abkeenan

I have a 5" big spoon on the deck as well. Have thought about getting a couple of those big hair/feather Preacher Jigs that guys on Kentucky Lake like throwing on the ledges and whatnot but just haven't picked any up to try. So much tackle...so little time.

Anything that touches 25+ feet is going to be like $12-15 bucks a pop. Manns 30+, LC SKT Mag's and others are all 15-25 bucks. I heard that the Skeet Magnum deep cranks sucked so I didn't get any. But your right the 3/4oz FB Jig is also on the deck where I am flinging the deep crankers.

I like it. I have always thrown DD22's and the 10XD pulls a little harder but it's not that big of a deal to me. It also runs true, casts further, has a steep dive angle to where it reaches depth quickly and is easy to bump it along the bottom. I 'm a fan...except for the pricetag for an extra 1 oz of plastic than a 6XD or DD22. I'm throwing mine on a 7'10 MH BPS Crankin' Stick with a Lew's 5.4:1 on 12lb Seaguar Red Label and it does pretty well on that setup. I thought the 12# might be a little light but it's fine. Most guys are throwing them on 14#. Just let the rod load with the weight of the bait and you can chuck it a mile.

Ever since I saw that they are running that much water through the dam I've been licking my chops to get down there and throw a 10XD on the long runout points and dropoffs into the channel where the current is going to be rolling over it. Nobody wants to see all this rain and the damage it can cause but I'm thinkin' what you're thinkin' with the deep cranks.

How about moving on already and not crapping on this thread too. There is a topic currently where you can voice your opinions. Why bring that over here when it has nothing to do with the topic that we are well aware of your thoughts on the subject.? Get over it.

Oh boy. As if this thread needed more ammo to pit one side vs the other. Yikes.

Well I for one am disappointed that James and others are going to scale back their reports. Quillback, James and Donna, Dave, Babler and others here spend a bunch of time on the water and share valuable info that helps people out tremendously. This place is a great resource from fishing tackle to the latest reports on the lake. Just look how many out-of-towners post here that nobody knows from Adam and people go out of their way to help. Now that might not be the case.

All these figures you spit out are not backed by any sort of factual information from the MDC. Hundreds of millions? Seriously?

It's 6 per day.

I don't like to see ANY FISH SPECIES over harvested. ANY. A neighbor of ours fishes in early spring for crappie and says that he will get his limit....run back to his dock, unload his 15 and go back and get another limit. He does that for days if not weeks in March-April. This guy is local and is a nice guy and all but I certainly look down on that. He is in his 70's and that probably just reflects the type of behavior for his time period but I could call the game warden on him if I wanted to but never would. I would call the warden on a person I don't know with over their limit of ANYTHING from fish to frogs to things with fur.

There's no way that is true. I've probably killed less than a limit of fish by accident in the last 5 years much less 30 per year. I killed about a 3lb beauty smallie last year on a jika rig that wasn't gut hooked or anything and it made me sick. Kept him in the livewell trying to revive him but it was too no avail. Not sure what happened but I hated to see it. I am not going to bash on people that keep limits of fish that is within reason. Like I've said before it's well within the regulations and laws set forth by the state of Missouri/Arkansas. But I guess I just don't follow the logic of spending a lot of money on gas, rods/reels, tackle, boats, etc to travel to a lake to fill a cooler/freezer. You could save a ton of money going to the local grocery store and buying tons of fillets for much less if the meat is all you're after in the end. Isn't the point of traveling to a lake like Table Rock for the experience of feeling a fish tugging on your line and taking in all the sights, sounds, smells and overall aesthetics that the lake presents? Wouldn't you want to protect that and make it sustainable for future generations to enjoy? Taking a 15" fish out of the lake means it has 0 opportunity to give someone else the pleasure of saying "get the net" to a family or friend and bringing a smile to your/their face. It also means that fish has no chance to become a true trophy fish and you are basically starting from square one with another smaller fish to fill its place that will take years to get it back to that length/size. If you are fishing out of necessity to eat that is one thing but I highly doubt most people here with their 100 Mbps internet speed access to Ozark Anglers or using their 4G LTE Smartphone have those types of 3rd world problems.

