Bill Babler

Super Report on specialized baits and teniques in a particular area of the lake. Just about as good as it gets. Thanks

WRO Guide Service Table Rock Lake July Fishing Report Well, for sure Summer hit us hard last week, with lots of non-fishing activity on the water as it should be this time of the year. Surface temps on the pond are ranging from 84 to 87 depending on your location and the time of day you are out there. Did go to the lake house at Shell Knob and go swimming yesterday. Water was great. Water seems to be clearing and the greenish tinge is fading to our more normal blue. Just messing around on the dock yesterday and I could see about 12' to 15' down. Lake level at the 912 range, good to see lots of the cover and refile it in the old log book. Fishing for the most part for most of us guide types has been an early morning affair. It is really hard after 10 AM to get bit. Fish have been in some parts of the lake on certain days, and "Don't ask me the day or why." Have been schooling and chasing big time. Go there the next day and nothing but shad everywhere. Don't know if they feed up and then take the next day off or not. Dock bite has been about as good as anything and also the deep tree bite is coming on. With the clarity or lack there of there has also b een aa really good shallow jig or crankbait bite, in under 20' of water. Most all the bite with the exception of the dock bite has been early. The dock bite however gets better during the higher sun periods of the day if you can fish them without bouncing out of the boat. White bass have totally dissapeared, but have been hearing of all things of a trolling bite that is catching quality walleye and lots of trophy size LM up the Kings River. On a very reliable source, folks are trolliing A-Rigs and catching lots of fish from Viola up. Best depth seems to be the 25 to 35 ft. range, and this bite is also an early morning bite. Dam area has been fishing pretty hard, but a guest at the Lodge this past weekend caught and realeased 8 keepers one day and 7 another day, mostly fishing a big 3/4 oz jig on bluffends. He said he only had 1 jaw, 2 k's and the rest LM with a really nice 4 pounder anchoring the string both days. He thought they were 20-30 feet on the pretty steep stuff. Said he lost about a dozen jigs on hangups, he thought in deep trees, out off the ends. Said he had several fish when he was bringing the jig back to the boat to recast. The best deal I have found is fishing the deep pockets to suspended fish. I am depending on my clients ability or lack there of on weather I am fishing a dropshot worm or a crawler. Most of my fish have been coming in these pockets in the 20' range over what ever depth. Lots of shad in the Baxter area, especially in the Big Indian. Had a single client one day last week, just Smoke me out of the back of the boat dragging a jig in 25 ft. He never would recast, just threw it straight out back of the boat and I was throwing it at shore and working it back. He caught 5 in a row on me at one point, just strolling the jig, while I plied different depth, he was fishing the same 25 to 32 ft. range and they were there. Lots of very quality Jaw's on the jig and hula grub. Good Luck

Don't believe there is a website on either the Wed night derby out of the Knob or the Saturday night affair. Just locals, most from Cassville way.

Jerry, I do not agree with you. Yes everyone has a right to be there, But! you are still responsible for your boat wakes. If you cause another boat to either swamp or capsize due to the size or proxsimity of your wakes, you can and will be cited. You are also responsible for any damage that your wakes cause such as dock damage. Got a feeling there is just about to be a new set of rules and some new marshals in town, due to these wake boats. Rumor has it there is just about to be something done. Something is just about to happen on this and we will see. Any boat taking on balast that is causing excess wakes,might just be completly put out of business in Missouri.

