Spinnaker

Thanks for this post. I plan to come down in Nov. and I will try the trees for sure.

Thanks for the reports. Techo, when I came down in May I found a white wiggle wart in a live cedar tree when the water was way up. I started throwing it and it worked pretty well in the trees. What color were you using? When I come in November I might throw that. In September, the jig and a Norman deep n worked for me. I wonder if spinner baits are good then too.

Your confidence is welcome. I will come down! Thanks for the pep talk Coach!

Whack'em: That's the tourney that I heard about from my resort owner. His place is a mile or so from the Marina. I thought about coming down on Monday the 9th, but 200 boats and all PROs at that?? Gees. I can understand that the areas up stream miles away the tourney will not affect too much. 200 boats, 4 days, 5 keepers per day (plus), thats 4000 fish caught and released. By the way, I assume that all of the keepers will be released at the Marina? You guys know a lot more about fishing than I ever will. Do you think I will have success if I come down on the 9th? I suppose I could wait until Wednesday to come down. I will keep an eye on the forum and the weather. Thanks.

I am in KC but I often do not see posts on Truman forum. I want to try Truman in Oct. Speaking of the tourney you are writing about, is that a big event, what date(s) and where is it fishing out of? I want to avoid a crowd if you know what I mean. BTW captmac, I see that you are from Shell Knob. I love TRock and spent a week down there in late Sept. and plan to go down for another week in mid Nov. I love the smallies especially. Many thanks.

I want to come down in early or mid Nov. I understand there is a pro tourney in early Nov. so I want to avoid that time. Do you think if I get down there around Monday the 9th of Nov. the bass will be OK after the tourney ruckus?

Thanks for the replies. I have not looked at this part of the forum for sometime. I went to TRock last week and had a good time. I see that BS is still about 30 feet high. That is a lot of water to release in the future. TRock is within 2 feet or so of normal. I may come down to TRock and Taney in November depending on the weather.

techo: Until this year crank baits were the only thing I threw except for thr occassional meps in Canada. My resort owner tells me that when the water cools in November the smallies go for stick baits, sometimes spinners and he said jigs are always on the menu. This time I found a lure hooked to a line that was buried in the rocks about 18 feet down. I suspect that it may have had a rod on the other end but I could not get it to move, The lure had not been in the water that long and it was a floater, about a foot under the surface. I started using the lure and it was very effective so I went to Walmart and found the same lure. I bought a couple in case I lost the one I had found. Sure enough, the next day it got hooked on a submerged tree and it broke off. It was a Norman "little n" and dives down to 9 feet or so. I do not know if the solunar table indicates what was going on last week, but I had a pretty good day one day with 19 bass. Now only a few were keepers and almost all of them were smallies. Of course any bass is good but smallies are my favorites to catch. Maybe we can hook up in November. It depends on what the weather is like and I need to get up to Chicago to visit my parents around Thanksgiving week. I understand that there is a bass Tourney at the state park marina in Hollister around the 1st of November. I wonder if that screws up fishing for a week after the Tourney. Check you later.

Thanks Champ. I am really looking forward to some bass fishing next week. My buddies and I got back from a week in Canada on Labor Day weekend. Walleye fishing is great but I like fishing for bass much more.

At 10:47 PM it's 923.05 and they are still discharging at the rate of about 7400 cfs. It has risen about 2 feet in 24 hours. I think it's a matter of time before they may have to open some gates, but who really knows? Fortunately, the rain has stopped for a few days.

Thanks techo. The last I saw today the water level at the dam was 922.9 and appears to be on the rise.

Once upon a time a friend of mine was using more than one rod. We warned him. There was a pretty good drift going. He turned around to check something and his line snagged. His drag was set tight. It poped the rod up in the air and down she went. We had to bite our tonges to keep from laughing. He was steamed for a while but got over it. We went back and forth over the area to try to snag it but no dice. I would advise against using more than one rod at once. Just my way of thinking but to each his own. On a lighter note, I think you will enjoy trout fishing. I also have an aluminum boat I use at home and on TRock. When I fish Taney I like to wade and flyfish in the upper end so I only use one rod. Good luck.

