Area On Bull Shoals For Walleye-please Help

[rangerman]

summer walleyes on table rock have a habit of suspending over the river channels just like white bass would, trolling crankbaits through trees on channel swings is effective. In June you can still for the most part get them trolling the bottom on breaklines, after june they suspend.

jason

[Sam]

In June you can still for the most part get them trolling the bottom on breaklines, after june they suspend.

And that's exactly why I haven't caught any keeper walleyes out of Tablerock in all these years. You've got to fish for them specifically.

In June, I'm doing exactly what you say - but on Bull Shoals. After June I'm usually on Tablerock, but night-fishing for bass and working the brush for crappie. I think walleyes are seldom caught when you're fishing for other species. You've got to target them, and since I haven't done that on Tablerock, I haven't caught any there.

[rangerman]

Like powerdive said Table Rock is up and coming, however, I guarentee there is a new state record swimming in there and the person who catches it will more than likely be fishing for something else. ALWAYS happens that way! There is at least a couple of 14 pounders caught on the arkansas side of the Kings River every year by guys night fishing. Illegal in Missouri of course. Lake of the Ozarks is about thhe only lake that people consistently catch walleye while fishing for bass. There definitely has been alot of 5plus pounders caught there by guys throwing spinnerbaits in late spring.

[Sam]

I know it can happen, if only rarely.

In fact, with all the walleye-chasing I've done on Bull Shoals, the best one I've caught was by accident. A few years ago my partner and I were fishing the spring crappie run at Snapp Holler, and we were catching crappie throwing 1/16 oz. Swimmin' Minnows up by the bank.

I got ahold of a 6.5 lb. walleye and finally got him in. That was on my lightest crappie pole, a little 5'6" ultralight rig with 6 lb. monofilament. It was quite a tussle, but I sure enjoyed it and it's something to remember.

[walleyerich]

Fished Bull Shoals last year for a June Tourney. My partner and I won big fish by catchin walleye 60 feet down over 180 feet of water. They definately suspend in Bull Shoals also.

[rangerman]

You really have to hunt the walleye in TR. It seems as though you have to weed through alot of incidental catches before you get an established pattern. I asked powerdive about it, and I'v heard the walleye spawn on the front of the TR dam. It should be a good spot to catch suspended walleyes. Have anyone else heard of this?

[walleyerich]

First of all, that Powerdive guy is full of misinformation. I would take anything he says with a grain of salt. He sure does throw a mean grape, though.

[powerdive]

WR, watch yerself. The next one might be rotten...

There's a lot of investigation yet to be done, on both lakes. Where do the really big gals go, after the spawn? Gary Parsons said the record class fish probably spend virtually all their time way down deep. Johnnie Candle said the biggest walleyes in the system likely behave totally different from the rest of the population--ya might need to put musky baits in front of them, to match the hatch they key on--or you might need to fish where no other walleye angler has gone before. There's certainly plenty of water to cover out there....

As Johnnie said, pray that you're ready when that fish of a lifetime hits--because it'll probably be the only chance you get.

[rangerman]

When that one fish hits you usually lose it! LOL. So then you cuss and get mad, and keep on trolling. I know you mark alot of big fish down deep and I don't mean spoonbills and such. The marks aren't that big but they are big enough to know that may be something you are looking for. Theres alot of fish in TR that you will never know what they are. For example, I had a friend fishing the upper white river arm fishing for kentuckies on TR. He hooked about a fourteen incher and a HUGE striper came up and grabbed it at boatside. He fed it line and tried to do something with it but it spit the kentucky.

One technique I have used at TR and may start trying again is fishing with whitetail shiners. If you didn't know, they are the larger minnows you see swimming around docks with the black and white tail. I came up with the idea years ago, and caught a few on a VERY small trout hook and piece of bread. They are usually around 5 or so inches long.

Took a flipping stick and 25 pound test and went out on tree lined points with gravel. You talk about catching some good quality fish. I never got ahold of any walleyes that way, however, with the techinques and locations I've found for walleyes in the rock you could probably catch some good ones if you fish them on a heavy bottom bouncer.