Upper Lake Bass Report

[SKMO]

Here’s some upper lake bassin’ stories you can read firsthand and maybe put to good use.

I fished mid-lake yesterday (Sat) and had a pretty good trip by myself. Concentrated on secondary points between K-City and Campbell Point and got into double digits on some respectable TR spotted bass. It was a good outing , consistent bite on stickbait in 6-12’ of water on gravel points. All females I think, and all nice fish.

Went back today with Babler, hoping to improve on the action as I thought it would just get better with a south breeze but once again the fish had a different game plan. Nothing like Bragging up a bite to make it go Sour, that’s Table Rock! It was a good day nonetheless, we scratched up some good spots, a nice LM, and some Real Nice SM on the point I tore the spots on yesterday. Attached you will find a couple pics of the SM we found.

Only hint I can offer from my last couple days is throw to classic stickbait spots and if you get bit hang around and keep throwing. There seems to be a lot of dead water in between the sweet spots.

For those of you considering a guided bass trip on The Rock I cannot help but recommend Mr. Bill Babler who is both a personal friend and an awesome fisherman. He can hammer the trout at Tany, yet on his “day off” climbs back in the Stratos to fun-fish for the warmwater critters. This says a lot about his passion and says even more about his Wife’s tolerance for his vices. We should all be blessed with such women.

If you get the opportunity to fish with Bill on the big water it is well worth the price of admission to see his Hook Set. I think he charges almost $4 per hour which seems steep at first, but once you get out there with him you will probably think it is almost worth it, maybe. Anyway, I thought I knew how to put the hook to a fish but Babler puts me to absolute shame. If you ever saw Hank Aaron swing for the fence in a clutch situation it is puny compared to Bill’s Hook Set! Seriously, even with only 20’ of line out he does not just “cross their eyes” but sets those optical units back against their kidneys (assuming fish have kidneys). I need to relate that sometimes with this Hook Set, all you see is a confetti cloud of fish lips drifting down from above and a sound similar to a .243 going off as the line parts, but I guess this is a closely held Guiding Secret that I probably should not share.

Man we had some fun as we tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together as to what the fish were doing, but came to no concensus other than The Rock is a tough piece of water!

All in all a really fun day and one that reminded me of the ties that bind us together as fishermen, and fisherwomen.

[Bill Babler]

After a full hard week on the trout it's nice to have a buddy that has a handle on the rock. Great trip today on the middle section of the White River arm of Table Rock lake. SKMO may not say so but he backed up what he told me yesterday. Blue Bird day, and some competition on our spots, but a great day on the water. I'll take that anytime.

When your dealing with KY's and Smallies this time of year, you are dealing with critters on the move. What's good for you today may be completely wrong the next. If you have a spot holding fish, there is probably not a greener pasture around the bend, don't leave whats working. We worked a great location 3 times and it paid off on the second helping. Good advice.

On the wife deal, God bless both of us.

[Don House]

So Bill, did you trade-in your Bass Boat for a Party Barge, you looked very busy on Saturday. Fishing is good on Taneycomo huh, clients love it!!! Get tired of taking fish off myself, Good Job on the the rock with SKMO sounds like you guys had a great time!!! My Turn on Monday, see if I can't go find some of those Smallies and Spots!!

Stay Busy and Good Fishing

[Bill Babler]

Wonderful week on taney with the EMJ group, but lots of work. 16 big boat trips with lots of fisherman ready for a trout cook off on the MDC.

My hands are a mess, every finger with a cut or hole in it. My lip is split right up the middle and my cheeks so chapped they are like leather.

Still wanted more and SKMO and I had a great day on the rock. A real relaxer. I didn't have to tie on one bait for him or unhook his fish. It was nurvona. I hope he dosen't see this, as he will want the full treatment next time. SAY, those were his fish. He should have tied on my baits and took off my fish. Maby next time.

[SKMO]

My lip is split right up the middle and my cheeks so chapped they are like leather.

Still wanted more and SKMO and I had a great day on the rock. A real relaxer. I didn't have to tie on one bait for him or unhook his fish. It was nurvona. I hope he dosen't see this, as he will want the full treatment next time. SAY, those were his fish. He should have tied on my baits and took off my fish. Maybe next time.

Hey now, I did see it and next time I am going to demand the "Full Monte". I definitely you want to tie on my plugs since you know that secret lucky knot, it really works. Here's the deal, you teach me that knot and I'll show you how to check your oil level in your reservoir and fill it when it gets low!

And by the way I did notice that bad split lip. I was not going to mention it because I had a sneaking suspicion it was the result of you informing the missus you were spending your "day off" fishing when you had just spent a week on the water. Personally I would have suffered much more than a split lip, but I guess my wife has a wicked right hook. Plus you probably have developed some pretty good defensive moves over the years whereas I still forget to duck most of the time.

By the way I really like the picture of your avatar or whatever it is called that appears on your posts. Did you ever get your client's fish wrestled away from him so you could have your picture taken with it? Looks like he has a white knuckle death grip on his trout but you seem to be holding your own, always wondered who won this tug of war. Isn't that kind of hard on the fish?

[buddygr]

going to table rock lake myself this weekend what would be a good bait to use for bass. would like to find small mouth but any bass over 15 inches would help. what part of the lake would be good

[petertherock]

Hey SKMO,

Could you update this Upper Lake report? Need the information for next week, thanks!

petertherock

[Bill Babler]

Talked to SKMO by phone, he is having internet problems, but will soon be back online. I don't believe he has had time to fish much up the White, but believe he intends to hit her hard next week. Please refer to my posts up to Campbell Pt. and just continue on with the same pattern. It should hold to about roaring river.

[SKMO]

Talked to SKMO by phone, he is having internet problems, but will soon be back online. I don't believe he has had time to fish much up the White, but believe he intends to hit her hard next week. Please refer to my posts up to Campbell Pt. and just continue on with the same pattern. It should hold to about roaring river.

Am back online but did not have anything else to offer, there seems to me to be plenty of up-to-date bass information.

Starting Sat will be out 6 of the next 7 days and will have many hours on the water after our finny friends. It looks to me that there's lot of possibilities right now. From my experiences and from those posted by Bill, Don and others we've heard about bites on stickbaits, crankbaits, grubs, spinnerbaits, jigs, c-rigs and finesse rigs. I think all these methods will work in the right place and at the right time just a matter of doin' a little head scratching and giving it your best shot and trying to put some patterns together. No magic bullet ever exists. Fishin smart with some type of plan, fishin something you have confidence in, a little luck, and just getting out there and playing with it it and STAYING wth it are what will put the tug on the end of the line.