My Table Rock Trip

[OzarkKid07]

Well, I gotta say, I'm completely jealous of all you who live in the Table Rock area. What a tremendous fishery! I fished it for the first time this last week and I am in love with the lake. We stayed at Hide Away Resort in the James Arm and I'm glad we did. The water was beautiful, the leaves were budding, and there was no shortage of fish, even for my wife who has never bass fished before! We arrived Wednesday around 3 o'clock p.m. and raced to get the boat in the water. We left the women to unpack the cabin and my dad and me got to the important stuff. Wednesday afternoon/evening we fished until we couldn't see anymore and ended up with several fish in the 15-17 inch range and 1 fish that was 4-3, caught by my dad in 30 feet of water next to a sheer wall on an island. Thursday morning we caught about 30 fish in the back of a cove on poppers between 6:30 and 8. Then we moved out and fished bluffs and 20-50 feet of water the rest of the day with about 15 fish between 1.5 and 3.5 pounds coming in on pumpkin centipedes. In the evening, we caught about 8 fish on white spinnerbaits on flats with some bushes sticking up in about 5-10 feet of water. We did have a white grub as a trailer with a trailer hook on the spinnerbaits. Friday, we basically repeated the same pattern, but visited the island in the afternoon. I took a 4.5 pound LM on a topwater over a point and several spots that were just so fat I could not believe it! We dragged the ladies out for the morning topwater bite and my wife caught 2 on a buzzbait and 1 on a popper before she fell asleep on the bench seat. She had actually caught her first LM of her life on a pumpkin centipede on Thursday, Texas-rigged with a 3/16-ounce slip sinker on a 3/0 Gamakatsu offset hook. Saturday we caught some 2-3 pound spots and made it back to the slip just before the torrent hit. Then my wife got called in for an emergency situation at work and we had to leave and drive back to Illinois. We caught the majority of our fish on either pumpkin or red or chartreuse centipedes or topwaters in the morning. I caught 1 spot on a silver wart in the back of a cove and we caught probably 12 total on the spinnerbaits. All in all, it was an unbelievable trip with lots of fish, all carefully and lovingly released back for another day. Only 1 fish was injured due to swallowing my Gamakatsu, but I think he will make it. I left Table Rock with an even deeper love for the Ozarks and a new fondness for Kentucky bass. I'm really jealous of you Ozarkians and someday I will be one of you. Also, of note, I ran into a couple of fellas and we got to talkin' back in Aunt's Creek and one of them GAVE me a package of pumpkin centipedes after I mentioned that we had caught a bunch on them but were running out. Whether that person is on this forum or not, I hope he knows what a blessing he was to me and my family and that his generosity is so greatly appreciated. An outstanding fishery, amazing people, gorgeous fish, and perfect weather all added up to one of the best trips I've had in a long time.

[techo]

Wow! Nice report and nice week. I am glad you posted photos of the island. There is a camping spot on the one end. I have never figured out who owns it or if anyone could camp there. It has been a good fishing spot for us in the past.

[dtrs5kprs]

That is great to hear of a TW bite. Nice work and come back when you can.

[CaptainJoe]

Glad you had a great trip and superb fishing. Thanks for the photos. This area is truly special. Shhhhhhh!

[OzarkKid07]

My wife and I are probably going to come back and stay at Big Cedar in June for my birthday. Is there a big difference in the fishing (strategy, water type) down where Big Cedar is versus up the James where we were? Also, is there more or less traffic/pressure in that area?

[ozarkgunner]

My wife and I are probably going to come back and stay at Big Cedar in June for my birthday. Is there a big difference in the fishing (strategy, water type) down where Big Cedar is versus up the James where we were? Also, is there more or less traffic/pressure in that area?

The fishing starts to get tough in late June. The lower lake has some long points that are great to night fish. After Mid-June, I don't even think about fishing until close to dark. Try Gido bugs (plastic crawdads) in 15-25 foot out on the long points. If you aren't 200 yards from the shore, your aren't fishing the right type of water. The black and red spinnerbait (or black and blue) also start about this time. Slow roll it in the heavy timber. Lastly, as the water temp starts to heat up, and so does the 12 inch worm bite. I like all black with a red tail.

There are a lot of people here who know better than I do, but I hope this helps.

PS. the 4" zoom french fry worm (watermelon) always works on the rock.

[focused fishing]

My wife and I are probably going to come back and stay at Big Cedar in June for my birthday. Is there a big difference in the fishing (strategy, water type) down where Big Cedar is versus up the James where we were? Also, is there more or less traffic/pressure in that area?

The boat traffic will be tough that time of year; plan on early morning and evening fishing if you're not into night fishing. Most likely the bite will be deep by then; drop shot rigged finesse worms, crawlers and grubs from 28' - 40' deep and football jigs just to 35' deep, keep an eye on the reports to know where and when.

Anotehr option is to pick up an Arkansas license and head up long creek below the state line, less traffic and better shallow bite.

Keep an eye on the forum before you go we'll do our best to steer you in the right direction.

Good Luck!

EP