Sam

I've been fishing in the Kimberling City area lately, and the main lake points and banks seem clear but the bottom's mossy back in the coves. I'm guessing maybe the stuff grows best where it's sheltered and there's little water circulation.

That's a great post, Bill - I agree entirely. It's easy to see that you love what you're doing and the place you're doing it in, that's something rare for any of us to achieve. -------------------- "Table Rock Lake is not at this time a place to come to thinking I'll have a blast here, catch and eat fish and then take limits home for the freezer, or to give away. Just not that type of a deal." -------------------- Oh, yes it is, because I've found the way around that. I'm the guy out there happily looking for and catching crappie, white bass, walleyes, goggleyes, black perch, bluegills, catfish, and grabbing suckers and putting them all right next to the fried 'taters and onions every chance I get. I'm not a fish hog and I'm real strict about observing limits and length limits, but I'll bring 'em home if I can. And when I catch a black bass, big or small, back it goes. So many people have fun with those bass, and so much depends on them, I'm real glad to put them back. That way we all get along just fine - and hey, if you bass fishermen see some white bass boiling or if you can't keep the slab crappie off your grubs, flag me down and let me know about it, huh?

OK, Chief Grey Bear finally mentioned the 800-lb. gorilla in the room! I've been biting my tongue for two days reading this thread, and thinking EXACTLY that. I'm a panfisherman who seldom fishes for bass, and I don't keep bass when I catch them. But, you KNOW tournaments have to kill 'way more Tablerock trophy bass than the few non-tournament fishermen who choose to keep and eat them. You just can't stick that many holes in that many bass on a wholesale basis without killing a bunch of them. I say that with full respect and appreciation of the great efforts tournaments make to keep bass alive. But though they're doing their best, they just can't save all those fish - some get gut-hooked, gill-hooked, eyeball-hooked, infections set in, fish get stressed, and some of them conk out. I actually do keep a few legal bass every year, the ones that aren't going to make it - and I'm sure that happens to every fisherman including the hundreds of people fishing tournaments. So I'm not criticizing in any way - just saying that I'm sure weekend fishermen kill far fewer trophy bass on purpose than tournament fishermen kill by accident. Not looking for a fight, just sayin'.

I agree, Eric1978 - my grandpa had the same idea when he'd shoot one crow and hang it by his corn patch to warn the other crows. That works. It just gripes me that the CA's in Ohio, whose primary job is to protect fish and game including those smallmouths, would rather let them die for $50 each in fine money. To my way of thinking, that's what it boils down to.

Bill, I understand how you feel - but just think about how well this lake is managed, and how the rules are set up so the fishery can stand the very few fishermen who'll legally keep trophy bass on the very few trips where they're able to do it. That just doesn't happen very often - it can't. I wouldn't have kept those fish either, but you know better than anyone how long bass live and how fast they grow in Tablerock. Those big'uns would have been turtle food anyway before too much longer. That lake I fished recently for crappie in SW Arkansas really made me appreciate how wise our limit and length limit laws are here, and how good they've kept the fishing in these lakes. The first cast I made down there I caught a 13" largemouth and put it back, no big deal I thought. We were eating twice a day at the local cafe, and I mentioned to folks there that I'd caught a fish with my very first cast in that lake. When I said what it was, they said "Man, that was a big one - why'd you put it back?". THEN - a guy came up to me in town saying "I heard you caught a big bass the other day". No kidding! Big catch limits, no length limits, and a catch-and-eat mentality have pretty much made that lake lifeless, and I'm sure glad we've done better than that here. With the limits we've got in place, and if the number of fishermen doesn't increase too much, I don't think any legal fishing that goes on here will hurt, for now.

