bobby b.

I bled off my pressure relief valve earlier, and ran everyone out of the kitchen including the dog. 👍

Caught a good one this morning on a Dimiki rig. Exactly 5.0#

Got on the water late at 7am at Baxter. Surface temp 47.76. Caught the good fish and 2 squeaker keeps right off the bat. 
It got tough then till about 9:30 and the wind started blowing. Picked up a jerk bait and it was on. 1st. point with the boat in about 30’ tossing at the bank I caught 13 straight. Not a keeper in the bunch. All buck LM. 
Next windy flat point, same deal. Had 7 in a row. Again all male LM. No Keeps. All these fish 14” to 14 3/4”. 
Hit two more points and had 4 more total all LM short. 
Another crazy deal was every fish I caught was back to back. If I failed to catch one it was over for that location.  I guess what was one each spot was going to bite. 
Last 2 trips not a single K. All LM. 
Quit at 11:30 surface temp 48.4. 
Goid Luck





 

I fished this morning and the swimbait bite was very steady. With the calm wind I stayed with a 2.8 Keitech and they did not want a more aggressive bait like an underspin or larger swimbait. Some of the fish were near the trees in open water and others were holding fairly tight to a tree.
I kept the boat in 30-50 FOW and was always around plenty of cover. I seen plenty of fish under the boat below 30ft but I stayed committed to the swimbait. 
The bass have made a major move from the main lake. 
I used FFS today and I would rank myself a 2 with FFS in the winter and a 3 in the warmer months. I fish sitting down in the winter for safety reasons and fish standing up the other 9 months. I am fortunate to find myself around lots of fish on some trips and with FFS I have to laugh at myself for my poor execution with FFS. I have a 9" screen and my casting accuracy is Ok straight ahead but it is very comical to the left or right. I have a difficult time trying to track my bait with boat movement,,, etc. I am always glad that Cody Huff is not around because he could out catch me 10 to 1.
If you think using FFS is like spotlighting deer or shooting fish in a barrel......then your ranking with FFS is a solid 10 (Congrats). 
 
WT 48.5
 
 
 

This is my favorite time of year as the deep bite is normally really good in the dam area.  I've only been out twice as the duck hunting season has just ended.
So far I am not finding the concentrations in the places that I am use to.  The main channel is full or bait deep and the loons are hard at it.   
Catching a few but not as nearly good at Dock.

This is my favorite time of year as the deep bite is normally really good in the dam area.  I've only been out twice as the duck hunting season has just ended.
So far I am not finding the concentrations in the places that I am use to.  The main channel is full or bait deep and the loons are hard at it.   
Catching a few but not as nearly good at Dock.

This is my favorite time of year as the deep bite is normally really good in the dam area.  I've only been out twice as the duck hunting season has just ended.
So far I am not finding the concentrations in the places that I am use to.  The main channel is full or bait deep and the loons are hard at it.   
Catching a few but not as nearly good at Dock.

This is my favorite time of year as the deep bite is normally really good in the dam area.  I've only been out twice as the duck hunting season has just ended.
So far I am not finding the concentrations in the places that I am use to.  The main channel is full or bait deep and the loons are hard at it.   
Catching a few but not as nearly good at Dock.

This is my favorite time of year as the deep bite is normally really good in the dam area.  I've only been out twice as the duck hunting season has just ended.
So far I am not finding the concentrations in the places that I am use to.  The main channel is full or bait deep and the loons are hard at it.   
Catching a few but not as nearly good at Dock.

This is my favorite time of year as the deep bite is normally really good in the dam area.  I've only been out twice as the duck hunting season has just ended.
So far I am not finding the concentrations in the places that I am use to.  The main channel is full or bait deep and the loons are hard at it.   
Catching a few but not as nearly good at Dock.

Here's their forecast for this year.  
Fishing for black bass should be excellent in 2024.  Largemouth bass are plentiful throughout the lake as a result of the high lake levels over the past several years.  An abundant year class of largemouth bass was produced in 2020 and these fish should reach the minimum length limit of 15” by spring 2024.  Quality largemouth bass are present in the lake as well.  The percentage of largemouth bass greater than or equal to 15” was 28% throughout the reservoir during the spring 2023 electrofishing surveys.  These surveys also revealed an abundance of spotted/Kentucky bass in the 11”-14” range, with nine percent of the spotted bass captured in the spring surveys exceeding the minimum length limit of 15”.   Smallmouth bass fishing should be good again in 2024 with good numbers of keeper size fish available.  Largemouth and spotted bass comprise the majority of the black bass population in the river arms, while smallmouth bass comprise a substantial segment of the black bass population in the main lake from the Highway 86 bridge to Campbell Point.  Anglers need to fish a variety of water depths and types to find bass. Outside of the spring spawning period and in the fall, bass are often found in deeper, offshore water. Extended main lake points, humps, and bluffs are productive areas. Jigs, spoons, and drop-shot rigs are effective during summer months in the 10-25 foot range or deeper, depending upon the depth of the thermocline.  Largemouth and smallmouth bass can typically be caught fishing on the bottom while spotted bass are commonly found suspended over deep water following schools of baitfish.  Good electronics can greatly increase your chances of finding suspended schools of spotted bass.  
Table Rock Lake | Missouri Department of Conservation (mo.gov)