I wouldn't be caught dead running on plane in any river arm on TR right now. In the dam area I don't see the trash floating like the river guys here but 2 years ago while running out into the main lake from the mouth of Beardsley I just happen to catch a "not quite a floater" out of the corner of my eye and was able to shut it down and steer clear of it. It was just BARELY under the surface and bobbing perpendicular in the water. I pulled up next to it and drug it to the shore so nobody else would hit it. It was as big around as a telephone pole, about 5 feet long and completely water logged. Probably weighed in the neighborhood of 250lbs. It have no doubts it would have gone straight through the hull had I hit it on plane. Had I been running at night or low light conditions I doubt I ever would have seen it. It was a good lesson as to the hazards that can be just under the surface and a good reminder to pay attention at all times. Even more so in river arms and especially after washouts that push all the junk in the water. Stay safe.

Very cool. What a kicker fish.

X 2. Do the same thing with the Lure Parts Online spoons. Even get the blanks and paint them white if I feel like it.

Fake. Fake. Fake.

Here is a nice video of spooning on TR.

http://dixiejetspoons.com/ http://www.basswishes.com/Store/tabid/269/List/1/ProductID/122/Default.aspx

Mike, Good to see you are now catching all of Dave's pets and leaving mine around the dam alone. Nice report and it validates what Bo was saying in that there are still some fish that haven't spawned and are on beds here mid-June. Biggest fish my family has ever taken out of Table Rock was over 8.5lbs and was caught first week of June still full of eggs. So some are always late to the party.

Yep. Big worms are hard to beat at night. If I'm fishing at night I am throwing one about 80% of the time.

I thought adding the random woman and child in the boat was a nice finishing touch to the plan. Fool proof basically. Would take a real non-C&R'er to pass by and not help out a boater in distress.

Good to see you got on some fish Mike. Way to pay it forward on helping a stranded boat also.

I agree. I haven't been fishing TR since they dammed the White River in the 50's like some here but I've been fishing Table Rock since my grandpa (who started fishing Table Rock in the 60's and 70's) basically taught me how to fish starting in the late 80's and early 90's. It's nothing now like it was then as far as fishing pressure and boat traffic. The expansion of Branson into the tourist mecca that it has become within the last 10-20 years accounts for a lot of that. Again not really complaining as TR is a great lake (maybe the best) but the pressure is out of site.

If you think Table Rock isn't heavily pressured you live under a Table Rock. These fish see more lures than you can imagine. I really only fish Long Creek to Combs Ferry so that is only the locations on the lake I can speak from and I'll tell you from April til November you have to get a number to get in line to fish a point in that area. Our place is in Beardsley and are the lone dock on the first cove on the left.....as soon as one guy fishes the cove and leaves he is replaced almost immediately by another. This goes on all day. During a large tournament....even worse. I am not complaining but to say that TR isn't pressured I don't think is an accurate statement.

You can't make an assumption like that without science, facts or numbers to back up those claims. I don't know if a "slot" for bass or a reduced length limit on Kentuckies would do anything to the overall health of Table Rock as a fishery or not. Again I am not a biologist and don't have a background or degree in conservation of natural resources. Also, this is FAR FROM PETA and the crazies in that way of thinking. Harvesting of anything just needs special attention from corn, to oil to fish....any resource has to be regulated as to not harm that resource for both short and long term. I think that is all anyone is saying here. In the end we all love to fish which is what brought us Ozark Anglers in the first place. I think we would all agree that nobody wants to see the fish population dwindle or make the lake less than what it could be (or is). This is only MY opinion and every is welcome to their own which is why we live in America. I just feel like we need to keep every 15"+ fish swimming to reproduce or to give someone else a tug on their line down the road. I just feel like black/brown bass are the most sought after and pressured fish in Table Rock by a LANDSLIDE which makes them more of a precious commodity and more of a rarity. In my OPINION there are just better options in Table Rock for meat harvesting such as catfish, white bass and panfish/bluegill. They taste better and are more readily available to catch a boatload of them. Just my 2 cents.

I'll tell you what. I'll keep a 15" Kentucky and then keep a couple white bass and fix them as I do. I'll blindfold you and have 2 plates one with the white bass and one with the black bass and I'll bet you a pre-rapala wiggle wart that you couldn't tell the difference between the two.