Professional guide Phillip Stone of Stone’s Guide Service (www. ozarksfishin.com) has a lot of smallmouth experience on Table Rock. His view is similar to that of Anderson.

In the spring around the time of the spawn, he recommends, look for smallies on gravel flats in 10 to 12 feet of water. He likes to throw a Wiggle Wart (www.stormlures.com) to provoke strikes from these finicky fish. Stone points out that on 8-pound-test line, Warts will run around 10 feet deep. “That’s right where you want to be,” he noted.

After the spawn, smallmouth fishing starts picking up. From early summer into October, Stone fishes the thermocline, which is usually found in 25 to 35 feet of water. He drags a jig, brown and purple on a football head, right through the thermocline over any structure he can find — usually a gravel point, rock field, cut or channel swing.

Stone advises anglers to keep a rod rigged with a spoon handy at all times. “You never know when you’ll see surface activity,” he remarked. “It’s best to be ready.”

October can be a special month at Table Rock. That’s when you find them in relatively shallow water, maybe 15 feet, around cedar trees. The favored technique is to wake a spinnerbait over the tops of the trees. The strikes are dramatic, nerve-shattering and a heck of a lot of fun.

Those who like winter fishing should try the pole timber in 30 to 35 feet of water. Fish any structural irregularity you can find with a jigging spoon.

Realistic size expectations for smallies from Table Rock will be around 3 pounds, with an occasional fish up to 5 pounds. There are smallmouths over 5 pounds caught, but not on a regular basis — not here or anywhere else for that matter. It just doesn’t happen.

THE SPOTTED BASS OF TABLE ROCK LAKE

The spotted bass fishing at Table Rock is the best in the state — no doubt about it. In fact, it’s one of the best venues in the country, and it just keeps getting better. It shows no signs of slowing down.

Anderson believes that the great spotted bass fishing is directly tied to the forage base, because while gizzard shad and crayfish support the smallmouths, threadfin shad support the spots. Table Rock has a lot of threadfins. They roam the waters in huge schools and haunt the deep water that spots prefer.

Being slow to mature and even slower to grow to any reasonable size, spots need this forage. It may take as long as 7 years for a spotted bass to reach 15 inches at Table Rock. That’s a long time — maybe not as long as in some places, but still a long time.

Anderson’s research shows that the spots of Table Rock don’t hang out with smallmouths as much as do those in many waters. They tend to school in large numbers and follow the threadfins. It’s important for anglers to keep this in mind.

Spots will typically be found suspended, in huge numbers, over deep channel swings and timber. At times they will suspend off the bluffs that line the lake. Even then, however, they will be deep. At times, most notably during the summer and the winter, it’s not unusual to find them at depths approaching 60 feet.

The only exception to the deep-water rule comes during the spawn. Anderson opines that they spawn nearer to largemouths than they do to smallmouths. By this, he means “shallow.” He frequently tells the story of watching as he was scuba diving what he describes as the “biggest spot I’ve ever seen” spawning under a log on a gravel bank. The fish was really big. His fascination with it caused him to forget about his air supply — and suddenly, he was out of air!

Fortunately, Anderson was able to recover — because the water was shallow enough that all he had to do was stand up. The fish wasn’t very deep.

Anderson reminds anglers that to be successful with spots on his lake they must find, and fish, the threadfin shad. “If the threadfin shad are around, the spots won’t be far away,” he offered in summary.

Capt. Rick LaPoint of Chauffeured Guide Service (www.strikebass.com) offers Missouri anglers the following advice (which, incidentally, you should take seriously, as he regularly puts clients on 3-pound spots and has himself caught several over 5 pounds): Fish shallow for the spots in the spring. He reports that they spawn as shallow as 8 feet, seemingly mostly in the clear main-lake water.

As the seasons progress, the spots tend to drop deeper and deeper. During the warmer months of the year the “magnum spots” (as LaPoint calls them) are mostly found near the dam in the main lake. Some are caught suspended at 30 feet or more, at times to 60 feet, off the deeper points in this area of the lake.

“Seems like the main lake is where we get the biggest ones,” he remarked succinctly.

During most of the year, LaPoint recommends, anglers should fish with a 3/4-ounce football head jig dressed with a rubber skirt. If that doesn’t work, try a drop-shot rig with a small plastic worm. Other anglers like blade baits.

Late in the year, he recommends jigging spoons over suspended fish in the trees. They will be deep at this time of year, maybe 50 or 60 feet. LaPoint and a client once caught several good spots at 95 feet. “Deepest I’ve ever caught a fish,” he recalled with a mixture of enthusiasm and wonder.

Note that, although both Anderson and LaPoint approach spots from a slightly different perspective, they both emphasize that spots are deep-water suspending fish. That’s where they fish for them; that’s where you should fish for them.