Focused Fishing Web Log

Kimberling City Area: The water is in the bushes all over the lake giving anglers a variety of options. Early and late in the day fish can be caught around flooded bushes on Spooks, Sammy and Pop-R’s and as the sun comes up switch to weightless Salty Sinkers and PB&J Eakins jigs. During the low light hours you don’t need to be real close to the bushes to be successful but once it is light you will need to but your bait in or against the bush to get bit. With the amount of current being drawn through the lake there are fish holding on points as well; Jewel Football and Pro Spider Jigs will catch these fish from 15’ – 25’ deep. Most of the Kentuckies being caught are coming out of deep trees on bluff ends and deep points. Use drop shot rigged Chompers Drop Shot Worms in the tops of trees between 30’ – 45’ deep.

James River: Still plenty of current, color and debris in the James River, fish are positioned on both main lake and secondary points allowing the current to bring the bait to them. Carolina rigged French fries, lizards and brush hogs are all producing fish from 12’ – 20’ deep on both pea gravel and chunk rock points. These same areas will produce on a Jewel Football jig as well; a 5/8 oz. brown / purple flash with a green pumpkin Chompers twin tail has been the best combination. Just like the mid-lake area several fish are being caught in the bushes; isolated willows are out producing other bushes and Eakins’ jigs have been the ticket.

White River: The White River continues to be productive as well; Carolina rigged lizards and brush hogs on points, Jewel Football jigs on points and deep crankbaits on roll offs have all been very effective this past week. It really appears that the fish have transitioned into a summer pattern and are becoming more predictable. In and around the bushes weightless green pumpkin Super Sinkers and Missouri Craw Eakins’ jigs are producing some really nice fish, concentrate on the isolated willow bushes. The topwater bite is pretty good early and late as well in particular when there is cloud cover; Spooks, Sammys and Pop-R’s are all producing numbers of fish as well as some solid keepers close to the flooded brush.

Dam / Branson Area: Points are the key on the lower lake; it seems that if you move off of a point you loose the fish right now. Smaller baits like french fries, fish doctors and baby brush hogs have been productive on Carolina rigs from 15’ – 30’ deep, Jewel 7/16 oz. Pro Spider Jigs in PB&J or green pumpkin / green flash are working and Chompers Ultra Tubes on 5/16 oz. Jewel Speed loader heads have all been effective for smallmouth around the dam. Spotted Bass seem to have committed to a summer pattern in the past week with most of the KY’s suspending off shore in trees and tree tops. Look for trees topping out between 30’ – 40’ deep in water as deep as 80’ to be holding most of the fish. Chompers Drop Shot Worms fished in the tree tops will produce both numbers and quality when you locate the right tree.

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Dam area to Lead Hill: Bull Shoals is pretty much right at power pool and the Corps is generating to keep it that way. All of the current most of the fish have positioned themselves on points through out the lower end of the lake. Jewel Football and Pro Spider jigs in PB&J or green pumpkin / green flash, Carolina rigged lizards, French fries and baby brush hogs and Chompers Ultra Tubs on Jewel Speed Loader heads will all produce on pea gravel or chunk rock points from 20’ – 35’ deep on or near the bottom. Spotted bass are holding below schools of shad on bluff ends and the drops off of deep points, find the bait on your electronics and the fish will not be far away. White and chrome spoons, Chompers Drop Shot Worms and single tailed grubs are all catching these fish.

Lead Hill to Power site: The amount of water coming through Table Rock and Taneycomo is creating substantial current on the main lake above K-Dock. A variety of fish have moved into the current and a virtual feeding frenzy has been taking place early and late in the day. Schooling white bass, spotted bass and a few largemouth can be caught during the low light hours on Spooks, Sammys and Pop-R’s. Further down stream most of the fish are holding close to points from 15’ – 25’ deep and can be caught on Carolina rigged brush hogs, Super Sinkers and lizards, these same fish will bite a Jewel Football or Pro Spider jig as well, try swimming the jig along the bottom allowing it to bounce off the rocks and drawing strikes from waiting bass.

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Link to the Generation Schedule: http://www.swpa.gov/generation.htm

Best fly patterns: The almost constant generation continues so be sure to call or check the SWPA website before you come down for current conditions. Best flies this past week have been scuds, bit scud, g-bugs, midges and sow bugs in sizes ranging from #16 - #12. The best colors have been black, dark purple, grey and dark olive all fished on a sink tip line.

