Missouri Lakes Fishing Report

Lake - Table Rock 07/04/06:

Report #1

Kimberling City Area: Nothing has changed over the past week other than increased boat traffic and a little rise in water temperature. Most of the fish are being caught out of the tops of trees using finesse worms on drop shot rigs. Look for trees that top out at around 35’ – 40’ of water regardless of the overall depth of the water. Bluff ends, long points that drop into the main channel and bigger, deeper creek arms are all producing fish.

James River: Look for most of the fish to be holding on ledges, deep drop offs and main lake roll – offs. A variety of baits are currently catching these fish; Jewel ½ oz heavy cover finesse football and 5/8 oz football jigs in brown / purple flash or Missouri craw matched up with a Chomper 5” green pumpkin jig trailers, green pumpkin brush hogs and baby brush hogs on Carolina rigs or deep crank baits like Fat Free Shad, DT – 16 or DD – 22 have all been productive. On sunny days Jewel jigs and Carolina rigs are preferred but on cloudy or windy days the deep crankbait bite is much better.

White River: Much like the Kimberling City area most of the fishing on the White River is being done off shore in deep trees. Drop shotting watermelon / red or shad colored finesse worms in the tops of trees is your best bet for numbers of fish. The Kings River has much more stain than the White River and the fish are much shallower; look for the best bite to be on ledges, bluff ends and deep points with an Eakins’ jig in Missouri craw matched with a green pumpkin Eakins’ craw.

Dam Area: The boat traffic from 9:00 am until 8:00 pm make the main lake near the dam impossible to fish, you are better off to go back into some of the deeper creek arms that have enough timber to scare off the jet skiers and look for deep trees. Just like the Kimberling City and White River areas look for trees that top out at around 40’ to be the most productive. Above the Cricket Creek Marina the water is stained and the fish are much shallower holding on ledges and deep points and can be caught on an Eakins jig and craw combo.

Report #2

The bass fishing on Table Rock has been great the past couple of weeks. In the Dam area to Kimberling City, the bass have been stacking up on the main lake pea gravel points. Most of them have been Kentucky's and Smallmouth with a few Largemouth mixed in. The fish seem to be holding in 14-20ft. of water in the morning until about 10:00 in the morning, and as the sun gets out they tend to move out to 22-28ft. of water on the same points. Look for main lake pea gravel points, the ones with brush piles or submerged timber seem to be holding the better fish. The best baits to use are Eakins jigs in brown and purple tipped with Chompers twin tail grubs in cinnamon purple, or green pumpkin finesse worms on a shaky head. Just cover lots of water until you find the fish, this bite will get better as the summer progresses on.

The upper end of the lake in Cricket Creek and Long Creek still have some shallow fish. The best bite is in the early morning when the fish are up shallow. Try using a Zara Spook or spinnerbait around any shallow cover or laydowns. As the sun gets out, move out to the main lake points and humps and use a jig or DD22. I have been catching some nice Largemouth doing this in the past couple of weeks.