Visit from Dallas

[Dallas Bill]

We will be visiting Table Rock 6/3 - 6/10. We are staying at Big Cedar and I will be renting a bass tracker from them to fish several days. I won't be able to make any real long runs. Can anyone steer me to the right kind of water? I've read alot of reports on finding gravel banks. Will I be able to locate some spots like this without having to run a long ways?

Thanks for any guidance you guys can give. Really looking forward to the trip.

Bill

[Terrapin Station]

Hire a guide from Lilley's Landing!

Are you any relation to Paul Dallas?

[Dallas Bill]

No. Bill Vanderbilt from Dallas Texas.

[FRENZEL]

Bass are getting a little tougher. Instead of renting a boat the first day, you should take out a guide. It will give you a better idea and then you caould use the boat the rest of your stay.

[Phil Lilley]

Paul Dallas... that's not his real name.

Bass fishing hasn't really gotten tough as much as deep. If you're not use to fishing deep water, you may want to use a guide. First you will need a good depth finder to locate fish. Gravel flats are fairly easy to identify with a good topo map and if you do fish alone you'll need to get one. Hot Spots makes the best.

There are alot of good spots close to Big Cedar but lately the best fishing has been more uplake according to our guides.

Give is a couple of days and they should be on with a report. I know they're busy this weekend.

[Don House]

Dallas Bill, Welcome down to the Lake, You will be staying on my side of the lake and the fishing is good but alittle hard if you are not used to deep water fishing. So first off everyone else is right. The First Day I would get a guide for atleast 1/2 of a day.. But hurry, during that time frame everyone is booking up fast.. Phil Lilley @ Lilley Landing, has guides and so does Big Cedar and of course my company Chauffeured Guide Service as well. But if you can't afford guide services here is what I would do and what I have been doing every day for the past two weeks.

All of my fish have moved deep, and can be found in and around the Islands and the big deep docks from Big Cedar to Indian Point and on into Kimberling City. I have been fishing these on the deep side with a total depth from 65 to 125 feet, the fish are suspended in 20 - 35 feet of water, The best depth I have found is around 25 - 30 feet.

Fish these areas with a drop shot rig and small plastic worms, like what I have been using are Robo worms about 3" long in colors of brown and chart or Silver and Black shad color. Look for shad to be bunched up in these same depths or even higher up like 10 -15 feet, most fish are right below them.

Next the best choice if you don't like plastic is to go with the good old night crawlers rigged on the same drop shot rig, this is your best bet to catch alot of Spots this time of year. Drop these worm down and watch your rod tip very close, bites are slow and light. If you start to get alot of small blue gill bites you need to go down deeper. We have been catching between 10 - 30 fish per day in the 1.5 pound to 4 pound range, mostly all Spots but a few Blacks and Small Mouths mixed in. So they are biting but you just have to look in places alot of folks do not look or fish!!

Hope this helps alittle, just get out there and have some fun..

Good Fishing