As a retired police manager, I've got a real problem with the way the conservation officers allowed that deal to continue. When an officer observes a crime being committed, he has a duty to intervene, stop the violation in progress, then warn, cite, or arrest the violator. The most important part of that is "stop the violation in progress" because that addresses the situation at hand. The warning, citing, or arresting is to prevent future violations. It's always good enforcement to remember and carry out the intent of the law - and the intent of this law is to protect the fish, not to increase the amount of fine money collected. I'm not sticking up for the violators, but these were a bunch of old guys on a fishing vacation, one of them with his son. Apparently fishing was great, this should have been a trip of a lifetime with lots of good memories for everybody, and look what it's turned into - forfeited boats, big fines, national news, and a lot of dead fish. OK, they were idiots for even wanting to keep all those fish, but even good people are idiots sometimes and a serious violation could have easily been prevented and the bass could have been protected. If Conservation was watching them, an officer should have swooped in as soon as they caught their first fish over the limit. He could have cited or warned them right then - advised them that the smallmouths are a valuable resource and that they can have fun catching and releasing all day long, but as soon as they put their daily limit in the boat they're done - or else! End of problem. Sorry to go off on a rant, but that's a situation I dealt with for years, officers who'd let crimes become really serious before stepping in, because big felony busts look great on their record - and a County that liked it for their "revenue enhancement program". I wouldn't stand for that when I was working, and if those officers had pulled this while working for me, they'd sure pay for it. I'd do my best to fire 'em, and I might even arrest them as accessories to the crimes they let happen.

We've got Geico car insurance for now, but I switch companies every 3 or 4 years because it seems like they all hit you with a big rate increase for no reason after about that long. I just add my boats to the car insurance policy - insurance for my bass boat costs about $120 a year, and the 12' aluminum boat is about $18. That's liability and medical accident insurance only, no insurance on damage to my boats. I only buy boat insurance to protect myself. I have no idea whether it's legally required by any state, and I've never had to show proof of boat insurance to anybody. I think it's a good thing to have, though, in case somebody gets hurt and wants to sue.

It's just like driving your car out of state - with current license, registration, and proof of insurance you're good to go in all 50 states. Even without all that some officers might be remarkably lenient, sometimes. We moved back to Missouri in 1990 and I brought along my second boat, a 12-foot aluminum car-topper that my dad and I bought in the late 1960's. I never did title or license it here. I finally got caught in it by the Water Patrol a couple of years ago - with no fire extinguisher or life vests, and a big "CA 1989" license sticker. Oops. The Water Patrol officer was real good about it - he just told me to get all that fixed and I did. I saw him in the same place a week later (it was the James River white bass run), flagged him down, and showed him that the boat was all squared away. Then we talked fishing for a while - nice guy.

As my grandpa would have said, "There ain't no use in that!". I'm glad the guy's OK, but he was driving like a nut. The guy in the video wasn't doing this, but I've noticed some of the worst boat-driving comes from guys who tear down the lake with their motor trim adjusted to throw about a 20-foot roostertail in the air. I saw one of those pass the other day, and that wastes a lot of power. I always wonder if they just don't know better or if they do it on purpose to show off. Either way, when I see that it often seems to go along with reckless behavior and I give 'em a wide berth. My partner and I want to fish Tablerock today, but we woke up to a line of thunderstorms that stretches clear down into Texas. Now we're on temporary hold, waiting to see if it'll pass so we can go later this morning. Fishing and dodging thunderboomers - it must be springtime!

I don't think they're on the bluffs or chunk rock banks in summer, because I fish those a lot and almost never catch any goggleyes there. I like to throw a little tube jig or swimming minnow up to rocky banks and flooded timber for "panfish", mostly green sunfish. I'd guess that goggleyes head for deep water in the summer, staying near the bottom for crawfish, and that they're real scattered. I've caught a few drifting a nightcrawler along the bottom for catfish where a flat drops off to the main channel on Bull Shoals in about 30-35 feet. I think the only time they bunch up is when they're nesting on gravel points and banks in the spring.