I will be staying in Hollister just south of the dam. I plan to fish the Indian point area a lot. I might venture to the James area but that is quite a distance by water. I thought about driving to Cape fair and launching one day but I don't know about the launch condition now and with rising water who knows. For now I can launch at the Dewy area with no problem as I did in May. Any info on the Cape Fair launch and the Indian point areas would be appreciated. Thanks.

Thanks Fisherman. I am staying in Hollister. I stay there because I sometimes flyfish in Taneycomo below the dam. This time it looks like the water will be too high for wadding unless I am elbow to elbow in a crowd. I may make up to the James but I would probably opt to pull my boat over there if the launch is open. Thanks again.

AccuWaether shows no rain until Fri night. The Corps site shows 922 this AM with 7000+ discharge. Do you think the water on TRock will get down to 915 by the weekend? I am coming down to fish TRock but I also planned to take a day or 2 to wade fish by the dam on Taney. Looks like they will be running all 4 from now until???

I will be heading down next Monday, Sept. 22 for a week. I am interested to know how well you usually do from noon until about 5 PM as it really slowed down for me when I was there in late May. Since then I have tried with some success the football jig at KS smallmouth lakes so I have some confidence (more likely pure luck) using that bait. Crank baits are my favorite way to fish and it appears that you are doing well with those. The water is a couple feet higher now since you got a good lick of rain around there. I assume the water is a little more stained. In general, is the water in the James area a little more stained or a lot and any tips on that score? Glad you enjoyed the day with your sons.

Many thanks for the tips. I hope to try this area a lot as I have read good things about it on the forum.

I will be heading down for the week September 22 and have never fished the James River area. From the maps it appears it could take a week and a person could not hit all the points. I thought about going up stream and just starting pretty far up. Any suggestions on how to attack it?

I am coming down during the 3rd week of September and wondering what would be the best baits to try. I have had some success in Kansas Lakes for smallies on the football jig with a twin tail grub and some deep diving crank baits. I am struggling on fishing successfully in deeper water with plastic worms. When I read about fishing in 20-30 feet of water, are you guys fishing the plastic worms/night crawlers suspended or on the bottom? Any ideas would be appreciated. By the way, I will be staying near the dam but plan to boat to the James River area. Many thanks.

Growler: I am relatively new to fishing with the football jig and plastics. I have had some success catching smallies at a lake in KS, pulling it along the bottom. Although I have had some success early at Truman using crank baits, I have not caught a single largemouth on ther jig. Do you fish the jig on the bottom or do you jig it up and let it fall or do a slow retrieve off the bottom? Appreciate the advice.

I have not fished the Cape Fair area at all. I usually stay at the Hollister area and do OK down there. But I hear good things about the Cape fair area and want to try that. The fish you fellas caught were Largemouth? I like all bass fishing but especially smallmouth. Do you have any recommendations on a place to stay with a dock, electrical and launch facilities? Thanks.

Many thanks fellas. I am going to experiment with them a few weeks.

I have never used one of these but I bought one to try on bass and walleye. The lure has a weighted body and blade with a hole in it where you attach a clip. The mfg says to use a clip to attach the lure. Have any of you used this lure and if so can you provide some advice? Thanks.

I saw your post and it reminded me that I have not really tried night fishing, well after the sun has set and I have e few questions if you will humor a relative novice. I especially enjoy fishing for smallies. In the warm water conditions, after dark sets in, how close to shore do you present your lures? What lures would you suggest for after dark ? I have fished the face of some dams in Kansas for smallies with rattling lures and football jigs with slit tail grubs with some success but not after dark. Do you think that the jig and plastic lures are ineffective after dark? Many thanks.

I made it down to Hollister and launched without any problem at the marina. Nice ramp there. I did not see any of you on Friday when I launched. I wish I had more time there to fish but had to come back. It seemed to me that there was less boat traffic on the lake this year compared to previous years. Perhaps the weather and lake levels and gas might have influenced that. Who knows for sure? At any rate I had fun.