dwiebenga

I was wondering if anyone had been on the lake this week with the cold front coming. I am planning on staying in the state park. Dave

In my last two trips to the lake, I noticed a substantial increase in the number of gar surfacing in the morning in areas that I normally target for bass. Are the bass being impacted by the gar? Do the gar run the bass out of their normal positions? Anyother insight would be interesting. dave

Hey all, Well, my weekend started off the way I wanted. I had a keeper largemouth, a barely short Spot, and a 14" Smallie in the first hour-and half. Plus they were my first football jig bass. I thought I was on to something. I was wrong. They were the last fish I caught. I fished my jig all weekend and even attempted to dropshot, but I have not picked that technique up well. I think I will hire Bill for next fall's trip and get some lessons. I have a couple questions. What depth are you all positioning the boat on the points? I was in 35-40 feet and fan casting across the point. Also, do the bass tend to shy away from areas where the gar are chasing baitfish? I love this lake, but it broke my heart this weekend. I shall return in the spring for a rematch. Good fishing. I am off for some crappie fishing in two weeks at Truman. Dave

How does the Corps. plan to remove all the logs in front of the dam? Anyone heard??

Bill, Once again---GREAT REPORT!!! Two quick questions. Are you drop shot fishing the night crawler or using a "split-shot" rig? Is there any kind of topwater bite in the dam area. I am meeting my dad this weekend in Branson and he is bring his new boat. He has not been on the rock in years. I have not fished it in the summer in quite some time. Just want to have a good weekend. I have been doing much reading and marking my maps with your great info. Dave

Good evening all, I am making a trip to Branson to meet up with my family next weekend. Normally, I fish the Shell Knob area of the lake. I have never fished this part of the lake. My dad has not fished the Rock for 20 years. I would love to have a good trip with him. I need some advice for this part of the lake. Bill and Buster's map is great, but there are so many spots. I marked a fresh map with those areas. If you had one day to fish, what would your approach be. We are interested in bass and crappie. All the help would be great. I would love to have a great trip with my dad. Dave

Sounds like I am going to echo much of what other guys are posting. I landed 22 fish over the weekend. Most all the fish were on Super Spooks off the main lake points. Very little surface actions, but was able to entice a few up between 5:30am and 8:00am. Only about 7 keepers out of the bunch. The largest was just over 17". He was the last one I caught today. Nice way to leave for the day. I also had a reasonable shaky head bite around some of the docks. I was using and 1/8th oz head with a Zoom Finesse worm in watermelon/red. Overall I thought it was a pretty successful trip. The best part of the trip was watching my 3 year old daughter and my wife catch their first fish. I think they are hooked because they decided to stay the extra night instead of coming home with my mom. THEY WANTED TO FISH!!!! Well, that is it for now. My next trip is in July, and I hope I can get together with Bill and do some drop shotting, spoon, or jig fishing. I need to practice these. Good Fishing to all. Side Note: I also caught my first TR white bass. 19" and over 3.5 lbs. That was fun, and unexpected

Bill, Great post. I am looking forward toward my second trip of the spring in about 14 days. Hopefully, they will be feeding after being on the beds for so long. Dave

I finally got down this weekend and had an nice time. Majority of the water I fished was 57-62 degrees. Spent much of my time around Basin Hallow and Mill Creek. Most productive areas were transition banks and around some of the docks near the mouth of coves. Water depth was shallow to about 25 feet. Best bite was about 6:30-9:00am and 4-7pm. Wind helped too. I used the following baits-- 1. Tru-Tungsten shakey head with a zoom finesse worm--watermelon/red 2. Carolina rigged Zoom centipede--watermelon/red 3. 4.5 inch Smoke w/ purple flake grub--1/4 oz head 4. Zoom Super fluke--white ( favorite bait--loved watchin those bass come up and nail the bait.) I ended up with about 30 fish overall, and 8 keepers. Two biggest were 2.5 lb LM and a 3.0lb LM. I also caught two big crappie but could not find any others. I need to learn how to fish for them in that gin clear water. I also saw a number of beds, but fish were not sitting on eggs. Very inactive and scared of lures. Well, I will be back in about a month for another go, I think I found some good areas for topwater, and some post spawn jigging and crankin. Thanks for all the help with great reports.

