Table Rock Lake Fishing Report 7-16-18

[Bill Babler]

Slap me upside the head, I meant a 3/16 on the Ned.  Got 3/8 on the brain for some reason.  If your trying to fish and drag or hop in that 30' water, 1/8 can be fished but it takes more patients than most of my clients have.  More patients than I have to, I'm kind of a mover and shaker.

[Royal Blue]

15 hours ago, Bill Babler said:

I bet we could drag that Ned around early in the 24' to 30' range and catch them pretty good here.  I'd use a 3/8th. head and either 5 or 6 pound maxi  if I were going to try it.  I know they will hit a tube or a 3/8th. oz small profile jig if they would get a chance.

Really guys the fishing pressure is extremely low right now and if you get a chance get out at 6 and off at 10 and you can pretty much fish where ever you want.  If this heat keeps up and the fishermen stay off the lake like they have been, this is going to be really good going into Fall.

It's the same over on the pond to the east. I've been 4 times in the last 12 days and never more than 4 rigs in the little lot at KDock.  My daughter and I fished from 6:30-Noon yesterday and saw 2 boats.  

I've been going a little further back into some of the cuts over there than I should this time of year.  It's crazy though...every time I do, I see multiple keeper sized largemouths blowing small gills up out of the water and onto the bank.  I toss a jig in the area and it's instantly choked.  There are always 2-3 with them and they're all in the 16-17 inch range.  This happened twice yesterday.  Most fish are crammed with crawdads over there too though.

[Bill Babler]

Nice report RB and great info. on Bull.  We need to get down there.

[Longball22]

On 7/17/2018 at 4:47 PM, Bill Babler said:

Thanks so much for the chart.  On July 11th. they were hanging in there right at the 28' mark mostly on the bottom but some over depth and in the trees .  Up early in the morning they are still at that depth but with the light penetration they are moving down and suspending in the close to 40' range usually by 8 or 8;30.  They have now somewhat abandoned the trees and bluffends and are on the humps and channel swings and long runnout points that are right off the channel, either inside or outside. 

I can see the first line of thermocline at the 28-30 ft. mark on my Lowrance and then a bolder deeper color at the 40 ft. mark.  As of the 11th. that was about a 12 degree separation that my unit was picking up.  It did start to blend but its very hard to put an exact depth mark on the blend.

With the extreme heat the past week I would think those numbers might have changed a bit.

All the fish I am catching are just full of crawfish about the size of a pencil around and about 3" long.  I mean they are packed with them and the front deck of my boat will prove it.  Not seeing them spitting any shad what so ever.  Seeing a lot of shad on the surface in the big pockets and suspending in the pockets at about that 30' mark, but not seeing any fish on them.

We had over 50 yesterday with the walleye and about 30 solid keeper size fish.  Probably the best quality I've seen in the last 20 yrs.  Only 3 of those fish had hook marks.  We saw maybe 4 other boats fishing.

Thanks for all the great information and good luck out there.

I had the opportunity to scuba dive Table Rock for the first time this last weekend.  I've only dove in the ocean prior to this.  We were going out of State Park, and stayed in the Dam area.  I haven't fished for a while, but it was interesting to actually put myself in the thermocline for the first time.  

Bill, based on what my dive computer told me, you are spot on.  Definitely a thermocline that you could feel develop between the 25 and 30 mark, and it just got flat frigid below the 40 mark.  We actually bounced back and forth between depths to keep ourselves warm. 

The most interesting thing I learned is how the water clarity changes between the depths.  Water clarity is obviously what you guys are seeing from the surface down to about 20 feet, and with lots of overhead ambient light you can see very well.  From 25 to about 35 or 40, it was pitiful, and I actually lost my buddy on one of the dives (maybe 5 feet of visibility tops).  Once you got below the 40 mark, it is incredibly clear, maybe 20 to 30 foot of visibility, but not much light penetrating all of the suspended particles in the layer above.  The deeper part of this lake is like a different planet; dark, cold, and absolutely no growth.

Definitely saw the majority of the bass playing in the dirtier water, and some good ones.  

[mojorig]

You can definitely learn a lot while diving. Man, it is fun!!

[vernon]

16 hours ago, mojorig said:

You can definitely learn a lot while diving. Man, it is fun!!

 

17 hours ago, Longball22 said:

I had the opportunity to scuba dive Table Rock for the first time this last weekend.  I've only dove in the ocean prior to this.  We were going out of State Park, and stayed in the Dam area.  I haven't fished for a while, but it was interesting to actually put myself in the thermocline for the first time.  

Bill, based on what my dive computer told me, you are spot on.  Definitely a thermocline that you could feel develop between the 25 and 30 mark, and it just got flat frigid below the 40 mark.  We actually bounced back and forth between depths to keep ourselves warm. 

The most interesting thing I learned is how the water clarity changes between the depths.  Water clarity is obviously what you guys are seeing from the surface down to about 20 feet, and with lots of overhead ambient light you can see very well.  From 25 to about 35 or 40, it was pitiful, and I actually lost my buddy on one of the dives (maybe 5 feet of visibility tops).  Once you got below the 40 mark, it is incredibly clear, maybe 20 to 30 foot of visibility, but not much light penetrating all of the suspended particles in the layer above.  The deeper part of this lake is like a different planet; dark, cold, and absolutely no growth.

Definitely saw the majority of the bass playing in the dirtier water, and some good ones.  

I've long wished I wasn't such a scaredy cat cause I've always thought that would be beyond fascinating!

Did you take any video?

I prefer to do my scuba diving from the comfort of my "man chair"!

[snagged in outlet 3]

45 minutes ago, vernon said:

 

I've long wished I wasn't such a scaredy cat cause I've always thought that would be beyond fascinating!

Did you take any video?

I prefer to do my scuba diving from the comfort of my "man chair"! 

Can it really be called a man chair if you're skeirt?

 

[bfishn]

18 hours ago, Longball22 said:

...The most interesting thing I learned is how the water clarity changes between the depths.  Water clarity is obviously what you guys are seeing from the surface down to about 20 feet, and with lots of overhead ambient light you can see very well.  From 25 to about 35 or 40, it was pitiful, and I actually lost my buddy on one of the dives (maybe 5 feet of visibility tops).  Once you got below the 40 mark, it is incredibly clear, maybe 20 to 30 foot of visibility, but not much light penetrating all of the suspended particles in the layer above.  The deeper part of this lake is like a different planet; dark, cold, and absolutely no growth.

Definitely saw the majority of the bass playing in the dirtier water, and some good ones.  

That's a really important part of this picture.

[Guest]

29 minutes ago, bfishn said:

That's a really important part of this picture.

now you know better why that band of dirtier water shows up on your electronics.  there has to be some type of "clutter" for the ping to bounce off of.

bo

[Longball22]

Vernon, I did take about 3 or 4 hours of video, but need to do some trimming of the fat before I start putting anything up.  Lots of video of dirty green water.  I will share when I get it uploaded.