Tough Fall Fishing!

[Ken Drish]

For the last two weekends I fished from Holiday Island to Eagle Rock and yesterday, up to the Kings, in search of a good bite. All things indicated that it should be good... windy banks, decent water temp, etc. I threw everything at them... Warts, Jerkbaits, Spinnerbaits, Swim Baits, etc. I have caught a total of 3 fish... only 1 keeper! I haven't thrown a jig or a spoon... as I really don't like those baits. Perhaps I should get to like them...

Is it just me or is this some of the toughest fall fishing I've ever seen on Table Rock?!?

Longing for Spring!

[Quillback]

I have been disappointed in the bite, usually November is a great month to fish. I have some spots (brush piles, chunk rock banks) that usually hold fish every November and they are just not there. If this keeps up, I'll have to start going deep with the *%^# spoon.

[rps]

Ken, I found the entire year to be the most difficult in my experience, including the year I moved here and began learning the lake.

[glennL]

What is everyone's theory for the entire year to be so tough. No fish kill off that i could see. Floods of 2008 and 2010 should have made a positive ifference for this year's fish AT 15"+. Was the fishing pressure the cause?

Top water bite wasn't as good as the past few years. White bass on top and few or far between. a

Almost non-existent.

i think there was way too much shad in the lake and the bass were lazy, on the bottoms getting fat.

Walleye fishing was a tad better this year than past.

Is the lake changing? With all the "fish attractors" in the lake that the corp put in the last few years, is the structure changing and making it different?

Any one have an idea?

[Guest big c]

Looking forward to the input of folks who live/fish here! Thanks!

[Bill Babler]

There is a bite up there in the location you are fishing. Some of the boys have been fishing that portion of the Upper White and catching some good fish. Here is the deal. As Quill said he is catching some on some brush and honey holes. There are more of them. Look a bit deeper. Best bet right now is start looking on the edges. By this I mean where the edges of the flats drop off into the old White River Channel. Along these edges and I'm speaking from Cedar Creek to Holiday Island there are stumps and brush right on the edge. Have been hearing of some very good success on both a 3/4 to 1 oz jig and excuse me for saying it an A-Rig.

Boat position has been anywhere from as deep as 60' to as shallow as 35' throwing into 25' with the A-Rig and letting it go to the bottom and then swimming it back along the bottom out past the drops. The drops up here can be very severe and the fish will hang suspended or near the drops.

Work the jig thru these areas also. Guys are also catching a few walleye on the jigs doing this. Not anything to fish for but very nice additions.

When doing this I suggest at least 15 pound on the jig and as heavy of braid as you want to throw on the Rig, using as soft and as cheap of a hook as you can buy. You will get hung up repeatedly.

Best area I have found is Owl Creek up to Devils Dive.

Also look for the deep spoon bite in the major creek arms and on the flats. These are not seasonal patterns I'm reporting, it is what is going on right now. Don't get discouraged, some of our biggest stringers and fish of the year will be caught in the next 3 months.

Good Luck

[rps]

Thanks Bill! Now all I need is to find someone to run the boat in this wind while I fish. In the wind yesterday and today my tin boat twists and runs before the wind like leaves on the water.

[Guest big c]

Oh here we go! Mr. Babler your info is invaluable! They can't go anywhere they live here, would it be fair to say it's about location and presentation? As a new member,it seems various parts of the lake fish differently (unique) to that area and we (you lucky guys) need to adjust. I work with a fishery biologist and he validates what you saying, not thats it needed. Champ??? You guys tKe care, be safe, and good fishing!

[Bill Babler]

As Champ and many will attest to on the board, there are always fish shallow. For the past month, not everyday, but most days guides like Bill Beck, Pete Wenners, Eric Oliverson and several others have had outstanding shallow bites, lake wide.

In the last couple of weeks the deep bite has also begun. Not every day but enough that these guides along with the majority of the Big Cedar staff guides including Buster Loving have been looking deep. They have been finding them in Beardsley, Clevenger, and up Long Creek to a very good extent.

Also the deep A-Rig bite is just on the verge of getting going and we all know how that went last year starting in Mid-December to early March. Please check the Fann Brothers bank account!

There is also a very good deep water jig bite and this is somewhat of a edge bite. It is best up the White River, but you have to devote a good portion of your time either with a side scan or using your sonar to find it.

Buster has been catching deep fish on a Jig up Long Creek, somedays as many as 12 to 14 keeps in a 4 hr. trip. He is also seeing some spoon fish containing whites and some K's and is doing well on these if he can find them. Not everyday.

Good Luck and be safe out there

[5bites]

When you say use the side imaging are you talking about looking for the fish themselves or the cover.

Funny thing is I idled a stretch yesterday that matches your description that I'd logged away to investigate in the near future. Wind+wife and kids=not an experimenting day.