Best spinning tackle: The water continues to run almost around the clock making the fishing outstanding, buoyant spoons, little cleos and rooster tails have all been great baits. A few browns were caught last week on Rapalas around Cooper Creek launch area. As usual when the water is shut off switch over to a drift rigged with mixed colors of Berkley Power Bait or Gulp on the same hook.

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Kimberling City Area: The transition to a summer pattern continues at a slower pace than usual, all of the rain coupled with the attempt by the Corps to maintain the power pool level has fish holding to points through out the mid lake area. The usual baits have been effective this past week; Carolina rigged lizards and french fries, Jewel football and Pro Spider jigs as well as Chomper drop shot worms have all produced both numbers and a few quality fish. Look for most of the fish to be holding on main lake and secondary pea gravel or mixed gravel / rock points, fairly tight to the bottom from 20’ – 35’ deep. On windy days add a 4� single tail smoke or salt an pepper grub to the mix and “scrub� the bottom from 12’ – 20’ deep/

James River: All of the rain continues to add current, color and debris to the James River. While a few fish have been caught toward the backs of creeks with water flowing into them on Eakins jig and craw combos or Lucky Craft RC crankbaits the better bite is on secondary and main lake points. Much like the mid lake the best baits include a variety of bottom hugging offerings; Carolina rigged lizards and brush hogs, Jewel football and Pro Spider jigs and shaky head worms have all been producing. In addition a number of fish are showing up on deep diving crankbaits; DD 22’s, DT 16’s and Bandit 300’s have all been putting fish in the boat on the “roll off� side of points.

White River: Still a good bite up the White River as well, just like the rest of the lake all of the current from run off and generation has positioned most of the fish on main lake and secondary points. The same presentations are working here as well with a good mix of fish being caught on both pea gravel and rocky points. Up the Kings the rain has brought in current, color and debris, be careful running the Kings River right now as there are a lot of big floaters. The bite in the Kings has been a little different; the current is positioning the fish on points but they seem to be holding much shallower here than in the rest of the lake. Eakins Flippin Finesse jigs around log jams and other wood cover has been an effective way to catch fish this week.

Dam / Branson Area: Much like the rest of the lake you will find the fish holding tight to points in the dam area. Most of the fish on the lower end are being caught on drop shot rigs with either plum Chompers drop shot worms or Aaron’s Magic Robo worms from 20’ – 35’ deep on or near the bottom. The fish have not yet started their move to the deep trees and as long as there is current they will hold in this pattern. Further up Long Creek there have been a few fish being caught on spinnerbaits and shallow crankbaits around wood cover on flat banks. Like the rest of the lake watch carefully for debris when running above the state line.

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Dam area to Lead Hill: Bull Shoals has dropped to close to power pool this past week moving fish into deeper water. There seems to be moderate to heavy generation everyday and the current created by the generation has positioned fish on points, humps islands through out the lower end of the lake. Smaller baits like fish doctors and French fries on Carolina or Mojo rigs have been effective presentations as have Jewel Pro Spider Jigs, Chompers Ultra Tubes and Drop Shot worms. Schools of Spotted Bass are following shad throughout the lower end and they can be caught on a combination of top water baits early and late and spoons or drop shot rigs when the sun is up.

Lead Hill to Power site: All of the generation from Table Rock and Taneycomo has resulted in quite a bit of current on the upper end, couple that with the rain this past weekend and you have the makings of a decent shallow bite. In the backs of the bigger creek arms you will find fish holding close to shallow cover waiting to ambush shad that have moved into the highly oxygenated water in the run off. Shallow crankbaits like Lucky Craft RC 1.5, Rattle Traps or Bandit 100’s have been very effective around this cover. Once the run off dissipates most of these fish will move to secondary points where Jewel Football and Pro Spider Jigs along with Carolina rigs will be key. On the main lake points have been the story with most of the fish coming from15’- 25’ deep on Jewel jigs and Carolina rigged baby brush hogs.

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Link to the Generation Schedule: http://www.swpa.gov/generation.htm

Best fly patterns: With all of the rain the generation started on Monday and will likely go all week so be sure to call first. Best patterns this past week were scuds, g-bugs and soft shell scuds in dark olive, ginger, purple and dark grey.

Best spinning tackle: The Corps of Engineers started moderate generation on Monday and the fishing improved along with it. Little Cleos, Buoyant Spoons, Rooster Tails and Panther Martins have all started to produce fish. Drift rigs are also working with live crawlers and mixed colors of Berkley Power Bait.

