trip tp table rock

[gullicad]

Is it a good time in early March to take a trip to table rock. Im a somewhat inexperienced fisherman, but I think I could find a few fish and I definetely would enjoy the chase.

[johnnie crain outdoors]

Smallie Man, by all means, Table Rock is great anytime!! I have fished it for years with good success throughout the year, but for big fish March is great. Be sure to take along some Wiggle Warts in shad and fire tiger. Some bass jigs in watermelon and some lizards. Try Aunt's Creek, the James River arm and Flat Creek.
Now, I'm going to turn it over to the Table Rock expert, Capt. Don House-The Table Rock Guide. He'll fix you right up. Good luck. Johnnie

[Table Rock Guide]

Smallie man, March on Table Rock, cold but fun.. It really depends on what you are looking for.. For us guides down here we are getting ready for the spring crappie spawn and spoonbill season. Which runs through Late Feb into all of March and April. Bass start there spawn around Late April into May. SmallMouth season really kicks into gear in Late May and June. Just an FYI..

Bass Fishing in March time frame can be done, but could also be slow. Bass at this time are still in there deep water hollows, but still catchable! As Johnnie talked about in that time frame we start throwing a storm wiggle warts, small 1/8 ounce Eakins jigs and of course small stickbaits like the 4" Lucky Craft Clown color or a 4 " Tenn Shad color, also don't leave out a split shot rig rigged with a zoom trick worm in watermelon red and purple.


Best areas to start would be the River arms like the James River (Up Past Cape Fair / Virgin Bluff/Bridgeport Area), White River (Past Shell Knob Area towards Viola)or my side of the lake in the Long Creek area (Best is Brushy Creek arm)any good map will show you these areas.

Start looking for bass in the mouths of the creek arms in these areas with any type of rock structure such as bluff drop offs, channel swings and deep water steps from shallow to very deep really close by.

Run these baits right down the bank and start from shallow and move these out deep. I like to flip small jigs along the banks of channel and creek bends on the north facing sides with wood exposed that water warms faster. If nothing comes from that then I go to my wiggle warts in crawdad colors (Brown / Orange / Green) seems to be the best. You may not catch alot of fish but the fish you will catch will be toads ranging from 3 - 8 pounds or even bigger!

When you decide to come down this way, drop me an email I will try to let you know what is going on, I will have just started fishing myself sometime in Early March after I get off the sport show round robin. So I hope this helps alittle if you have any questions drop me an email..

Good Fishing

Capt. Don

[gullicad]

hey by spoon bill I assumeyou mean the duck. how good is that part of the spoonbill season down there?

[johnnie crain outdoors]

A spoonbill on Table Rock is a Paddlefish, anglers snag them with large treble hooks. They are often called spoonbill cats, but they're not really catfish at all. It's great fun but requires heavy tackle and endurance. Look up paddlefish on the net. Johnnie

[Table Rock Guide]

Smallie Man as Johnnie talked about this season down here is for Spoonbill fish or even called PaddleFish down here..

These fish are snagged by using a very large surf rod and 150 pound test, plus 3 Number 10 treble hooks in a line with a 2 ounce weight on the bottom. We then drag this setup on the bottom and use a sweeping action or jerking action to hook or snag one of these fish. We search for these fish in the bends of the river channels almost way in the back of the main river they move all the way up the rivers to spawn.

I use my Humminbird 987c SI side imaging depht finder to find these fish, when the side imaging unit is on I can pinpoint these fish on the bottom by looking for the paddle or spoon looking nose echo on the graph. Then I will run my clients over the area and we snag them. These guys run from 40 to 125 pounds in size and really put on a great fight, it's like saltwater fishing for marlin without the big waves, matter of fact last year I had a 15 year old boy snag into one of these guys and almost pulled him in the water!!

In southern Missouri opening day of spoonbill season is just like opening day of Deer season, it a really big deal, some folks start at midnight of the opening day. It's nothing to see a poontoon boat with 10 people on it all snagging at once. Folks down here eat these guys and with a normal spoonbill you will get about 20 - 60 pounds of all white meat and around 10 - 30 pounds of eggs.

If there was a way to post pictures on this site I would post a picture of one my 17 year old daughter caught last year, it is bigger than her, it went alittle over 90 pounds and took us over 20 mins to get it in the boat.

It's fun you should try it some time, but understand this is a sport not for the weak of heart, it will wear you out. So if you come down here bring your wheaties!!

Good Fishing and God Bless