Missouri Lakes Fishing Report

Lake - Table Rock 08/01/05:

Kimberling City Area: The deep bite continues to be your best bet, they start generating around noon and bite shuts down so you best be is to get there early. Look for bait suspended in trees and on bridge pilings and bluff ends, fish Chompers drop shot worms and white ¾ oz spoons below the bait to be successful. There is a decent night bite right now as well; a black / blue flash Eakins jig with a Chomper jig trailer will work well on ledges and brush piles 15 – 25 feet deep.

James River: Still a deep crank bait bite up the James, look for fish to be where a main lake flat drops into the river channel, the fish will move up onto the flat to feed early and late, some will move up when they generate as well. I have been catching fish on a couple of baits; a DD-22 in ghost Tennessee shad is a good choice as is a Rapala DT-16 in shad, if you are around fish try both baits and see which one they react to, the Rapala has a tighter wobble and will get more bites on some days.

White River: Jewel football and spider jigs continue to be your best bait up both the White and the Kings, the fish have transitioned to deep banks, while some can still be caught off the ends of pea gravel / chunk rock points, better fish have transitioned to steeper banks with bigger rock. Look for areas with fist size to rock hub cap size rocks from 15 – 25 feet deep, work you bait from around 5 ‘ all the way back until you find the depth the fish are holding in.

Dam Area: Deep is your best bet at the dam, Chomper drop shot worms from 25’ – 65’ deep over deep trees, humps, saddles and bluff ends continue to be your best bet. Around noon they will start up the generators and it gets tough in a hurry, move to deep points and drag PB&J Jewel football with Chompers jig trailers. You won’t get allot of bites but the fish you catch will be better quality.