Table Rock Rocking with TBF Tournaments
TBF, High School Fishing Championships set to get underway
The Bass Federation National Championship, that organization’s biggest high-stakes tournament of the year, will open Thursday morning out of Port of Kimberling on the shore of Table Rock Lake. TBF anglers from 45 states, the District of Columbia and the Canadian province of Ontario will vie for more than $200,000 in cash and prizes.
The tournament’s top angler will win the $100,000 “Living the Dream” prize package that includes entry into the 2016 Forrest Wood Cup, paid entry into the 2017 Walmart FLW Tour as a pro, travel expense stipends for each event and use of a fully rigged Ranger boat. The top co-angler will receive paid entry into the Costa FLW Series division of choice. In addition, the National Championship’s 14 divisional leaders – seven boaters and seven co-anglers from each of the organization’s geographic divisions – will advance to the 2016 FLW Bass Fishing League All-American.
The TBF Championship winds up Saturday evening, but the FLW/TBF Student Angler Federation High School Fishing National Championship is just getting started that day. It also will take place out of the Port of Kimberling Marina & Resort, and concludes Sunday afternoon. The final weigh-in for it will take place at the Walmart store No. 1 in Rogers, where the final weigh-in of the FLW Tour event on Beaver Lake will also be conducted Sunday evening.
Here’s what Table Rock holds in store for the TBF and HSF events.
About the fishery
Table Rock is a typical White River impoundment where largemouths and smallmouths share the water with the predominant spotted bass population. Timing-wise, the anglers of The Bass Federation and High School Fishing could be right on target for the start of the largemouth spawn. Bedding or not, bank cruisers should provide anglers with plenty of targets if the weather warms as expected.
The James River, Long Creek and Kings River arms of the 50,000-acre lake are considered prime destinations for bedding largemouths. Spotted bass and smallmouths might be encountered anywhere roaming the flats or staged on main-lake points and humps.
The lake elevation is around 915 feet now, which is normal for spring, and the water temperatures have been hovering in the mid-50s except in some secluded, south-facing pockets. Water clarity is fair to good, with the upper White River and James River arms being clearer; dingier water is the rule east of Kimberling City.
Tactics in play
A typical Table Rock strategy might involve going after a limit of spots first, and then trying to upgrade with largemouths or smallmouths. If the spawning bite for largemouths is on, however, look for sight-fishing to play a key role from start to finish.
Figure on Storm Wiggle Warts and SPRO Rock Crawlers and a variety of square-billed crankbaits in shades of red and brown crawfish to get a lot of fishing time, along with various soft baits in crawfish patterns and the ubiquitous Ned Rigs and shaky heads. Because shad are the predominant forage in Table Rock, shad-pattern swimbaits, crankbaits and jerkbaits also are springtime producers.
Gravel and chunk-rock bottoms that attract smallmouths and spots will be likely targets, as well as areas where the bottom transitions from deep to shallow or two bottom types meet. Assuming that largemouths will still be in prespawn mode for the most part, secondary points, wood cover and docks near the mouths of spawning bays and creeks will be popular stops.
Critical factors
Wind: As has been the case elsewhere in the lower Midwest and upper South, high winds and numerous cold fronts have played havoc with the largemouth bite. An east-southeast wind of about 9 mph is predicted for the first day of the tournament, with southeast winds of about 12 mph forecast for Friday through the end of the High School Fishing event.
Water temperature: Table Rock’s water is chilly, and as long as it stays in the mid-50s or thereabouts, there won’t be a huge move toward the banks for the lake’s largemouths. However, sunny to partly cloudy weather is forecast for the TBF National Championship and the High School Fishing National Championship, with air temperatures ranging into the high 70s during the day. If that forecast is accurate, the first wave of fish should be moving to the shoreline.
Water color: As noted, the lower end of Table Rock is dingy. While that won’t keep bass there from biting, it might concentrate more fishing pressure in the upper end of the lake – especially the James River arm – where the water is clearer and sight-fishing is more viable.
Dock talk
Matt Wolz and Alexander Bouldin of Western Illinois won an FLW College Fishing Central Conference tournament on Table Rock last weekend with 16 pounds, 14 ounces. That’s a fairly typical one-day limit for the lake, and suggests a daily average for the TBF tournament that will be similar. However, fishing could be a lot better, too.
Wolz and Bouldin caught two smallmouths and a trio of largemouths on a Gene Larew Biffle Bug (green pumpkin) rigged on a Biffle HardHead jig that was dragged along the bottom, as well as a Storm Wiggle Wart (green phantom).
“We fished up the James [River] and south of Piney Creek,” says Bouldin. “We found water that was 59 degrees in places, so the fish were becoming more active. We didn’t see any bank cruisers, but we did see a couple of beds up there in practice earlier in the week. The water temperature then was around 62 degrees.
“The day before the tournament, I realized that I need to get some Senkos,” Bouldin continues. “We went to a local tackle store, and a guy told me that it took 22 pounds to win a local club tournament the weekend before. Now, you figure the local guys have an edge anyway, but the conditions were a bit better as well. So, if the weather does improve and the water warms up like it’s supposed to, look out.”
Tournament details
Host: Table Rock Lake Chamber of Commerce
Takeoff times: Days 1 through 3 (April 14-16), 7 a.m.
Takeoff location: Port of Kimberling, 72 Marina Way, Kimberling City, MO
Weigh-in times: High School Fishing National Championship, Day 1 (Saturday, April 16), 2 p.m. Final weigh-in Sunday afternoon (April 17) at Walmart No. 1 in Rogers, Ark.
TBF National Championship, Days 1 through 3 (April 14-16), 3 p.m.
Weigh-in location: Port of Kimberling Marina & Resort