Missouri Lakes Fishing Report

Lake - Table Rock 01/09/06:

Kimberling City Area: The deep bite continues to be good look at normal winter areas; points, bluff ends and deep tree tops and if you find bait off of the bottom you should be able to catch a few. Spoons and drop shot rigs with finesse worms, needle worms or 3” meat heads have been the top producers. It is still a matter of finding the bait if you are to be successful. The jerk bait bite has gotten better there still hasn’t been a ton of fish caught on it but better fish are coming on windy secondary points. Pointer 100’s & 78’s, X-Raps, and rogues in table rock shad, silver / black and chartreuse shad.

James River: A Missouri Craw Eakins jig and craw combo fished around boat docks and other cover on sunny days is working well, make multiple casts to the shady side of the cover and work the jig from the bank to 20’ deep. Jerk Baits on windy days are the deal on the James right now. Mixed chunk rock points are holding a mixed bag of fish; crappie, whites and bass are all on these points chasing shad.

White River: There is still a decent jig bite up the Kings. Brown or brown / purple flash Eakins jigs with a green pumpkin Eakins craw trailers fished channel swing banks with wood cover from 5’ – 15’ deep are catching several fish. If you can find the shad you will find the deep fish. There are more fish in the trees in the White river than in the mid lake. Look for tree tops around 30’ – 60’ to be the most productive, regardless how deep the overall depth is, when the bait come near these tree tops the fish will feed.

Dam Area: Windy mixed rock points; look for the areas where rock changes from fist size rock to bigger rock are holding fish that can be caught on both wiggle warts and jerk baits. Like the mid lake area the best bite in the dam area continues to be deep; drop shot worms, spoons and single tail grubs are all effective when you find the bait. Look for bait on main lake points, humps and channel bends to be the most productive.