Summer Fishing On The Rock - Bass/walleye

[BleacherBum28]

I'm new to the forum and love the information provided here. I am from a Chicago suburb and my parent live right by Viola Marina. We have been coming here since I was a kid and love the lake. I basically come down once a year in August with the family and am looking for any pointers/tecniques. I am going to describe as much as I can about our fishing style, so bear with me as I have a ton of questions...

My parents own an old boston whaler style boat, which is quite difficult to control in any kind of breeze or boat traffic. We have resorted to dragging crawlers over tree tops and points which we have found. This has been quite productive for years, but seems to have slowed over the last couple years.

One of our favorite honey holes is near where the White and the Kings rivers join. We've caught bass for years there dragging crawlers from 20 - 40 ft in 30 to 50 foot of water using a carolina rig. The last few years we've caught a few nice walleye, but have never gotten more than 2 in a session. We've gotten intrigued about the walleye in the lake and are trying desperately to figure out their patterns.

1.) Drop Shotting - I've tried drop shotting using both 3" gulp minnows and leaches, but have found it difficult. Is this technique only used when the boat is stationary over a school of suspended fish? Are the fish always tight to the bottom when using this method? As I've said earlier, our boat is terribly difficult to hold stationary. I truly beleive this is the technique to use to catch fish in late summer heat.

2.) In all of my reading, walleye hug the bottom and hate sunlight. With the lake so clear, it would seem night fishing for walleye would be most productive, but we've never caught any. We went out last night from 8PM to 1 AM, but didn't land 1 fish. We marked them all over on the sonar, but nothing was active. The strange thing is we always seem to catch one or 2 walleye in the late morning with the sun blazing on half crawlers trying to sustain our anual fish fry fishing for 'gills in the trees. Is this just a fluke, or is this really a pattern I should concentrate on? This flies in the my general big bait for big fish mentality.

3.) Jigging - I've never done this before, so I need some tips. All the fish we mark on the sonar don't seem to be holding tight to the bottom... or the old sonar doesn't see them If the fish are holding at 20 ft in 40 ft of water (I imagine these are Kentucky's), is it worth jigging for? Whenever we find fish tight to the bottom, they are in DEEP water (70 ft or so). Is my sonar picking up paddle fish or a school of cats? I can't imagine walleye/bass hanging out that deep. If they are, how do you fish for them?

4.) Is there a guide service who specifically fishes for walleye on Table Rock? I really think the populations of walley in this area of the rock are on the rise and seem worth fishing for.

[Bill Babler]

Let's get to the Rat Killin, in the order you asked it.

1. Drop shotting on the Rock is the Bomb. It is the way to put limits in the boat this time of the year. No your boat does not have to be stationary, it can wind drift, but it is very hard to see your line, your bait and the fish, coming to eat it, if it is moving out side the cone of the transducer.

There are some fish on the bottom, but the majority of dropshot fish, are ususally suspended in at some depth. In your area of the lake try looking from 22 to 36 ft. on the bottom and then out deeper suspended at those depths. This morning at the Knob, they were 23 to 32, most on the bottom, but some in the trees and others suspended.

2. We had 3 eyes today out of the Knob, all on a white 1/2 oz BP Lazer eye spoon. Fish were 32 on the bottom.

3.Today, whenever we could see them, we could get a bite and most often catch them. Used the Lazer eye and also a Chompers Plum dropshot worm. 20 something fish with 6 keepers, with the best 5 being about 11.5 pounds. YOu could be looking at paddle fish, but probably just reverb or false eco's.

4 No there are no walleye guides on the rock. We can catch a few sometimes, but I would never try and target walleye. It would be a reciept for disaster.

Walleye also love the deep docks, and will present themselves in the shady sides and in the wells under the foam. Thy pitching a night crawler on a jig head around some and you will get on pretty well. There are some very knowledgable locals, that fish the White and post here. Most a long line trollers with deep cranks. I have also in the big M area and Kings River flats, seen planer boards being used to troll multiple baitsa lots of different depths

Good Luck

[BleacherBum28]

Let's get to the Rat Killin, in the order you asked it.

