MOBass

I drop my motor down as far as it will go when I put on my transom straps to drain most of the water out. From what I have read the zebra mussels are tough little things and can survive in pretty marginal conditions. You would probably have to flush the motor to get the bulk of these things out. I am working hard to keep the boat and trailer power washed before I hit another lake after fishing Taney. It would not surprise me if several area lakes are already infected because of the number of boats that come through from other areas and locals that fish elsewhere and return to the local lakes.

The fishing wasn't much for me, but the tree watching was great. Lots of good color on the hills this weekend. I also came across a decent buck on Indian Point, but had to pass on him as I didn't have a cow catcher on the front of the truck. I started about 9AM after fixing a bunk on the trailer. Fished around Indian point for some short bites on a grub and shakey head. Had a few small fish swim all the way to the boat chewing the tail of the grub. Ran down to the 86 bridge for nothing. I saw guys from the bank to spots in the middle of the lake where Columbus with a compass would have had trouble finding. There was an area by the bridge that look like there had been some fish feeding on shad with a few dead shad scattered and lots of scales in the water. I dropped a spoon and swam a grub through the area for nothing. Back to Indian where I fished a crank bait for two very nice rocks. That made my first two rock day. I followed that up with a rod and reel caught from 12' of water under a dock. Then for good measure I added a couple of sticks. I finally settled on the shakey head to finish the day and picked up a keeper small mouth. At least I didn't get skunked. I may go back next weekend for a rematch.

That shot of outlet 2 looks like full blown combat fishing. Even getting away from the outlets there was still a good crowd this past weekend. I can't wait for cooler weather, deer season, and football to thin the herd a little.

Doh! I didn't realize the central pro am was going to be there this weekend. I guess I'll go down Sunday in hopes of less folks on the water. Hopefully with the cooler weather the fair weather types will hang it up and the call of the deer woods will get the rest.

You just sold me on fishing Table Rock this weekend. Thank you for information you shared in your report. Can you disclose a general area of the lake where the wiggle wart bite is on?

With the Heartland Buddy and ProAm coming up folks maybe a little more tight lipped than normal. After the weekend I would guess you will see more information in reports and the tournament results. I haven't been on Table Rock and was going to pull the trigger and go tommorrow, but may wait and let the tourney guys have it.

Nothing big to report, but plenty of action. I put in at Cooper Creek a little after 8 and ran up to Branson. There was no fog which was a nice change from the past couple of trips. I planned to focus on bass today, but wanted to get the skunk off so I stopped in front of Turkey creek and caught a few trout on the spoon. The size was a little better than last weekend, but fewer fish for the most part. With that out of the way I started fishing for bass. I pretty well went through the tackle box pattern to see if I could find any fish with some size. Nothing on a spinnerbait, crankbait, jig, or brush hog. Everything I caught was on a weightless sticko and a shakey head finess worm. Biggest fish was 13" with the majority being dinks. I mixed up my retrieves trying to find something the fish liked better, but coulnd't get locked in on one. I tried fishing the sticko several ways, but settled on a twitch pause retrieve. Missed a couple of fish and had 6 dinks and the sticko. The shakey head picked up a little better fish. A slow drag did the best. I missed a couple of fish on the shakey head also. Next trip I may have to go down towards Rock Away to mix things up. I know there are some better fish to be had in the Branson area, but haven't figured them out in the past three trips. Hopefully I can get in a few more shot before winter creeps in.

I fished the Branson area with my daughter yesterday and we had all the fun we wanted casting to rainbows with a silver spoon and a white rooster tail. Nothing big, but plenty of action. Bass fishing was a little tough as my daughter hasn't got the casting thing down. We did manage a handful of bass and saw a couple of brutes cruising. The most notable was trailing a piece of fishing line. I took a look to see where it was coming from and it was actually being passed by the fish with the hook still attatched. Pretty amazing what a bass can survive.

I watched a guy fishing a float and fly this weekend and he was doing pretty good. I had some really fat rainbows on Sunday fishing a small kastmaster spoon. I actually caught the better fish while messing around a little jigging the spool in about 12 ft. of water. The small stockers seemed to be cruising and chasing with better fish close to the bottom.

I tried the twitch pause thing on the browns and they got nice and agitated, but wouldn't commit. A white fluke got a few looks, but they really got turned on by a watermelon stick o. Bluff side is where I saw all the fish. No size to the bass at all. 12" average, nothing bigger or smaller. I really want to hit it again this Sunday but will be out of town the following week and need to get some work done at home and the office.

I was keeping an eye on the weather and didn't want to stray too far so I put in at the leisurly hour of 9AM and ran down to Branson. Trout are still stacked in the creek mouths and a little ways back in them. There are some fat fish mixed in the standard stockers. A silver 1/12oz kastmaster would get about 5 bumps per cast with a hook up about every 6-8 cast. I need to go to a lower stretch set up. Maybe fluor or a little stiffer rod. Just too much stretch with the ultralight and 4#. I did get a nice fish jigging straight under the boat in about 12ft. of water. Bass fishing was decent numbers. The bigger fish I have seen moved out. Buzzbait, rouge, texas rigged worm, stick o, fluke, jig, and popper all got some work today. The stick o and fluke accounted for all of the bass. Nothing else got a lick. Fish didn't seem to be keyed on any particular structure. Docks, bluffs, banks, and tress all produced. I found some nice browns from Cooper Creek to right in front of Lilley's. They would charge the fluke or stick o and short strike. I tried a rouge and they would look at it and flair off after a couple of jerks. Anyone have ideas on getting these fish to commit? Maybe get them worked up on the stick o and throw a crawler? The other thought was a down sized jerkbait. I'll be working on this for next trip. Weather was good and cool. Better than last weekend for sure. Time for a brake to take care of family stuff and then back at it.

