March 11th. 2015 Shell Knob Table Rock Lake Fishing Report

[Bill Babler]

Table Rock Lake Current Fishing Report 3-11-15 White River Outfitters Guide Service

First off, I have kind of been under the weather for the past week. Got so bad on Monday I had to go to the walk in clinic for a ZPac. 103 on the temperature, but after the drugs I'm feeling a lot more chipper today. Doc. said I had Bronchitis and had it bad for and old dude. Temperature is now under control and I'll be fine and dandy for our Eagle Rock derby.

Think they are calling for perhaps light showers on Saturday morning, but clearing and becoming a beautiful day. Good to hear it.

I did manage a trip with probably one of the best fishermen and gentlemen that I have the pleasure to take. Jack Swank from Iowa. Jack is pretty much a kindred spirit and just an excellent fisherman.

After reading and watching pretty close to the weekend addition of the CPA, and a quick chat with good buddy Tim Sainato, I thought I had it figured pretty close. Regardless of the lake area and I'm saying that starting at Campbell Point as that is where you really start getting into any type of a deep fish pattern, Jack and I sat out to try and duplicate what the top finishers in the CPA had done. That is if I could figure it out in that area, rather than where they had fished.

I did.

Boy it is really hard to force yourself to fish like this, and to be as methodical as you have to be to fish like this. You need to be extremely astute on reading your electronics and have the patients to be able to not go crazy with losing baits and hanging up.

Here is the deal, swimming a grub deep and fishing vertical to suspended fish in pole timber with a smattering of cedars. A jungle nightmare. Tree tops coming up to the 25 ft. range, so you had to avoid hanging up and it is impossible. It is just how much gear are you willing to lose for the huge rewards that are there.

Boat pretty much in 50' to 60' with fish suspended in the 50' to 30' range in that standing pole timber. Most often it is related to channel swings and huge creek or spawning cove mouths.

Tim told me exactly where he had caught 27 keepers on Saturday, during the derby, but I never got near it, we fished 40 lake miles up the White River.

We used for the swimming a Keitech Swing Impact 3.5 inch Black Shad on a 1/4 oz ball jig head with a 2/0 hook. We also used a Rapala Ice Jig in 1/2 oz for those up and downers

Some days you just pick and guess right. Yes you are gong to say I had a lot on current information going in and when you read this you will have also if you can figure it out, and are willing to pay the price.

We had a 14 on our first location and continued to catch fish all morning. I believe we finished with 38 fish with 25 very solid keeps. Some nice K's at 18 plus inches. We also had 3 LM and did have the best LM on a stickbait.

Surface temp never moved on us from 41 degree's. As I mentioned at the start the bite is extremely hard to detect when fishing timber, cause it is absolutely no different that running the grub over a limb or hanging it up. It will for sure teach you not to set the hook. You do 6 out of 10 times and that bait is gone. The fish just ride the bait or you more often lose it, while your winding. Just continue to wind and when you feel the fish lift up, don't go crazy on the set.

Closest to the bank for us today was a nice 150 yrd. rifle shot. Denny and I had kind of power fished up the White the day before and had not done well, I had to make a change and it worked. Not for giant LM, but for sure tournament fish, averaging 3 to 3.5 pounds. Just needed that 6 pound kicker on the stickier to have been a toad sack.

Not the type someone will need on Saturday, but for sure some of the best fishing I have had this Winter.

[snakem]

Thats some toads Bill, way to go

[merc1997 Bo]

great job bill!!! i will say that hanging up all the time with your ball heads will change in the near future. i know hanging up all the time is not fun. that was a very good reason that i used to not ever like crappie fishing. seemed like i was down in the bottom of the boat tying on more than i was fishing.

glad you are feeling better, and there is nothing like catching a good batch of bass to make you forget about feeling bad!!

bo

[dwiebenga]

Great Day Bill! Glad to see things are on the up down there. Stay healthy friend, and I will see you on Saturday

Dave

[Champ188]

Great report and some fine specimens of the prettiest fish Table Rock has to offer in my opinion. I don't dislike any of 'em but those big spots are my favorites.

Sorry to hear you were ill. I'm down for the count once my temp gets to 101. Never been able to tolerate fever well.

I fished the first day of a Champion owners tournament 7-8 years ago with 101-degree temp. Was on a dock bite up the Kings and should've had 18-20 pounds. Instead weighed in three keepers for 12 pounds and lost half a dozen more deep inside dock slips. I was so sick and dizzy from fever that I missed my target half the time when I was trying to pitch that War Eagle Pond Scum Perch jig back in those slips. I'd either hit the tin siding on the dock or the boat lift. Sounded like a freight train clanging down the tracks.

Donna made me come home the next morning instead of fishing the second day. Big meanie.

Ended up with pneumonia the following week.

[dtrs5kprs]

Great work, but can't wait until they move up just a touch. That is a tedious bite to chase. Few more warm days and the brown ones should start to get inspired.

Get yourself healthy. I've done the bronchitis/pneumonia thing several times at TR and it is miserable. Even forced me to the ER in Branson one year.

[Bill Babler]

The movement of the bass in Table Rock lake is for sure a thing that is extremely hard to understand. Starting in the Fall they move up and feed fairly heavy along the shoreline, then by October back quickly out to the long flats and are available on a big jig.

Then as the Eagles come down following the ducks in November they pick up and move to the deep guts and channels. Come usually around Valentines day they leave the deep stuff and move out on the main lake and scatter like crazy. You can find them from 90 ft. to 2 feet depending on the day.

March usually finds them moving up and starting to ease back into the creeks and pockets they had occupied in the Winter, only shallower.

Right now they are main lake or huge pocket fish wanting depth and cover. last year fishing that kind of cover with an A-Rig huge bags were caught. This year they started it off with grubs. Same places just a different technique, however it is the same as years past prior to the rig.

That deep bite is very fickle however and a couple more warm days and they will be swarming and gone from the 60' stuff. Last year on this week, I was catching huge numbers of White Bass up the Kings. Every year is different.

[rangerman]

Cheers Bill, great pics and fine report as always......by the way there are a lot of whites up the Kings right now. Hickory hollow on up.

[rps]

OMG, that looks so fun. What a guide day!

[Champ188]

The movement of the bass in Table Rock lake is for sure a thing that is extremely hard to understand. Starting in the Fall they move up and feed fairly heavy along the shoreline, then by October back quickly out to the long flats and are available on a big jig.

Then as the Eagles come down following the ducks in November they pick up and move to the deep guts and channels. Come usually around Valentines day they leave the deep stuff and move out on the main lake and scatter like crazy. You can find them from 90 ft. to 2 feet depending on the day.

March usually finds them moving up and starting to ease back into the creeks and pockets they had occupied in the Winter, only shallower.

Right now they are main lake or huge pocket fish wanting depth and cover. last year fishing that kind of cover with an A-Rig huge bags were caught. This year they started it off with grubs. Same places just a different technique, however it is the same as years past prior to the rig.

That deep bite is very fickle however and a couple more warm days and they will be swarming and gone from the 60' stuff. Last year on this week, I was catching huge numbers of White Bass up the Kings. Every year is different.

Folks, we should all file this away somewhere. You don't get this kind of information every day. And for free, no less.