Any Reports From Just Below The Dam, Or Shadow Rock Park?

[Jack Jones]

I was going to be working in the area on Friday and considered bringing my fly rod to Shadow Rock park now that the waters are receded. I was also considering just below the dam. Anyone fished either area recently to give an idea of what's been biting? I was figuring on just stripping leeches, buggers, and clousers to see what I come up with.

[Sam]

If it's still like it was two weeks ago, you'll catch a little 6" bass on every cast with a fly rod. It must have been a great spring hatch in the land bushes because there are millions of them in there working on top and chasing 1" shad. We found some white bass under where the bass were feeding on top, but the whites were near the bottom in 20+ feet of water around the Hwy. 76 bridge.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Go up above to Empire. There seems to be some rises everytime I'm there, but I haven't figured out what they are rising too.

[Jack Jones]

Sam was right. I went to Shadow Rock and flung buggers about 6:30. I came up with plenty of babies and a few bluegill. That was about it. Maybe I should have tried Empire. It was still fun anyway.

I did see some leaping out and making a good splash well off shore, near to the other side, but couldn't make out what they were. Whatever it was, it didn't come near me.

[Sam]

I did see some leaping out and making a good splash well off shore, near to the other side, but couldn't make out what they were. Whatever it was, it didn't come near me.

We came up from Beaver Creek in a boat, and when we got around Shadow Rock we got excited about the same thing - we thought they were white bass boiling on top. Nope, it's schools of little 5"-6" black bass feeding on 1" shad, I've never seen them so thick and the boils are constant. Fortunately we found some good-size white bass hanging out near the bottom underneath all that carnage.

Anything we threw anywhere near the surface caught a little bass, so you'd get a lot of action on a fly rod anyway.

[emjay]

When I wast down there in the summer during the flood, there were millions of little bass fry everywhere. All the vegetation that flooded must have created a lot of beds for the bass. Looks like next year is gonna be some great bass fishing.

[Sam]

When I was down there in the summer during the flood, there were millions of little bass fry everywhere. All the vegetation that flooded must have created a lot of beds for the bass. Looks like next year is gonna be some great bass fishing.

Yep, and we found those little bass just as thick in Beaver Creek, around the mouth of Beaver, below Barker Hole, and around Shadow Rock and up to the Pothole - there must be millions of 'em in the upper lake. The two I checked (sandpaper tongue) were Kentuckies.

Since you can keep Kentucky (spotted) bass over 12" out of Bull Shoals, at some point there's going to be a whole lot of keeping to thin that bunch out. They're 5" to 6" now, in September. I wonder how long it'll take them to grow to 12" - late next year or not until the year after?

[Wayne SW/MO]

Some of it will depend on the weather Sam, if we have a hard one and a lot of shad die offs it could be rough on the small bass, but if it is mild it could be outstanding fishing next year.

Another crap shoot, who knows.

[Sam]

Another crap shoot, who knows.

Makes me wonder how the fat, slow, baby crappies will do next spring in that lake with a hungry bass about every two feet. It seems to me that having so many dinky bass might affect other species in a real bad way.