Table Rock Fishing Report

Forrest Outdoors
Jul 27, 2015
3 min read

7/25/15

Table Rock Lake- Fishing Report- Baxter Creek

Weather and Lake Conditions:

This weekend was surprisingly fun down at Table Rock Lake. Weather continues to be very hot in this area of the country and it shows with the current water temperature. Saturday was hot and humid. I believe the high for Saturday was about 95 but it sure felt like 100 because it was hot. Water was the same. With all the rain we have received over the last month, water level was 11 ft over normal pool. Debris on the lake has mostly cleared. But if you are going to the lake be sure to keep an eye out for floating logs and remember that new cover is now flooded so watch your points and turns …

Fishing

I was only able to go out fishing for a few hours on Saturday but the fishing was good in that short time. All of my time was spend in Baxter creek area of the lake fishing anywhere between 13-25 feet of water. Water temperature was about 90 but surprisingly the fish were relatively shallow and were still active. Water clarity was slightly stained.

The overall pattern is similar to other reports in the area and close to what Focused Fishing Guide Service and Pete Wenners have reported. The better fishing is down in the White River area with the majority of fish holding on main lake points between 14-25 feet of water. You can catch them in a variety of ways but my better fish were caught on a Drop shot and Finesse Jig.

Lures:

The lures of choice this weekend were as follows:

Drop Shot - #2 Matzuo Drop Shot Swivel Hook, 1/4OZ Tour Tungston Weight and Green Pumpkin or June Bug 4 inch worm

Finesse Jig- 7/16 Jakked Bait Jig – Black and Blue or Green Pumpkin and Blue with matching trailer of choice.

Flipping Jig: ½ Jakked Bait Jig –Green Pumpkin with blue and Matching Trailer of choice.

Pattern: If I would have been able to fish more this weekend then I would have worked the following pattern. Focus in main lake points and be sure to fish both sides. I was not able to determine whether the fish preferred the front or back side of the point. Gravel points are a must. Look for long tapering points with lots of gravel on it…. When looking at my Lowrance graph, I would see fish as well as bait fish when on the gravel points. However, when I came to a bluff will or chunk rock my screen would go blank and the fish were no longer there. If you are able to find gravel points with brush piles that is an added bonus.

I would continue to fish my primary baits: Drop Shot and Finesse Jig. However, I would suggest probing some areas with a deep diving crank bait or some sort of swim bait. I had several chase and follow my lure to the boat when reeling my lure in and a lot of short quick strikes where the fish would not take the bait but simply swipe at it. Some would take a quick stab at the bait then swim off. Throwing some sort of reaction type of bait may allow you to catch more fish and cover an area faster.

After catching one, slow down and really work the area. I was able to catch at least 2 or 3 more bass within a 5 or 10 foot area because I slowed down and really soaked my bait….

Set up:

For my drop shot pattern I was using an Spinning Combination of Ardent Wire- 5.4.1 gear ratio a to 7’ Medium Action Ardent Edge Rod, and Yo-Zuri- Monofilament Line in 6-8 pound test.

For my Jig pattern I was using an Ardent Elite-7.1.1 gear ratio reel with a 7’3 Medium heavy action Ardent Edge Rod, with 12lbs XPS Fluorocarbon Line

Forrest Outdoors Sponsors: Livingston Lures, Line-X Mid Missouri, Ardent Reels, Yo-Zuri Line, Russell Marine Products, Jakked Baits, Tour Tungsten, Lake Ozarks Mobile Marine, Super Bright Led’s, Matzuo America, and Browning Eyewear.

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