MstStudent10

What is the schedule like through the rest of the summer? I don't get back to the States till the beginning of August. I haven't veered further than the Co Angler side of tournaments yet, having just a small boat. But would like to start fishing for my own. $40 sounds like a great deal to get some intro tourney experience fishing from the front of the boat. I will be interested in coming out a few times once I'm back. Thanks!

Haha, yeah I veered away from the "What they don't know don't hurt them" comments during my post, I don't want to promote doing anything illegal on a public forum. Growing up 10 miles away from Fellows all through high school, and even around during college, while having a 10 foot flatbottom, the thought may have crossed my mind once or twice.

Do you still have the trailer? And will a 10 foot flatbottom fit on it? And do you have any pictures yet? Thanks!

I am in need of a small trailer for a 10 foot flatbottom boat with no motor. Just picking it up and throwing it in the back of a truck works just fine, problem is I don't have a truck. So I'm looking for a small trailer, possible for a jet ski, a golf cart, or just a small boat trailer. Nothing fancy, I'm still just planning on tying it down manually with rope. Both Lights and a Winch are NOT a must. Just as long as it rolls I don't care. Just to haul this boat a few miles around the Rolla area to some of the creeks, rivers, and small "pondlakes". "Nothing Fancy" is the big deal as I'm not looking to spend a huge chunk of change. Let me know on here, or PM, or even facebook. Thanks guys! -Ben Bruemmer

That picture is nothing compared to one I saw down at one of the Lake Fork Marina's while I was there earlier this Spring. Although the picture that I saw was a Black & White... An old time fellow with a giant stringer strung over his shoulder which trailed the ground behind him. On it were probably 30-40 largemouth bass which all looked to be in the 3-8 lb range!!! It was amazing!!! I wan't upset or anything considering this was a black and white picture obviously taken LONG ago, back in the real "good ol days" in some of these lakes... What I would give to go back in time for a while and experience some fishing like that before bass fishing was a huge deal, and many bass hadn't even seen these lures, and all reached enormous size. As I said though this was taken long ago, while also at Lake Fork...I wish I could get a copy of that picture to share, because it really was amazing. I've heard stories, and I'm sure many of you have also, of ol fellers talking about how they used to get em back in the day, and you pretty much assume that their fish tale has grown over the years and is nonsense, but seeing that picture and some similar ones like it, just goes to show you...WOW. Anyway, just reflecting and figured I'd share that piece of info.

PS... I forgot to be specific... You cannot From a Boat. That is what I was referring to in my post. Shore fishing is alright as long as you're not in their guarded off areas.

You are not allowed to fish from Fellows Lake at night. They close the Park (the area with the marina and ramp) every evening at Legal Sunset. The security guard is always there every night to make sure everyone is off and then locks up the gate behind him. If you are still on the lake come Sunset, they send the patrol boat with a siren out looking for you. Trust me I know. Got a little carried away catching crappie one evening this May and pushed it a little too far. They don't like that.

Early Summer (right now) is a really good time to be fishing bushes. Usually lakes are high from Spring rains, and the sun is hot, which means that shallow fish will relate heavily to cover. Another good tip is to fish in some of the creeks because they usually have some dirtier water, which means the bass are even more likely to hold close to cover. If I was tournament fishing Stockton right now I would most definitely look to Flipping Bushes, keying in on areas resembling the conditions above. Good Luck.

The fish must be getting smarter!!! Oh gosh we're screwed now... How are we gonna fool em into biting now that their brains are growing rapidly????!!!!!

Sorry this a lil late just got back from Branson and back to a computer.. 3/23- Fished most of the day down Long Creek on Saturday. Not a report of what was working but what wasn't... Flipped bushes again and couldn't get a big bite all day. Caught 10 or 11 bass but only one dinky keeper. Not sure where the bigger fish went to? Still a nice warm pretty day. 3/24- Went back up by the dam and fishing was better! Didn't even get on the lake till noon but the fish didn't mind. Started fishing 1 mainlake point outside a well known spawning cove. The Smallies were loving the carolina rigged centipede even in the heat of the day. No keepers but all about 13-14 inches still darn fun being small jaws! Went into the spawning cove and just backed way off the bank and threw shakey head worms in about 15-20 feet of water and had about a dozen largemouth with 4 nice keepers in only about 2 hours. I guess they're still hanging in the same areas just pulled out deeper. With the sun and clearer water, watermelon candy and watermelon red were what was working that day. ...On another note...this will be my last report for awhile. Headed to Africa for 2 months for a missions trip and am trading in the rod and reel for a bit. Will miss the lake and all you good people! Make sure y'all leave some fish around for me when I get back!!... But seriously good luck to everyone out there and have a great summer!!!