I fished this morning from 9-12 and the bite was really steady the first hour then got progressively tough. There were more boats than I have ever seen for a weekday in January. 
I fished an area with lots of trees and scattered shad. Kept the boat in 30-55 FOW.
The fish were eating 3 to 4.5" shad. The bite was aggressive but I did lose about 10. The fish used the entire water column and plenty broke the surface and that allowed me to catch several on a swimbait. 
I used ice jig, Damiki, 4" grub, 3.3" SB, and modified Tackle Max Shark tail worm on  a Damiki head.
WT 45 to 45.6
 
 

Doesn't everyone?

There's a new eye exam where they go in through your rectum to test the back of your eye sockets. 
It's called an "opti-ectomy"
for people with a $#itty outlook.  

Is it normal for your eye doctor to check your prostrate each visit?  Asking for a friend...

One of Table Rock, Bull Shoals and Taney’s best and longest professional guides pasted away this week at a way to young age. 
Buster Loving  guided all the lakes, starting in the early 90’s. 
He was known for his expertise on Bull Shoals with a jerkbait as one of the best walleye fisherman to ever fish that pond. 
On the Rock he was just as deadly catching bass with homemade modified jerk baits. 
In the early to mid-2000’s Buster and Tim Sainato were perhaps the most deadly team in SWMO either competing on Bull Shoals or Table Rock. 
Buster was a good friend of mine and we fished together and competed against each other. Buster and I also fished in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and most all our Missouri lakes on fishing trips  
He continually asked me to come go fishing with him in recent years. I wish I would have done so more often.  Never had a bad day with him in the boat  
Buster was also just flat deadly on White Bass. When others could not get them to bite Buster would produce limits for his clients. Mostly in the last 10 years using small stick baits that he worked in an erratically power fishing motion. 
Buster was very good on Taney also however he just really didn’t like to trout fish. His clients most always had limits. The past 5 years due to crowds he just basically didn’t fish it much, preferring the solitude of Bull Shoals. 
Buster also loved catching Taney  Bass.  He had 1 double digit and many 7 to 9 pounders out of lower Taney. 
Buster loved to go to Lake Fork he had 2 fish there over 10 pounds and boat loads of 6 plus pounders fishing his 5’ pistol grip rod and 10 lb. test line. Of course with his signature home made jerk baits. 
No one and I mean No one ever soaked a stickbait longer than Buster.  When Bull is in the mid to high 40’s, that bait stayed WET and still. Buster worked his bait in a rhythm that I copied but have never perfected.
Yes, I catch them as many here do, but not even remotely approaching his ability.  A true Master of his craft. 
His equipment and techniques will not be taught as they go against the norm, but I’ve never seen his equal, at any level with a stick bait. 
Buster leaves behind 2 daughters and a son. 
Rest in peace.  Buddy, I’ll think of you often. 










 


 

Regarding winter time resident fish (history proven locations).
Resident fish will vacate an area throughout the winter and reappear days later. So they will roam off the reservation.    I just fish mornings so I do not have any first hand knowledge of how resident fish operate in the afternoon. I have fished in the winter for many years and my trips are based on wind speed and direction ( I avoid the wind ).  These fish get educated so I recommend not fishing for them on consecutive days. Resident locations are normally a few acres in size and some locations require more shad to keep them hanging around.    A lot of these locations have trees and are on the edge of a comfort zone (like deep/shallow or trees/then no trees).   Winter time resident fish will be very active from daylight until 8AM, then between 8 to 9 you can see the activity start to slow down. After 9 or 9:30 it is like a ghost town on your graph. I would not scout for these fish after 8:30. You may not see any grouped up shad but there are scattered shad in the area. If I was going to fish for 8 hours I would start on resident fish at daylight then go looking for abundant shad after 9AM.   These locations have an overall depth range of 30 to 65ft and that allows you to catch them suspended or on the bottom.  Different resident locations will turn on at different times throughout the winter. Some are good in December and others might get going in January. You need an inventory that you can check in a few mile range because running the boat in cold Temps works on your enthusiasm. 