They're great eating, in my opinion. I don't consider goggleyes to be bass at all, though their proper name is rock bass. I group them with what we commonly call "perch" around here - bluegills, black perch (green sunfish), and the many varieties of small sunfish that are good eating if you can find 'em big enough. All those are as good to eat as crappie I think, and they have a little sweeter or maybe just a little nut-like flavor compared to crappie. I think they're all real good. Of course black bass - largemouths, spotted bass, and smallmouths, are sunfish themselves. When I was a kid there weren't any length limits in the streams and I think bass are the best eating at about 11 or 12 inches. By the time they reach 15" or more (legal size in these lakes) they're not especially good. That's another good reason to throw black bass back and let all the bass fishermen enjoy them. The only true bass we have here are the white bass, including stripers and hybrids. I keep and eat those up to about 14", and I've found that soaking the filets in club soda for two hours before breading and frying really makes them good - it's hard to tell them from crappie filets. If a white bass is much above 14", I'll throw it back. Those big ones are too fishy-tasting for me. Catfish here make some good eating too, and walleyes - well, you can't beat walleye filets for a good fish dinner.

Thanks to the bass fisherman who posted here about being in a bass tournament and catching big goggleyes (rock bass) if the grub got too deep. Being more of a panfisherman than a bass fisherman, I had fun yesterday. That posting let me know it was time, and I launched out of Mill Creek and fished a big pea gravel point and bank where I've caught goggleyes off the nests in past years. I slow-trolled with the wind and the trolling motor in one direction, using a 3" white swimming minnow on a 1/4 oz. jig head at about 0.9 mph - keeping it near the bottom in 16-20 feet of water. Then going upwind I'd use the main motor and troll a little deep-diving plug that runs 15 ft. deep at about 2 mph in the same depth. Both methods worked fine, but the swimming minnow was more fun because I had it on an ultra light rod. I caught a limit of 15 big rock bass, all over 10" and up to 12" - fat little guys. I think they fight at least as well as crappie of the same size, and I like their attitude when they bite - no fooling around, THUMP! I also picked up an 18" walleye on the plug. I think that rock bass situation will last for about another week.

Hey techo, I didn't know about that tourney. It sounds like a great theme for one. I'm a less-than-expert bass fisherman, but I'm a card-carrying retired cop. Keep me in mind for next year, as I'd like to fish that tournament and maybe have a good time and learn something besides. Anybody needing a cop partner so they can get in, steer 'em my way!

The green sunfish is one of my favorite fish where they grow big enough, though I've always called them "black perch" like most folks in the Ozarks. Where black perch grow 7-9 inches long, I like 'em. They're always hungry - if you see one you can catch it, they put up a great fight for their size, and they're real good eating. If they grew to be 8 or 10 lbs., I think a lot of people might just forget about bass fishing. They'll cross with bluegills, but not with bass. On a Bull Shoals trip a few years ago I caught a good-size bluegill/green sunfish hybrid and took a picture while cleaning fish. The hybrid is at the top, with a regular green sunfish at the bottom, and you can see the hybrid has both the orange fin and tail tips of the green sunfish and the blue markings of the bluegill.

It's OK. Coming back from town just now I parked the truck in our driveway, which has a slope like a launch ramp. From the inside I opened the front and back doors on the driver's side, sat on the top of the cab, swung my legs over the back door, and dropped into the bed. I can do it the opposite way for taking the boat out, it's just a little harder than with a 2-door truck. Crappiefisherman, I appreciate the suggestion about the lost boat and cell phone, the wet pants, and the key locked in the truck on the ramp. That sounds about right for me - and the next time you try it I hope one of those harmless little brown water snakes swims up your knickers, too. taxidermist, that's what I need - I'll put a step on my trailer tongue. I've been doing a balancing act on that thing for years, I guess I'm a slow learner.

