Our lakes are still pretty high, and as I type this report, we’re getting new rounds of storms dumping as much as an inch of rain at a time. More in the forecast all this week, so I’m not sure where we’ll end up. Dam operators have been running anywhere from one to two units each morning and up to three units in the afternoon. Beaver Lake isn’t dropping much at all, but Table Rock has been dropping about three inches a day.
Our water temperature from Table Rock Lake rose from 49 to 51 degrees this past week, and the dissolved oxygen has held steady at about seven parts per million. All in all, this is great quality water for our trout, and they are responding actively — that means they’ve been biting!
Our guides have been making hay drifting scuds under a float, either using a fly rod or spinning rod. Drifting them on the bottom with just a weight has not been as successful because the bottom is covered with green algae/moss.
Anglers are drifting anywhere between the dam and Short Creek. Most of them are using at least seven-foot spinning rods, up to nine feet, with four-pound line and fishing the scuds nine- to 10-feet deep. They use spit shot to get and keep the scuds on the bottom. They’re using either one or two scuds, #12 or #14 in gray, olive or brown.
The cool thing about using scuds is that big trout are being caught, mostly rainbows, but also an occasional brown. And all the trophies, 20-inches or better, are released after a pic and measurement.
I asked Guide Bill Babler Sunday whether to use night crawlers or scuds to take some friends fishing Monday morning. He said he’s been fishing with the scud rig under a float for weeks because it’s out catching worms by far.
Our Monday morning crew actually did pretty well drifting night crawlers from our place to down past Cooper Creek. There are also reports of yellow Berkley Power Eggs drifted on the bottom working well, too. We used the 1/8th-ounce drift rig to get on the bottom. It seemed to be the perfect weight.