Nice report and you are forgiven. Fished today out of Baxter, and really had a very nice morning. On the water with John, Andrew and John's girl friend at 0530. First stop was goat island and we had 4 topwater fish there to the boat on a yellow magic. John also lost a nice Brown Bass same location. Tried two other topwater locations, just kind of crusing and testing looking for a White River, White Bass Blow Up and nothing. They really seem to have gone down. Got luck on the next location, in Big Indian Creek, and caught 28 with 4, 15" K's. Mostly on Crawlers, Spoons and again the yellow magic when they would break. All these fish were in 80 to 100 feet of water suspended chasing shad on top. If you would just ease very slowly around with the trolling motor, the crawler fishermen would hook up. Never had a triple, but did have 2 doubles. Most fish suspended at 22-30 over depth. When they would break, I could hook them on the spoon, They chased till about 0900. Went on up the white and when I rounded the point at 18, I hit the wake boats. Still I ventured on up about 1/2 way to Campbell Pt. and tried a long gravel ridge. Saw nothing on the graph, but John's gal pal, bowed up on a 19 inch eye. One more short bass and that was our morning, off at 10AM. It was really starting to get crowded in the Baxter to CP area by then and it was for sure time to hit the showers. Good Luck

Seems to be kind of the deal. Fin and Feather asked the other day about the Thermocline and I did not have a good answer for him. Like you I don't think there is a firm one right now. Yes, there is stradification, but soft zones, and no hard breaks. Surface temps at the dam this afternoon were at 87, but the water was really not cool, but cold just below your feet. There are not numbers of fish in most locations, just a fish or three. Also the topwater deal is just about as scrawney of fish as I have ever caught here. To tell you the truth, I don't believe we have caught over 4 or 5 keepers this year on top. Best fish have came on the Swimmer or a Crank. This is by far a different year. It was also the warmest surface temps thru the Winter I can remember. Water never really cooled down much. I think that for sure has contributed to the lime-green color. Very different. Makes you kind of have to think outside the box and just scrape and scrounge. Might be a good think as we are having to adapt and learn some new locations and new tactics. Good Luck

Great info and we will for sure make a date this fall for a lookie- lu over on your pond. Take care and good Luck

Missed ya. Where in the wild world of Bass Fishin have you been T? While you were gone I think they plum fished out Aunts and Jackson.

Sorry to hear about the ticker. Hope you are back on time with it. If I could catch 4 per location, I would be as happy as a toad in a grasshopper patch. More like one of two for me. Table Rock Thermocline rarely gets to that point. I am sure there can be a stadification break at 36 ft. but for the most part here the first layer just about never gets below 26ft. Right now I believe the top 3 ft. of Table Rock is about 85 degree, next 10 ft. is probably in the upper 70's and then the next 10 mid to low 70's. May be the same on down a way. Taneycomo is runniing at 48.9 that would put that temperature of water on Table Rock at 160ft.

I really cannot read it yet on my depth finder, but from all the activity in the 26 to 28 ft. range, I got a good idea, it might be right about there. Swimmers are telling me however it gets pretty cool a couple of feet under the surface. Inlaws were swimming at the Knob Yesterday and said it is durn cool, just below their feet. I think a guy can catch as decent bag of fish if he or she just keep moving and don't stay anyplace to long. Have any of you noticed as soon as you pull on a new locaton, your first few casts usually get a good fish. You then fish and fish for another keep. Soon as you move it starts all over. Lots of locations and a good one or two on each spot may be the answer Good Luck

Quill, I believe you are spot on. They seem to be really getting out early. Danger zone for sure is big East, West stretch between Big Creek and Baxter, There were about a dozen of them there this week, and you really had a hard time just staying in the boat. The waves would lift you completely off the seat while you were trying to fish. They are for one good thing keeping my carpet clean, as i have had at least a 1/2 dozen waves wash totally over the boat.

