Help!

[3inonegod]

My family along with two other families will be heading down to Bull Shoals Memorial Day weekend. I have been watching the lake levels closely and see that it is up 38 feet. It looks like it has stabilized. With our big group we will be tubing (about half) and fishing (the other half), We rented a house on the water about 10 (by road) minutes from the Theodosia Marina.

My questions:

Is the water, or will the water be safe for the water sport folks?

Will I be able to put in at the Theodosia Marina and store truck and trailer while boating or fishing on the water?

I am a fisherman primarily, and I know the lake is very clear. I would think that the lake will have settled by now and is clear? If anyone could put me on fishing patterns that would be great. I will be fishing early and late in the day. I frequent Table Rock and have only fished Bull Shoals once (about 2 hours) before.

Any guidance would be very appreciated.

Thanks,

[mixermarkb]

Howdy.

I keep a boat at Theodosia, and have fished the lake for years. Haven't been down in a few weeks tho, the lake was at 680 and coming up fast when I was down last. There was more debris than ive ever seen in the lake, and didnt even try to launch at theodosia. I drove over to buck creek, and was able to launch and fish clear water with no problems, but still had to watch for floaters. From talking to my friend Brian at the marina, there is still an awful lot of debris between Theodosia and big boy point. I have no guess as to how much will have settled by memorial day, but a slow drop from an expected crest this week would help a lot. The lake is clearing up and in much better shape around point 13 to Pontiac. Going back to 2008, they did have a decent place to launch off the road at the corps park, with trailer parking up on the hill at the boat storage in town.

I'm headed down Sunday evening for a few days, and will post back what I find. My gut says you will be ok, if everyone uses common sense. The tubers may have to run 5-10 minutes down the lake to do their thing, but their should be a fun topwater bite for the fisherman, and probably a good smallmouth grub bite downlake.

Ill know more on Monday,

Mark Burris

[mixermarkb]

Ok, so I fished Monday thru Weds out of Theodosia. There is a lot of debris, but the lake is ok to run on if you are careful. Watch out when the wind shifts directions, as it blows the floating rafts of debris off the banks and back into the lake. There is a place to launch at TMR, and they do have parking up in the hill. They don't have gas at the moment tho, so fill up in town before you put in. The water is still awful cold for playing, 65-68 was average, that should bump up a bit between now and the holiday, but it's still gonna be cooler than a normal year. If they are ok with cool water, the tubers should be fine if you sort of scout out a run and take mental not of where the big floaters are. Past pontiac there is much less crap floating than upriver.

The fish are biting, cookie's food is great as always, and the Cooks have everything as ready as mother nature will allow. No gas is really the only issue at TMR.

Have fun on the big weekend,

Mark Burris

[3inonegod]

Thanks for the update. You said the fish were biting. What type of fish were you catching and what patterns were you using.

Thanks,

David

[mixermarkb]

I have more details in my post below, but i did pretty well on smallmouth, flat gravel points in the Oakland to Music Creek area, fishing 15-20 feet with tube baits and grubs.