Put on the Thinking Cap

[Bill Babler]

Guys, we are starting to hear and really have all Winter heard of a shallow bite.  Yes there has been one.  We see a few fish being posted caught on a RC or an A-Rig or any of the bottom baits and I really think we are pushing in a little to early and a little to fast.

We are on the fringe of staging time.  This is grub swimming, stickbait fishing and A-Riggin at its best.  Trouble is you need to fish where the fish are, not just set in and start down a bank.  I'll put this in print right now, I have not fished down a stretch of bank on TR in the last 20 yrs.  I just don't do it and I see folks do it all the time and then they whine when they are not catching them. Even our resident shallow fishermen like Champ and  Donna who may fish shallow, do not for the most part just fish down a bank.  They are  fishing locations, cuts and pockets.  He is moving and shaking and trying his best to fish productive water.  Most often just fishing a bank or fishing shallow is not it.  Why would you pull onto a location, and then just throw down the trolling motor and start cranking and winding?  If the bank is 500 yrds why do you assume that they are there and for that matter where are they on that stretch of similar depth and structure?  For me. every cast that a client throws and does not catch a fish is time.  Time is all you have and it is so fleeting that you need to utilize it for the most production.  Every time I catch a fish, I extend the amount of fishing time I make on that location, weather it be changing a bait and fishing differently or just expanding the area I'm fishing.  I don't make repeated cast in a location hoping to activate the fish or hope that I get lucky.  I'm from Missouri, they need to show me and show me pretty quick.

We are getting ready to see some very nice weights come to the scales in the local tournaments, these will not be bank fish.  These will be transition fish.  These will be fish that are suspended or staging off the spawning banks.

Guys, suck it up and move out a bit.  How many of you are stopping at locations and making a cast that if you did that 3 consecutive throws end to end you would not hit the bank?  Right now, is the very best time to use that high dollar TV that is sitting getting dusty on the bow and console of your boat.

Almost every cove mouth and runnout still has pole timber located sometimes a 100 yrds. off shore.  This time of the year the fish will move into these location and rise in the water column and start moving or staging toward the spawning pockets.  Not so much moving toward the bank, but moving up in the water and cruising.

From Eagle Rock to the Dam these locations are everywhere.  Look for these big multi finger coves.  Anyone that believes one side of the lake is better than the other is off his or her rocker.  I have heard fish the East Shore as the West sun warms it faster.  Not happen here.  You find the right location and it will be on either side of the lake, makes no difference.  Don't make it harder than it is.

We are all seeing now that the coldest water on the lake is producing the most fish.  Clarity and breeze here is more important than temperature. 

Don't fall in love with thinking you are seeing lots of fish and just not making them bite.  You want real heart ache, go down to Bull Shoals and your graph looks like a Christmas Tree 12 months out of the year.  You see lots of birds flying and on the water and then see fish  on your graph in huge numbers, 99.9 percent of the time you are looking at gizzard shad.  Once the bass move off the bottom they disperse for the most part and its very uncommon to see schools.  Most often you will see multiple singles moving thru the water column from 10' to 50'.  Hopefully in the 15' to 25' range suspended as if you are seeing them and you are out from the banks a couple of casts, that means they are also between you and the bank.  THEY DON'T HAVE TO BE ON THE BOTTOM.

Someone mentioned Rock Creek in a post today.  Those fish are biting.  The runnout from the Rock Creek Bluffend goes out within 200 yards of the bluffend on the up lake side.  That cut falls off into 90' of water that is the main channel and also the main channel that goes into Rock Creek and the big cove that is just upstream.  RPS, don't kill me for this.  How many of you all are stopping out there with the boat in 90' and throwing up on the end of that pole timbered bluffend?  How many of you are sitting your boat in the channel in over 100' and throwing up on that bluffend from the bouy out to the end of the runnout ?  Those are major staging locations, as the  fish move from the main lake to the big Rock Creek and its big Spawing coves. 

Up the White River from Big M, how many of you are fishing the river channel edges?  There are miles and miles of timbered channel edges that still hold fences stumps, trees and brush.  Again, Sorry RPS.  Use your electronics to see and follow the channel.  There are ditches and cuts that you can see on your map that are just unreal this time of the year.  One of the best is above the bridge at 86.  Your boat can be sitting in 55' of water and you are throwing into 25 ft. right on the channel edge.  There are fantastic fish up there.  Won't always catch them, but you have a chance.

