bit brown this morning but they're running 3 units so it will be cleared up in the upper lake by noon. The trophy area is already clear and fishable.

Good days for the river watchers to chime in... what are you seeing? I want to know how much Table Rock is going to shoot up...

Must be kin to Richard Branson...

by John Neporadny Jr. About the closest you can come to catching fish in a barrel occurs when Lake of the Ozarks white bass make their spawning runs up the creeks and rivers in the spring. White bass, a member of the sea-bass family, are close relatives of the striped bass. Most of the time, these silver-sided bass prefer deep, still water over sand and gravel bottoms, but when they make their spawning run, they seek out shallow, flowing water. Large schools of white bass concentrate near the mouths of tributary streams during their upstream spawning runs. Greg Stoner, Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) fisheries management biologist, likens white bass to salmon in that both fish migrate up rivers to spawn on clean swept gravel bars rather than build nests. Whites prefer to spawn on the gravel bars where their deposited eggs stick to the rocks. The current keeps the eggs clean and well oxygenated, which causes them to hatch within two days. The spawning run is mainly influenced by the increasing length of daylight during the spring, says Mike Colvin, a MDC fisheries research biologist who has studied white bass runs on the Niangua and Pomme de Terre rivers since 1991. Other lesser influences affecting the spawning run include water temperature and flow. White bass usually make their spawning runs at Lake of the Ozarks in early to mid-April through the first to second week of May, according to Greg Stoner, MDC fisheries management biologist and an avid fisherman. The best run occurs on the Big Niangua arm and some limited reproduction takes place on the Little Niangua River and Grand Glaize and Gravois creeks. The lake level determines where white bass spawn every year. "They tend to go to the first or second riffle above the lake boundary," Stoner says. "If the lake's down real low at that time of the year, they won't go up the river as far as they do when the lake is at normal pool or above." Stoner's lure selection for spawning whites includes Gay Blades, Roostertails and 2-inch Rapala Floaters. Cut shad also works well. "One thing about the Niangua , the hybrids will also move up in there during the spawning period so you might lose some lures with lighter tackle," Stoner says. To prevent hybrids from running off with this lures, Stoner uses 8- to 10-pound test. I have also caught spawning white bass in the Lake of the Ozarks creeks throughout the years. My favorite technique combines a 4 1/2-inch Rapala Floater with a 1/16-ounce white or bright pink doll fly. The jig is tied on an 18-inch leader line of 4-pound test and the leader is attached to the back hook of the Rapala. I cast this combination upstream on a gravel bar and let it drift down into the hole below the riffles. As the lure drifts down, I jerk the rod hard to make the Rapala flash and attract the white bass' attention. Most of the time, the whites hit the jig trailer, although I have caught some bigger fish that smashed the Rapala on the surface. When the white bass make their spawning run at Lake of the Ozarks this spring, you can catch them in a hurry if you find them bunched up in the tributaries. It's the next best thing to fishing in a barrel. For information on lodging and other facilities at the Lake of the Ozarks or to receive a free vacation guide, call the Lake of the Ozarks Convention & Visitors Bureau at 1-800-FUN-LAKE or visit the Lake of the Ozarks Convention and Visitors Bureau web site at funlake.com. Copies of John Neporadny's book, "THE Lake of the Ozarks Fishing Guide" are available by calling 573/365-4296 or visiting the web site www.jnoutdoors.com.

I don't mind cleaning, as long as I have a good electric knife. But I bought a Black & Decker at Sams last week as a backup. Started with it and it didn't get through one filet! The blades where moving together instead of separate... not good. Boxed it up and it'll go back to Sam. Found a iPhone in the parking lot at Cricket. Duane spotted it. Crushed... well the glass was shattered. But it worked! No case... amazing! Run over and still ticking. Called the last guy that called the phone and left a message. Mike from Harrison picked it up this morning.

Duane, Bill and I headed to Cricket Creek Access today. Met there at 5 p.m. and pointed the boat up lake. Running up Long Creek was an adventure. Lots of junk in the water including logs, big ones. Water color was good everywhere- for fishing anyhow. Boated up Long as far as we dared in Babler's big bass boat. Could see the first riffle above us 200 yards away. Also saw whites on the surface spawning up there. I didn't check water temp- may be Bill did. We started slow but caught on. They were on the shallow side, in pockets and holes, not in the channel. And we did the best on white 1/8th ounce jigs. We ended the evening by going up closer to the riffle and found whites everywhere. At first we were catching 5-6 inchers but as the sun dropped we caught the big ones. We (I) wanted to keep some for a fish fry but didn't want any big females. This became a problem because they all seemed to be sows. But we put 19 in the well, most looking like males. When I cleaned them tonight, I think I only had 3 males. The rest were females partially spawned out. I think, I know, Duane put most of them in the well. I told him I only wanted about a dozen. He kept slipping them in and chuckling cause he knew I'd be cleaning till late. Didn't see many boats up there. Couple above the riffle and two below. Some locals on the bank. Nice quiet evening with good friends and good fishing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIAu40spmrk&feature=youtu.be

Tim Dyer caught this 23-inch brown on a minnow in the mouth of Fall Creek yesterday. Released this morning after staying the night in our minnow tank.

Thanks- Just have to have people step up. How about anyone driving over Springfield Lake on 65 everyday. I know when I go over and always take a mental note.

Yes and in slack water in places. But Steve Dickey is having his clients drifting eggs, big scuds and san juans in the trophy area and catching big rainbows! No big numbers though.

We have several openings this weekend. If you can get away for at least a couple of nights, give us a call and we will see what we can do for you! 1-800-284-2196

Duane and I drove over to Swan after work today. First we went over to Beaver via 160 to take a peak. Today is the last day you'll see the Fisherman's Nose Road - the lake is about to swallow it up. Got to Swan about 7:15 pm. Parked in the park. Walked down to the water well above the corner. Started with jigs, then slider, then swimming minnows. Duane caught 2 nice whites at 8 pm on a purple swimming minnow close to the bank. Saw one other white caught by a boater early- that's it folks! Left at 8:30.

Created new forums in James River Beaver Watershed Illinois River And made you guys moderators of those forums. Thanks for helping!!

It's not pretty.

Not hiding... getting caught! Yep- you're right. That's where a lot of them are. But they're in the lake too but hard to hook.