1. Drop shotting on the Rock is the Bomb. It is the way to put limits in the boat this time of the year. No your boat does not have to be stationary, it can wind drift, but it is very hard to see your line, your bait and the fish, coming to eat it, if it is moving out side the cone of the transducer.

There are some fish on the bottom, but the majority of dropshot fish, are ususally suspended in at some depth. In your area of the lake try looking from 22 to 36 ft. on the bottom and then out deeper suspended at those depths. This morning at the Knob, they were 23 to 32, most on the bottom, but some in the trees and others suspended.

Thanks for the quick response/update Bill.

I've always fished with live bait, and am now just trying to use artificial. I've researched on the net and found some how-to's about drop shotting so I'm definately a newbie, but looking at the action it places on the baits, it has to be "da bomb" as you put it.

Couple more questions...

Drop Shotting:

1) Why do I need to see the lure? Won't I just feal the weight on the line? I doubt my sonar will ever pick up the drop-shot, so if this is needed, its time to upgrade

2) What size weight do you recommend? I've been using 1/4's but fear it might be too light to keep in the zone when drifting.

Location, Location, Location....

Is there a tip you can give me to find new productive areas? Right now, we basically only have 2 spots, and find the fishing slow alot of mornings.

3) Is there a download-able detailed topograpghical map I could print/view? I've seen the 20 foot incremental one, but as most of the people here have posted, its not detailed enough to find those humps/points less than 20 foot...

[Bill Babler]

I'm not as concerned about seeing my bait as I am the fish and the structure. By having the ability to see your bait and how the fish react to it is a tremendious plus. You will be able to see fish make runs of over 20 ft. at your offerings and then just turn away and go back to the bottom. You can also learn a wealth of fishing knowledge by seeing how the fish at different depths in the water column react to your presentations.

Most of us that fish here can see our presentations and can tell by how the fish reacts to the bait wheather it is going to bite or just hang with the bait or melt away. It opens a complete new world of fishing.

I for the most part use a 3/8th. unless I am fishing docks. For docks, I like the quarter, as I will pitch it quite a bit and it falls slower than the heaver weight.

If I am fishing suspended fish in trees or on the bottom, at depths in the high 20's on up, I use the 3/8th.

Today on my trip out of Shell Knob, we caught fish on 9 locations. Look for major lake channel swings that come up against the long flat gravel rolloffs.

Long tapering points with gentle slopes near deep water are also holding fish.

Fun places to look are also off tappered bluffends with timber present. Find the deeper timber where the tops of the trees are coming into that 30 ft. range. Drop your crawlers, spoon or fake worms just above or just into the tops and see if they get ya.

Another way to make things much easier is to take a guided fishing trip.. Give Donnie, Eric, Phil Stone, Buster. Tim Paige, Bill Beck, Chris Tetrick, Eric Olliverson, Tim Sainato, Pete Wenners, Rick LaPoint or any of the guides that deep fish a call. The Davis Brothers are great fishermen, but I don't think they deep fish as much as the rest of us. They can usually catch them shallow and don't have to.

It will open your eyes and you will just go nuts at their electronics and how they use them. You will diffently see why you want to see your bait and the fish.

You can get detailed maps at any of the Lake tackle shops that will show all the humps and channel swings as well as standing timber.

Good Luck

[KCRIVERRAT]

This is the Bill Babler we all should (and do) appreciate!

[BleacherBum28]

This is the Bill Babler we all should (and do) appreciate!

Thank you Bill. I've already convinced my father to give you a call next year to see how you guys catch all the fish (as my time here on the rock is ending Sunday). I appreciate your candidness.

[mclothier1]

I second what Bill is saying... a Guide trip can really open your eyes to new locations, methods, etc. it really helps!