I swapped pickup trucks a few days ago. I traded my regular 4WD truck for an extended cab 4WD truck - the back doors open backwards and they can't be opened unless the front door is opened first. Don't know what I was thinking, but I just realized it's going to be tough to launch by myself with that truck. I fish by myself a lot, and my normal drill is to undo the straps on the back of the boat leaving the front hook attached. Then I back down the ramp, get the boat floating, climb over the pickup bed and unhook the front of the boat. Then I get in the boat, get it started, and beach it or tie up to a dock. Then I climb up over the hood of the truck, drop down into the driver's seat, and park the truck and trailer. I can do that about as fast as two guys can launch a boat, and I just do it in reverse order to take the boat out. HOW IN THE WORLD can I do that with an extended cab pickup? To launch I guess I could tie a long rope between the truck and the front of the boat, get the boat floating, then pull it to the bank. But, that doesn't help when taking the boat out. The only thing I can think of is to park on the ramp with both the front and back doors on the driver's side open, then maybe I could get in and out of the truck from the top of the cab. Maybe - it wouldn't be easy. This is kind of a serious problem for me and I'm not crazy about wading and having wet shoes and pants all day. Any suggestions will be appreciated - thanks.

I've got a good friend coming from South Carolina, and we're towing my boat down to Lake Greeson in SW Arkansas next week. We're fishing on our own Monday and Wednesday, and Tuesday we've got a full day trip scheduled with Jerry Blake, a guide we've known for years through posts on crappie.com. It looks like it's going pretty well down there: http://www.crappie.com/crappie/main-crappie-fishing-forum/132394-catching-few-lake-greeson-ar.html When we get back, my buddy wants to try at least one of my fishing holes around here. I'm hoping the crappie around K Dock will really be going good then so I can show him what a Missouri crappie looks like, too.

I'll say this about Tablerock and Bull Shoals crappie, though I haven't really got onto them good this year (yet). They're unique in that they generally want BIG baits. I guess it's because shad run big in these lakes. Out of this area I've often found that slab crappie will only bite on little-bitty lures. I'm going to a lake in SW Arkansas next week where they fish with 1/32 oz. hair jigs about 1/2 inch long - those, and minnows, are the only things that will work there. Not here - my usual crappie lure here is a 3" swimming minnow on a 1/16 or 1/8 oz. jighead though I sometimes downsize that if the bite gets tough. Last year I brought one limit home from the Long Creek arm - they were all big but the best one was a monster 17 1/2" white crappie female. Cleaning the fish, I noticed that one really had a full stomach - just stuffed full so the fish looked real fat. I cut the stomach open, and there was a fresh shad inside rolled up in a ball. I straightened it out, and that shad was 6 3/4" long! Generally on Tablerock and Bull Shoals, if you get to thinking your lure is too big for a crappie - it isn't!

bigdub - That's sure a lot better than I've been doing on crappie. Were they up by the banks on nests, in staging areas, on brushpiles, or what? I've been trying all the above and striking out - congrats on finding them!

Thanks, Bill - and I hope you know that when I sometimes joke about bass-holes in glitter-boats I'm just kidding. I've got a lot of respect for folks who put that much into their fishing and have nice rigs. I'd get a bigger boat if it suited my needs, but I keep the Tracker 'cause it suits what I'm doing. I fish by myself a lot, and the light boat and trailer help with that. With my 4WD truck and that rig, I can put in and take out by myself easy anywere there's a rocky beach, and for panfishing I may run a few miles at 30 mph but there's no need to run the whole lake. I like to troll for white bass, and the 50 hp 4-stroke trolls down smooth and quiet. I just added a new depthfinder, a Humminbird 597ci, and I think I'm really gonna like it. I already marked some crappie brushpiles on the GPS this week for future reference - if the crappie ever start biting again. And yeah, if I see someone on the water who's got trouble I'll help 'em out. I'll probably need help myself, sometime. It's all good.