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Kimberling City Area: Fish continue to be in a transition phase through out the lake but all of the heavy rain over the weekend has slowed the move to deep water slightly. Most of the fish being caught in the mid lake area are still holding on points near deep water but a few were caught this weekend in flooded brush and behind shallow docks. For the fish on points a couple of patterns have been working, Carolina rigs, split shot rigs and shaky head continue to produce fish from 18’ – 25’ deep on these points with lizards and fish doctors. In addition Chompers Drop Shot Worms on a drop shot fished right on the bottom from 25’ – 35’ has also produced, most of these fish will not show up on your graph until you get the bait to the bottom so it can be very frustrating finding them. Around docks and in the bushes a PB&J Eakins jig with a green pumpkin Eakins craw has been the ticket.

James River: Allot of current and allot of debris in the James River right now be careful and you can experience some great fishing. The current and rising water has positioned most of the fish on both main lake and secondary points from 10’ – 20’ deep, Carolina rigs and Jewel Football and Pro Spider jigs have been producing best brown / purple flash and Missouri craw are dominate colors. Look for most of the fish to be on the down stream side of the point where the current is heavy and on the upstream side where it is fairly slack. The deep crankbait bite is just now starting to heat up, DD-22’s, DT-16’s and Bandit 300’s have all been catching a few fish on roll offs and points on the main lake and in the larger creek arms.

White River: The White river is still producing both numbers and quality fish; for numbers head to the flooded buck brush and shallow docks it seems most of the buck males have selected these areas to recover from the spawn. Better fish have been coming out deep on both main lake secondary points; pea gravel points near deep water have been a little better than chunk rock or mixed rock points. Carolina rigged lizards, Jewel Football and Pro Spider Jigs and drop shot rigs are all producing on these points from 20’- 30’ deep. The Kings River has allot of current and debris just like the James, most of the fish are coming fairly shallow on wood cover on or near points and other current breaks, surprisingly several good fish have been caught slow rolling spinnerbaits this past week on shallow wood.

Dam / Branson Area: The dam area was least effected by the rain and rising water, most of the fish continue their spring to summer transition unabated and can be found on pea gravel and mixed gravel / rock points leading to deep water. Much like the mid lake area allot of these fish are “glued� to the bottom and won’t show up on your graph until baitfish or your drop shot comes by. Look for irregularities and cover on the bottom to be holding most of the fish, rock piles, small drops and brush are all holding fish from 25’ – 35’ deep. The best two techniques to catch these fish are a Carolina rigged french fry or fish doctor or a Chompers Drop Shot worm, concentrate on the 25’- 35’ depth range with either technique.

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Dam area to Lead Hill: Bull Shoals remains a couple of feet high and should stay a little high for the next few days. Smaller fish continue to be taken out of the flooded buck brush toward the backs of creeks and in smaller pockets, Eakins Jigs and weightless Chompers Salty Sinkers have been best baits for these fish. The better quality fish have moved off shore following pea gravel and mixed rock and gravel points into deeper water. Most of the fish are either on the bottom or suspended in the 25’ – 35’ depth range and can be caught on a couple of distinct patterns; Carolina rigged lizards or french fries as well as Jewel Football jigs worked along the bottom have been very effective, pay close attention to any drops or rock piles you find as they will hold most of the fish. Drop shot rigged Chompers Drop Shot Worms, Zoom Finesse Worms and Kinami Cut Tail Worms have been effective when you find the isolated cover holding the fish on these points.

Lead Hill to Power site: The generation out of Table Rock and Taneycomo has been light to moderate all week even with the rain water on Friday night, with that in mind the water level has been rising throughout the lake having the greatest effect on the upper end. Fish are following shad toward the backs of the creeks and the highly oxygenated run off from Friday’s storms. Shallow crankbaits like a Lucky Craft RC 1.5, small spinner baits and weightless Chompers Salty Sinkers are all producing fish in the backs of the creek around any wood or rock cover holding bait. Make multiple casts around each piece of cover to be successful. Out on the main lake most of the fish are holding on points near deep water from 15’ – 25’ deep and can be caught on Carolina rigged lizards or french fries and Jewel Football jigs.

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Link to the Generation Schedule: http://www.swpa.gov/generation.htm

Best fly patterns: Not allot of generation this week and it seems to have brought more fish above Fall Creek out of the deeper water near Branson. Smaller midges, scuds and g-bugs have been the ticket this week sizes #18-#20 in wine, ginger, grey and olive out producing others.

Best spinning tackle: With little or no current spinning rod fisherman have had to resort to live crawlers and Berkley Power Nuggets and Eggs on drift rigs to get bit. Look for deeper pools with cooler water to be holding most of the fish.

Don’t Miss Tournament Fishing Radio on ESPN 1400 AM Springfield
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