motoman

I think ab summed it up well. Myself, I'd get out of the coves a bit. Step out of your comfort zone. The Rock is a different animal, and quickly humbles many anglers. (including myself, to this day) If you're used to shallow water fishing, The Rock can be a VERY harsh mistress. Most shallow water guys aren't used to The Rocks clear water either. So make sure you have 8 pound fluorocarbon line on first (maybe even 6). Some guys get away with heavier line; I have not. Hold the boat in the 20-30 foot range, and cast to shore or parallel the shoreline. Fire out that shakey head, and make sure you feed it line. Don't trip the bail or crank the reel when it hits the water; it'll pendulum back and you'll lose critical distance, dragging it on the bottom. I've fished with many guys who cast it (in 20-30 feet of water), and as soon as the bait hits the surface, they trip the bail. Big mistake. That bait may never really make bottom contact until it's almost under the boat. - Once that bait hits the water, feed it line. Until you're certain it's on the bottom. Then as slow as you can stand it, I like to sssslllllowwwly sweep the rod to the left or right, stop, take up slack; rinse, lather and repeat. When you're at the boat, just slowly reel it in, up off the bottom. You'd be surprised how many fish follow it, and don't pounce until they think its getting away.:-) - Look for windblown chunk rock shorelines/points. And as for topwater, I strike out once the sun peeks over the hills. Unless it's foggy or heavy overcast/drizzly/rainy. - As for what time to get out and fish, be on your spots to fish while it's still dark! (if you can get up that early!) When I'm recreational fishing, I'll come in sometimes at 10-11 a.m. (if the bite is tough), grab a bite to eat, catch some ZZzz's; then head back out about 3-4 p.m. and fish into the night. I don't like beating my head against the wall, and frothing the water if there's not a good bite going on. - 3/8 ounce jig heads are plenty heavy; maybe a pinch heavy; but don't sweat it. Work with what you've got. These Table Rock fish are savvy; I prefer 1/4 ounce; so the bait doesn't feel too heavy when they pick it up. Cause if those fish even sense something remotely wrong; they'll drop it like a hot potato. - And try natural colors of smaller soft plastics in the 5" and under range - Don't forget to read the most recent posts too. - Hope this helps, and I apologize if it's a bit scatterbrained; I'm thinking out loud. - Be sure to post back how you did; good luck!

Personally, I prefer the buoyancy of the worm on a shakey head. Otherwise, the bait just lays flat on the bottom. Although, I've done fine with less-buoyant baits on a shakey head; I prefer the buoyancy. I like to picture the bait in my head, dragging it across the bottom, tail up like a dinner flag; signalling the fish in!

Nice report rps, and NICE FISH too! That 10 pounder is a beauty!

As opposed to starting a new thread, I'll just add to this one. - The nighttime white bass bite is TOUGH! Same thing apparently on TableRock. Not sure what's up? Typically we find the shad, and the whites are there with 'em. - But, went out friday night with my buddy who is a retired guy, fished the lake EVERY weekend from spring to fall for 30 years..............and that's no exageration! He's diehard! He can catch those whites like nothing I've ever seen. Friday night we fished for whites from dark to 11:00........and boated 1 white bass. A little guy. - Around 1:00 a.m. starting trolling the 15 FOW range and picked some off using small cranks. But, nothing consistent. - We then fished for black bass with the ole T-rigged worm and did all right fishing ledges. The keepers we seemed to catch we all very thin. Apparently we arent the only ones who can't find the shad either! :-P - I told my buddy; the frustrating part when we're struggling is, there's always someone slaying them somewhere else on the lake. :-(

Yikes! That does seem awefully darn high. Not sure why they would charge so much, unless they've got some kind of amazing amenities included with that rate? We stay at the smaller resorts on the lake and some charge less than $10 a night for a covered slip. - But, those with more info on the subject, may know better than I.:-)

- Smallie fishing in creeks?...............you make that sound like a bad thing!?!?!? I LOVE that kinda fishing...........especially for the ole smallies............they're some mean mamma-jamma's! - Hopefully these cool temps won't throw things off?

