February 10Th. Current Fishing Report White River Table Rock Lake

[merc1997 Bo]

we still have not and may not ever reach the fish population pre fish kill. we have improved, but the a-rig is keeping the big bass numbers from increasing in my opinion.

i do believe we have the food source available for our fish population to increase and be sustained. i still believe some stocking programs would really help.

again, really glad to see the jerk bait bite picking up. it is time for a change of scenery fishing wise, if you know what i mean.

bo

[dtrs5kprs]

Decline of the big bushy cedars has changed the stick bite too. Have to focus on different targets now.

[dtrs5kprs]

we still have not and may not ever reach the fish population pre fish kill. we have improved, but the a-rig is keeping the big bass numbers from increasing in my opinion.

i do believe we have the food source available for our fish population to increase and be sustained. i still believe some stocking programs would really help.

again, really glad to see the jerk bait bite picking up. it is time for a change of scenery fishing wise, if you know what i mean.

bo

I'm not anti-umbrella, but I tend to agree with you Bo.

There was a window where it made big largemouth easier (not easy) to catch. No doubt there has been some attrition due to that, probably some harvest for mounts too if folks are honest. Seems like that window may have narrowed a bit in the last couple of years.

[Ham]

I keep over 100 Diiachi Deathtraps weighted in various ammounts and change them as I think will be the best. If you notice the weighted hook is on the megabass 110. Sometimes I will weight the 110 plus but really feel the need this time of the year to get that bait down in the 15 to 20 ft. range. It just will not do it by its self.

Wow, 100 death traps laying around. I'm not gonna feel bd about expanding to a second box for my Ned stuff anymore.

[merc1997 Bo]

Jeff Fletcher and some guides out of his folks resort was probably one of the first to fish it on Table Rock. I believe Dan Langley also fished one years ago.

I'm talking 1960's here.

I have tried it and to tell you the truth, not done well with it so I just moved on. Perhaps I'll give her another toss. One of the reasons folks used to fish it was it threw way better after the first cast than the regular rogue. Once you got the weight in it you could throw it a mile. The reels of 30 and 40 yrs. ago did not have the breaking systems we have today, and when one of those bait turned sideway and started to spin on you, I don't care who you are, you got a ME double ss.

That old presentation had completely slipped my mind, as has the old spoonbill that I loved to throw up the Kings. I lost a entire box of all those old baits 15 yrs. ago. I left them on the back deck of my boat and that was that. I had modifications you would not believe.

First I'd heard about guys fishing it in tandem to represent a school of bait. Merc, you were thinking outside the box back in them days.

bill back in the 60's jeff was still in diapers, literally. dan langley picked up the technique from mike and i. bud gutherie and bill willis are the ones that i know of to be the first ones to come up with the holy rogue. for several years(70's) , they would win every big table rock spring tournament fishing the holy rogue. back then, your colors were limited to black chrome, blue chrome, and gold chrome. it did not take mike and long to start scraping and painting them. we also were weighting the long bills and those long bills are still very effective with the water temps we have right now.

but, you sure can not argue with the great success you just had the other day with the shorter bill!! that was some darn good catching.

bo

[Bill Babler]

Decline of the big bushy cedars has changed the stick bite too. Have to focus on different targets now.

Kind of funny that like minds think the same. Ran out of space or was going to mention the cedar fishing with the stick bait. Used to not be uncommon to see those big girls swim up and just engulf the stick bait. You know the last time I saw that we were on the old website. Had a day around Campbell point that they were coming out of the trees, and I believe I saw everyone that bit it. Water was clear and they would just rise out of the tree and eat the bait that as Bo said was just sitting there.

Those fish would come up and just stare at the bait from about 6" away. All of a sudden their mouth would open and the bait would vanish, as they sucked it in from distance. I have posted this before but I was fishing a Redman with Langley and had one do that. I thought it was a muskrat coming out of the tree, and it completely swallowed the stick bait before I could come to my senses. I think it was a solid 7 pounder.

I'm also fishing that bait a lot deeper now than I did even 10 yrs. ago, but you are right, there are not the targets there used to be. Also the fish instead of hanging in those cedars are just really staging off of nothing now for the most part in the fronts of those areas. Not relating to structure. It is the evolution of the lake.

[Bill Babler]

Bo, I knew Jeff was a young man then, but I have heard him tell of their guides using them and that is how he got on it. I believe he is 48 yrs. old.

Dan lost all his baits when the Marina at Campbell Point burned, I forget the year, but you might remember.

[dtrs5kprs]

Kind of funny that like minds think the same. Ran out of space or was going to mention the cedar fishing with the stick bait. Used to not be uncommon to see those big girls swim up and just engulf the stick bait. You know the last time I saw that we were on the old website. Had a day around Campbell point that they were coming out of the trees, and I believe I saw everyone that bit it. Water was clear and they would just rise out of the tree and eat the bait that as Bo said was just sitting there.Those fish would come up and just stare at the bait from about 6" away. All of a sudden their mouth would open and the bait would vanish, as they sucked it in from distance. I have posted this before but I was fishing a Redman with Langley and had one do that. I thought it was a muskrat coming out of the tree, and it completely swallowed the stick bait before I could come to my senses. I think it was a solid 7 pounder.I'm also fishing that bait a lot deeper now than I did even 10 yrs. ago, but you are right, there are not the targets there used to be. Also the fish instead of hanging in those cedars are just really staging off of nothing now for the most part in the fronts of those areas. Not relating to structure. It is the evolution of the lake.

I don't go back as far as some, but have fished the lake regularly since 1996. To me it is fishing more and more like a deep northern lake. Fish relate increasingly to subtle rock changes. Look at the elite last spring and McClelland targeting a specific type of rock, even within a general category of rock, as an example. Wind is even more of a key now with less solid cover in the lake.

Just wish we had the pressure they do up there, and the aggressive fish they do.

[merc1997 Bo]

Bo, I knew Jeff was a young man then, but I have heard him tell of their guides using them and that is how he got on it. I believe he is 48 yrs. old.

Dan lost all his baits when the Marina at Campbell Point burned, I forget the year, but you might remember.

well bill, the math says that jeff was not born until 1967. so, with that said, it would be a while into the 70's before he knew much. i have actually known jeff since he was a little kid, barely out of diapers. jeff, when he started getting out on the water on his own, would always track me down out on the water to see what was going on, or to tell me about what he was catching. do you happen to have known one of their guides by the name of harold hobbs? harold knew every pebble that was under the water on the upper end. harold also did repair work for ball and prier, and that is how i became friends with harold because he was in our parts store all the time. harold used to take me fishing some when he did not have a guide trip, and that is how i gained some of my knowledge on what is under the water on the upper end.

you're so much like harold in so many ways bill. you share your knowledge and i can tell from the accounts of your trips, how much you enjoy those trips that include kids.

bo

[mjk86]

we still have not and may not ever reach the fish population pre fish kill. we have improved, but the a-rig is keeping the big bass numbers from increasing in my opinion.

i do believe we have the food source available for our fish population to increase and be sustained. i still believe some stocking programs would really help.

again, really glad to see the jerk bait bite picking up. it is time for a change of scenery fishing wise, if you know what i mean.

bo

How does the A rig affect big bass numbers in TR?