Drop Shot and Carolina Rigging are great on the Rock especially with summer coming up. True fish are deep, but it can be hard sometimes to sort through the masses of water in this lake. On the other hand you CAN beat the banks, just depending on where you are. I'm the type of person that likes to minimize my variables while fishing, and you being a newcomer to the Rock may like to do the same and try fishing a lot like you would on other lakes. Right now with all the rain we've had recently, it's dirtied up the water quite a bit, especially in the rivers. When the water gets dirty like that, bass don't like swimming around blindly. They are more comfortable pushing themselves up close to cover when the water is dirty, ie. bushes, logs, boulders, "out of the ordinary" cover.. And with the rain, the water level is high, so it puts a lot of this cover in the lake. Knowing this pinpoints exactly where you could expect the bass to be. With that said, a good place to start right now is anywhere you can find pretty dirty water. Flip soft plastics or jigs into or right next to any submerged cover in this dirty water. The bass will be pushed right against it, and can't pass up a bulky slow moving meal plopped right into their face. Bigger soft plastics can be great because they displace more water and are more easily located, and dark colors show up the best. I've been fishing far down lake in the river where the conditions are as described above and they're biting. Good Luck Man!

It takes awhile to upload and after a while it says Error no file was selected for Upload... I just noticed thou that there is a 2 MB file size limit. Possibly my pictures have always been over 2 MB so that may be it. I'll try downsizing them next time. ...Yeah, I fish out of a 14 ft flatbottom jonboat. I'm just getting done with college and haven't been able to afford one of the big bass rigs. Ya gotta start somewhere right? The boat doesn't catch the bass I always say! It can get a bit frustrating on days where there's a lot of wind but that's when I either drift down with the wind slowly or find a protected creek or cove. Hauled that lil boat down to Lake Fork this Spring with my buddy and had some great times so it's been pretty good to me.

My link Fished Long Creek area on Wednesday through all the rain and everything. The water temp was 68-69.5.. There was pretty good color to the water. Threw some shakey worms on channel swings which didn't turn out. Decided to run further down river and flip bushes. Fish were there. Threw a flipping tube and jig around flooded brush and log jams. Caught 15 bass with 7 keepers, including my new personal Table Rock best, a 6.5 fat female which still had her eggs. The bigger fish came off the jig. Even with the 6.5, my best 5 were prolly about 16.5-17 lbs. Only one other fish over 3 lbs, and a lot more in the 2 lb range. If you like flipping, now is a good time to be out there. It wont let me post a picture, but I included the link to a pic of the big girl...She's still swimming around where I caught her, hopefully gonna squirt out them eggs!!

Hey do you still have the boat and trailer for $200? Does the old boat still float? And what is the boat and trailer weight do you happen to know? Thanks!

Ya know, the good people here on Ozark Anglers wouldn't want you to make a 4 hour drive all the way here, just for the fishing to suck, and then have you blame everyone else for not catching a muskie. If by chance you go to Fellows this weekend, don't catch any muskie, and get stuck pulling in nothing but "gay" bass, don't be a baby about it and blame everyone else. Muskie are called the "Fish of 10,000 casts" for a reason. They are HARD to catch. Experienced muskie fishermen will fish for hours, days, and MAYBE get one. One cannot randomly show up to a lake for 1 weekend alone and expect to catch muskies. Do yourself a favor, just GO FISHING! Enjoy yourself. Don't use this site and information as a crutch, and then whine when things don't turn out. THAT'S FISHING. Why don't you just do some basic research on Muskie Fishing in general on google or something and go out there and give it a shot. PS.. if people are wondering where this is coming from, its a response to Bill's last posing on Muskie Fishing in Pomme de Terre.

When I fish Maze creek I'll either put in at Masters, Cedar Ridge, or State Park. Just depends on any other areas I'd like to try along the way. Masters ramp is the closest to Maze, only thing is that it is across the main lake, so if your in a smaller boat you may not want to attempt that. Cedar Ridge is the next closest and is where we put in because it was supposed to be a windy day. There's also some decent fishing right around that ramp. I caught a bass on topwater from the ramp before we even put the boat in! On another note, there is a gravel road leading down to the lake in the back of Maze next to the bridge. The road goes into the lake so I figure you could put in there possibly? Don't take my word on it though I am not sure. I would only attempt it too if I had a SMALL light boat and a high sitting truck. Anyone else know if you can put in there?

That would be a YES. Get this I was bass fishing today in Maze Creek, throughout the morning I landed 4 "Big Ol" slabs, on a 3/8 oz War Eagle Spinnerbait. It was nuts, I've never had crappie nail a full size bass spinnerbait before. Had a couple other hits that "nipped" at my spinnerbait that I didn't think were bass, looking back I bet those were crappie too that didn't hook up. I can't imagine the luck we would've had if we were actually crappie fishing those areas with small crappie jigs or minnows. We fished in the back 1/2 of maze creek and those crappie were pretty close up on the shore when they hooked the spinnerbait. On another note...had 2 keeper walleye on finesse worms and 50+ bass between me and my dad with 8 keepers. Spinnerbait, Jigs, and finesse worms, and then switched to carolina rigging centipedes on shallow gravel points once the sun came out. Great day.

Try Fin & Feather in Sgfd. I went to BPS a couple weeks ago and they were totally sold out. F&F still had a nice selection though.

