Missouri Lakes Fishing Report

Lake - Table Rock 12/18/05:

Kimberling City Area: The best bite right now is the deep bite, once you locate the bait the fish will not be far away. White spoons, drop shot finesse worms and single tail grubs are all effective. Look for bait to be anywhere from main lake points to the guts of creeks, birds are your clue to bait location. There are still a few fish being caught on boat docks with Eakins’ jigs; look for larger docks on pea gravel points to hold most of the fish, pitch a PB&J with green pumpkin trailer to the center walkway of the dock in the first two or three stalls.

James River: The wiggle wart bite has slowed in the upper James; most of the fish are being taken on Rogues and other jerk baits fished around wood cover on transition banks. There are still a few fish being caught on an Eakins’ jig in brown with a green pumpkin trailer on channel swing banks in major creek arms and on the main lake. Look for any wood cover to hold a few more fish and make multiple pitches to the same piece of cover to be successful.

White River: Your best bet is still the deep bite from Baxter to Shell Knob. Look for schools of shad on main lake and secondary points, guts and mouths of creeks; look for gulls to show you where the bait is. White spoons, smoke grubs and drops shot finesse worms will all catch fish, if you don’t see active fish on your graph drop you bait to the bottom, reel up half a turn and shake it. Many times the fish are locked on the bottom and will come up when antagonized.

Dam Area: The dam area continues to have a lot of fishing pressure. Your best bet is still to find bait fish and fish deep, spoons, drop shot rigged finesse worms and grubs are accounting for both numbers and quality of fish. Much like the rest of the lake look for the fish to be related to shad on main lake and secondary points, guts of creeks and bluff ends. Bigger docks are also holding quality fish but they are receiving most of the fishing pressure. Pitch Eakins’ jigs in PB&J with a green pumpkin Eakins craw trailer to the main walkway in the first few stalls.