I put in at Cooper Creek yesterday morning and it was pea soup from the water line to about 5'. I could have used radar and a fog horn. Idled down towards Branson until the I broke through the soup and ran towards the landing. First area a fished was one of the creeks across from the landing for a couple of small bass on a stick o and a couple of missed fish in the clear water. I was too busy looking at the bass taking the bait to get the slack out before setting up. So two strikes and I was out of there. Boat docks were interesting. I had a toad brown come out and crush a stick o but couldn't get a hook in him. I cast a wacky rigged stick o in next figuring the exposed hook would stick him. I watched the fish take the bait again and set up with the same result. After that he charged the bait a few more times, but never took it again. The next stop was my favorite boat dock at the mouth of a creek and it left me high and dry. Interesting aside....There were big schools or monster shad in all of the creeks I fished. This was the first time I have seen anything like that in Taney. Back to fishing. I hit a few main lake docks for nothing and decided it was time to get in some shade. I went into a creek where I could get some shade and found good numbers on small fish off of boat docks. There were some pigs in there also, but the smaller fish were on the bait too fast for the big fish to have a good look at it. By the time I could get a shot at the bigger fished they were pretty leary. There were also some nice fish in really tough positions. Under the logs of pontoons, between the floatation on docks, and under cables. I managed some good skip cast, but it was very tough to not spook the fish. I did manage a few small grade fish out of the tough spots, but again the big fish were pretty leary. Trout were thick in the creek mouths and small spoons, spinners, and crappie jigs all worked. Lots of follows and then one would take it. All fish were shook off with in a couple of seconds of getting them boat side. I mash the barbs on the hooks and a little slack line lets the bait fall out. Did I mention it was hot? I drank a gallon of water and it felt like I sweated out two. No sun burn though and I didn't feel sick I got home. Next time I am taking even more water and electorlyte drinks. What worked: Docks and creek mouth with stick o's (should have tried a shakey head, note for next time). What didn't work:texas rigged worms, jigs, buzzbait, and jerkbait.

I'll be down on Sunday and will probably spend sometime with a split shot and crawler to put my daughter on some trout. I haven't seen much reported on bass or crappie and was looking for some current info. Any information would be appreciated. Thanks.

Thanks for the info on the circle hooks at Lilley's. Is the tackle shop on the dock or someplace else at the resort? I'll be on the water in a couple of weeks and would love to tie up for a few minutes and grab some hooks.

I like to fish a splitshot about 12-18" above a small bronze hook and half of a night crawler. You can also use power baits, power eggs, or corn. Make sure to use light line or leader. 4# should be good, but if you are having trouble getting bites you may want to pick up a small spool of fluorcarbon leader material. That should get you started.

From outlet 1 to rebar didn't do much for me. Pretty heavy combat fishing at outlet 1 Sunday morning and off and on at outlet 2. I managed 1 rainbow in about 4 hours. No water running at all, gin clear, not much breeze. Got a call from a friend needing help in Springfield and I didn't mind giving it up. On a high note I did scout some docks for bass in other areas and found some promising leads. I haven't fished the main lake docks much but saw enough to get my interest up. I'll post results after my next bass trip.

I gave up fishing Table Rock during the day a few weeks before July 4th. I don't think I'll see the lake during the day until a few weeks after Labor Day. The number of play boats seems to have taken a dramatic up swing in just a few years. I guess LOZ reached capacity and TR is the overflow lot.

Try Rockaway Beach. I have taken my daughters down there several times and have done well on crawler and PB. Branson has some docks near the Landing that might be worth a try. There is also a dock down towards Forsyth that I have seen people do real well at. Hope that helps.

That confirms what I thought. Pretty liberal regs.

Can someone confirm the min. length for bass on Taney? I never keep a bass, but wanted to know for reference. The best I could figure by reading the reg book was that there was not a length limit.

The exit for Division is also closed for North bound traffic. It looks like that is part of the detour. Kearney will be closed also but was open as of 8:30A Saturday morning. Watch your speed because the five o is out in force.

All largemouth for me. They were all healthy and had shoulders and round bellies. I caught one with some tails sticking out his throat so they were feeding pretty good.

Below RB I found as warm as 71. Branson was mid 60s in the creeks with some of the shallow areas warmer than that. I didn't look at the gauge on the main lake, but my hands said it was cold when I wet them to cool the steering wheel.

I am 0 for 4 on bull creek. I have only fished the mouth of it though. I need to get back further from what you describe. I posted a report of my trip. It was pretty darn good and I didn't have to fish in deep water or risk getting drowned.