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| Republic, MO angler Scott Bollinger and one of many nice bass caught on a Chompers jig and trailer. |
All through the 1970’s we always took vacation in the late summer. This was much to Dad’s chagrin; he would have much rather taken vacation during a better time of the year to hunt or fish. However, Mom made him go because it was the only time my sister and I were out of school. So, even though it wasn’t the preferred location and activity for the girls or the perfect time for the boys, every year we went to Indian Point campground on Table Rock Lake for a week of camping and night fishing.
Back then we didn’t have a lot of extra money and Dad said you couldn’t fish from a camper so we camped in a tent and spent the money on a bass boat. I completely understood and agreed with that course of reasoning, but the girls just didn’t agree at all. They would have preferred a camper (or fancy hotel) over a bass boat. The nerve of some people! While they were comfortably and peacefully sleeping away the night on the soft ground, in the pleasant 85° night air, in that nice tent that even had a mosquito net that kept out some of the critters, Dad and I were fighting off the mosquitoes and slaving away all night in the Bass Cat trying to catch the next day’s dinner. Remembering back today I’ve come to the conclusion that those two were just downright selfish. But Dad and I stood our ground and didn’t give an inch; we kept the boat.
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| Ed Larson with a good bass caught dragging a jig over a point in 25 feet of water while the dam was running water. |
We put in at Kimberling City about 7 pm to start our night. The lake was at 913.5 feet and a quick call to the Army Corp of Engineers verified that they were running water through the dam. This was a good sign. When there is water running through the dam it creates a current across the points in the lake and the fish will suspend on the points and wait for dinner to come floating by in the current.
To take advantage of the feeding fish we employed two different tactics during the evening. First, while the water was running we positioned the boat in 25 feet of water just off a point at Mill Creek. We tied on Chompers skirted brush jigs with blue flash skirts and the new Wild Hog soft plastic trailers. This was a deadly combination as we traveled back and forth across the point dragging the jig and trailers across the bottom at 25 feet.
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| Proof they were trying to make me look bad - they took the picture while my eye was closed and they cut my fish in half! The One-Eyed Hillbilly and a nice bass caught in submerged timber using a new Chompers wobble head jig and worm. |
Second, after the water stopped running later in the evening and with the boat positioned 25 yards out from some submerged timber under about 40 feet of water, we tied on new Chompers wobble head football jigs with 10 inch blue fleck plastic worms. The wobble head is a great jig that produces great life-like action. We pulled the worms through the timber waiting for the bass to attack. Throughout the course of the night, with each bump we each set the hook on several largemouth and a few Kentuckies. It was a great night-fishing trip in the Ozark hills.
Sadly, there was a conspiracy effort under way during the trip. After dark I hooked what I’m sure was a wall-hanger and my brother-in-law accidentally missed him with the net. Scott says the fish shook off the jig right at the boat but I think he knocked the jig out of the fish’s mouth (on purpose) with the net frame. Since it was dark I can’t be sure. It seems it was a team effort too because Ed said he saw the fish and that it looked to weigh only about 3 pounds. I’m sure it was 9 pounds if it was an ounce. Scott and Ed, of course, deny any conspiracy. As the night wore on and the wind came up they wanted to call it a night and seeing the writing on the wall, I knew they were teaming up for my misfortune so I reluctantly agreed. We wrapped up the trip and headed home.
The last time that I wrapped up a summer night fishing trip on Table Rock was 30 years ago. Dad and I had to race a thunderstorm back to the boat ramp at 3:00 am. We were just ahead of the wind and rain as we came in to the buoys at the marina. As he jumped out on the bank and headed up the hill he said, “Some poor soul is going to be very unhappy when they get back to the truck tonight.” You see, up in the parking lot where Mom and my sister had left the car and trailer there was a rig in the lot with some very dim headlights that someone had accidently left on when they exited the vehicle earlier in the evening. Just about the time the storm hit with full force Dad was walking back down the boat ramp and carrying on something fierce and I knew we were the poor souls! We got soaked. You don’t reckon the girls did that on purpose do you? Maybe we should’ve got them that camper. So says the One-Eyed Hillbilly.
For more information on great Chompers fishing tackle visit http://www.chompers.com/
To get up to the minute information on generation schedules and lake levels visit Southwestern Power Administration at http://www.swpa.gov/generationschedules.aspx and the US Army Corp of Engineers, Table Rock Lake, at www.swl-wc.usace.army.mil/WCDS/Reports/Data/Tabrock.htm
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