dwiebenga

I have been watching the lake level, and I am curious to know is the Corps planning on leaving the lake at about 930 through spawn? I apoligize for such an amateur question, but I am just curious for next weekend.

I would pay for it. Bill has helped me in many ways and I have never spoken to him. I hope I can one day save the money and have the honor of sharing a boat with him. Keep your chin up, Bill. We appriciate your great advice, stories, and pictures.

I am coming down for my spring trip next weekend, and it sound like fishing will be similar to what I am use to seeing in Kansas City. I fish primarily around the Basin Hallow area, but I up graded my boat this winter and I am willing to travel a bit more now. Here are my primary questions? Should I leave my finesse stuff at home and plan on throwing Warts, Jigs, and Blade all the time? Or will there still be the need for lighter tackle that I would use when the lake is clear. Is there any chance of "sight fishing"? I do not necessarily want GPS things, because I can not afford that stuff LOL. Just want an idea on how to plan my trip, because this is the first time I can remember the lake being this way since I have been fishing it. Should I stay in the area or am I better off heading up the Kings or elsewhere everyday. Thank you for all your awesome posts. I am excited about the potential of catching that "BIG ONE" this year. Dave

Bill and SKMO, Great report. Got me excited about my trip at the end of the month. What type of blades were you using on the War Eagles? Tandom, Double Willow, or Colorado. Also, I do not have those colors. What colors and sizes would your recommend for Table Rock? I have some custom Table Rock shad baits, but what else is a "stand by"? Thank you and keep it up Dave

I am coming down in late April, and I am curious how I will need to adjust my fishing with the recent rise in water. Normally, I throw a lot of finesse stuff (grub, shakeyhead, etc), carolina rig, jerkbaits, and flukes. I know that the lake will not have the "normal 10-15ft clarity", therefore what could be maybe anticipate with some stable weather? I plan on bringing my flippin' rod for the bushes. But, am not sure on color of jigs, etc. I like to throw a Wart, but will I need to change to a different color? Will there be any sight fishing? I will be in the Shell Knob area. Any advice or conversions would be appriciated. Thank you, good fishing, and good luck! Dave

How much rain did the lake get today? I am coming at the end of the month, and I am getting a little anxious. I am still praying for clear water. Will I have any such luck?

I spoke with my family today in SK and they said that they have had to move the dock 5 times. They did not think that they would have to tie the boat to the house like they have before, but they are not looking forward to the clean up afterwards. I plan on helping when I am down in April

SKMO's pics are amazing. It is somewhat ironic that 2 years ago the lake was 14 feet low. Now it is almost 10 feet high. The weather is crazy. Anywho, I am coming down at the end of April. For those of you that fish the lake regularly, how will this impact the spring spawn season? I would assume it might help because of the extra cover for the fish. Yet, we, as fisherman< have more water to cover. What is the humble opinion? Thanks for all the advice. Dave

Custom painted Table Rock Shad suspending rouge by Dale Sellars

I throw my shakehead on a Med Spinning rod with 8lb flourocarbon. I use an 1/8th to 1/4 oz Tru-Tungsten jighead. That time of year you might be fishing 5ft of water or 25ft of water. Depends on what the weather brings us. This is just opinion. My favorite bait is a Zoom Watermelon-Red Finesse worm. Dave

We all got about the same amount of fish. Bob broke one good one off about 2lbs. I was your headache?? Dave

Had a good day. The first time I had been down in over 18 months. Caught about 20-25 fish. I brown close to 15in. My first brown on a fly. Most fish were caught on thread jigs in olive and olive and gold nymphs. I spent most of my day by the whistle bridge by the fly shop and in the deeper water near the island. What a beautiful day to fish for mid december.

What is the name of the guy in Nixa that makes custom spinnerbaits. he made me some nice Table Rock Shad patterns last spring. Please let me know.

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