I am heading down to the Shell Knob area this weekend. I plan to spend the majority of my time in the Hwy 39 to Campbell point area. I would really appriciate any advice. What is the water temp? Any fish on beds? Techniques? I am willing to go to other areas too. I am mostly interested in bass fishing and crappie. My freezer is running low and my grandma has not had any good crappie in many years and I would love to have a few for her. Thank you in advance and say hi if you see me in MY BOAT!! I rebuilt a 1987 Tracker Pro Guide and it is my first one. I have a 25HP Johnson Tiller. Dave

Well, I was curious about the "Dr." aswell. So I did som research as any good student would do. Zoom Fish Doctor---small 4" worm fished texas rig or carolina rig. Bass Pro sells it for about $3.50 for a 20 pack. So now we are all in the know. Good fishing to you all!! Bill, did you spend any time around Basin Hallow or Mill Creek. I will be in that area this coming weekend. Any report would be helpful. Thank you

I am heading down next weekend, and beginning tomorrow there is a good warming trend. On average, how much will this bring up the water temps. I have never really examined how much the water temp will rise when the air temp is in the upper 60s and the sun is out on a given day. I assume the warmer temps will help pick the fishing back up. Anyone want to take a guess. I guess this is the teacher in me. I want to research everything. Dave

I am sure where anyone could take offense to Bill's post. It is the truth. I see guys saying, " I want to make the most of my trip". So that is their justification for cutting guys off and being disrespectful. I make 1 maybe 2 trips a spring and they are for 2 or 3 days and I never act in this manner. It is simply rude. Like I said in an earlier post....THIS LAKE IS HUGE!!! FIND NEW WATER. FIND YOUR OWN HOLE!!! Or if you are obsessed with the same water, hit another spot and come back and fish it different than the guy that was just their. We need to encourage eachother to be gentlemanly, not continue the problem.

Hey all, I have decided to delay my trip by two weeks. I will be down the 20-22. Hopefully with more stable weather. Guess I will just have to dream about the lake and enjoy the great post from those of you lucky enough to be close. Dave

I am making a trip down early Friday. I will be in the Shell Knob area. I would love some insight on the fish prospects for the weekend. I have heard that the fishing will be slow after a front, but it passed through yesterday morning. How long do the fish typically take to adjust to the temperature. What are some successful tactics for fishing the lake when this occurs. On the otherhand, has the warm March weather sped things up so much that the fish will have little reaction and continue thier progress to spawn because of the full moon early this week?? Thank you for all the great info. I hope to fish with some of you in the future. Dave

I totally agree with all the post. There just seems to be a lack of curteousy on the lakes in the last couple years. It seems that some people see Ike, Van Dam, Clunn, and Swindle flying down the lake on ESPN and we all want to be like that. Now I love to fish as much as the next guy, but some people need to realize that TR is a lake 1000s of acres big and there is plenty of water. The fish are all over and can be caught with the proper knowledge. I have fished the same area around Shell Knob for 20 years and I am only 28 mind you, and I always seem to haul a couple in. Some people need to slow down and just simply enjoy this beautiful reservoir. A little kindness goes a long way.

Bill, Thank you for the information. So to clarify, the cooler weather next week should not really change things too much. "In theory"! What has the bass and crappie fishing been like between the Hwy 39 bridge and Campbell Point. That is the area I stay around. Thank you Dave

Hey guys, I have been planning a trip down over Easter and I have been intently watching weather reports for the next 10 days. The Temps are suppose to gradually fall back to the 60 degree mark for that weekend, and a cold front this coming Monday. With such a warm start to the spring and warmer than average water temps it seems. What will this do to the fish as they start to stage for the spawn? Or is it simply "time to do thier spring dance" Dave PS-- Is the rouge bite done for the spring???

I need some help getting my settings correct. I guess in general, what do YOUR setting look like. I want to get better "fish arches". Is this possible. Dave

I bought a few finess jigs for this year. What trailer does every one use? I know that Eakin's has it's own trailer. Is it worth while??

Mr. Babler, I am coming down over Easter and you mentioned the water already getting near the 50s. At what point does the stickbait bite die off? When they move up are you switching to jigs and crankbaits? With this major warming trend are we also looking at an early spawn? Maybe even that first week of April? Thank you Dave

I just booked a trip to the Rock over Easter. Is this still a good time for suspended jerbaits around Shell Knob to Campbell Point. That is where I spend most of my time. Thanks for all the awesome advice.

I am going to get into the football jig game this year. It is my new technique this year. I noticed that the jewel jigs have two small hoops on the back of the collar. These are obviously for rattles. Does anyone put rattles in the jig. Are there certain conditions that you use them. Or is it simply up to the angler?

Hey all, I am glad to see this post has gotten much attention. I found that my Eagel Fishmark 480 will pick up baits near the cone i.e. dropshotting off the bow. While I have been winter crappie fishing I have been able to see jigs as low as 1/16 of an ounce. I am excited to see how this pans out for TR this spring.

Has the somewhat warmer weather help things at the lake??