Big M 1/8/2013

[merc1997 Bo]

Well it's my first year fishing the Big M area, and I agree with Bill that the fish this summer and early fall were off the bank in water 20-30 feet. Had many a good day fishing DS, spoons and jigs. I also agree that it's tough to get a fish over 3 Lbs. But I get a kick out of catching spots on light tackle, and when you get them in the 2-3 lb. range it's a lot of fun. There are a lot of spotted bass in the Big M area.

Watching tournament shows and other competitions there seems to be a trend for the winning bags to come off of offshore structure, doesn't happen all the time, sometimes the bank bangers do well and of course it depends on the lake, but I do know that this coming summer I'm going to be doing a lot of graphing, looking for off shore structure to fish.

quillbill, summer fishing off shore above eagle rock, the lake level needs to be down were it is at now for the old river channel breaks to be good. at higher water levels, it usually puts the breaklines too deep for bass to use. any good off shore structure has to reach as shallow as the bass want to go. we did catch some bass off of some the old good holes above eagle rock this year late summer because the water level finally got low enough for some of the river channel related spots to be shallow enough for the bass to use.

bo

[Bill Babler]

Merc, you might have something there about the crawpappys. Still when you put a bass fish in the boat, he usually depending on the time of the year is packing several on board.

Winter before last, Bill Beck and I won a buddy derby out of Kimberling City in November. We caught all our fish on the bottom 65' We weighed in 5 LM that weighed 23 pounds. These were not suspended fish, but were on the bottom. 65feet. I don't mean we caught 1 fish that deep, we caught all our fish that deep, and were throwning out 3.5 pound K's as fast as our spoon would hit the bottom.

Merc, Sounds like you been a round a while, and for sure it is different that it used to be. For me however when I am fishing or guiding the rock, it is just about bites. I could really care less if it is a 2 pound bite or a 4 pound bite. Makes no difference to me at all. They are all goin back regrardless.

On your open water theory, I agree whole heartedly. Also a few years ago, the float n fly came along, as we started seeing fish that were having nothing to do with anything else. We caught more 4 to 9 pound LM in 3 months than we had caught in the last 5 yrs. Just simply fishiing a 1/32 nd. oz. bait to suspended fish on 4 pound test line.

Oh. This old pond has changed a bit since I started here in 1976. I believe more in the last 4 or 5 yrs. than in the previous 37 yrs. for me outside of the fish kill in 90's.

It is just a wonderful offshore fishery.

[huntest]

Many many thanks you guys for sharing your immense knowledge and experience

[merc1997 Bo]

to answer bill, yes the lake in the last ten years has changed tremendously. now that the water level is down, there are banks that used to be big thick cedar glades, and now there is hardly a stick there. much of the timber that is left is nothing more than a pole, not a limb left on them. the days of catching bass suspended in the branches of a tree is almost non-existant anymore. thick timber stands used to be where to fish in the hot part of the summer. in years gone by the timber in the summer had green algae, and that gave off oxygen with attracted shad and crawdads. plus the crawdads fed on the green algae. now, the timber is coated with a brown sludge which tends to give off c02 rather than o2. therefore, it is a rarity to catch vry many bass out of a tree anymore. not saying that on occasion you get on, but i can not even remember the last time that i was in a tree out in 50 ft. of water at night, and got up in the top of the tree, came over limb and punched the button, and a bass ate the bait as it sank back through the tree. it is a complete different ball game now. it is becoming a game of figuring out how to catch a bass suspended out in the middle of nothing, and relating to nothing but shad swimming around. even at lake falcon, they are dealing with that very thing right now because of fishing pressure, and low water. just as we adapt to situations, bass do the same to survive.

bo

[Bill Babler]

Very, very good stuff Bo. Thank you so much for participating in the board. You are more than a welcome addition. This is one of the most honest helpful fishing boards in the country and it is all ours on beautiful Table Rock Lake

Moderator

[rps]

Thank you both.

Merc, we must get together and compare very upper end notes.

[Ron Burgundy]

As long as I'm in the Arkansas part of TR I can use a 5 hook A Rig, right?

[Iclass]

Yes

[Ron Burgundy]

Thanks