Whack'emGood

You will love it T. I am an over the road truck driver now, so I wasn't home to fish much last year... and unfortunately it will be the same for me this year too. At any rate, feel free to PM me anytime concerning night fishing T. I am certainly not an expert at anything, but night fishing on Table Rock is my strong suit... and I will be happy to talk night fishing with you anytime. Whack'em

There's nothing like it. It's not as dark as you think out there, most nights anyway. There is quite a bit of light from all of the development around the lake. Now there's Stockton Lake... that lake can get really dark at night without a moon. Anyway, I love night fishing. Like I said, there's nothing like it. Best big fish area? I would say underwater.

Congrats to your friend. Awesome fish! Many thanks to him for the safe release as well.

All I see is a bunch of ads. Must be something wrong with the camera.

Cool images. Thanks for posting. I gotta get one of those!

Nice job. Good call to let her swim. Thanks.

I couldn't tell you how long it might take for fish to start using a new pile... but, in my experience, it takes quite a while. I believe they have to become "part of the lake", so to speak, before fish in any quality and quantity are really comfortable using them. I could be wrong though... that's just my experience. We always like to drop them in the Fall and Winter, that way they should be seasoned and ready to go in the late Spring and Summer.

Hey Jason. For bass... take my advice and use hardwoods. Crappie love cedars, but for bass we have had much greater success on our big hardwood piles. Sycamore limbs work well, for example. We use burlap sacks filled with rocks and sisal rope to sink our piles. The sacks and the rope are both all natural materials and biodegradeable. By the time they biodegrade, your brush will obviously be water logged and set into place. You can get the sacks at feed stores... if you don't see them on the shelf, just ask them if they have any in the back they are willing to sell. Bulk items come into the store in them, and are emptied out... so they are just trash to the feed store, really. Sisal rope is available at the hardware store. Get a little heavier rope than you think you need... dropping a big pile with a heavy sack of rocks puts alot of strain on a rope. Don't drop them too shallow... I know of a bunch of piles on TR that are entirely too shallow (and worthless) that guys have dropped. Our best night fishing piles on TR are anywhere from 16 to 25 feet deep at normal pool. Be ready to mark your pile on your GPS immediately on the drop for accuracy, before the boat drifts. Lastly, don't forget to give me the GPS coordinates to your piles!

Ha! I'm pretty sure I know those guys that Bill ran into. If it is who I think it is, those guys can really fish! If it is the guys I think it is, they weren't pulling his leg even a little. Those two gentlemen love to throw the big worm this time of year... and they almost always weigh in a big sack in a certain local night tournament series this time of year. Big lake... small world.

Way to go guys! Many thanks for what you did.

+1

You didn't just call me "full of beans" after reading my post did you? If so, read it again... and think again, because you would be dead wrong. If you weren't responding to my post, and if you weren't putting all tournament fisherman in the same boat (so to speak) and ignorantly generalizing about tourney fishermen... then carry on.

I fish tournaments, and it is not about the money at all for me. I like the competition... if it was about the money, I wouldn't do it... because I am way in the hole when it comes to tournament money.

Will do Jason. Sounds good.

I like this one the best.

SOUNDS like BS, but it sure doesn't LOOK like BS. Those pics sure don't lie. Way to go man. Whack'em

Sounds good Jason... may be tough this year though. My schedule right now isn't conducive to fishing. I am gone 4-5 weeks at a time and then home for 4-5 days. I am only going to be able to fish in 5 or 6 Friday nighters though, at the most. Maybe we can work in a trip or two though. Please keep me updated on the goings on. Good luck out there man. Whack'em

Sounds like a pretty good day on the water to me. Thanks for sharing the info. Way to go T and Mrs. T. Whack'em

We got our OAF stickers on! We'll be looking for fellow OAFers out there when we get to go.

I don't think this statement is necessarily true. "Bigger Bass" to me, is a relative term. I get just as much enjoyment catching a 7 lb bass out of Table Rock or Stockton, as I would catching a 10-12 lb bass in Texas or Florida. I always consider where I am fishing... trophy sizes of fish differ from lake to lake and/or region to region. It is just like shooting par on a Championship style and length golf course is much harder than shooting par at what I call a "pitch and putt" style or little dinky executive type golf course. I think both Stockton and Table Rock are in great shape and on the verge of really getting awesome for bass. My .02 P.S. I agree with you about increasing the length limits for sure. I would love to see it increased to at least 16" for bass... maybe eventually 18". That all depends on what effect the scientific experts say those changes would have though.

He wanted to get close to you, so you could see how cool he was!

For what it's worth... I am an over the road trucker, and we travel that stretch of 65 just fine with a 53 foot trailer and weighing up to 80,000 lbs... it is alot better road than it used to be. Take 65 down to Conway, where you get on I40. I40 is a great road from there to Memphis. Have fun!

Thanks for the link. Anything to help more guys (and gals) take better care of their fish is a great thing.

Way to go Jason! It doesn't get any better than that my friend. I'm out on the road right now, so I guess I'll have to live through your experience... yep, that one will keep me for awhile. Keep in touch man.