tapout

Ouch, tough on the budget for sure. Ya take the good with the bad in every line of work I suppose. I respect that you kept your cool. (I wonder what their casting that won't backlash when you try and cast a butt seat, or push the button on hookset???? It must be custom texas secret stuff!)

fozzype, Great report and I'm envious of your weekend. Kudos involving your family.

Went down today and fished dam area. Rained all day. Wind mild. I pretty much, well exactly, followed Bill Babler's last report to a tee. Scored 6 keeper sized smallies and 1 keeper sized K. Caught 7 short smallies and two goggle eye. Missed a few fish in the afternoon but from 8 till 11 if they bit it they inhaled it. Biggest fish was a small mouth about 3.5lbs. Nothing to write home about but really had a great time fishing. Thanks to Bill Babler and others that share on here I managed an eleven pound sack. (All fish released for future pleasure) (If I could of found the whites I would of ate them, but alas, I did not)

6.98

Amen brother! I hope you can pull the skeeter with a prius too.

Nice report and yes a 5lb 8oz is a great start. Thanks.

Blatant abuse of OUR resources and state laws, deserves maximum punishment. No doubt the filing of the lawsuit prompted the temporary fix that's finally being done. I'm sure some property owners get nit picked to death with some of the laws, and that's a shame, but this one shocks the conscience. I forgot who started this post but thank you for keeping us informed.

Super fish!!! Nice reward for sticking it out in a tourny in this weather. Congratulations. The old blood and nerves get elevated once you realize you have an 8lber on the line.

Amen Techo..... Can, have, and will again.

Finally made it down to T-Rock on Friday from 11am till 1:30 pm. For what it's worth (not much) here's a summary of my day. Water 62 degrees, wind out of north at 15mph, and sunny. Tried spooning docks and nothing. Wiggle wart, nothing. Spinnerbait, third cast, one keeper LM in about 3 feet of water on a ledge/chunk rock bank. Stayed with the blade, tried deeper, faster, slower, and nothing, I had numerous bass follow it to the boat when I was shallow but no committment. I tried killing it, popping it, ripping it, and no deal. I didn't try anything really slow. Maybe in a whole day I could of figured em out but left just glad I got to go. I hadn't been since August. Boat had water pressure issues so it shortened my day. Good luck in your tournies this weekend.

Very nice fish, and during a tournament to boot. Nice of you to share bait, depth, and structure. Who could ask for more.

Way to scratch out some fish. I seem to get locked into what should be working and forget to try other structure and locations. Thanks for the report.

Yeah it pretty much was the only bite. We caught 4 white bass, 5 short kentucky's, and her. But we were only out from 3pm till 7pm trying something different.

I'm here to boast a little and give a little encouragement during the dog days of summer. The bad news, I was out with Bill Beck and another friend fishing their techniques and their locations so I won't share either. When its mine I share cause I too gather a bunch of useful information off this forum. But its not so I won't. The good news, I caught my personal best right here on Table Rock on July 19. It weighed 8 1/2 lbs on a boga grip spring scale. Everybody was confident it was over 8lbs. It swam away slowly but hopefully survived. The fish was exhausted after the fight. We weighed it took a pic (a bad pic I might add) and put her back. In hind sight I wished I would of measured it but you could tell when I finally got it to the boat it was spent so I released it pretty quick. Hopefully the pic attaches. I'm stoked and ready to lace up on another!!!!

Bluffboy, You deserve an atta-boy! What a great example of being a good steward of your resources. Thanks.

I can respect that, but I can't wait to hear it. I'm going to be on T-rock tues through thurs and need all the help I can get. Good luck in the AIA.

