Table Rock turnaround in progress

Slow bite likely to improve as temperatures rise

BRANSON, Mo. – After a cancellation at the Red River, the FLW Tour finally commenced its 2010 season Wednesday morning on Table Rock Lake. Although the present conditions aren’t ideal, both the fishing and the weather should improve throughout the week.

The Ozark lakes, Table Rock especially, are notorious for being productive in nasty, cold conditions. When the FLW Tour visited last March, the catches were nothing short of phenomenal. The high temperature on day one was 37 degrees, and yet David Walker caught a 26-pound, 11-ounce limit. In fact, it was the coldest day in FLW Tour history, and yet the field smoked the bass – especially largemouths. So if the weather is cold once again, why is the bite worse? The answer lies within subtle water temperature differences.

Last year the Ozark Mountain region experienced a relatively mild winter. In this scenario, the bass don’t stray too far from the bank. In the days leading up to the tournament, the temperatures were in the 60s and 70s, and some anglers were sporting flip-flops. Once the event commenced, the temperature crashed. But the water was already warm enough to solidify their shallow-water position. Essentially, the warm weather brought them to the bank, and the quick cold snap made them go on a feeding binge. It also helped that many of the popular creek arms had a stain to them.

This year the weather has been consistently cold, and thus the bass retreated to deep water. They haven’t returned yet, but that could slowly begin to change. Today’s high temperature is predicted to reach nearly 50 degrees with bright sunshine. Each of the next three days calls for sunny skies and continuous warming, with Saturday possibly hitting 60. That could be enough to bump the creeks into the low 50s and give the fish a reason to poke around up shallow.

Mark Rose and Dave Lefebre are two FLW Tour mainstays who love fishing in this type of weather. Both anglers plan to begin their day by probing Table Rock’s deep, clear waters.

“This tournament sets up nice for me because I’m not just a deep fisherman, I like the winter and prespawn too,” said Rose, who is coming off a win at the American Fishing Series Championship. “I’m not catching what I’d like to, but I’m staying positive. Today I’m going to drag a 1/4-ounce Strike King football-head jig and see what happens.”

Lefebre said he’s shooting for roughly 15 pounds today. But he thinks notching a 20-pound day during the opening round is feasible.

“I’m staying mentally positive; this lake has a lot of big fish in it,” he said and then smiled. “It’s cold today, so I’m going to start deep. But the conditions are going to change over the next three days.”

Rose agreed with Lefebre’s assessment and believes the winner will likely have a combination of deep fish and shallow fish.

“I don’t think there are enough shallow fish to win. But I think the shallow bite will improve tomorrow and the next day. Today will be a slow grind, that’s for sure.”

Logistics

Anglers will take off from Table Rock State Park Marina located at 380 State Park Marina Road (Highway 165 South) in Branson, Mo., at 7 each morning. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will also be held at the marina beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s final weigh-in will be held at the Branson Convention Center located at 200 W. Main St. in Branson beginning at 4 p.m.

Fans will be treated to a Family Fun Zone & Outdoor Expo at the Branson Convention Center on Friday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday, prior to the final weigh-in from, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be a drawing for a Can-Am ATV, and rod-and-reel combos will be given to the first 300 kids under 14 in attendance on Saturday. The Family Fun Zone & Outdoor Expo includes Ranger boat simulators, the opportunity to interact with professional anglers, enjoy interactive games, activities and giveaways provided by sponsors, and learn more about the sport of fishing and other outdoor activities. All activities are free and open to the public.

In FLW Tour competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers. The full field competes in the three-day opening round. The co-angler competition concludes at Friday’s weigh-in and the top-five pros continue competition Saturday, with the winner determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days.

On the Web

For those who can’t catch the weigh-in action in person, FLWOutdoors.com offers FLW Live, an online application that brings fans real-time weigh-in results, streaming video and audio.

In addition to FLW Live, FLWOutdoors.com is offering real-time updates from the water throughout each day of the Table Rock event. Simply click on the “On the Water Coverage” banner from any of the FLW Outdoors, Bass and FLW Tour home pages.

Wednesday’s conditions

Sunrise: 6:41 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 27 degrees

Expected high temperature: 48 degrees

Water temperature: 38-43 degrees

Wind: NNW at 10 mph

Maximum humidity: 47 percent

Day’s outlook: sunny