the bassfecta
like other ozark lakes, table rock is home to small-
mouth, largemouth and spotted bass. unlike some of the
other lakes in the region, however, table rock offers a
legitimate chance to see a 3-pound specimen of any of
those species weighed in. though targeting jumbo small-
mouths specifically is likely to be difficult, if not unwise,
they can bulk up a bag in a hurry at table rock. and
bohannan says it’d be a mistake to count out the potential
of spotted bass to carry pros into the top 10.
Lake vitals
area: 43,100 acres
shoreline: 745 miles
Impounded river: white river
the costa title on table rock with this pattern in ’08, he
relied on a football jig and a deep-diving crankbait.
topwaters – late summer and most of fall are prime
time for a topwater. as more and more bass push up
shallow to join the big ones that are already roaming
there, the topwater bite should get correspondingly bet-
ter. for years, buzzbaits and buzz frogs have been the
deal in the ozarks, and while that’s still the case, the
river2sea whopper plopper is possibly the hottest lure
in the region now. running the banks is standard proce-
dure, and there’s a realistic chance that the series
october-november 2016 I fLWfISHInG.com
Watching the Weather
In october, the average high air tem-
perature is 70 degrees in branson, but
come November that average high drops
to 56 degrees. depending on how the
autumn weather shakes out come the
first week of November, the bass could be
in any number of phases.
If the weather stays warm, the best bet
might be to find some schools that are
still hanging around offshore. with lower
temperatures, beating the banks for fish
that have pulled up for the fall feed is a
viable option.
the main thing for competitors to
keep in mind is that just because the cal-
endar has made the change of seasons, it
doesn’t mean all the bass have as well. In
the 2008 costa flw series championship
held at the same time on table rock,
bohannan caught fish shallow for second
place, and david curtis earned the win by
targeting an offshore school on a river
ledge.
championship could be won on a topwater. everything
depends on the weather.
Who made the field
• the top 40 boaters and top 40 co-anglers in the season stand-
ings in each of the five u.s. divisions – Northern, western,
central, southeastern and southwestern – if they fished all
three regular-season events in their qualifying division.
• two boaters and two co-anglers from each of four
International division nations – china, Mexico, south
korea and canada – will also compete. ■
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