If I were you wanting to fish the East side of the lake with topwater I would put in at Moonshine Beach Public use ramp. It is just north of the dam and right below The Chateau. With the way the wind blows, the actual ramp is usually pretty protected. I too fish out of a small jonboat and it's pretty easy to load and unload there. That area around Moonshine and all of that Chateau area coves can be great for fishing topwater, last Friday I fished there in the morning and caught some quality fish. Throw that fluke into, or the redfin parallel to any docks you come across and prolly have a good chance to hook up with some nice kentuckys. I had a 3+ lb kentucky doing that on Friday, boy is that fun. That whole area is great for some nice largemouth and smallmouth too.. Look for long gradual sloping points and fan cast all of it for some smallies, or throw a redfin up close to any brush that's submerged on rocky banks for some nice largemouth. Another option is State Park, the only problem is that ramp can have some nasty waves crashing into it if it's a windy day. That's not fun in a smaller boat. on another note...Hope for a cloudy day!!!! Love throwing that topwater all day long!! Good luck out there!

I fished there the 23rd of April and fishing definitely wasn't what I thought it would be... I fished there about the same time last year and tore them up on the jig, had 6 fish over 15" in about an hour and a half then had to leave...So I went on April 23rd thinking about the same thing. They wouldn't touch my jig. Fished cuts, points, and coves rocky banks and didn't get touched. Before I tried the jig I was at the giant flats, with cloud cover and wind, throwing both a spook and redfin and also could not catch a fish. Had a couple whites follow it back to the boat but wouldn't take. Finally got on a couple fish. They all came on the spinnerbait. Just throwing against steeper rocky banks caught only 6 bass and one big ol white bass. None of the largemouth were keepers. All in all not the greatest day even with the cloud cover and chop on the water, but the fish I did manage to catch came on the blade.

Hey all I am wondering if there is any place around the dam area of Table Rock to purchase minnows? I will be putting in at State Park and have no clue where the closest minnow place is? I know of only that one gas station over there before highway K closer to Bull Shoals...There's gotta be one closer to the East side of the Rock right? Thanks in advance!!!!!

If you are into trout fishing, Meremec State Park is only like 20 minutes away up through St James. I'm pretty spoiled when it comes to fishing, coming back and fishing Table Rock, Bull Shoals, and Stockton about every weekend with Fridays off so I don't do a ton of fishing around Rolla anymore. When I did, all I'd catch are little guys and be lucky if I even got that. There's the big pond next the the City of Rolla Rec Center down 10th street I think. You won't catch anything big there but there are some bass in it. One place that I like to go and have had luck (but its hit or miss mind you) is up through St James just past Meremec State Park. There's a bridge that goes over the Meremec River and I've caught some decent smallmouth out of there, my buddy had a nice 3 lber out of there bout 2 year ago. Also Up through St James there's a smaller river called the Dry Fork I think? I've went there once this spring and had 8 smallmouth not very big thou... Another great place is down the other direction towards St Robert. We got off on the Jerome Exit and fished that stretch of the Gasconade last fall with my 10 ft flatbottom. It was a blast and we caught a bunch of fish, but the Gasconade is a really wide and deep river so a boat helps a lot. I still have my 10 footer here but no longer have a truck to transport it. I'd love to go back to the Gasconade, if by chance you drive a truck up here at school, sometime if you want to provide a truck and I'll provide the lil boat we can go fish! Look me up on facebook or somethin my name is Ben Bruemmer.

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My mistake, my meaning of the multitude of "spots" meant the variety of areas that we were fishing, not kentuckys. We fished backs of coves, channel banks, points, channel swings, shallow banks, deep banks. It didn't seem to matter where, there were fish on all of them. To be more specific, Out of all the bass we caught on Saturday, we did have three fish that were 3+ pounds. All 3 of them were in areas that had deep water VERY near to them, i.e. on the channel swings, and one on a shallow bank but way off it in deeper water. My dad had went out the Friday before and had 2 fish over 4lbs and one 3 lber, but he said there was really no pattern to those, but that was before this front too. So I am thinking that with the front, the bigger fish probably pulled out a bit.

Well it rained buckets on us all day on Saturday. If you were brave enough to be out and face it, you shoulda caught bass. We fished around Masters and Maze Creek from around 7:30 to 4:30. Water temp ranged from 58 to 62. There was 4 of us in the boat. I literally caught 60+ bass, while my dad brother and friend brought in an addition 50-60. The bite slowed way down around 4o'clock as the front passed and the weather stabilized. But before that, you could throw pretty much anything and they would eat it. Caught fish on Spinnerbait, Topwater(didn't matter what kind), jerkbait, jigs, shakey worms, grubs. The only downside was that out of the 100+ bass we all caught, only 5 were keepers with 3 of them being over 3 lbs. Size didn't matter a whole lot thou, on a day like that out with the family it was just great having fun catchin em. Sure thanked God for a nice warm rainsuit cuz boy did it pour all day thou. P.S.--with the multitude of spots we tried all day I am wondering if this is how it is around the whole lake?? Cuz we didn't really key on any specific type of bank or cover or anything, yet there seemed to be a multitude of smaller males everywhere ready to eat.