Table Rock Blue Gill

[Phil Lilley]

Anglers, if you want to go "catching" instead of "fishing", go to Table Rock Lake with crickets or night crawlers in hand, put you boat in about anywhere on the lake and head to the first main or better yet secondary point and find 16 to 20 feet of water and drop your line to the bottom. That's about all the instructions I have for ya.

I put in at State Park this evening around 5 pm and headed across the lake, hoping for less boat traffic and some shade. I didn't find either. But we did find big blue gill off a secondary, gravel point in 16 feet of water. The boat, though, chased us from our spot. Just too many making that run from the Indians to Long Creek and visa versa. So we headed towards Moonshine and a secondary point I'd always done well on and yes, they were there too.

We ended up catching almost 30 to-big-for-your-hand gills, all coming from the bottom in 16 to 19 feet of water on small pieces of night crawlers. Caught one goggleye and several bass. I was expecting at least one or two catfish but none tonight. Some of the gills still had eggs and so did the gog.

[exiledguide]

I can smell 'em frying with potatoes, onions, beans, cole slaw, pickled tomatoes and can't forget the hush puppies!!!!!!!!!!

[Hunter53]

Looks like a heck of a catch and some good eating!!

[Quillback]

Very nice!