Personal biggest largemouth before and after the fish kill?

[Hammer time]

I'm curious of everyone's personal best black before and after fish kill in 99 on Table Rock. Pics if possible and lure.

Mine is a 10.29 in late February 96 on a Texas rigged lizard and after lbv "largemouth bass virus" a 7.84 on a jig.

[jim m]

two great fish, but don't you know they aint suppose to bite a lizzard in febuary, lol my pb before and after wer around 7lbs one on a jerk bait and on on a jig

[cheesemaster]

Unfortunately I never had the opportunity to fish TR pre 1999. But my personal best on TR is from 2013 at 8.22. Caught her on a Deep Little N. And have never caught another fish on that type of lure ever again. The DLN is pretty much worthless anymore and no one should ever throw it. 

[96 CHAMP]

7.12, Feb. 1999 Deep Diving suspended Rouge, Black & Silver

[Quillback]

10 hours ago, cheesemaster said:

Unfortunately I never had the opportunity to fish TR pre 1999. But my personal best on TR is from 2013 at 8.22. Caught her on a Deep Little N. And have never caught another fish on that type of lure ever again. The DLN is pretty much worthless anymore and no one should ever throw it. 

I have a bunch of those worthless Deep Little N's.  Haven't caught an 8 lber on one yet.  Did get a 4.5 lb. mean mouth (my PB meanie) on one.

I didn't get to fish TR before the fish kill, and my biggest bass from TR is a measly 5.5 lb. LM.  I have netted a couple of 6-7 lbers for guys fishing with me, and seen a few get off at the boat.  Oh well, I guess I'll just have to keep fishing in pursuit of the Big One. 

[cheesemaster]

33 minutes ago, Quillback said:

I have a bunch of those worthless Deep Little N's.  Haven't caught an 8 lber on one yet.  Did get a 4.5 lb. mean mouth (my PB meanie) on one.

I didn't get to fish TR before the fish kill, and my biggest bass from TR is a measly 5.5 lb. LM.  I have netted a couple of 6-7 lbers for guys fishing with me, and seen a few get off at the boat.  Oh well, I guess I'll just have to keep fishing in pursuit of the Big One. 

I have a garbage can full of worthless Deep Little N's that I am collecting for people that want to throw them away. You can send your worthless ones to me and I will dispose of them properly in a single hazardous materials container with all the proper hazmat labels. 

[Bill Babler]

I've been fishing the Rock since the early 70's and my biggest have been since the fish kill.  In the last 5 yrs. along with most of my guide buddy's that have been here equally as long.  Their largest also has been post-fish kill.

Since I started double digits have always been rare as hens teeth on the Rock.  Where I see a huge difference is the amount of large K's that are no longer here in numbers.   After the kill not only did it reduce the numbers of spotted bass but it changed the fishing strategy for most anglers.  Where tournament bags were mostly LM pre-kill, they turned into K's post-kill and latterly thousands of anglers learned and adapted to fishing deep water where the K's have been the most dominant fish.  The pressure and the changing fishing climate reduced the numbers of quality Kentucky Bass.  I'm talking about  3 to 4 pound Kentucky's.

The lake is back in very good shape, as long as we take care of it.  As Bo has stated many times, with no stocking program and TR being a Corps lake with every spawn having the possibility of being a complete zero it is our responsibility as environmentally conscious anglers to help in these regards.

Good Luck and great fishing

[DavidB]

We began fishing Table Rock in 1982; and unfortunately, for only one

week a year.  The first few years, we tried to power fish like we did on

Toledo Bend.  It was feast or famine, some great and some really

frustrating.  Our first trip, I boated a 7 lber for my buddy, caught on a

spinnerbait near the mouth of Brushy Creek.  Another buddy, in a

separate boat, caught a 4 3/4 lb spot on a jig--prettiest bass I've ever

seen.

A couple of years later, I caught a 7 lber on an old Rebel Super R (red),

in Clevenger.  My buddy caught a 6 lber the next day, dropping a 

spinnerbait down a point at the mouth of Brushy.

We caught several others, prior to '99, including a 6 1/2 on a Bomber

Long A, in the back of Clevenger; but the last several years, we've 

seen the light from Bill, Dave and others, and have switched to more

finesse fishing, and have really enjoyed it.  Much better numbers, and

much more consistent, if less size.

Table Rock is such a beautiful lake, and catching smallmouth is a real

trip that we can't duplicate in Louisiana.  We envy those of you who

experience The Rock year round!

[vernon]

Man, I'm old!  I need to look back to see if I can find the pictures it's been so long.  I remember in 1980 or 81 I had matching 8 -10's that spring, one out of Table Rock on a jerk bait on a stump flat in Piney and one out of Beaver slow rolling a spinnerbait through a shallow brush pile when the water was clear as gin.  Saw that moose come up out of there as if in slow motion and engulf that blade.  I like to have a heart attack!

Next was a 7 - 2 on a jig in Buzzard Branch in, I think, 92' and a 7 lb. even out of Woolly the following year.

The single biggest bass I've ever seen on Table Rock was about five or six years ago up in the back of Trace Hollow.  Again, the water so clear I could easily see the bottom 15-20 ft deep.  I had pitched a little centipede up in one of the dock slips that belonged to the church camp up there and had about a pound and a half Kentucky grab it.  As I was bringing him in, a bass that had to be well over ten pounds came out from under that dock and grabbed the spot!  Having experienced this phenomena several times previously I tried to be patient enough to allow the big un' to get the smaller fish deep enough to land her.  

Unfortunately, after at least four or five times of taking the fish away from her and she coming back to grab it again and again, it finally either gave up or got spooked and went back under the dock.  That poor Kentucky didn't have a scale left on it's body when I finally pulled it in.  Needless, to say I spent the next three hours in that exact same spot and went back there every day for the rest of the week but never saw it again.  What a thrill though!  Will never forget that baby.

Sadly, I don't remember anything else bigger than 5 1/2 to maybe close to 6 since then and even those have been far and few between.  Apparently, my skills eroded dramatically as I got older!  Although, realistically, for the last fifteen years or so my entire approach changed pretty dramatically and it shows.  I spend WAY more time these days boat riding with my wife, squeezing in rounds of golf (NEVER used to even take clubs along) and even sleeping in some on days when I used to be on the water before sunrise.

It might also be telling that all of those fish came from the James River arm when we used to stay up at Shadrack resort when Gene Larew was still alive.  Since then, we're primarily in the Kimberling or Indian Point areas.  While we venture up that way usually once per trip that's way different than spending an entire week there 4 or 5 times a year fishing 12-14 hour days.

Old, lazy or lack of talent - take your pick!

[Smithvillesteve]

Amen Mr Babler!! That is why I would like to see some regulations put in place on these tournaments!! I dont want to beat that dead horse on here again but with this beautiful resource of a lake it is our responsibility to take care of her!!!