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Old 06-25-12, 05:04 PM   #1
bassfishkansas
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Default Help with fishing table rock

Hi, I need some advice for fishing Table Rock this summer. We will be staying at Big Cedar Lodge on the southeast side of the lake this summer in late July. I was wondering what baits that I need to go out and purchase. I went out and bought some Cordell CC Spoons, Strike King 5&6XD Crankbaits, Football Jigs, and big Culprit worms. What else? I was wondering how jointed swimbaits would do there. I don't even know where to start! Thanks, BFK
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Old 06-25-12, 06:43 PM   #2
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As far as reports go, your best friend is going to be ozarkanglers.com. Table Rock is always tough in the summer months, the fishing is slower and the boat traffic is brutal. A shakey head and drop shot is always a big player in the summer on Table Rock, as is a jigging spoon. For spoons I would get a few white and a few silver ones and they will really come into play around deeper docks. Always keep a Spook or Redfin tied on and ready for any schools that start surfacing, also the Redfin will be a great bait to throw in the tops of the cedar trees you find on points or bluffs. A carolina rig and football jig will probably be a great way to catch fish off of the flat points in the dam area as well.
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Old 06-25-12, 07:02 PM   #3
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Good advise given there by Carolina Rig. Definitely check out Ozarkangler.com forum. The only other bait I'd consider that wasn't mentioned is a wacky rig worm, like the Jackall Flick Shake, with a weighted jig head. It might be worth your money to hire a guide for half a day, and learn from him. It would at least give you an idea of where to fish, what to fish with etc.
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Old 06-25-12, 07:09 PM   #4
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Ok, so if i have a rod with a spoon, one with a spook, one with a Rapala or Redfin, one with a jig, and one with a worm, would that cover all the bases? What about a deep diving crankbait or blade jig for shad schools? I was also thinking about a jointed swimbait. I'll have to check out ozarkanglers.com. Thanks for the info C-Rig.

Please don't hesitate to give me any info that you can! Thanks!
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Old 06-25-12, 08:22 PM   #5
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Ok, so if i have a rod with a spoon, one with a spook, one with a Rapala or Redfin, one with a jig, and one with a worm, would that cover all the bases? What about a deep diving crankbait or blade jig for shad schools? I was also thinking about a jointed swimbait. I'll have to check out ozarkanglers.com. Thanks for the info C-Rig.

Please don't hesitate to give me any info that you can! Thanks!
The thing with Table Rock is that when you start the day you might have 15 rods on the front deck and all of them with different baits on, and then at the end of the day you discover you really only needed 2 or 3 of those rods out because none of the others produced fish.

As far as swimbaits go, I am not the guy to ask because I just never really got into swimbaits. Nothing against them, I just haven't spent much time perfecting that technique yet. I would be willing to bet that they will get you bites if you are good with them, but if your not effecient with them then I would focus more on other techniques your more comfortable with.

I noticed you mentioned possibly using a Rebel in place of a Redfin. For some reason and I have no explanation why, but the Redfin will outfish just about every other similiar bait on Table Rock. One of the guides down there named Bill Babler wrote an article a while back on a very important modification he makes to the Redfin before it ever goes to the lake. He takes a lighter and heats the bill up and then gently bends it down so that the bait will not dive on the retrieve but rather just makes a wake. He said that he will ruin several baits for every one that he gets right but the ones that he gets right are fish catching machines. I don't know if that is something you might be willing to try or not but I have a few Redfins that I did it on and I had no problem with ruining any of them, just go slow and be careful.

I didn't mention anything in the way of jig colors earlier. But PB&J is always a great choice on Table Rock, especially with a Green Pumpkin twin tail grub as a trailer. Not really sure what makes this color so great but it has been a great color for a long time. All the shades of Watermelon are good too like Watermelon, Watermelon Candy, Watermelon/Red, and ect.

If you decide to hire a guide I would see if I could get Don House. He lives in Blue Eye which is on that end of the lake and he guides that end of the lake mostly. He is a great guy and an excellent guide. Tell him Kory Johnson told you about him.
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Old 06-26-12, 02:46 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by carolina-rig-01 View Post
The thing with Table Rock is that when you start the day you might have 15 rods on the front deck and all of them with different baits on, and then at the end of the day you discover you really only needed 2 or 3 of those rods out because none of the others produced fish.

As far as swimbaits go, I am not the guy to ask because I just never really got into swimbaits. Nothing against them, I just haven't spent much time perfecting that technique yet. I would be willing to bet that they will get you bites if you are good with them, but if your not effecient with them then I would focus more on other techniques your more comfortable with.

I noticed you mentioned possibly using a Rebel in place of a Redfin. For some reason and I have no explanation why, but the Redfin will outfish just about every other similiar bait on Table Rock. One of the guides down there named Bill Babler wrote an article a while back on a very important modification he makes to the Redfin before it ever goes to the lake. He takes a lighter and heats the bill up and then gently bends it down so that the bait will not dive on the retrieve but rather just makes a wake. He said that he will ruin several baits for every one that he gets right but the ones that he gets right are fish catching machines. I don't know if that is something you might be willing to try or not but I have a few Redfins that I did it on and I had no problem with ruining any of them, just go slow and be careful.

I didn't mention anything in the way of jig colors earlier. But PB&J is always a great choice on Table Rock, especially with a Green Pumpkin twin tail grub as a trailer. Not really sure what makes this color so great but it has been a great color for a long time. All the shades of Watermelon are good too like Watermelon, Watermelon Candy, Watermelon/Red, and ect.

If you decide to hire a guide I would see if I could get Don House. He lives in Blue Eye which is on that end of the lake and he guides that end of the lake mostly. He is a great guy and an excellent guide. Tell him Kory Johnson told you about him.
Good advice here. I would never go to Table Rock without a jointed Redfin for fishing the morning. The only mod I've ever done to mine is change out hooks and and add a tail feather treble to the rear.

