Kimberling City Area: With the falling water conventional wisdom says the fish should be pulling out into deep water. So far that is not holding true, every morning several fish are being caught on shallow points and flats though out the mid lake area from 8’ – 15’ deep. Jewel Pro spider and Football jigs with Chompers jig trailers have been the best bait in green pumpkin / green flash, green pumpkin candy flash and watermelon / purple flash with green pumpkin or melon twin tail trailers. Simply throw the bait to the bushes and work it slowly along the bottom back to the boat. Once the sun comes up a couple of patterns take shape; drop shot rigs with Robo Worm or Chompers drop shot worms in MM III , brown / purple or Aarons Magic have been taking fish suspended off the bottom from 15’ – 20’ over 25’ – 35’ feet of water, the second pattern is flipping the bushes. It sounds crazy for Table Rock but several fish are being caught flipping isolated bushes on flat points with an Eakins jig or tube.

James River: The James is hot right now; deep crankbaits, football jigs, Carolina rigs and even shallow crankbaits are taking both quality and numbers of fish. The typical summer patterns are dominate, look for fish to be on gravel roll offs through out the mid to upper river and work DD-22’s, DT-16’s and Strike King 600 Series crankbaits along and over the drop. Alternate Jewel Football jigs and Carolina rigs on these same locations working the bat from the flat into the channel to be effective. Most of the bites will come as the bait is falling off the roll off so pay close attention to any changes is direction or weight as you pull the bait off the drop. Further up the river and in the back of larger creeks several fish are being caught on shallow crankbaits; Bagley squarebills, Lucky Craft R.C 1 or R.C. 2 crankbaits worked around shallow cover have been catching numbers and quality as well, run the crankbait into the cover to draw reaction strikes.

White River: The White river continues to produce; Football Jigs, Carolina Rigs, Drop Shot Rigs, Deep Crankbaits, Spoons and Buzz Baits are all producing throughout the river. Much like the James the bite is concentrated on points with deep water close by and rolls offs on flats; concentrate your efforts on the drop to be effective. Any isolated brush or rock cover on these areas should be fish thoroughly with a variety of baits. The drop shot bite is similar to the mid lake area, most of the fish are suspended off the bottom from 12’ – 25’ deep over 25’ – 35’ of water, pay close attention to your electronics and the feel of your line, the fish are swimming up with the bait and knocking slack in the line, if you don’t pay attention you will miss most of the bites. Up the Kings and in the backs of bigger creeks there is a buzz bait bite early and late, work the bait in and around shad close to cover to be effective.

Dam / Branson Area: The bite on the lower end is as productive as the rest of the lake, spider and football jigs, drop shot rigs and deep crankbaits are all producing numbers and quality. Look for shallow points with deep water close by to be holding most of the fish. Fish Jewel football and spider jigs in green pumpkin / green flash or green pumpkin candy flash with Chompers trailers from the brush line out to 25’ deep. Deep crankbaits are working on roll offs and flats with isolated rock or brush piles, make long casts beyond the cover and run the bait into the cover from several angles to be effective. Much like the rest of the lake the majority fish being caught on a drop shot rig are suspended. Look for the level the majority of the shad are holding to key you into the depth holding the fish. Most of the fish have been around 15’ – 25’ range over 25’ – 40’ of water. Natural colors like Aaron’s Magic, MMIII and brown / purple have been the most effective.

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