My wife was kind enough to accompany me on a 1/2 day fishing adventure at Table Rock Lake. Table Rock is huge compared to our Lake Wilson, spanning more than 43,000 acres with 750 miles of shoreline.
We met our guide Tim Sainato (http://www.timsainato.net/startup.htm) at Moonshine Beach and launched at this boat ramp.
The ramp is so wide that even I don't think I would have a problem backing a boat down this ramp. They have a float that you can tie your boat up while pulling your trailer out.
The air was crisp, probably in the mid fifties, but the lake was calm. We hit a spot near one of the marinas and started casting carolina rigs. My first fish of the day was a spotted bass, they were all shaped like a mini footballs getting ready for the spawn.
Tim made the catching part of fishing easy as he put us on fish throughout the day and my wife was able to catch this nice smallie. The fish were concentrated in about 15 ft of water and we caught a few more spotted bass.
We moved to a different part of the lake and started using a med depth jerk bait casting towards the shoreline. We hooked into a number of white bass.
I caught my first smallie using the same jerk bait lure ( check out lure in left hand )
A northerly wind began to blow in the late afternoon and the water temperature dropped significantly but the white bass continued to bite.
Sadly all fishing trips must come to an end, but I made one last cast before we decided to head back to the dock. It was probably only about a second after the lure hit the water that I had another strike and fish on. This fish felt better than the white bass and as I brought it close to the boat, I could see that it was a nice smallie about two pounds. Just as I was about to lift the fish into the boat, he shook again and was a quick release.
All told, between my wife and I, three spotted bass, five white bass and three smallies, including the quick release 5 lb lunker ( *note: anykine fishermen tell tall stories that all fish lost are always the five pounders )
Anyway, if you're ever in Branson and looking to go fishing, give Tim Sainato a call (417-335-0037) or email: tim@timsainato.net) , I'm sure he'll fix you up.
steve