Trolling For Walleye

I know that you actually live at Table Rock, whereas I am there a total of about 15 days between April 1 and Late September, but this is the exact opposite of what I've noticed and I've traveled by boat from West of Point 22 over to the Dam on several occasions. Every time the water is much rougher as I head East towards the dam and the size of boats just keeps getting bigger as I approach Kimberling City and further East. What I notice is a bunch of Bowriders, Pontoons, and Bass Boats on the Shell Knob side, and the Cruisers start kicking in Past the highway 13 bridge headed east. I know the water is much more narrow on the West side, but I barely feel safe on the Dam side of the lake because my 21 ft. boat will get brutalized by the wakes put out by the 28-35 ft. monsters Maybe my 15 days I am there don't tell the story of the general conditions. (i'm not there on any holiday weekends, just summer 4 day weekends)

there are websites for that already - like local.yahoo.com or local.google.com or tripadvisor.com or numerous other trip and travel reviews

but what did you have for breakfast the day you caught these... this is pretty crucial

seems pretty improbable that they didn't have anything to drink with their granola bars. This report is still glaringly incomplete. How am I supposed to re-create this non-fishing trip so I can see that fish jump without better information. What's the 1-800 complaint line for this message board. I want a double my money back guarantee.

I really enjoy this schtick. Frankly though, I'm disgusted. You didn't tell what kind of granola bars? What a bunch of BS. How am I supposed to know how that was going to affect his stamina when casting and reeling, or the smell of his or her breath which may or may not attract or detract fish. Pretty sure it was a massive oversight as Quaker Granola Bars are well known to produce breath potentially appealing to fish, whereas the Kashii ones just scare fish off. Pretty sorry excuse for detail if you ask me.

lol @ people complaining that the internet didn't catch fish for them. tell them if they aren't satisfied with the information that they can get their money back on signing up for the forum.... you know, all $0

Ugh.. it scares the crap out of me to think that some of you people would fish without lights on. everytime i've driven at night I could barely see anything and I basically navigate by GPS alone.

I made that trip 3 times over the last 2 days. It was between 20-25 minutes each time. Thanks for the responses! So yahoo and mapquest are right, and google is wrong

so at 6 in the morning it would be 20 minutes then. or at like 8:30 at night.

i've never driven from cassville to shell knob, but i am going to soon. yahoo says it is a 20 minute drive google says it is 38 minutes. mapquest says 21 min What a discrepancy! What is the real answer? Both say is about a 16.8 mile drive

OK - this weekend this Shriner's tourney is going to be going on.. 125 boats allegedly (and MASSIVE wind - i'm a bit nervous about that) anyway.. if I'm doing my thing trolling along and these dudes are casting their baits towards the banks, etc. How close is considered rude to troll past them? 20 ft? 100 ft? I know no one "owns" the water and I can drive where I please as long as I'm not going to cause any wrecks or anything... but i'm just curious what the "nice" thing to do is. Also... if you are doing cast fishing... what's the deal on "dibs" on spots and how close you'd anchor up and cast to another boat? Just curious.... normally i keep a nice distance, but the last time i was down in the fall of '08 i remember cruising past one guy - probably gave him about 30-40 ft.. and he gave just a bit of a look and left after i cruised by.. hence the question.

was thinking about adding XM Radio to my boat... i know most of you probably don't listen to music while fishing.. but i sure do and enjoy it. this probably won't get any replies.. but i was going to at least try. Anyway.. if by chance you do... do you get reception on the water?

thanks for the heads up

sounds like a lot of vomit and dumps to me... what the heck was going on?

oh.. also. what does "their regatta is for 100 boats" mean?

thanks for the input. i'm glad it's out of campbell point... i launch next to the shell knob bridge and was worried that launch ramp might be slammed. last year based on the website it looks like they had 66 boats.... that's plenty. I guess i'll just have to deal with teh crowd... are tourneys like that generally all day? both sat. and sun?

When you say the "White River" Area, what area are you referring to? are you talking about past point 22 towards viney creek and eagle rock? What area best describes the Shell Knob area to you?

no worries. your experiences and recollections are probably correct for most people. I'm just a guy that has a boat that's set up for trolling fishing, and I'm a very casual fisherman (and only get to fish about 10 days a year).. I prefer my fishing to be super relaxed, listening to some tunes, maybe enjoying a beer and some beef jerky, and trolling slowly along the lake enjoying the day. if i catch some fish doing it.. awesome. if i don't... hey I'm still enjoying my company, being on the water, and keeping it real. I found this message board because I did decide I wanted to fish more effectively... because it's definitely more fun to be reeling a few in from time to time rather than chasing snags all day. I've learned so much here it's insane from rps, powerdive and others. Have I ever kept a black or white bass? Sure I have. Once in a blue moon I have a hankerin' for a bass fillet. Or if a keeper fish seems injured to the point of certain death then I figure that fish is much better off being consumed than left for dead. And I'll definitely admit to keeping a walleye if I luck my way into catching one. But by and large I catch and release.... probably 95+% of the time

i will be in teh Shell Knob area... generally from Baxter to Upper Kings. I don't keep bass - but it seems like i catch about 20 bass for every walleye I am able to get and I do keep Walleye if they are legal. Yes.. the only fishing style I am capable of in my boat is trolling - as you can see from my avatar - i have a walkaround boat that you'd generally only see in the florida area. It is a terrible setup for cast fishing, but a darn good setup for trolling. why would you immediately assume I am consuming them? I'm a good conservationist and respectful of the lake and its habitat.

My first fishing weekend with my buddies is april 25/26. What depth should I target to have my lures running for bass and/or walleye while trolling?

maybe i don't understand the concept of thermocline then

Speaking of dry storage - does anyone have any tips for keeping rodents and insects (ants) out of your boat? i had problems with both last year

thanks! my trailer is in dry storage so it very rarely even sees the light of day. my tires are probably 15-20 years old.. they still work but i'd rather just get new ones now than after i have a blowout

i know what place you speak of - campbell point resort - you are right it is not horrible the problem is that all of these places want a lot more than just 1 or 2 day reservations in the peak of teh summer. there is pretty much no place in shell knob that wants to rent me a room for a friday and saturday or just a saturday night after June 1st. I have tried shell knob chamber... they offered me no recommendations for 1 night or weekend rentals in summer's peak. that's why i asked what was closer between aurora and cassville.

I come from Kansas City to Shell knob. sometimes i really like to come for just a one night stay or maybe 2 nights.. i might leave friday evening, or saturday morning and come back to kc on sunday afternoon. My boat is housed in Shell knob. there are not any "hotel/motels" in Shell knob. Where is the closest reasonable place for me to stay so that I don't have to sleep in the cuddy on my boat? I pass by a couple motels in Aurora (the aurora motel), and i see there is a Super 8 in Cassville. (ideally i'd like to spend < $75-80 per night) anyone have any other suggestions? i've never stayed in the aforementioned places.