The deep bite has been good the past few days. Mainly using Damiki, ice jig, and slab spoon. I caught a few yesterday on topwater (in 40ft) but they were shorts so I put it down after 5 casts. 
The bass pictures are from this morning in 60-65ft.
The graph pictures are from today (60-65ft) and yesterday (40ft).
These are resident fish vs shad roamers. These resident fish will come and go from the area but it does not take much bait to hold them. These resident fish are grouped up unti 8 or 9am, then they disperse into singles and are tough to catch.
This morning I noticed a few gizzard shad break the surface where I could see there body. That is a good indication that nice fish maybe in the area.
WT 54-55

Put in at the bridge about 7:30 in the fog soup.  Put the trolling motor down and scooted over to the docks.  Threw a small 2.8 until the fog lifted enough for safe travel.  Only caught one small Spot to begin the day.  Headed to some deeper docks along the river channel and caught 2 more shorts.  Headed to the deep point timbers and caught a better fish along a drop off.  Continued bouncing around until 1:30 picking up a fish here and there.  I was hoping to locate some large shad schools, however, I am still learning my FFS.  Need to spend more time on the water.  Overall, I was happy with a few fish in tough conditions.
WT: 59-61
Bait: 1/16 oz Hover Jig and a 2.8 or 1/4 oz ball head with a 2.8 (Electric Shad and Threadfin Shad)
Structure: Front of Docks (shade helps) in 40-100 feet or deep points with pole timber
good luck 

I went to Bridgeport, yesterday and they were biting good up shallow. Buddy called and he was around the corner from me with a good one, took him the scale, it was 4.71, and he caught a 3 before that and another almost 3 as i was on may way with the scale all on a blade.  I went to mainly crappie fish, wind didnt make that easy, i picked up a crank bait and caught a couple keeps and had a 4 wrap me around a log, i thought i was just hung until i got to the log and saw it pinned up against it. 64 degrees at bridgeport 61 at Mccords Bend.  Point 15 up about 3 miles was pretty dirty and then it clears up, Brideport down is clean too

My neighbor and I went down today.  It was foggy again.  More idiots came up and were ripping.  Two of them pulled into the marina cove and fished for a while.  It must be 40 miles to State Park and with a ride that long in lower 30s temps I would be more than ready for a breather.
We fished hard but only wound up with 15 fish and one keeper just like yesterday except the wind was stronger.

I took Jeff today.  There was no one at the ramp.  It was very foggy so we fished several places as the fog lifted.  We found our fish in rocks with timber.  Last week my neighbor and I had 20 on gravel.  They were 6-10’ deep.  We caught them on worms and jigs.  Jeff tried a buzzer but got no love.  We caught 14 with 4 keepers.  We had lmb, smb, and spots.  Water was 68° and the air was 44-66°.  

Fished with Dutch today, we were on the water by 0700, a bit chilly early, mid-50's but not too bad.  Turned into a really nice day, it was in the low 70's when we left at 1230.  Water temp was 71-73 for the most part.
We caught 17 bass that were worth mentioning, plus a handful of micro-dinks.  Got most of them on jigs, a few on worms, and a couple on Keitechs.  The Keitech fish were deep, 40 feet down near the bottom off a rocky point and that was the only place we caught any on the swimbait.
The jig and worm fish were anywhere from 10 to 30 feet deep, and as Dutch said: "The rockier the bank, the better".  Never found them in bunches, just picked one off here and there.  Mostly main lake and just inside the coves, did not try any backends of the coves, but did see a couple of boats working in the backs.
Lots of little shad on the banks in places, but nothing chasing them.  Did not see much top water activity at all.  I threw a buzzer for a bit, and the bass did not show any interest in it.
We had 4 keepers, two of them were smallmouth, 2 were spots.  We also caught a couple of short 15 inch walleye.
Only a couple of pleasure boats out there today, and just a few other fishermen.
Couple of sycamores by the ramp getting that fall look.

Anyone loose a glide bait in flat creek in a tree? Im assuming it was a kayak guy and just barely out of reach, i found one, no clue if its worth $15 or $180. Ide be happy to give it back to the owner if you can describe it and tell me what it says on the belly

That’s basically what Jeff and I have been finding in the Cape Fair area; a few spinner bait fish, a few shaky fish and a few jig fish with few keepers.

Questionable fishing is following me across the US.  After a very tough trip in the West, Table Rock was hard on son Steven and I yesterday. 
Just flat couldn’t find a depth. 15’ to 48 feet, all over the place. We had 12 bass with 2 small keeps on jigs and then bought a box of crawlers at Big M and caught 6 walleye. 1 keeper but we tossed them all back. 
Nothing and I mean nothing schooled up, just scattered singles. Did see some top water but as usual this time of year, main channel over 100 ft. And gone in 60 seconds.  
Quite a few anglers out and not a bunch of pleasure boats. We fished till noon.  
Surface temps at 80 degree. Water with a nice late Summer tint. 
Good Luck.