Fishing in the woods.

Author: Terry Ellis
 

Well, took a trip to southern Missouri last week and hunted for bass like I have never have in my life. The water level was 15 ft. above normal pool. I was literally stuck on top of a 13-foot tree that should have been on dry land at one time.

The shoreline was submerged under 15 ft. of water. Most of the locals have to take a boat to get to their boat. Most people that live on Table Rock Lake have covered boat docks. They are adjustable to move in or out according to the water level, but most don’t adjust to this amount.

It was unbelievable, never seen anything like it. The fishing was slow and if any of the fish were shallow, almost impossible to get to. We first fished the tree line back in coves, throwing a swim jig and a white spinnerbait. The locals down there said throw a white spinnerbait this time of the year, if that doesn’t work throw a white spinnerbait, and if that doesn’t work, throw a white spinnerbait. This did hold true since the largest fish that were caught while we were down there were on these fore mentioned lures.

After working the original shoreline, we worked our way in through the trees. Literally using the trolling motor between the trees and scraping the boat with branches.  We would try to get back into the woods as far as possible. At times we would only get back a few feet and the trees were to thick to make it any further, other times we were in the woods 50-75 yards. Once back there the depth was still 8-12 feet back in the coves with the water still going back another 50 yards or more and unable to get back to the new shore line.  When fishing back that far, the best possible spots were when we were able to get close to the new edge as close as possible.

It was almost impossible to toss a swimming lure and reel back in, so we starting flipping jigs, tubes and I used a soft jerk bait.

On our second day the woods paid off. It was 80 degrees, and the largemouth were in the woods in about 8 ft of water. I just pitched a soft jerk bait back in and let it sink a couple of seconds and WHAM! I ended up with one just a bit over 3 pounds. We also boated smallmouth and spotted bass.

Overall the fishing was pretty slow but hey it was better then back home. The weather was in the 60’s and upper 70’s. The night we got back snow blanketed the ground.

Table Rock Lake can boast large fish and is worth the trip. We stayed at Crest Lake Lodge and their cabins were very nice. We fished a small tournament held by the lodge and at the end of the day they cooked us a steak dinner with all the fixens and free drinks. A place that I would highly recommend and would go back to in a heart beat.

If any questions call 715-832-5519 or email me at basshunterlures@yahoo.com.

Good luck and tight lines.