Lake Of The Ozarks Better Than Table Rock (For Bass)?

[Bill Babler]

I fish LOZ a lot more than TR because my folks have a place there. I love it, but I like TR more. Maybe because it is a bit of a treat to go there because I can go to LOZ whenever. I personally think TR may be easier because LOZ is so pressured. If it isn't summertime, there are bass boats everywhere and it just gets pounded. I think the reason it stays pretty good is because you can't really fish in the summer during the daytime hours so the fish get a bit of a break. I seem to catch more and better fish at TR. I think the crappie on LOZ is phenomenal though.

I know a few years ago, I looked at total regata permits and checked out the number of tournaments. Table Rock just blew LOZ out of the water. I think it beat it by 200 derbys. Have not looked in a while. Just more days to fish the Rock, as we pertty much fish all Winter, and there are multiple derby's every weekend.

Update

it's a pain and is hard with all the back and forth, but I just looked at 2013 thru April. That is as far as you can really tell as there will be more added for the following months, so you cannot predict them.

Lake of the Ozarks Fishing tournaments Table Rock Lake Fishing Tournaments

1-13 thru 4-13 1-13 thru 4-13

122 tournaments 158 tournaments

I know a few years ago when I looked at this when derby fishing was at its high point, Table Rock was in the top 5 or so in the entire United States. It is for sure a tournament distination, and one of the most prussured lakes in the Mid-West. This is pretty much what I remembered on LOZ and the Rock. about 8 to 12 or so more on the Rock per month. The number of tournament boats however is huge. Again I'm thinking over 1500 more per year on the Rock and that is substantial.

I see where you are coming from on just shear number of boats, LOZ has that for sure. Just not as many derby boats.

[dtrs5kprs]

Having fished both...LOZ is a farm pond. Like fishing a subdivision lake in a major city. TR is a highland lake. Really unfair to compare. Not sure LOZ can touch the size TR has produced over the last couple of years.

[Bill Babler]

Having fished both...LOZ is a farm pond. Like fishing a subdivision lake in a major city. TR is a highland lake. Really unfair to compare. Not sure LOZ can touch the size TR has produced over the last couple of years.

Ya got a point there on the 9's 10's and now an 11 plus. On numbers of quality 3.5 to 6 pound LM I think they get us

[jmes]

I agree on the quality of large fish that TR has. I think the fish kill we had several years actually turned into a great thing for TR. Another thing that help with TR is there is several public boat ramps making the lake more accessible than LOZ. I fish them both quite a fair amount like Dtrs5kprs said the shear numbers of large bass that are being caught is unreal but for me on LOZ I seem to catch more 3 to 5lbers on average

[Feathers and Fins]

Does anyone know the Criteria BASS uses to pick the lakes.. seems each time someone does one of these the lakes change and rankings switch around.

[Quillback]

Does anyone know the Criteria BASS uses to pick the lakes.. seems each time someone does one of these the lakes change and rankings switch around.

Here's what the article says they used to rank the lakes:

"Asking every states DNR to give us catch rates, population studies and stocking schedules for all the fisheries they managed. From there, we sent the list to B.A.S.S. Nation presidents and conservation directors to rank each of these bodies of water based on the tournaments they held. And then we had a panel of Elite Series pros, outdoor writers and industry professionals finalize the lakes list and rankings."

[Quillback]

A couple of other local lakes, Grand Lake is #15 and Bull is #18. Beaver did not make the list.

[merc1997 Bo]

I will come at this from a casual fishermen's angle.

For 5 straight years we went down to the Rock near shell knob in late april/early may and had OK fishing. We hit it once where we caught about 20 fish in a day with 2 or 3 keeps mixed in.

Last year, we decided to try LOTO for our yearly trip just for something different and were catching 20 fish a day minimum with 5+ keeps depending on the weather.

It was just easier to fish for the causal fishermen.

I know for you guys that are down there or close enough where you fish it often can figure out the patterns based on tree leaf color and the size of the shadow of the Oak on Big Bertha's creek, but for those who don't have that intimate knowledge of that lake it can be pretty finicky

The one nice thing about the Rock is that is you never have to be worried about the big boats swamping you while fishing down where we were, but we really have to watch out for that at LOTO.

you must not spend much time in the dam area during the summer. it is like a zoo on table rock. actually the barge traffic is getting bad on the upper end also. when you get up to eagle rock, in the summer about all the fishing is out in the main channel, and you just get beat to death trying to fish during the day. sure with for the good old days when we just ski boats running around.

bo

[Wayne SW/MO]

Merc I think he meant BIG boats. The boats on LOZ that would be at home on the ocean can put up some real waves.

[Troy Gregg]

A couple of other local lakes, Grand Lake is #15 and Bull is #18. Beaver did not make the list.

Grand lake and bull shoals...nothing to see there. Nothing but a couple gar holes

I have to agree with the magazine and Mr. Babler in this case LOZ and the Rock are an apples to oranges comparison, two totally different styles of lakes but they both produce fish and are top notch fisheries ( # 39 and #31 respectively) I think for the weekend angler LOZ is quite a bit easier to produce a solid limit of fish (10-15lb class). You can fish several patterns and still produce fish. Table rock is a little harder to figure out. Think about a new guy to down here in the summer wanting to catch fish and they hear "they're 30' down over 60' of water" not so uncommon to us here in the area but to a first time visitor that can be mind boggling.

Either way we are blessed to be in a position to drive a couple hours to 4 of the top 40 fisheries in the NATION , 2 of them right here in our very own back yard.