Dam Area - 2/9/23 and 2/10/23

[bobby b.]

Fished early morning both days.  Yesterday I caught only one keeper Spot and today only 4 fish.  Today was 2 nice SM, 1 keeper Spot and a nearly keeper Spot.  WT is 44 degrees.  Yesterday was pretty darn miserable.  It was not too bad when I started about 7:30 am but in short order the wind came up and it was white capping pretty good.  I vertical fish this time of year and the wind keep moving the boat in weird ways even on spot lock and my line got hung in the trolling motor 3 times - after the third time of this I headed home.  Weather today was not that pleasant either but better than yesterday.   This is my favorite time of year for fishing thus I go as long as it is above 32 degrees and the wind is less than 10 mph. 

This morning I headed directly to my favorite winter honey hole (the creek side of a primary point).  The graph indicated plenty of feeding fish but they were slow to accept what I was offering.  My go to bait this time of year is the Damiki rig (1/4 head) with a 2 1/2 inch Damiki shad bait .  I tried various color shad colors. 

As I think Dock indicated in a recent post, the conditions (water level and temperature) are pretty much the same as last year, but the bite is not nearly as good.  Due to relatively heavy lake draw down, I think the bait has been pulled to the White.  

Bobby

[SplitG2]

Thanks for the report.  

[Quillback]

Nice fish!

[Bill Babler]

Visited this morning with a couple of TR guides. 
Shad on main lake at 80’ to 120’ with fish holding just above them or in the bait balls. Not easy by any stretch. 

Shad in the creeks 40’ to 80’. Some fish on the bottom. Not easy. 

This morning Becky watched a guy going down the bank in our cove and said she saw him catch 3 on an A-rig. She said at least one was a monster. Others were big enough for her to see them with naked eyes at a couple hundred yards. 

 

[bobby b.]

Shad on main lake at 80’ to 120’ with fish holding just above them or in the bait balls. Not easy by any stretch. 

Shad in the creeks 40’ to 80’. Some fish on the bottom.

Bill, what is your best guess as to why this is different from last year given the same conditions as Dock and I have pointed out?  I am wondering if I can determine waterflow thru the dam last year at this rime.

[Quillback]

I know and know of a couple of veteran Table Rock deep water fishermen and they just aren't catching them out deep.  

[Bill Babler]

I don’t know, but I have seen them that deep many , many times. 

Kind of like Dock said. Fish are really scattered and your durn Lucky if you find a group. 

In Phil’s current Taneycomo report he said 44 degree water temps on Taney.  So, we know from surface to 160’ the water is the same temp on the Rock  

Yet there are A-rig and I’m sure jerkbait fish on the bank as Becky saw 3 caught in a 20 minute time frame.  



 

[dtrs5kprs]

That would just be awful if they started living shallow year round.

Of course some do, and always have.

Anything below 50' is pretty much not happening for me. I've caught some in the past on main lake deep trees down to 75' or so, around Baxter. Not much fun, whole lot of work, and can't be too healthy for the little devils.

[Steve McBasser]

I like catching fish, DEEP because of the novelty of it. Its cool to be able to find them on the graph and then drop something to them and watch them come up and get it right there on the screen. However, given the choice I would much rather throw out a bottom bouncer of some sort and stitch it back in the 6' to 25' range of water. The phrase that pays here is "I like catching fish", so whatever is required is what I do.....

[Bassin4fun]

On 2/11/2023 at 6:14 PM, Bill Babler said:

I don’t know, but I have seen them that deep many , many times. 

Kind of like Dock said. Fish are really scattered and your durn Lucky if you find a group. 

In Phil’s current Taneycomo report he said 44 degree water temps on Taney.  So, we know from surface to 160’ the water is the same temp on the Rock  

Yet there are A-rig and I’m sure jerkbait fish on the bank as Becky saw 3 caught in a 20 minute time frame.  



 

I can assure you that right now, the fish are up on the banks at Table Rock. Look for stained water with less than 3ft visibility and you will find them right up on the bank out to 10ft. Windy days are fun...like we just had this past weekend. Saturday, I caught 40-50 and had about 10 keepers. Sunday probably 20 with 2 keepers. Sunday, the wind didn't start until later in the morning. So the early bite was a bit off. Probably should have fished deeper out early on. Still had fun and it was a gorgeous day.