Dam Area Report April 6-8Th

[abkeenan]

Fished the Dam area for 2.5 days and it was pretty rough. Had a poor-fair amount of #'s I guess but nothing to write home about and never did stick anything over 3lbs. Was very WINDY pretty much all day Saturday and also in the evening on Sunday. Pretty much stuck to 2 baits, the A-rig and jerker. Mixed a jig in at times but lost confidence quickly when no bites coming in the usual "fishy" locations and the 20-30 MPH gusts don't make for good times throwing a bottom contact bait and the bow in your line is 50 yards on a 30 yard cast. Fished from Combs Ferry to Brushy and almost all success was on 45 degree chunk banks and if there were timber on them made it all the better. Needed to have deep water nearby also and evening (5-730ish) bite seemed to be best for me. Fished some pea gravel but they were spread thin and were small males (mostly Smalljaws). All fish came on a blue bandit Spro McStick and I struck out on the A-Rig and I gave it a workout in just about all kinds of locations from bluff walls, 45 degree banks, pea gravel, chunk rock, pockets, points, timber, no timber, wind blown banks, ranging from 35ft - 5ft of water and a big 0 for my efforts. Tried slow, medium and faster retrieves.....just not happenin' for me. Didn't help that my electronics pooped out on me 1 minute into the trip.

As for the crappie I only dabbled in it for about an hour or 2 max in Brushy on the steep side/channel side just to see if they were in Brushy and they were. Caught a few 14"ers just as thick as could be but released them as I wasn't going to clean them and deal with them on my short trip. Caught a handful of 12-14" Kentucky's while going after the crappie. I am sure I could have had my limit within a few hours if going for them but I was just running and gunning down the bank only hitting trees going from the bank into 5-10+ feet of water making a few casts to each spot. Was using a 1/16oz plain lead head with a smoke swimming minnow. If you have some young kids I am sure this would be easy and fun for them as you will catch just about everything going down that bank.

Hope this helps and here are a few pic's albeit nothing great like Bill or other guys here 7's, 9's and 11lb'ers. Still a great time as usual on The Rock.

[dtrs5kprs]

Nothing wrong there. Thanks much.

[Quillback]

Yep great report ab, that's a nice spot BTW. I hear you on that wind, I've stayed around the house doing chores rather than going out and fighting that wind. Did you need much of a pause to get them to hit the McStick? I'm thinking with the wind it would have been tough to do a long pause.

[abkeenan]

I guess I should have mentioned I wasn't pausing all the long between twitches. Maybe 5 seconds on average. Really just enough time to reel up the slack, watch the line for a couple seconds and jerk...twitch twitch and repeat. Always hitting it while the bait is dead/not moving.

[sixstring531]

We had similar experiences on the 3rd, 4th and 5th. Nothing huge (a little over three lbs was the largest) all on McSticks. I also found most fish were picking it up on the pause (sometimes 10 seconds) I did have three bass chasing the A-rig (we're talking 18ft visibility on Wednesday afternoon) in the Jakes area. It was our first ever trip to Table Rock, and despite cold weather, lower fish count and someone stealing from our boat at the resort slip (they only got the battery charger) the first night, it was quite nice. We're looking forward to another go around.

fat little booger

[abkeenan]

We had similar experiences on the 3rd, 4th and 5th. Nothing huge (a little over three lbs was the largest) all on McSticks. I also found most fish were picking it up on the pause (sometimes 10 seconds) I did have three bass chasing the A-rig (we're talking 18ft visibility on Wednesday afternoon) in the Jakes area. It was our first ever trip to Table Rock, and despite cold weather, lower fish count and someone stealing from our boat at the resort slip (they only got the battery charger) the first night, it was quite nice. We're looking forward to another go around.

Was in the Jakes Branch for a little bit on Monday and all I can say is WOW as to the water clarity. I'd venture to say on a flat slick water with high skies visibility is pushing 20-25 feet. Got my A-Rig stuck quite a few times in trees and on the bottom in depths around 20 feet and could see my white baits clear as day. Dunno if I have even seen the lake this clear, but around Jakes is ever more clear than in Beardsley.

[dtrs5kprs]

Was in the Jakes Branch for a little bit on Monday and all I can say is WOW as to the water clarity. I'd venture to say on a flat slick water with high skies visibility is pushing 20-25 feet. Got my A-Rig stuck quite a few times in trees and on the bottom in depths around 20 feet and could see my white baits clear as day. Dunno if I have even seen the lake this clear, but around Jakes is ever more clear than in Beardsley.

Quite the switch from last year's water color. Effect of the cold winter on algal growth I would guess.

SixString...sorry to hear about your theft issue. One of the reasons I never slip my boat overnight or for any extended length during daylight. Maybe 20 minutes for lunch, or to get something out of the room.

[Bill Babler]

We had similar experiences on the 3rd, 4th and 5th. Nothing huge (a little over three lbs was the largest) all on McSticks. I also found most fish were picking it up on the pause (sometimes 10 seconds) I did have three bass chasing the A-rig (we're talking 18ft visibility on Wednesday afternoon) in the Jakes area. It was our first ever trip to Table Rock, and despite cold weather, lower fish count and someone stealing from our boat at the resort slip (they only got the battery charger) the first night, it was quite nice. We're looking forward to another go around.

fat little booger

Great fish. People I cannot tell you this enough, and really should not have to. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER leave anything in a Bass Boat over night on Table Rock Lake if you want to keep it. No place here is safe and it never has been. This is not a new deal, it is a thing that has been going on since the lake was flooded. Stuff left in your boat over night no longer belongs to you. If you are $$$$$$ enough to leave your hard earned equipment in your boat, do not lock the boxes or use a locker bar. That is when the real damage starts and the expenses really begin as they will break them out for sure, knowing that if you locked it there is valuables inside. Thanks for the great report and wonderful pics. Be careful out there.

[sixstring531]

Yeah - we didn't leave the rods and locked all equipment accept for the charger ($40 external one), which we had to use. The onboard charger currently needs some TLC so I brought this one along. The resort even has the guy on tape getting in our boat and taking it. It's not a huge loss, but I do find it interesting a rental slip does not have a gate on it. If he arrived in a boat, that would be one thing, but the dude just walked in from dry land half an hour after we left around 12:30 am. He then proceeded to the other docks at the resort. They have him and his vehicle on video, so hopefully they can at least stop the guy from doing it again.

Regardless, fishing was awesome, lake was awesome, can't wait to do it again!

[vacation]

Theft sucks and really gets me going...sorry to hear that. Great looking fish BTW. I live in the Jakes creek branch, have for 10 years, and do not ever remember seeing the lake this clear in my area...really a sight to see. Good report