Baxter area suggestions....

[Brennan]

Hey guys,

I'll be bringing my 6 year old son down to the lake next week for a few days. We will be in the Baxter area and will be fishing out of our bass boat. I'm just looking for some general suggestions for that part of the lake to get numbers of bites. I really don't care if they are 10 inchers....just looking for numbers for my son. I imagine the Ned rig will be in play. Are there still some shallow fish, or should I concentrate on a little deeper water? Also, any types of areas to look early for some schooling activity would be helpful. I'm sure he would love to see that.

Just want him to have a little success and some fun.

I'll post a full report when we get back.

Thanks and good luck.

[MOBass]

Topwater early is probably a good bet, but that will turn off after the sun gets up unless you catch a break and have some cloud cover.

I would probably look at having a drop shot ready and poke around the same areas you have topwater action after the fish settle down for the day.

If there is water up in the brush give it a go, it's free to try and you can always work your way out until you find some action. Flip some stuff and if they don't play pull back out and deploy the Ned.

[mjk86]

this time of year a split shot or drop shot rig with a crawler will catch em off of main lake points. Youll have much better luck if you have decent electronics. That said, from what everyone else posts on here , id say just fish with a ned rig the whole time. Start shallow work deeper.

[*T*]

Swim a grub or swim bait off of secondary points or slightly around the sides of points, 15' - 35'. If you don't find fish on the first one try others. They are really stacked up on some points with a mix of whites, SM, LM & spots. Often they are chasing bait fish.

If he can cast a little bit, the grub bite is not too difficult for a young'un to handle....cast and wind it back. Most any color will work and first 3 - 4 hours of the day will be best. A bit of wind would be a major plus for this bite.

Or, as others have suggested, a crawler on a weighted rig is hard to beat.

Hope you have a good outing.

[Brennan]

Fished out of the Indian Hills Resort for 5 days last week (Wednesday through Sunday). Had moderate success but really didn't get after it too hard due to the short attention span of my six year old son. We were out most mornings at 5:45 and fished top water. I was just happy that he wanted to get out there that early. Caught a mix of LM, SM, K, and even a couple MM on walking top water baits (bone colored Vixen was the best for us). Really like that bait. Kind of big, loud and obnoxious for Table Rock but they really hit it well. Biggest was a 3.5lb LM.

The little one is not much on casting yet, but he reeled in all the top water fish. He loved watching the bait and waiting for the strike.

The top water bite was pretty short lived each morning. Points with a shallow side and a deep bluff side produced the best for us. Also, the island right in front of Indian hills was good for several fish each morning.

When the top water slowed, we tossed 3.8 Keitech swim baits, and of course the Ned. Caught enough to keep it interesting, but we were usually swimming in the lake by 10:00. I caugh a couple on a flutter spoon casting to deep tree tops, but was really just messing around.

I would usually fish the evening before dark and stayed close to the resort. Most points were good for a few top water fish.

I noticed a lot of fish suspended 8-15 feet. They were tricky to catch. Caught a few on the swim bait. Found some dropshot fish one day that I made a solo run up just past the Kings river. These fish were on a big main lake flat. Some were on the bottom at about 26 feet, others were suspended in that 8-15 range. The fish on the bottom wanted to play more than the shallower suspended fish.

Had a great trip. Love the lake. Thanks for all the great info on the forum.

I will say that, on Saturday and Sunday morning I was front ended worse than I ever have been before on Table Rock. These were tournament boats. I'm a tournament fisherman, so really not biased. I was working a productive point Saturday morning and a boat pulled literally right on top of me. I just gave them the spot, but was a little disappointed.

Same thing happened Sunday morning. I was on a point, heading down a bank catching surfacing fish. A boat pulled in no more than 20 yards in front of me. I was astonished. Really couldn't believe it. I left for another spot, determined to not let it sour my Father's Day morning.

On a positive note, we loved the resort, and my son developed a true appreciation for early morning top water fishing. He's already asking to go back.

Thanks again, good luck.

[*T*]

You are a better man than I regarding the "front-ending" you experienced. I will try to learn from your response. Hope others hear your concern and reconsider cutting off other fishermen.............but they probably won't. Lacking courtesy/common sense much?

[Quillback]

20 yards is pretty bad. But you're right, best just to leave. If it's any consolation, they are probably lousy fishermen and incapable of finding fish, that's why they pulled in on you. Competent fishermen don't do that stuff.

[Champ188]

20 yards is pretty bad. But you're right, best just to leave. If it's any consolation, they are probably lousy fishermen and incapable of finding fish, that's why they pulled in on you. Competent fishermen don't do that stuff.

QB, you and I agree on most everything, but I have to disagree on this. Brennan had his 6-year-old son with him so he did the only thing he could have done. But if it was me and Donna, I would not have tolerated someone pulling up 20 yards in front of me. No way. No how. The reason these guys do this crap is because we let them. At some point we need to stand our ground and say enough is enough.

[Hunter91]

I agree, Champ. But what would you suggest besides telling them what you think?

[abkeenan]

I agree, Champ. But what would you suggest besides telling them what you think?

I've always wanted to trim the prop up and hose down guys that do stuff like that.....but with all the crazies in this world you just never know what some clown is capable of with retaliation these days. A fishing spot is not worth getting shot, ran over, arrested, property/boat damaged, etc.