-You make it dowwn Flatbottom? Any action? - One thing too I'm not sure if I added in that previous thread (at work, gotta hurry :-P, ledges or shelves seem to help. Not necessary, but if there's a nice ledge/shelf with access to deep water, those shad seem to get pushed up into those and the whites follow! (which seem to apply for most of our gamefish anyway.:-)

Ouch! That's a rough trip. Some people are UNREAL! The red flag to me is when shortly after meeting someone, they have to tell you about their credentials or how great they are. That's a SERIOUS red flag in my book! - A buddy and myself caught up for a trip with Beck this spring, and had a great time. The stories ALONE made it a blast. Not to mention his knowledge. His (and your) patience are amazing, I don't think I would be able to hold myself together! - Dave, be careful backing that Ranger of yours in the garage, that thing is beeeeeautiful!

Flatbottom, here's an old post of mine that stands the test of time. Same thing, year after year. - http://ozarkanglers.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=19317&st=0&p=119746&fromsearch=1&#entry119746 - We made it down friday night from dusk to about 1:00 a.m. We struggled a bit with no wind, and that rain seemed to have pushed the shad down a bit. Still caught several nice blacks on finesse stuff before dark, then the white bass action started in the deeper haunts. We didn't find the whites until about 10:30 or so, and they were sporadic. - I've noticed the whites don't quite seem to be on fire like previous years............yet. I think once we get some nice stable HOT temps; that should do it. This fluctuating temps/precip may have things unsettled. At least for me.

- Everyone says fish the docks; and I will agree with that...............to an extent. You can certainly catch them there, but everyone else is trying that too. In my opinion, those fish get pounded. - Get some good maps first and make your electronics your best friend. Then head for the main channel. I love fishing the ledges, cuts and flats away from the docks. You won't be dissappointed. We've caught some nice black bass friday using finesse stuff approaching dusk and into the night. Nowhere near docks. And boat traffic dissappears. But, that's just me.

Hey flatbottom, give me a day or so and I'll post up some more info; just been busy, busy at work/home. Not ignoring yah!

I'm thinking of making a run down the end of this week or next to do some night fishing; but have only heard sporadic reports. Anybody having any luck? - We typically fish the Glaize and target the white bass. These past few days have been a bit cooler, and we've had some rain; so I wasn't sure what kind of effect that would have on the whites? (We usually catch them all summer thoughout the night when it's hot has heck out; and water temps to match)

My understanding is that it shines more in the colder winter months; but I'd say absolutely give it a try. I did when I was down 3 weeks ago, and caught fish on it out of the back of the boat; while I was casting out the front. I just let it drag behind at a distance vs. working it, but we still caught fish on it! You'd be surprised. ;-)

Dave, - Glad you made it back safe and sound. It was great chatting with you, too bad I didn't have a bit more time. :-( I meant to grab a cell # from you, but was in a bit of a hurry when we caught up with each other; and it slipped me. :-( I was wanting to find out how things were going while you were down there, especially with the high water. Those pix are impressive. Sorry to hear about your water issues in the hatches, that stinks! - I've been working a bunch of overtime lately, so I'm slow getting online/back to e-mails. But, you're exactly right, we did best when we were down throwing the smaller stuff. That little finesse rig is a blast. It definitely takes some patience, especially in the wind. - We were down a few weekends ago when we had 70 degree temps Thur/Fri, then 30 degree temps, snow flurries and 35+ mph winds saturday morning. (This will be a bit of a history lesson as it's so outdated, but still may be helpful for future reference.) We were throwing the usual finesse stuff down at The Rock, and were getting bit well enough, holding the boat in about 25-30 foot of water, and paralleling the shoreline. (Water level was normal then) My partner was able to throw finesse stuff on 1/4 ounce jigheads with decent results Thur/Fri, but I was catching them a bit better on 1/8 ounce and lighter jigheads on Thur/Fri. The game changer really seemed to be on Saturday, when the nasty weather pushed in. The fish really seemed to lock up and not touch my buddies presentation, but throwing those smaller/lighter finesse setups made difference for me. I actually lightened my weight to 1/16 ounce and started doing better with a Zoom Finesse worm, where I bit off just behind the eggsack. I was getting good hooksets in, and not missing a fish. (rare for me) A few of the fish were gut-hooked, but my D-barb came in handy letting the fish loose in good shape. My buddy throwing the heavier jighead and full sized finesse worm had some trouble feeling/hooking fish. I can't help but wonder if the lighter/smaller presentation was needed, so the fish wouldn't feel any weight; and small enough to be bite sized for those lock-jawed fish? But again, with the wind we had, it was VERY tough to fish this way. GGgggrrr.....:-P - Those pix of those big nightcrawlers you posted really does explain why the ole 'turd' worms work. (as referred to by some )