Places like this hold late Winter and staging fish,  They  are not always there and it is for sure a good place to get caught up in the pole timber, but it is also a place to catch a fish of a lifetime.

Put your thinking cap on and think outside the box for the next month and catch yourself the biggest fish you have ever caught on the Rock.

Good Luck

I

[Sore Thumbs]

That's Gold folks. Remember it. 

[JacobW]

Bill your giving away my only good spots I have anymore! But seriously your right, where we were the other week on that bluff end "when you caught them all" before I got there, I was catching those kentuckies out " IN THE ABYSS".

[Champ188]

This is some good stuff folks. Anyone would be wise to squirrel it away for future reference because every word of it will hold true 50 years from now.

I can't underscore enough what Bill said about not just getting on a bank and fishing aimlessly. If you're gonna be successful at fishing shallow on Table Rock, you have to pick your spots with an understanding of what the fish are doing at the time and where within that area they are likely to be lurking. Factors that can play into this equation include sky conditions, wind, water temperature, bottom composition (gravel, chunk rock, slab rock) and even whether they are feeding down or up that day.

It also helps to know areas that just seem to hold fish consistently ... I call them "places where they just live." But even a newcomer can put together a pattern if he pays attention to what's going on around him and lets his instincts guide him. But again, fishing aimlessly is a recipe for failure. We have an abundance of food and cover, so TR fish don't have to just hang out along miles of unremarkable shoreline. Look for irregular features, including transition areas where chunk rock changes to gravel or slab rock changes to chunk rock. Use every bite to help you determine the most productive depth, type of cover, etc., and then go looking for similar areas. Some will produce, while others won't. Sometimes the reason won't be clear but don't let it discourage you. Keep looking and chunking, just make sure you're thinking at the same time.

Hope this helps a bit.

[rps]

Well I have tried several ways to sketch a lay of the underwater land for that point. I was going to point out that depending on time of the year and species desired that one point has 12 or 15 truly excellent locations - and that all but one or two are in water over 20 feet deep.

Bill, the Devil's Backbone is one of those areas you could give away gps coordinates and most people would not find the fish. Tell on.

[176champion]

Thanks Bill and Champ some great information as always....

[aarchdale@coresleep.com]

So here is the question, did you guys at one point run miles of bank to find these spots? 20 years ago im sure graphing with accuracy wasnt near what it is today. I had a buddy that fishes table rock a ton tell me that after he got his GPS he would run banks and mark every spot he caught a keeper. And on return trips he would run those spots and fish 50-75 yards either side of where the keeper was caught. He said his keeper ratio greatly improved. But obviously it took some time to get those spots

[rps]

4 hours ago, aarchdale@coresleep.com said:

So here is the question, did you guys at one point run miles of bank to find these spots? 20 years ago im sure graphing with accuracy wasnt near what it is today. I had a buddy that fishes table rock a ton tell me that after he got his GPS he would run banks and mark every spot he caught a keeper. And on return trips he would run those spots and fish 50-75 yards either side of where the keeper was caught. He said his keeper ratio greatly improved. But obviously it took some time to get those spots

My answer may differ from that of others. I routinely troll for walleye with crank baits and/or drag a worm harness. If you do that plus attention to your graph, you wind up learning more quickly. Unlike Bill and Champ, however, my knowledge is limited to the areas I routinely fish and not the entire lake. If you get me away from the Big M to Houseman area, I struggle.

[Ranger Z22]

Great information guys, I appreciate your help. 

 

z22

[Champ188]

For me, the answer is to focus on what (the fish) and not so much where or how. I personally don't think fish are that hard to catch once you get around them, but they can sure be a booger to pin down sometimes. Understanding their seasonal movements and locations can go a long way toward simplifying that process.

Because I fish Table Rock more than anywhere, I do rely on experience a lot when it comes to locating fish. As I said earlier, there are places where fish just seem to live year round. When I'm starting my day or if I'm struggling, I go to these places because I can be pretty confident that I'm putting myself around some fish. Once I start getting a few bites, I can take what those fish are telling me and hopefully go catch them elsewhere.

Instinct alone can put you in high percentage areas. There are lots of places on Table Rock where bluff banks or gravel flats stretch for miles. Within them are irregular features like little bluff cuts, rock slides, jut-outs, etc. On flats, there will be little points, pockets or places where ditches run in. Focus on these features and not the mundane longer stretches. Within a couple hours of being on the water, you should be able to ride down the lake and identify places where bass are likely to be on that particular day.

Again, thinking about the fish will often point you to where you should be fishing.