April 16th. Afternoon Table Rock Lake Fishing Report

[Bill Babler]

Well, it got to be plumb silly yesterday afternoon.  Had a double trip, with a morning trip on Taney and then met my client and I'm going to keep all names quiet for reasons you will soon read at Moonshine for an afternoon of basin.  Surface temp at the ramp at the dam was 56.2 when I launched at 1 PM and really when I unlaunched it had only risen to a shade under 58.

To protect the innocent I'm going to call my client Joe.  He had fished bass some, but not a bunch but could use a spinning reel, so we were set as that was going to be the deal from the start.  Had two deals set up for him, one with a Ned and with a 1/8 head and the other with a 3.2 Rainbow Shad Keitech. fat.

Right off the bat Joe seemed to be wanting to hold his spinning reel upside down with about two fingers on the but when he casted.  Got this straightened out and gave a demo on how easy it is to load the rod and cast two handed and let the Falcon Cara do all the work.  He got on to it pretty quick.  Did not matter so much because as soon as the PBJ Ned would hit the bottom you were cranking in a fish.  On our first stop, we had 17 Jaws with 5 keeps, all on the Varmint.  Ledge with some gravel. keeping the boat in 25 ft. and catching most of the fish 1/2 way back in that 12 to 18 ft. range.  Just dragging and hopping a little.  I started to notice a problem however.  When Joe would feel a fish he would rare back and swing the rod like he was trying to completely tear the lips off the fish.  I could not break him of this.  I tried and tried, I showed him how I could catch them without even setting the hook.  On at least a dozen fish I said Joe, "watch this.  Do you see the fish biting my line?  I said watch me catch it.  I would lean back and just start winding and the little varmint would be stuck in the upper lip.  I told him that is all you need to do."  He said his father 30 yrs. ago told him he must cross their eyes and that's how he was going to do it.  Said dude you don't have to do that anymore, but you just catch them and have a blast anyway you want to.

Next location was a staging location.  As I was easing up in about 40' my graph looked like a shotgun had shot the screen.  Cut the engine and told him this is the mouth of a spawning cove.  The fish will congregate at these location this time of the year and will suspend and stage waiting to move in an spawn.  I told him they will also feed here.  We were at least 6 casts off the bank.  Here I said we are going to throw this swimbait and as soon as you throw it pick up all your slack and let it fall on a tight line.  This way you can feel the fish.  If you feel the tick of the bite point your rod right at it and lean back and just wind the reel handle.  There was quite a bit of wind on this point and it blew a huge belly in the line so you had to pick up fast on the cast.  On Joe's first cast he had a banana loop in his line.  Fish bit it and the line just jumped.  I said you got him dude.  He immediately jerked that Cara harder than I have ever seen a rod jerked.  When he did the line came back around his head and went around his neck.  He jerked again and another loop went right around his throat just below his chin.  About this time a very nice 2.5 pound brown bass came to the surface pulling away and he was still pulling the other way and a slip knot with two wraps around his throat tightened completely below the skin.  He was chocking and the fish was pulling like crazy the other way.  I could not get my finger under the line in his throat as it was so tight.  I finely got my pinky under it and sliced the 5# test maxi.  Good, Gosh, I thought I had seen everything in 25 years in the guide business.  He had two whelps on his throat that are going to be there for a long time.  Got it all straight and we went to fishing.  Had 38 fish off this point with 15 keepers, all brown.  We had nothing over 2.5 but as the afternoon continued it got to be a carnival on either the swim bait or a jerkbait. 

At one point during the afternoon, I had 7 keepers in 7 cast with the Tim Hughes Custom painted megabass 110 plus 1.  They also liked the Spro  in Blue Bandit.  I lost count, but I believe we had about 25 keepers and right at 70 fish in 4 hrs.  That is off of 3 locations.  One was the ledge, and the other two were staging locations.  Just silly, nothing at all big but the most SM I have ever caught in one day.  Did not catch a single K or LM, every fish we caught except for 5 Goggs was brown.

Just another day on the Rock.

 

[Phil Lilley]

I think you meant 4/15

[Bill Babler]

All my days run together this time of the year.

[96 CHAMP]

That's a good story, sounds like you guys had a blast

[motoman]

Great write-up as always Bill! Like you said; no need to cross their eyes with the Ned.........go easy on 'em. :-P

-

Heckuva day catching them and nice pix.  

[Macsimus]

Great report! Hilarious. Glad you were able to save him and he didn't choke to death. What a way to go...killed by a 2.5 lb smallie. 

[merc1997 Bo]

well bill, what a great day of fishing.  lots of laughing both ways, and good memories for each of you.  that is just as fun as watching kids catch fish!

bo

[abkeenan]

Great report Bill. Don't mean to laugh at others misfortunes but I kinda equate your story of your client to watching America's Funniest Home Videos of people hurting themselves in idiotic ways. Hard not to laugh at them even though you know the person on the other end of the camera might need medical attention.

[Quillback]

That is some great fishing!

I've heard a lot of fishing stories in my 50 years of fishing, but never have heard of someone wrapping the line around their neck, glad to hear you were able to get if off, and thank goodness it wasn't braid! 

[rps]

Nancy and I loved this story. You gotta save him from choking because Daddy said cross their eyes? Our kingdom for video.