Lake Has Turned Over

[Jeremy Rasnick]

Table Rock has Turned Over!!! Good news for the trout. The DO Levels are nearly 9 PPM ( parts per million ) comming out of the Generators. This happened aproximately 10 Days ago. For those who know what to do to catch those rascals "Post Turnover" go get'm and let us know how to do it.

[Whodat]

Any shad comming threw yet?

[Sam]

Just a comment about upper Taneycomo when shad are coming through the turbines. I'm sure not a trout fisherman, but this is a thought I've had for years that might help someone, maybe.

Years ago, before the new regulations, a friend and I were fishing just below the dam. Bait fishing was still OK then, and between Powerbait and throwing some small streamer flies and spinners we'd caught just a couple of trout. But there was a guy out there wading who was catching and releasing trout with every cast and he kept it up for a couple of hours. We must have seen him catch 100 trout - one every cast!

When he waded back to the bank I went to talk to him - I wanted to know what the heck he was fishing with. Turns out, he was using live minnows but he wasn't trying to keep them alive. He was worming them on a gold minnow hook, running the whole length of the minnow on the hook so the now-dead minnow was in a "J" shape like the hook. He had a small split shot sinker about a foot up from the hook and he was casting upstream into the current, keeping a tight line, and letting the minnow tumble down the current like a dead shad that had washed through the dam.

We went to the store and got some minnows, and limited out real quick catching one trout per cast. Wow.

That's illegal now, of course - but I bet you could tear 'em up with some kind of legal lure in a "J" shape that tumbles down the current like a small dead shad. Just sayin'.

[Phil Lilley]

That's why I throw white jigs in the winter.

No shad, none coming through the dam. I'll let you know when.

[Ham]

The weather has been tough, but the fishing especially for numbers has not been tough. After the turnover (based on your dates) but prior to this hard cold snap, we did quite well on jigs. I don't sweat the turnover phenomena. While I'm sure it happens and I'm sure it can make a difference, I'm gonna go fishing when I can go fishing. If the rivers are too cold or blown out, I'll lake fish. Otherwise, I will be floating a creek having a great time.

[Bill Babler]

Surface temps on Table Rock 52.9. Don't believe you will see any shad at those temps. I thought it might drop more, but just got off the lake and it was still that warm. Might take it a while now to get any cooler with day time highs forcasted in the mid to low 50's.