And yes it sounds like you need to upgrade your electronics, After taking a guide trip last year for the first time, I was enlightened as to the value of a good fish finder... So I purchased a Lowrance x-510 which came in around $300 but is still powerful enough to pick up a split shot and hook. The new finder has greatly improved my chances of catching some fish!

On our trip here in early June, I was drop shotting down mostly on the bottom, and it was a hoot watching the screen.... you see the bait go down, then you see the fish move at it... then your bit!! I think it took all of 15 minutes to catch my first fish using the new finder.

Then we took another trip in mid July and I found the fish suspended... easy enough just drop it down to the level they are holding at... shake it in their face, and your bit!! I also played around with a spoon for a bit, and it was amazing seeing the fish dart to the bait, give it a look, then run away! I did learn more about how to use it, and to understand what it is telling me and found that If I could also mark schools of baitfish, the fish were usually hanging out right under them. Caught a few nice ones when that was the case! and be ready to reel FAST, cause they seem to come straight up to get away from the other fish trying to steal a meal.

After I tell people about the new finder and tell them its like playing a video game, they say "well... thats cheating" and I say NO WAY!!... its a fish finder, and it helps me find the fish, money well spent!

Only problem with the new finder... Whenever I take the son fishing, we have a fight to see who's gonna sit in the front seat! LOL, silly kid, DAD always wins!!!

[rangerman]

Bleacherbum

I target the eyes on table rock, and have found trolling is about the most effective method. You can cover alot of water and locate active feeding fish. I've also caught them on bottom bouncers, threeways, and snapweights. The walleye and sunlight thing, is really a myth I believe. I've caught them on clear days up shallow and down deep on cloudy days. I believe firmly moon times have an effect on when the fish are going to be actively feeding. They do love the theremocline, Find the thermocline and fish the sloping gravel points on the inside channel bends. There are also a few eyes that hang suspended in the tree tops, on the outside bends.

Once you locate and figure out the TR eyes it is pretty satisfying.

Good luck

[wackinbass]

Bleacherbum

I target the eyes on table rock, and have found trolling is about the most effective method. You can cover alot of water and locate active feeding fish. I've also caught them on bottom bouncers, threeways, and snapweights. The walleye and sunlight thing, is really a myth I believe. I've caught them on clear days up shallow and down deep on cloudy days. I believe firmly moon times have an effect on when the fish are going to be actively feeding. They do love the theremocline, Find the thermocline and fish the sloping gravel points on the inside channel bends. There are also a few eyes that hang suspended in the tree tops, on the outside bends.

Once you locate and figure out the TR eyes it is pretty satisfying.

Good luck

Rangerman could you take me fishing with ya sometime this week? I'll be here in Tablerock until Friday? I sure would love to go out and target some eyes. I'm usually fishing for bass and giant bluecats on the Missouri and Mississippi river and thought this might be a change of pace for me. I've only caught one walleye and he went about 7lbs 27".

[wackinbass]

Bleacherbum

I target the eyes on table rock, and have found trolling is about the most effective method. You can cover alot of water and locate active feeding fish. I've also caught them on bottom bouncers, threeways, and snapweights. The walleye and sunlight thing, is really a myth I believe. I've caught them on clear days up shallow and down deep on cloudy days. I believe firmly moon times have an effect on when the fish are going to be actively feeding. They do love the theremocline, Find the thermocline and fish the sloping gravel points on the inside channel bends. There are also a few eyes that hang suspended in the tree tops, on the outside bends.

Once you locate and figure out the TR eyes it is pretty satisfying.

Good luck

Rangerman could you take me fishing with ya sometime this week? I'll be here in Tablerock until Friday? I sure would love to go out and target some eyes. I'm usually fishing for bass and giant bluecats on the Missouri and Mississippi river and thought this might be a change of pace for me. I've only caught one walleye and he went about 7lbs 27".