edyer

Great boat! I had a a 2002 185 VS for 14 years. Now have a 2016 Z 519. Hope yours treats you as well as mine treated me.

Monday I had a decent day catching smallmouths and spots in the clearer water of the White River, but I headed to the Dirty James about an hour before the rains came. Paid off with a nice 5-12 throwing a spinner bait around the flooded bushes and trees. Last day here today. Back up to Michigan. Hope I can arrive virus free. I always seem to head home just when the fish move up and start to bite good.

Looks like you found a few in groups instead of the lonely one and done spots that I had been finding. Had a couple of those groups myself finally Had 20 keepers yesterday out of 24. First keeper was a 3 1/4 pound largemouth on an A Rig. The rest were caught on a 2.8 or 3.3 Keitech. Best fish was a 3.88 smallmouth. Had several nice spots and a couple of Meanmouths. wonder how the cloud cover will affect the bite today?

Dutch, I thought the same thing! There was no way I could hold my new Rapala Scale with that Striper hanging on the end of it.

We always come down from Michigan to share your beautiful lake and fish the Aunt's Creek Association Buddy Tournament.My buddy Dale and I came down last week Friday. We had just got the news that the tournaments were called off. We each drove our own boat and trailer down with planes that our teammates would come later to join us in the tournament. We also expected four others to join us. Then the Coronavirus stated getting more people infected and shutting down more stuff, everyone else decided to stay home.We figured we could socially distance ourselves on Table Rock, so we have been fishing out of our own boats, trying to stay within a mile of each other the past week. we fish about 6-8 hours a day, and compare our catches and stories. The first day, 3/21, was very tough. I caught one 2.5 pound largemouth and Dale got skunked. The next day we stayed between point 9 and Aunt's Creek. I caught a 3.5 pound smallmouth and a Spot. Dale caught a ball Spot. I believe it rained in the morning on Tuesday. We fished the Aunt's creek area again. I had five keeper smallmouths and a 40 inch Striper. Dale got skunked. The next day, we took a ride up the white towards Campbell. I caught 14 spots, two smallmouths, and two largemouths. Dale had 12 spots and two smallmouths. Next day we went to Kimberling City. I caught Two nice smallmouths, three 3 pound largemouths, and a nice spot for 17.68 pounds. Dale had a nice bag of four smallmouths and two spots for 16.86 pounds. We are kind of competitive. Thursday we went up the white again, and I only had three keepers, but one was a 3.65 small jaw. Dale had about a dozen, with a couple of smallmouths and the rest spots. Today we went back to Kimberling City and Dale had seven with a couple of real nice spots, one over 3 pounds.I had five fish, buttony three keepers which include a couple of small jaws, and a big spot. The majority of the fish Dale caught were on a 5/16 round ball jig with a smoke/purple Yamamoto 4 or 5 inch grub, or a 3 inch Kalin Grub.Keeps his boat in 25-30 feet and makes a cast award shore and slowing reels it back, trying to keep it near the bottom, without getting slimed.Most of my fish were caught on swim baits, using a 1/4 ounce Shin Spin jig with a 3.8 Keitech. I also caught a few, including the 3.65 smallmouth, on the 5/16 jig with a 2.8 keitech. The day I caught the Striper, I caught all five keeper smallmouths on a finesse A-Rig thrown very close to the flooded bushes. Much like a spinner bait. I tried a spinner bait, but couldn't get bit on it.Trying to decide where to fish tomorrow. Still haven't caught a big bass(I did lose a five pounder on Tuesday) Tried to net it by myself, and I should of boat flipped it. Glad it wasn't in a tournament. Still would like to have a 50 fish day. but with the water levels going down, I don't think the bite will turn on. We are leaving early Monday to head back to Michigan. Good luck everybody. This post has been promoted to an article

Quite a few floaters early in the morning. The wind eventually takes care of them. Have to pay attention. Water is starting to drop, so that should help.

I have been fishing the past 7 days along with my buddy. We fish by ourselves out of our own boats. Fishing has been fairly tough. Our best day for numbers has been was 18 and 14 fish, with with only a few of those being keepers. The majority of our fish have been caught swimming a grub or a Keitech. Some nice smallmouths over 3 pounds and some chunky keeper spots have been caught on days of fewer fish, but my buddy Dale has been pretty steady the last couple of days on both numbers and keepers. Clearer water towards Kimberling City, but we have caught some in the stained water in the white and James as well. With the high water warming, you would thing a spinner bait of a fluke bite would be happening soon. I'm going to post some pictures on a new post soon.