Table Rock is just now starting to show some wear and tear from a long Spring and really a Zero Winter season. Tournament weights are going down and the nunmber of fish being caught is also going down. 3 trips on Table Rock this week, fishing out of Kinberling City and Baxter, mid-lake. Surface temps in the 84 to 87 degree range and water clarity running about 8 to 10ft. Lake Levels at 912.4 and seem to be slightly dropping. Depending on the day, and I cannot explain it the white bass can either be a great asset or a complete bust. For all species on the Rock, Power generation is right now not a must, but makes a total difference in both numbers and size of the fish we are catching. 1 day at the first of the week, we saw white's everywhere we went from Joe Bald to Campbell Point. They would hit a spoon most of the morning, thrown into the pack and slowly retreived. That is the only day they were up. Tuesday was fantastic Bass Fishing on the Rock. We had 28 fish with 12 very nice keeps. Mostly Jaw's, with a splattering of K's. Most all our fish came in 15 ft. on either shelf rock or interior secondary mix gravel and chunk rock points. We used what we are calling a Huleo- Hula gruib on a 3/8oz. FB head. Yesterday we had a topwater bite early,waiting for the Whites to blow. We had 14 topwater fish but no quality. White bass did not come to the dance. Tried a little dropshotting, but the fish were completely off my 28' mark and most we found were suspended up at 20 over out to 45 on the flats. I believe Bill's clients did better, using crawlers, we were soft plastic users. Ended yesterday morning with 20 fish but only 3 keeps, one being a solid 4 pound Jaw. Due to size of the group, it didn't seem very good, but it was action. On the water both days before 5 AM, and off before 10 AM. Lots and lots of X Boats on the water, beware.

Gotta have a little thicker skln than that. Mouth of Long Creek is really at the Cricket Creek Long Creek Split. Below that or at the Junction is considered Table Rock Lake. Cricket Creek Marina, as you know is just below the split. Long Creek in the 40 years I have fished here has never been judged below the 86 Bridge, In 40 years I have never heard anyone say I'm going to fish Long Creek and Pull into Persimmion or Beardsley. always above.or for that matter past Brushy Creek or at the mouth of Brushy. Anyone classified as fishing Long Creek has to go under the Bridge. Just what the Locals call it. Don't quite agree with Denny on this one, saying anything South of the dam is Long Creek. Table Rock Lake State Park, Table Rock Marina, Jakes Branch, Big Cedar, Persimmon Hollow, Clevenger Branch, Beardsley Branch, Old 86, and even some parts of Combs Ferry on the South Side are on Table Rock Lake and Not Long Creek. Do agree with Denny when he says everything South of the Bridge can be considered Long Creek. Even from the Bridge 6 miles up, will take you above the Youkum Split. Again, gets a little dicy at 912 As far a clarity it is a very green tint, but visibility is pretty good. If you get up Long Creek to the second bend past Youkum it gets into clear creek water, and shallow. Good Luck

Great Points Jacob. I'm with ya on it all except the Braid. If it didn't sound like a Beaver chewing the guides off when you cast it or bleach out to a baby P--P yellow or just lay on top like a ski rope I would be with ya there also. I have tried most every brand and continue to try, and try and try it, I let customers also decide on it and have not had a single one prefer it over anything. My fault probably, but I am working on trying to like. For now, I'm sticking with the Invesx and the Maxima. Good Luck

Ya Know, I also just really like the feel of that 3/8th. I use it on everything, including all my dropshot weights. Weather i am using a rig a jig a head or a shot, I just love the feel of a 3/8th. Buster Loving, and I will tell you this, there is no better football fisherman on our lake just uses a 3/4. that is it period, weather shallow or deep, it is a 3/4. He fishes it a little different. That jig never stops for a second. Keeps it in constant movement weather at the boat or bounding it. Works big time for him.

