Natural State Kayak Anglers NWA hit the water for Table Rock 2.0 a week after winning the Club Championship for the All-American Classic on Truman Lake. Several Moyak kayak anglers joined the fray as well, looking to cash a check and maybe get some payback for the All-American. Turned out to be a pretty good battle on the Rock. On a side note, can I just say this has felt like a weird year and a weird spawn season? No rhyme or reason it seems to what’s going on from day to day. But back to the subject at hand…
A total of 66 anglers were entered for Table Rock 2.0 and for most it was a good day of fishing, although size was hard to find. Only one 20+ in this event out of 450 fish caught – wow! Micah Funderburgh won Big Bass with at 20.50″ largemouth. The rest of the field caught a lot of fish. The Fish Per Angler (FPA) was a really strong 6.82, the highest of the year for an NSKA NWA event. Just over 80% of anglers turned in a limit, making it a good day overall.
Moyak anglers showed out, taking several spots in the top 10, while the top three had a tri-state feel: Missouri’s Chad Davison taking first place with 87.00″ on the day, Arkansas’ Brandon Prince taking second with 84.75″ and Richie McMichael from Kansas took third with 84.75″ – losing on the tie breaker.
Your Table Rock 2.0 Top Ten:
- Chad Davison (MO) 87.00″
- Brandon Prince (AR) 84.75″
- Richie McMichael (KS) 84.75″
- Jason Fields (AR) 84.50″
- Chris Robbs (MO) 83.25″
- Tyler Zengerle (AR) 83.00″
- Joe Hayes (MO) 82.75″
- Terrill Standifer (AR) 82.50″
- Micah Funderburgh (MO) 82.00″
- Jacob Simmons (OK) 81.25″
Angler Roundtable
The winners from the Rock 2.0 shared how they got it done. Chad Davison, Brandon Prince and Richie McMichael shared their tournament details.
What area of Table Rock did you fish and why?
Chad – I fished what I refer to as the mid-lake part of Table Rock which I define as the section from Kimberling to Campbell Point. I was in a large creek in this section. I chose this part of the lake because I have a lot of history, and I liked the water color which wasn’t as clear as the Dam area. It was about 5-6ft of visibility in my area. I only had a few hours to pre-fish on Friday afternoon, and when I launched, I immediately started catching solid fish, so that made the decision easy.
Brandon – I ended up fishing history on Table Rock and choosing a area that would be one of the last areas on the lake to warm up being later in the spawn and full moon.
Richie – I was fishing in the Eagle Rock area of the lake. I found baitfish stacked in the back of a creek and followed them around all day.
What were the key techniques or ways you caught your fish?
Chad – I caught the majority of my fish on a jerkbait shallow (<5ft) on secondary points with mixed rock and gravel. Also caught a few fish on a CrockOGator Shaker Head with a Shortie worm.
Brandon – I mainly threw a glide bait on bluff walls or 45 degree banks leading into spawning pockets try to catch those pre or post spawn fish.
Richie – I threw a variety of shad imitation baits. spinnerbait, Pop-R, Choppo, Frittside 5 bladed jig and a 3.5″ Keitech. Caught fish on everything with the bladed jig getting the bigger bites.
When fishing a tournament around the spawn, do you target spawning fish? If so, how?
Chad – I have never been one to sight fish, but I definitely blind fish spawning areas. I feel like this was a wave of fish that had just moved shallow due to the full moon we had. There were a ton of bass boats in my area, but most were fishing deeper than I was, so I was able to catch fish behind them all day. I feel like the jerkbait is an overlooked way to catch spawning fish.
Brandon – If I have a day of practice and can locate area where fish are spawning or pulling up I will definitely spend my time in that area locating bigger fish. I do love to sight fish. If I don’t have time to practice I will focus on those pre-spawn fish so I don’t spend so much time looking during the tournament. I always want to be in a area where the fish are coming to me not leaving.
Richie – With no pre-fishing I had no idea what I wanted to target but not a big fan of bed fishing. I only saw a few beds but no fish on them so decided to stay with moving baits and follow the bait fish around. I left the area midday to go fish points but found bass boats on everything I wanted to fish so went back in the creek and continued to follow the baitfish around. Caught over 30 bass but nothing bigger than 17.75″.
What’s your favorite lake in Missouri? And, in Arkansas?
Chad – Table Rock is probably my favorite lake in Missouri. I really enjoyed fishing Lake Conway last month for the first time.
Brandon – My favorite lake in Missouri would probably be Table Rock and for Arkansas it would be Lake Conway.
Richie – Table Rock has always been my favorite lake to fish. My first tournament win was on Table Rock and always finish well in tournaments there.
What is your biggest bass caught this year? What did you catch it on?
Chad – My biggest so far this year is 22.5” caught on a Wiggle Wart in March.
Brandon – My biggest for this year would be a 23.5″ largemouth caught on a Senko.
Richie – My biggest bass in 2023 so far was 8.2 lbs caught on a Megabass Popmax at Lake El Salto.
NSKA NWA AOY Race
Table Rock 2.0 extended the AOY lead for Tyler Zengerle, who is looking very strong with four green-rated scores in the 90s so far. The good news for Tyler is none of his pursuers really made a key move in this event, with some tough scores in the next several spots. When you get a big score in a tourney that includes a lot of anglers from another club, it’s like a bonus because it pushes others down the points list. Josh Landreth and James Haeberle are hanging tough and have a chance. AOY still feels like there are a lot of competitors, but another tourney like this one and Z may be hard to catch.
Heavy Hitters
The Heavy Hitter race is kind of like AOY, no dramatic moves made this week by those pursing the leader, Josh Landreth. However, I predict there are more in play to catch Josh than those in the AOY race. However, one more big on Tenkiller by Josh without a big by a close pursuer, and this could essentially be over…A couple of big fish caught by others and not by Josh can really make it tight down the stretch.
