plawren53202

No boats out. They have even collected all of them from where they usually sit on the sides of the lakes locked up.

That'sn exactly what I remember from long long ago (as in teenage years). I remember at one point being in up to my knees thinking well, this wasn't such a hot idea.

I fished there on Sunday. Definitely still open, it was packed. People everywhere, and I fished from 6:30-11. Bummer bc I don't ever do well there (bass) because I think it's overfished to begin with. Definitely stayed true to form on Sunday.

Thanks for the report. I live in that area (Arnold area). No boat. Always wondering if there is anywhere that it would be worth my while to bank fish. Long long ago I tried bank fishing but seemed to recall some frustration in trying to find anywhere good to go. On the other hand, long long ago when my dad still had a boat, I can remember hitting the white bass run in that area and catching them by the bucketful.

Because of the forecast for rain all day on Thursday, I changed my schedule and went today. I fished in the Dewey Short area, from close to the dam down toward the Branson Belle quite a ways. Fished from 3:00 until dark. The wind was stiff. Didn't catch anything. Threw everything in the box at them: green pumpkin jig with green pumpkin speed craw, silver shad crankbait, green pumpkin senko, white spinnerbait, watermelon Ned rig, shad colored fluke. Shortly before dark some small shad started breaking the surface by the courtesy dock, but if anything was under them busting them I sure couldnt get them to bite. I feel like this just wasn't the right type of water for the conditions. This is some fairly tough water to fish from the bank. Having said all that, the area is beautiful, and an afternoon fishing is sure better than an afternoon in the office.

Thanks for the pointers!

Thanks very much for the response! Not having been there myself, and just looking on Google maps satellite views, would you recommend the bank from Dewey Short Center south along the trail, or the riprap and other area just north of the dam til south of Moonshine Beach?

Going to be in Branson for work later this week and trying to figure out the best way to sneak in a little bank fishing (bass). I will be fishing late afternoon and evening until sunset. I have read the sticky on bank fishing and all of the previous threads I could find. I like the looks (at least from Google maps) of fishing from below Moonshine Beach on down to the dam/spillway area, concentrating on the riprap of the dam area itself. I just wanted to double check that it is okay to bank fish in this area. Or--if anyone thinks I am nuts, let me know that as well. It seems like I can always pick up a few bass off of dam riprap in other places most times of year, so even though I realize that this is probably not choice #1 of areas to fish for bass this time of year, I would think I could still grab a couple. I looked at the State Park area on Google maps, but from the satellite pics I just couldn't tell what the banks and fishable water looked like (shallow/deep, types of cover, accessibility, etc.). Thanks for any help.