Whoah! That's quite a pic.

Any pix? That would be impressive to see. (compared to 08)

Absolutely amazing! I was down in 08 and it's hard to comprehend it worse than that!!?!?

I forgot to add, when we were down with record high water, everyone was fishing the new shoreline (in peoples backyards too-crazy stuff) while we worked the original shoreline. We found some smaller trees that were just up off the original shoreline, that were absolutely stacked with fish. We found them on the graph, then backed off and threw 4" weedless wacky rigged soft stickbaits in and caught lots of nice fish. - Not all the trees held fish, there just seemed to be some that were real magnets for them. And the nice thing was with the higher water, you could almost circle completely around them, and cast at multiple angles. - The coves with the gradual slope shorelines were best. It could prove helpful by staying in the larger coves, vs. getting into the main channel now with all the debris anyway. Be safe out there.

yikes! That's some scary stuff.

Good report, and cool pix Steve. That's a crazy story with that fox!?!?!? - Re: the redfin, I use #4's myself. But, I've kicked around putting some #2's on it; just haven't gotten around to trying it.

I'm just speculating, but I would LOVE to be down with the rain and rising water. My most productive days down there are with these exact conditions this time of year! - but those more knowledgeable will correct me if needed.

- Thanks for post vacation. Gald to hear the topwater bite is picking up. I was hoping someone would mention the ole redfin bite comin' on! - What kinda water temps did yah see?

Just got back from LOZ last night. We got down to do some crappie fishing wednesday night, but we had some brutal winds and the air temps had slowly dropped all day from the 70's, down to the 30's. OUCH! We were about a half mile from the dam. Surface temps were about 45 degrees. I took temps 10 feet down, and only a degree less difference. (For anyone who cares :-P) - We were gonna go out in the boat Thursday morning, but air temps and wind (not to mention snow flurries) were still pretty rough, so we hung out on the dock. - Started fishing before the sun came up throwing 2" curl tail grubs on 1/16 ounce jighead, moving them slow!!! Anything chartreuse/white. We caught a few. My buddy was using minnows, and started doing better, so I switched up for better results. That way I could just sit in a chair on the dock, hunkered down from the wind behind a 40 foot cruiser. I was never so glad to be sitting so close to those big water plows! - About half of our fish came out of 30 foot of water, in the 15 foot range. The other half were anywhere above the 15 foot range. Some right at the surface, but no consistency. - My buddy would just leave his minnow sit, and set his rod down, then pick it up when it got pecked. I had MUCH better results using a tiny hook, and a tiny split shot a foot up from the bait. Slowwwwwwly reeling up from the 20 foot range. Slow enough to make sure the minnow was not nosing up, just have it coming up through the water column, still swimming horizontal. - The fish seemed to be biting even lighter than crappie usually do. I'm not talking crappie light, I'm talking mosquito light. It could grow very frustrating for someone without much patience. Those dern fish did not want to commit much. I'm not sure if they were just taking a taste, or what!?!?! - In conclusion, it was nice getting out, catching fish, cleaning a limit and hanging out with a good friend. Hopefully in a few days, these cold temps will be a distant memory. :-)

- What a heartbreaker Hector, that stinks. Sorry to hear it. We've all been there my man. There's always next weekend?

- Thanks for the details Bill, posts like this are a joy to read for those of us landlocked for a while! And Congrats!