I have yet to really find a bait that works better on a Shaky head than a 5" Slim Senko. Green Pumpkin/Pepper and Smoke/Purple seem to be great colors for us here. As soon as the fish break it once, you have a Ned rig. On Lake of the Ozarks it is fast becoming the bait de'jure. Those boys fish it in front and around the deeper docks out to 30 ft. and most all that I know are using a 1/2 ro 3/4 oz. Shakey head. Smoke/Purple 5" Slim Senko All the dudes up there throw it on a baitcaster with up to 20 pound mono or Carbo When Bill and I were pre-fishing for the CPA championship last year on Lake O, we would litterly catch a hundred fish a day on the Shaky Head. Smoke/Purple. Gear was a Cara T7 7' Finesse Jig rod with 15 pound Invesx. 3/8th. oz Jewell,- Diawa Steez 7.1 I never under any condition use anything under a 3/8th. head. The new Squirrel head by Jewell has a great keeper on in and it a very good one. Usually just use Spot Removers. I throw it on 8 pound Maxi. here and I will guarantee you I feel as many bites as any of you do on braid or FCarbon. 8 Pound Maxi does not break! It is superior to Carbon on a Spinning Rod and Pline is not in the same ball park. As far as the Braid, just the sound of it going thru my guides make me want to pull my teeth. If I have to use it I'll quit fishing. For any sinking bait for me Braid is a very tough sell. I do have my Big Spinning rods that my customers throw a fin with spooled with 20 pound braid. Hate that too, but it it easier for them to keep the bait in play. Shaky Head is really kind of a Hybred- You can use it in place of a jig or a Senko, or for that matter a C-Rig. Any place you throw those baits is a good place to give her a try.

If you go 6 miles up Long Creek right now, I can tell you what the Clarity is. Mostly to slightly gravelly, with a tinge of hard rock, and sunshine. Lake is at 912,4 6 miles up Long Creek, is gona be skinny operation. Good Luck

Ya, for sure there is a danger factor. It is extremely hard if you are dealing with Big White Bass and tripple hooked spoons. Everything on that fish can hurt you not counting the hooks. if the boat is crowed and there is an excitement factor that is thru the roof, there for sure is danger. Especially if you have young folks or novice anglers. I looked like a 3 legged dog in a flea scrattchin contest trying to untangle and keep 3 folks baited catching K's as fast as we were. At one point both gals had a fish on and they were screaming at the top of their lungs. Of course both fish were wrapped together and they were jerking the rods like crazy. Then I hear Bob in the back of the boat saying "This reel is Frozen, it won't wind in." I look up toward the trolling motor and there is splashing like crazy going on just below the surface. I stop with the gals who are setting in the middle of the boat, tangled and fish twisting and flopping together. I knew this was going to be a retie. Bob is in the far back corner of my 22' Phoenix, a long way from the trolling motor. When I get up there to the trolling motor, there is a 4 pound Channel Cat wrapped around the shaft just above the lower unit. I can see the line headed, You guessed it. Right back to Bob. How does a catfish get from there to there, without one knowing it and reeling him in? To tell you the truth, I am laughing so hard I'm crying. These folks were having a blast and I'll retie all day to see those kind of smiles.

Boy's I'll tell you i had not been out long and when all the fishing prussure kind of got to me, I for a minute was in a state of panic. Whites were blowing up and with my crew this morning, that was not going to be an option. 4 people and gear is just a struggle to get from point A to point B and do anything once you get there. Especially folks that do not fish on a regular basis. Lovely, wonderful people, but the kind that I usually had to open and close the bail for them just to get the dropshot to the bottom. No matter what side of the reel I would put the handle on they would wind it off the reel turning backwards until it would fall in the boat floor. Couple of scary moments as the handles of the Sustains bounced around the boat. No way we were slinging feathered triple hooked spoons to White Bass. Ability just don't matter if the fish are eating the paint off it. Makes a guide a hero from a zero pretty quick. Made the decision to reverse course and head up the White. To tell you the truth, the stretch from Baxter to the Shell Knob Bridge just has not been that good of late. Turned out today out of necessity that I found a location that was holding lots of bait and bait eaters. Most times for me it is way better to be lucky than good. Good Luck