RPS, I should of listened to you. I had read your other post about catching on top and up close, but honestly thought it was probably a one time deal and I don't know what a top dollar is (but I'm fixin to find out). I also went yesterday early (of course that is relative it was 6am) and couldn't get a fish on top. I resorted to drop shoting at about 7:30. I had three keeps, a 17.5 and two 15 inch k's, and a dozen short k's. On a bad note, my on board charger didn't work and everytime I touched the troller my graph shut off. At first I thought it was a short because the trolling motor seemed strong enough. I did some on water tuning, going over every wire looking for a fray or loose connection and found nothing. I then ran into Bill Beck on the water and he said it was a low battery. After charging them later that day it worked so thanks Bill. Despite the equipment malfunction it was a great day with my 7 year old son.

Hey all, I went out today with my wife and kids so fishing was limited. I tried all kinds of lures and techniques around docks I've been succussful at in the past. I caught one short K on a spoon in the docks after about an hour of trying three different docks. I then started hitting points. I hooked a couple of fish on a spook that came unbuttoned, drug a centipede, and tried dropshoting but caught nothing. I finally pulled up on a bluff end point near a shallow pocket just up the James and somebody flipped a switch cause for about 30 minutes I had a fish on the spook with every third cast. I caught one 17 inch LM, and one 16 inch K. I caught numerous 13 and 14 inch K's and SJ. I have no idea how long it would of lasted, because my wife let me know the kids wanted to go swimming. I did the right thing (cause I might want to come back) and we headed to an island and went swimming. (If only my wee ones could work a spook we might still be there!) Not really a pattern but maybe it will help someone that can stay with it a little longer. P.S. Boat traffic really wasn't that bad for Memorial Day.

I went to mill creek last may at daylight to launch my boat. I was by myself so I was taking my time and while getting my gear ready I noticed a bunch of surface activity to the right of the boat ramp. I walked down to the shore with my redfin and caught three nice (2 1/2 to 3 pound) K's in three casts. Then I had a fourth one on that was better than the prior fish and I lost it, actually straightened the split ring and the hook came off. I launched, retied, and tried to nab some more but it was over. So I have to say if I were bank fishing this time of year I would definately try mill creek, as techo and motoman already suggested, by the boat launch and the campers point, which is always good. The swim beach pocket ain't bad either. Talked to a guy fishing on the bank the other day in that pocket and he had caught several goggle eye and a kentucky. Said he hadn't been at it very long. Its cleared, easy to traverse, and there are fish, what more could you want? Happy fishing!

"It still gets my heart pumping, and makes me the happiest guy in the world when people catch fish. To tell you the truth, I had several folks ask, "Don't you wish you had caught that fish?" To tell you the truth, the thought never once entered my mind" Very nice fish, congrats to Matt. I always want my fishing partner, whoever it my be, to whack em. I feel as a die hard basser its my job to get them hooked. My 18 year old daughter has out done me twice this year and it is so awesome cause it leaves her wanting to come back and spend quality time with dad......err I mean "kick my butt". Seriously I think she has the fever and it tickles me big time.

I fish it every year despite my inability to catch fish. It's fun, for a good cause, and I could draw for a boat. I fished with my wife this year and we stunk it up. Caught a dozen short fish on fins and grubs, but I plan on being there next year. My goal is to break the top 20. I actually got close four years ago but haven't came close since. I'll just keep scanning this sight and keep fishing hoping to actually be a threat. (not likely)

Invizx is really good. I went through several brands of flouro and gave up on it until I had a buddy suggest invizx. Since then I use invizx for every application except top water and flippin. I'm convinced I catch more fish with flouro. I use it, but I also cry everytime I have to buy more(pricey).

I went three years ago the second week of march. You've already heard it but the wind was terrible. Tore up the trolling motor and broke the console on the boat one afternoon with foor foot swells. Took on so much water we could barely get the boat on the trailer. Our first two days kinda stunk until we tried trailering our boat to the north side of the lake and found spawning fish in back water that was basically out of the wind. The final two days we stuck numerous 4-6 pound fish on beds. Right or wrong that was what we resorted to. We spotted several 8lbers on beds but they laughed at our offerings. It was fun, and no doubt big fish are there (we saw a 12 lber caught on a spinner bait our last day), but I came home with a new love for tablerock and the wind buffering bluffs and trees that surround it. God blessed the Ozarks.