I was fishing the James River/Aunt's Creek area Tuesday evening. The water was very muddy, but there were a lot of shad and loons around so I was launching my A Rig trying to entice something to bite. I started to get frustrated and questioned my sanity for fishing such muddy water. I was going to leave this spot after this cast, and suddenly my late afternoon trip turned into something special. I felt a tug and set the hook and soon found out that this was not your usual bass you catch on Table Rock, but a Striper! In forty years of fishing Table Rock, I had never heard or seen one caught. I had heard that there were some in the lake that escaped Beaver Lake when flood waters allowed some to go over the dam. The mighty fish made several runs, before I was able to bring it closer to the boat. I had thought it might be a huge Cat or a carp, but I was sure surprised to see this beautiful fish swim by the boat. I was able to get it halfway into my net, and had to use both hands on the hoop to get it into my Ranger. I called Dick Stewart from Oak Hill Resort to share my surprise and he said to bring it in so we could take some pictures of it and weigh it. It was 40 inches long and weighed 26.5 pounds on his dock scale. We were able to release it alive. After we did, I wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do or not, but maybe someone else will get a chance to decide it's fate and experience it's fight.

I was going to ask if anyone knew how the James was between points 10-14. We ran to Kimberling Area today to find clearer water. Some floating trash there also.

I have the Float and Fly kit that I bought at least 25 years ago. In Michigan I use it to catch crappies. I should update with the Spro version.

There are so many good lakes with Giant Smallmouths. I have seen 4 and 5 pounders being kept to be eaten on one of the lakes NE of Traverse City. We had a D & R Sports tournament on there and about 200 over 4 pounds were weighed in. Here is a 6 pounder from Lake St. Clair in early May caught on a Lucky Craft Slim Pointer in Table Rock Shad color. Water was still pretty cold that spring. Hit on a 5 second pause.

This was a 6 pound 4 ounce smallmouth caught in the fall on Manistee Lake, one of the drowned river mouths that connect to Lake Michigan. This is an example of what Michigan smallmouths can grow to be. If I can figure out how to do it, I have a 6 pounder from Lake St. Clair also. Marcel Veenstra also guides on Burt and Mullet Lakes in the Indian River area in the northern lower peninsula of Michigan. You don't catch as many bass here as you do on Lake Saint Clair, but you could catch a 6 or 7 pound fish on one of those lakes.

Marcel Veenstra - Marcel's Guide Service- Also on Facebook Art Ferguson - Art of Fishing Guide Service This Year, late April through early May should be good. Catch and Release during this time of year. Most of the fishing for big smallmouths will be in 4 to 9 FOW. Fun times! This is the time I like to go, but the guides can put you on fish other times of the year. Most of the big FLW and Bassmaster Elite tournaments are in late August and Early September. Did you see Seth Feider last year on Lake St. Clair?

I agree. I had the opportunity to fish Lake Champlain in 2014 as a co-angler in the Northern Bassmaster Open Tournament. Big Largemouths in the Northern and Southern ends of the Huge Lake, and a ton of quality smallmouths. I live in Michigan, and the possibility of catching a smallmouth over 6 pounds in any of the lakes connecting to Lake Michigan exists, as well as many of the northern inland lakes. I try to make a trip to Lake St. Clair a couple of times each spring before the spawn when huge schools of smallmouths move shallow to feast on the yellow perch that have just finished spawning. 50 fish days 3 to 5 pound bass per angler are considered a slow day. 100 fish days per angler are possible along with the chance of a 6 pounder being caught. Fish are in 4 to 8 FOW, so they can be caught on a lot of different methods. I will be coming down to Table Rock for my 40th year this spring. A lot of things have changed with the growth of the area, but the fishing is as good as ever. Not many places where you can catch an 8 pound largemouth, football shaped Spots, and a lot of nice smallmouths. Looks like the fish may be "moving up" a little earlier this spring in the weather forecasts are right. I was ice fishing today, but I think the ice could be gone in the next week. Can't wait for another trip to the Rock. Love reading your posts and Bill's reports.