If you have the ability to move swiftly and have good electronics, there were quite a few White's blowing up at the Point 9 Split this morning, late. I mean after 8 AM. The deal is you have to be ready to get on them quickly. Saw at least 5 blows bigger than a city block, but we were not that kind of fishermen this morning to make runs at them and throw spoons. When you see a blow, run to the blowup and throw 1/2 spoon, don't believe color matters. Let it sink about the count of 5 and start reel, jerking it back. You can even just wind it in slowly. The blowup will last about 1 miniute. Here is were the electronics come into play just start lookin for them and drop the spoon to them. They have gone in seconds as deep as 50 to 60 ft. after a surface blow. They are also moving fast, so be prepaired to move quickly. Forget the topwater for these fish if you want to eat them. If you don't care if you catch them or not you can throw that spook jr. or a popper. Might get lucky. i'll catch 5 on the spoon to one on your surface bait. If you are fishing that area, looking to catch White's, and need to move quickly here are some tips. Have zero tackle on the deck while fishing for other species and watching for the fish to boil. Have only a couple of rods out. The one you are using and the one you will use in pursuit of the White's. Be ready to time them down, start the big motor and go. If you have to fiddle around getting stuff settled after you see them and mess around getting ready to run at them you are to late. Catching them right now is like fishing a tournament, any wasted motion or time cost you money, White Bass money. Good Luck

Dropshot fishing today was simply off the charts. Got a late start out of the lodge,with bed and breakfast guests. Hit the water at 8 AM with a launch out of Baxter. Just about as much fishing traffic as I have ever seen from Baxter to point 9 Headed up that way and simply could not get on anything. There was a boat just past goat island that had 4 markers out and they were spread over a 400 yrd. area. Just about took one of them out. (Guys, you cannot rope off lake sections for your private use.} Went to cemetary and had to turn around and head back up the White River as really could not find anything or any of my usual locations that someone was not setting on. I'm going to say between Baxter and the James River split at point 9, including cemetary, There were easily 50 bass and fishing boats lining both sides of the a bank That is about a 5 mile area. Headed back up the White past point 19 and it seemed to open up abit on the flats, and I found a really good runnout to set on. As soon as I hit the brakes and coasted up to my first gps location, the screen just came alive. We had at least 10 tripples and really lost count of the crawler fish. Two ladies that had never fished and a husband that had gone only twice. Trish, Bob and Lorran, and I am just guessing caught and released between 50 and 60 fish this morning from 8:30 to 11:30 Quite a few of these were keeps, probably between a dozen and fifteen. We had catfish, walleye, K's, SmallJaws, LM, Blue Gill, Green Ear Sunfish, white bass and 1 for "Pete Sakes, Crappie." I used 2 24 boxes and 3 12 boxes of crawlers. When I ran out of bait we quit, with them still biting. Surface temps was 84, with a slight stain. Very nice gentle breeze and 78 degrees. Caught fish from a magic depth of 28ft. Both Gizzard and Threadfin shad were everywhere. At times the Shad would black me out. Usually we caught the bass between the schools of bait fish. Most times I have to work for them, but today they worked for me. Even with the prussure we found a hidy hole and it was one of the best locations of the year. Good Luck

Great pic of the craws. Becky asked why we cared about "throwup." Girls!

Jeb, Cannot say How sorry I am. That was one sweet outfit. For those of you that don't get the picture on this deal, that is 1 Smooth Grand sinking to the bottom of the Rock. I have been lucky. Lost 3 overboard in the Rock and got them all back. Lost at least a dozen in taney and got 1/2 them back. Like Jeb, mine are not cheap. I'm lucky to get them at Pro-Staff pricing. You lose that outfit he lost at retail and you have lost a Mid-Range house payment. Not to mentioned he probably saved up like crazy for it and then fretted spending that kind of money on gear. I'm up there all the time. I'll keep my peepers peeled.

Bry, Thanks, great info. Another trick that has been done is to also use a 1/4 oz white or grey crappie jig as your weight. When we first started on this Buster used to put a 1/2 bass jig on as his weight. I saw him boat 10 in a row on the jig one day. We used to always put two hooks and two dropshot worms on. As you mentioned not good around trees, but fine on long points. Good Stuff Bry. Where else besides Ozarkanglers are you going to find this kind of hard earned information? Good Luck

Sold 314 650-6812 Kirkwood Missouri. Thanks that is a fantastic buy on Supreme quality casting reels. Took 45 minutes,and that is about right for this quality of equipment at this price. Really it will last you a lifetime if you want it to/. Thanks Bill;