Table Rock 08/14 To 8/17

[Smalliebigs]

I just came back from one of my annual trips to the Rock and all I can say is.....it rules!!!!!! My favorite thread on this forum is the Table Rock thread, I am always lurking there reading reports about the coolest and most beautiful lake in Missouri. I went down and stayed in the Dam area with some family for some much needed relaxation and fishing for me. I was armed with knowledge and info gathered from the killer fisherman who post here like Quillback, Bill Babler, RPS, Fins and Feathers, Champ 188 and Merc 1997 as well as others....all of which I consider great fisherman. All I can say is I am envious of all of you guys who live in the area and have this resource in their backyard, the Rock is simply where my wife and I want to be.....we have started the master plan to move to the area in the near future......once my wife finishes her NP clinicals and I can get my partners to allow me to move an insurance agency to SW Missouri.....our house in Kirkwood is on the market.

I went down with a plan and had some areas in mind that I wanted to try....as always that all changed because of family obligations which limited my fishing time on the water. The water temps at 5:08am 08/14 when I went out were 80.8 and didn't change while I was there. I will be honest it was exciting to see water temps like that at the surface in August. I had my brother in law in my boat who is a novice at best but, wanted to catch some fish really bad so the pressure was on to put him on fish for me. I started catching fish on topwater and just stayed with it mostly because I was getting off the lake by 8:30am. We boated 46 fish in 4 mornings, we weren't setting the world on fire but, the average size was great and most fish were Smallies, which tickled me pink. I did catch two Largemouth out of my transient boat slip which I thought was cheating a bit so I won't show those but, they were both around 4 lbs.

I caught all of my fish on custom painted dawg baits that worked for mewe caught a bunch in the 15 to 18 inch range.....with the smallest fish only going 12

The highlight for me was two fish I didn't catch.....one was truly one of the biggest smallies I have ever seen breeched my bait about 10 yards from the boat and came completely out of the water giving me a Jake a full view of the fish. It knocked my bait in the air what seemed like 3 feet and I like a gaper got a little excited and tried to set the hook like a fool and sent the bait back to boat. I'm not sure if I would have left the bait alone if I could have enticed that Bronze monster come back??? I also had another Smallie on and it jumped three times and I jonny nonchalanted her at the boat a bit and allowed her to wrap me up in some standing timber. Both fish would have been my biggest smallies ever.....easily 4lb+....more like 5.......that is why I love the Rock.

I truly hope my wife and I can work out the logistics of moving to the area.....she will be able to find a Nurse Practitioner position no problem.....whether or not my partners will allow me to move an office down there is another story.....either way we are planning.

Table Rock Rules!!!!!!

thanks for the reports boys your info is great....please keep them coming.....if you just pay attention to the reports they do help bigtime.......I didn't have to drop shot once.....thank god

[Smalliebigs]

these are the reasons I had to quit fishing by 8:30......we are moving there and leaving St. Louis.....I feel like the Beverly Hillbillies

[mic]

Sweet report. Make sure you build an extra bedroom in the garage for your STL homies

[Champ188]

Great report, pal. Glad you got your string stretched and got in some R&R as well. Hope you can work things out to make the move. Donna and I are an hour away and would still like to be closer someday.

Brown fish on topwater ... doesn't get much more fun than that.

[Quillback]

Good deal, you have to love a top water smallie bite!

[Bill Babler]

Beautiful family. Look forward to having y'all as neighbors in the next few years.

[rps]

Oh my goodness. I read this forum every day, but my favorite reports are those like what you just posted. Thank you.

[Smalliebigs]

That's funny rps because I absolutely get a huge kick out of reading your reports....lots of knowledge passed along by you and I love it

[fishingaddiction]

Great report, glad you had a great trip on the Rock. Hope you and your family's plan to relocate work out.