Lipless Crankbaits & Colors

[Illini Fisher]

I am coming down from Chicago at the end of April. I have fished this lake 3 times now but with Bill Beck every time. I am scheduled for a trip with him again, but would like to find out some more information before coming down because I will also be fishing by myself. I have been reading this forum for a couple of months and haven't heard anyone mention anything about using lipless crankbaits like red eye shad or rat l traps other than one post. Are these baits useful on Table Rock? Also I am interested in what color hard baits and soft plastics work on this lake. Any information is appreciated. I will be fishing out of Kimberling City's Ozark Mountain Resort.

[dtrs5kprs]

There was a post on here a day or so ago about lipless baits, kind of lost track of it. Useful sometimes for schoolies but not sure about others...

Hard to beat 4-5" smoke or s&p grubs, all manner of little green finesse worms (berkley shaky worm, zoom finessse-w'melon red, grn pmpk, w'melon candy), really little green finesse worms (zoom meatheads, berkley slim shaky, chompers drop shot worm). Fish doctors, then centipedes for rigs, senkos in same colors plus shad colors. White tubes, 4" lizards for bed fish.

Will probably see you then if you are fishing with Bill...will be fishing out of Schooner Ck resort at that time into May. Should be hard to beat. Would like to see a little more water though.

[Trav]

I am coming down from Chicago at the end of April. I have fished this lake 3 times now but with Bill Beck every time. I am scheduled for a trip with him again, but would like to find out some more information before coming down because I will also be fishing by myself. I have been reading this forum for a couple of months and haven't heard anyone mention anything about using lipless crankbaits like red eye shad or rat l traps other than one post. Are these baits useful on Table Rock? Also I am interested in what color hard baits and soft plastics work on this lake. Any information is appreciated. I will be fishing out of Kimberling City's Ozark Mountain Resort.

http://ozarkanglers.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=22224&st=0&p=143488&fromsearch=1&#entry143488

[Illini Fisher]

Yea that was the one post that I said I read about on this forum. From that, it seems like they aren't that popular on this lake. Just wanted to see what others thought. What colors in the hard baits are people using (Sexy shad, firetiger, craw patterns, baby bass etc)? Also, does anyone use similar crankbaits that are not wiggle warts? I currently only have 1 wiggle wart, but do have many lipped crankbaits that run around the same depth and dont want to buy new lures if I dont have to. Dtrs I will probably be fishing April 30 or May 1 with Bill.

[techo]

Bill will set you straight.

I fished a Heartland Pro/AM with a guy from Kansas City about three years ago I think. He was stuck on those lipless cranks. They were his goto bait that he had confidence in. He switched to a jig when I was catching a couple. I never saw him catch one with the lipless crank. I can't remember what brand he had.

The lake was high that year and conditions were different too. So this whole post didn't help you much. I visit with quite a few fisherman and read a lot of tourney results and no one has admitted to using the lipless crank much on Table Rock.

[dtrs5kprs]

Bill will set you straight.

I fished a Heartland Pro/AM with a guy from Kansas City about three years ago I think. He was stuck on those lipless cranks. They were his goto bait that he had confidence in. He switched to a jig when I was catching a couple. I never saw him catch one with the lipless crank. I can't remember what brand he had.

The lake was high that year and conditions were different too. So this whole post didn't help you much. I visit with quite a few fisherman and read a lot of tourney results and no one has admitted to using the lipless crank much on Table Rock.

I threw them some around 13HWY during the flood in 2008 b/c it really seemed like they should work...zero. Had no problem catching them on a blade or flipping.

Think they may just be too "much" for these fish. Too much noise, vibration, too much wood in the rivers. No grass is the biggie. Once in a while the schoolies will eat one, but they will also eat spoons, grubs, spooks, etc. Whites will eat one in schools but not better than the others.

Hear about people whacking them at LOZ with them, but have never seen or done it myself.

[dtrs5kprs]

Yea that was the one post that I said I read about on this forum. From that, it seems like they aren't that popular on this lake. Just wanted to see what others thought. What colors in the hard baits are people using (Sexy shad, firetiger, craw patterns, baby bass etc)? Also, does anyone use similar crankbaits that are not wiggle warts? I currently only have 1 wiggle wart, but do have many lipped crankbaits that run around the same depth and dont want to buy new lures if I dont have to. Dtrs I will probably be fishing April 30 or May 1 with Bill.

I'll be there April 20 thru May 9. Look for the big white Ranger going back and forth on the same boring looking banks, fishing deathly slow with little green worms.

Mostly warts, bigger baits for the deeper post spawn fish later in May/June (DD22, big fat free shad), but you can catch some of those fish on football jigs and c-rigs. Lots easier on the arms. Mostly craw and natural brown/green colors, firetiger, black/chart, brown/chart, watermelon can be good. Hard to beat V38 or the phantom craw warts. Red craw can be good in the rivers. Shad and chart colors are good on the big baits. April is tough for me on cranks, seems like I always run into a lot of debris in the lake from rain, runoff, storms, rising water. Can even be a bear to fish topwater then.

But...if you are going with Bill expect a lot of smoke grubs and such. Don't forget some big Redfins and junior spooks. Usually a good time of year to start running a fin.

[Trav]

Let us not forget...It is Table Rock.

Baits without lips get hung up a bunch here. It doesn't mean they are not productive. If you are smart you use what fits the environment. You need to work around the timber.

I do well with them in the summer as I have described and use them often.

You work the baits for the area you want to work. Lipless cranks work great if you know how to use them. My fishing partner was using them yesterday and did well. For the record..it was a Red Eye in lavender.

[Bill P]

I am coming down from Chicago at the end of April. I have fished this lake 3 times now but with Bill Beck every time. I am scheduled for a trip with him again, but would like to find out some more information before coming down because I will also be fishing by myself. I have been reading this forum for a couple of months and haven't heard anyone mention anything about using lipless crankbaits like red eye shad or rat l traps other than one post. Are these baits useful on Table Rock? Also I am interested in what color hard baits and soft plastics work on this lake. Any information is appreciated. I will be fishing out of Kimberling City's Ozark Mountain Resort.

What part of Chicago you comin from? There's quite a few of us Chicago guys down here......

[Illini Fisher]

I am coming from West Chicago which is near St Charles, Carol Stream, & Bartlett.