Bill, yep - and as more of a panfish guy than a bass fisherman, I'm seeing it from that perspective. It's a TOUGH year. I went out of Bridgeport Wednesday and fished the spawning coves and crappie trees down toward Buttermilk. I caught NO crappie, just a few white bass and short bass. Water was very clear, surface temp 61 going up to 66 in the afternoon. Something that I couldn't handle got ahold of my crappie jig up in a shallow cove - I had to chase it with the trolling motor for awhile before it broke off. It's probably better I didn't see it and find out it was a carp, ' cause this way it can be a big flathead that got away. Figuring Tablerock wasn't the place to be, I went out of K Dock on Bull Shoals yesterday (Thursday), fishing crappie banks and staging areas that have been good for years, every year. NO crappie, not one. I ended up 'way up Beaver Creek catching a few scattered white bass and again, short bass. Surface water temp in B.S. was 63 going up to 70 in Beaver, and the water had some color to it. I've made quite a few white bass trips up James and Beaver in the last month, and while I've always caught some fish and a couple of limits, the white bass run hasn't been near as good as in past years. Yeah, there's limits being caught sometimes - but I've never seen the usual height-of-the-run situation where you can throw a jig anywhere in the creek and get a white bass most every cast. I don't know what's going on, but it ain't good. This may be the YEAR WITHOUT CRAPPIE. But those guys in the Stratos candy-apple glitter-boat with the big Mercury and dead batteries that I towed from Virgin Bluff to Cape Fair on Wednesday - that's the sort of thing us cheap Tracker owners live for.

We moved back home to Missouri in 1990 after many years in Southern California. Looking back on it, I know I crowded some other fishermen on the water here at first - and though I soon learned better, I felt bad about it. Just sayin' that some tourists and newcomers to this area may be used to lakes that are two miles long with several hundred boats on them every day - a situation where it's rare to not be able to cast and hit a couple of other boats at any time. I never knew about working down a bank out there either, the banks are shallow and not usually fished. We're privileged to live in a place with big lakes where you can often fish without another boat anywhere near. I'm sure some fishermen from lots of other places aren't used to that and don't know to not cut another fisherman off, go between a boat and the bank, or get too close.

People are incredible - but I find it's best just to put up with them and not let it ruin my fishing trips. A couple of weeks ago I was up James River at Ashercane, fishing for white bass. Toward the top of Ashercane there were, I swear, 50 boats all bunched together close and casting jigs - they could have cast into each other's boats. I guess someone catches a fish or two and everybody else crowds in. I like to find my own fish so I went about 300 yards upstream from them. A south wind was blowing, and I soon found about a 100 yard stretch of bank where I could motor upwind then drift-fish a jig downwind, picking up a white bass most every pass. I'd been working that same stretch for over an hour when an old feller in a small boat anchored near where I was starting my run each time. I watched him sitting and casting without catching anything, then when I motored upwind again I got close enough to tell him to pull his anchor and just slow-drift his jig from "here" to "there" and he'd catch some fish. I finished that drift, turned around, and darned if he hadn't moved and ANCHORED right in the middle of the run I'd told him about - so I couldn't drift down it anymore. He was sitting still, casting, and not catching anything again. I went by and told him it'd work better if he'd slow-troll with the wind, as I'd already caught 11 out of that hole. He said, no, he'd rather sit still. I just shook my head, left, and found my last 4 fish somewhere else. That's what you get for trying to help someone, I guess.

OK, but from a common-sense point of view, I bet it's the other way around when it comes to putting nitrogen in lakes. I bet the books are saying snow is more of a nitrogen source because it goes into the SOIL and promotes plant growth. I've read before that farm fields get a little bit of help from a big snowfall - trace amounts of nitrogen. Snow soaks in and makes mud as it melts where rain mostly runs off - into the creeks and lakes. If rain and snow contain the same amount of nitrogen, then I'd say rain puts it right in the lakes quick while snow takes a while to melt and soak into the soil to be used by land plants. If you can, ask your ecology class prof about that. Like you, I think rain and snow add just a small amount of nutrients to the lakes compared with what people and agriculture put in there. Besides everything else, think about every fisherman, pontoon-rider, skier, and party-boat occupant peeing a pint or two a day (more when beer is involved) in the water. That's a bunch of nitrogen right there - and that's the least of it.

I'm sure that's right, but wouldn't the same thing apply to rain? I know it takes only one inch of rain to make nine inches of snow, so most all the precipitation we get is in the form of rain. At high altitude where it forms, rain is usually frozen then it melts on the way down. Seems like if snow is cited as a source of nitrogen in the lakes, then rain would be a much bigger one.