Missouri Lakes Fishing Report

Lake - Table Rock 10/15/05:

Kimberling City Area: The deep bite is starting to become hit and miss as the shad begin their migration towards the backs of the creeks. Look for shad in the mouths off creeks and off secondary points in major creeks, once you find the shad you will likely have to work the area for a while before finding the fish, pay close attention to your graph as most of the fish are on the bottom and are hard to see. Spoons, drop shot finesse worms and Rapala ice jigs will produce when the fish start feeding.

James River: While a little cooler than the main lake the James is still in more of a summer pattern than a fall one. Look for fish to be on deeper points and roll offs; effective baits include both Jewel 5/8 oz. and ¾ oz. football jigs in brown / purple flash and PB&J. Most of the fish are still holding tight to the break during the day. Early and late there are a few fish being caught on buzz baits and waked spinnerbaits in main lake cuts and pockets near deep water.

White River: Early and late there is a pretty good spinnerbait bite up the Kings River in deeper pockets on the main lake. Look for areas holding shad and make repeated casts to whatever cover may be present (rocks, laydowns, and brush). Later in the day you will find better luck on deep drops and roll offs fished with a jewel 7/16oz. spider jig in green pumpkin / green flash matched up with a green pumpkin 4” Chomper jig trailer.

Dam Area: In the morning in the dam area fish a 3” single tail grub in smoke / pepper on a ¼ oz, ball head in 6’ – 15’ of water. Smallmouth have been moving up on the pea gravel flats and busting shad from before sun up until it comes over the tree line. The key is to maintain bottom contact during the retrieve, make a long cast allow the bait to fall to the bottom and then retrieve it just fast enough to tick the bottom as it swims back to the boat. After the sun comes out move to deeper water and drag a 5/16 oz. Jewel spider jig in PB&J with a cinnamon / purple / jelly jig trailer along these same flats.