Missouri Walleyes !!!!

[No-Bass]

Heard some great stories about Bull Shoals but I am wondering if there is any good population of walleyes in TABLE ROCK lake near Branson.

I am making a trip to Branson in early March and hope I can try for walleyes instead of the Bucket mouths I've heard so much about. Can anyone recommend a walleye guide on Table Rock or any good tips for fishing it. Where will the walleyes be at this time of year in southern Missouri?

No-Bass

[cisco]

There's a fly-bait-tackle shop just past Sunterra Plantation going out of Branson SW of town. The owner is himself a devoted trout fisherman, but knows what's going on in the area. Stop in and ask -- he'll put you on to what you want. Good luck.

[Sunshine]

I asked the exact same question a couple of years ago. I contacted the local DNR and talked to two top-notch area guides who I have fished with on Table Rock (my family and I have been staying on Table Rock during spring break for the last few years). What I have found out is that although Table Rock is an outstanding bass lake, you would be wasting your time for walleyes. I'd suggest that you look at the thread about Bull Shoals and try there (it's relatively close to Branson) or fish for bass on Table Rock.
Email me if you want the names of the DNR and Guides that I have contacted concerning walleyes.

[Glyde Ryder]

NO BASS you about have to fish for Table Rock walleyes in the head waters below Beaver Lake dam down in Arkansas. Table Rock is not a good Walleye fishery.The Bull Shoals headwaters at Forsyth only about 25-30 miles from Branson is where Godzilla swims in March. The warm water hydroelectric generation from Table Rock that flows 13 miles through Taneycomo Lake(Trout) discharges into Bull Shoals and thats where the Walleyes are. Refer to previous thread Bull Shoals USFA for excellent Guide, Buster Loving.

[No-Bass]

Thanks G-R! I haven't seen a detailed map of the water between Table Rock and Bull Shoals. Is there a dam or spillway at Forsyth? Or how do you tell when Taneycomo ends and Bull Shoals begins? Is the river deep near Forsyth (if you call it a river?) or is there many shallow spots to eat up a lower unit? I have a 16ft Lund Deep-V with 60Hp, will I have problems, or smooth sailing?

No-Bass

[Dutchman]

I though I should mention that it's a short drive on Bull shoals to Arkansas. There's only a small sign sitting on a hill that marks the state line. Lots of area to fish that know one else is fishing, their all to busy fishing for crappies and bass.

[MOeyez]

No-Bass, you can get to the Powersite Dam (headwaters of Bull Shoals, downstream limit of Tameycomo) by boat if water is at power pool or above, but right now the water is 6-8 feet low--no go. Hopefully, we'll get some significant rains over the next month. Till then, you can't get any further upstream than Barker Hole, which is about 6 miles above the Beaver Creek launch southeast of Forsyth. There's plenty of water everywhere else, and the only current midstream hazard is a pair of mud humps just below the mouth of Beaver Creek. (They're easy to get around.) Lots and lots of good-looking water, and in early March the walleyes will be climbing all over everything (relatively speaking, of course!).

There are some walleyes in Table Rock--rumors are there are some real monsters, but Glyde Ryder is right--no one fishes for them or has much of a handle on 'em. The few that are caught each year are taken either by accident by bass fishermen, or illegally by giggers in the spawning streams. The Hotspots map says most of the walleye fishing is confined to the Kings River Arm, and I have heard there's a run of walleyes into the Kings River in early March. The headwaters of Table Rock (i.e., the dam at Beaver Lake) is primarily a trout and striper fishery (it's in Arkansas, by the way, and gave up a new state record striper last year). That doesn't mean no walleyes run up there, it's just a mystery.

So, if you fish Table Rock for walleyes, you'll be a true frontiersman!