You won't find too many fish shallow unless you're real early in the morning or night fishing. Focus on the deeper boat docks with the Redfin at those times. Kory is right...for whatever reason, the Redfin works best. You will find a ton of boats and super clear water on the East side. The last time we fished in July we were catching Spots in 100' of water over timber. The spots were anywhere from 45-75 feet down. Drop Shot was all we used.

We did catch some smallies on steep bluffs with a jig, but they were few and far between. If this is your first time fishing in July, I would highly suggest a guide. You will learn more in a half day trip than you will "learning" on your own for a week.

Good luck and enjoy IMHO the best bass lake in the country!
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Old 06-26-12, 03:50 PM   #7
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my advice for summer fishing on table rock is to go at night. jigs, and plastics will be about all your will need. as far as locations, way out on flatter structure where the roll off matches up with the depth they are wanting to hold. right now, bass will still be caught shallower at night than where they are caught during daylight hours. when we get to late july and august, you will catch them right where you were graphing them in the middle of the afternoon.

someone mentioned boat traffic in the daytime. if you want to enjoy your fishing, this is why that i am suggesting to do your fishing at night. much more comfortable temp wise also. i have lived in cassville mo. since 1963 and have fished table rock every since. i am going to tell you that bass can not be caught during the day, but they are much harder to do so, and the boat and barge traffic is just brutal. it is very hard to just keep yourself in the boat. particularly in the area where you will be staying.

bo
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Old 06-26-12, 11:47 PM   #8
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Thanks for all of the replies! I really liked that website, lots of good info. I don't think that we have the time/money for a guide, and we are using only a rental boat (Nitro Z7), so we can't go at nighttime. All I want to do is catch fish, and I appreciate the advice greatly! I will definately go and buy some redfins (what size/color?), and some drop shot stuff. We don't really want to make any long runs across the lake.

sooo... Key Points:

1. Find the thermocline and look for suspended bass on the electronics over the tops of fish attractors and main lake points (and shad schools, for that matter).

2. Blind fish around/under docks extending out to around 50 ft of water with a jigging spoon.

3. Locate ledges along the main lake with dropoffs that extend into 100+ feet and probe these with c-rig, football jigs, worms, and shakey heads.

4. Fish topwater spooks and poppers in the early morning around docks

5. Fish the redfin over treetops in the morning


Do I have anything wrong? Thanks!

BFK
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Old 06-27-12, 01:15 PM   #9
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Looks like you have a pretty good game plan. Good luck and be sure and let us know how you guys do.
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Old 06-27-12, 08:07 PM   #10
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thanks for the help! I'll get back with you around the end of July when we get back!
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Old 07-04-12, 06:17 PM   #11
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Dumb question, can someone point me toward a good Table Rock redfin? Brand?
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Old 07-04-12, 09:30 PM   #12
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Dumb question, can someone point me toward a good Table Rock redfin? Brand?
The actual Redfins are made by Cotton Cordell. There are several similiar baits out there but for some reason the Redfin seems to work the best.

Here is the regular model - http://www.cottoncordelllures.com/details.aspx?id=8780

Here is the jointed model - http://www.cottoncordelllures.com/details.aspx?id=8791
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Old 07-05-12, 11:22 AM   #13
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What color combination do you usually use?
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Old 07-05-12, 06:20 PM   #14
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What color combination do you usually use?
Since the Redfin is at its best in clear water and around schools of baitfish, just find a shad pattern that you have confidence in and go for it. Something with a chrome belly for sunny days and something with a white belly on a cloudy day is a good starting place.
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Old 07-07-12, 09:02 AM   #15
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I have a place on table rock although I dont fish down around big cedar much but..The best colors on the fin are the smokey joe or chrome/black back.
The trouble with them is that they are a basicly a junk bait , guys go through a dozen to find a couple good ones. I change the split rings and the hooks and add weight in front of the joint to get them to wake right ...if you get a good one guard it.
Also the dock bite may be good on spoons, I like the white war eagle's I had a good day on them last week but it had to be the right dock and 35 or 40 feet at the deepest stall. I ran out of white and they still bit the cole slaw .
Like was said the football jig in watermelon candy or pbj is never a bad choice, Last week they bit the pigsticker in greenpumpkin/orange pretty well but that can always change.I like a baby brush hog or speed craw for a trailer......good luck ! Also check hookedonbass.com for some great fishing reports.

Last edited by rangerrider; 07-07-12 at 11:39 AM.
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Old 07-21-12, 05:58 PM   #16
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We just got back after after a week on Table Rock at Big Cedar. That place is awesome!! We (me and my dad) went fishing every morning. We never got the chance to rent a bass boat, so we fished in the Big Cedar cove exclusively.

On tuesday, we took out the jonboat and caught four right off the bat in the morning. They were crushing shad on the top, and we caught all four on topwater with the redfin.

Wednesday was when they released alot of water, so there were no shallow schooling shad. We only caught one, and that was on the dropshot.

Thursday morning I caught six on a Cordell CC Spoon, all were largemouth. Later on in the day, I jigged the spoon during the rainstorm that we got. I was jigging in an empty boat slip under a covered dock. I caught one and broke off a monster! The fish made an unheard of run, took like fifty feet off of my line, jumped, and then broke me off on a dock cable.

Friday was another spoon day. We each caught one on the spoon, and I caught a catfish on it too.

I love how the fish are so silvery green there! I want to thank the people on the forum that helped me get a game plan down. That will be the first of many trips to Table Rock to come.
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Old 07-21-12, 11:17 PM   #17
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It sounds like you guys had a great time. I am glad that things went so well for you.
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