Fish Table Rock

Table Rock Lake Fishing Report – Report date: 10/16/11

Table Rock water level: 915.3’ – stable –

Table Rock Water Temperature: 65.7°

Multiple cold fronts, coupled with strong winds from the north and northeast, have certainly presented challenges for those of us venturing out to catch our limits of bass, crappie, etc.  I won’t try to tell you the catching has been great; it has really been tough and I’ve had to work at it to catch good numbers of fish.  I’m catching most of my fish in the afternoon until almost dusk and I’m hearing the same report from others as well. One gentleman told me he had a 6+ largemouth on a buzz-bait late last week late in the afternoon.

The bass are moving back into the creeks and are fairly shallow.  If you look, you will be able to see good numbers of bass shallow.  These fish are easily spooked, so by remembering where you’ve seen fish, you can often come back to the area, make long casts
and have some success.   

 Begin on the points at the mouth of the creeks and coves and work your way as far back as you want to go.  I have found that casting parallel is the most effective now.  Broadcast your cast from 8’ to 10’ in to water as shallow as 1’.  The most effective baits in the creeks seems to be small shad colored crankbaits (shad-raps, etc) and Zoom floating trick worms in watermelon and watermelon-red.  When you get the lure back to the boat, hesitate just a moment or two before bringing it out of the water.  This past week I caught 2 or 3 fish when I quit reeling and was getting ready to bring the bait into the boat.  I also had fish following the lure up to the boat without hitting it.

 Black/blue and watermelon red Jigs, tipped with twin-tail trailers, continue to produce. Main lake points (especially on windy days), lay-downs, brush piles adjacent to deeper water and docks continue to hold bass.  One cast and move on is definitely not the way to catch fish now.  If you see a good spot (lay-down, brush pile) make multiple pitches or casts and even think about throwing different lure types, i.e. jig to a worm or tube, etc. 
Often, by dropping your bait right into the middle of a brush pile and moving it up and down slowly, you will catch a quality fish.  You will lose several baits, but the fish are
there, tight to the cover.  Heavier line is definately required for this type fishing.

Saturday, the afternoon temperature warmed into the mid-80’s, the wind was out of the south at about 10 mph and the fish turned on more than in recent days. Fishing between Shell Knob and Campbell Point, we concentrated on creeks throwing crankbaits, floating worms, jigs and a darter-head jig rigged with a smoke colored 5” Yamamoto Grub.  My Son had 2 keeper smallmouth on successive casts and 2 other keepers on the darter-head grub bait.  The key, according to him, was the speed of his retrieve; slow.

As the water temperatures continue to cool, the fish will continue their migration into the creeks following the shad.  Be flexible in your approach and you will catch fish.

Good luck and be careful out there. I’ll see you on the water.

 Tony Noland                                                                                              tonynoland@fishtablerock.com