Local anglers like guide Tim Sainato of Go Fish & Company seem to have a knack for finding them. "Last year we had one of the best years we've ever had for both quantity and quality of fish," said Sainato. "In the summer we fished from 30 to 50 feet deep on the main lake flats close to the channels. From the first week of June until about the third week of August, the fishing was almost unbelievable, and we limited out every day. The bass would only bite for about an hour or two every morning when they were feeding on the shad, and then they'd move. We were catching 3- and 4-pound fish."

According to Sainato, the fall fishing on Table Rock can be fabulous as well. "Everyone is deer hunting," he stated. "You can have the whole lake to yourself."

Something for experienced white-bass fisherman to remember is that these shad aren't the surface-loving gizzard shad, but threadfin shad, which prefer deeper water and a lot of the white-bass feeding takes place in deeper water rather than in the shallows.

Table Rock Lake covers 43,100 acres and is six miles southwest of Branson. Contact the Southwest Region's Hannibal office at (573) 248-2530 or the Table Rock State Park marina at (417) 334-2628 for more information. To book a trip with Go Fish & Company, call (417) 335-0037.

CLEARWATER LAKE
"I recommend anglers give Clearwater a try," said fisheries biologist Paul Cieslewicz. "Clearwater supports a good white-bass population. Every April the white bass migrate up the Black River to spawn. The best fishing that time of the year is upstream of Sinking Creek, and whites in the 1- to 2-pound range are common."

Jason Wilson, natural resources specialist with the Clearwater Lake Project, shares Cieslewicz's enthusiasm. "The lake is good for both numbers and sizes of white bass," he remarked. "Anglers come all the way from St. Louis to fish for whites. The reports I get from the locals are that the fishing is good."

Small spinners and crankbaits tempt these spawners into hitting angler's offerings. Also: Find the shad, and you'll find the bass. This can be in open water, or near the sunken brushpiles and trees submerged for fish habitat. Hundreds of cedar trees cleared from nearby woodlands to create secondary growth areas for wildlife have been dropped into the lake. Last year, numerous cedar trees were sunk off the Thurman Point Access.

"The brushpiles are better for crappie and bass, but occasionally the white bass will be near them, too," said Wilson. "Once we started adding fish structure about seven years ago, it seemed we were adding the missing component to Clearwater. It really helped the fishery."