May is a great time for Fishing Table Rock Lake. Today (5/18) the sky was overcast and there was some sunlight on and off throughout the day. Though the weather was bad for some outdoor activities, it was great for fishing today.
We started on a long gravel flat with scattered chunk rock and some wood debris that was left from last years flooding. We were on fish almost immediately with me throwing a Carolina rig and my partner for the day, throwing various baits including D-rigs, drop shots and an Alabama rig. Though his first fish came on the Alabama rig, that was the only one that hit on that particular bait. I stayed with the Carolina rig knowing that it was working well and used a 2-foot leader attached to the swivel.
By the time we got to the end of the flat, fish were starting to chase bait and I started throwing a Lucky Craft Gunfish in pearl with a blue back. The fish absolutely hammered this bait while I was “walking” it across the surface. The action continued for nearly an hour and we quit counting fish long before the action was over.
If you have never seen or thrown a Gunfish, I can tell you that they are definitely worth the investment. Mine were given to me by a friend when they first came out and I can tell you this was a gift that has been long lasting. Though my partner was throwing other topwater baits, he was not getting the bites that I was.
We traveled “up river” in the James River arm of Table Rock but found that due to recent rains, the water was becoming heavily stained north of the Cape Fair Marina and downright muddy north of the Cape Fair bridge. This is always a “bad thing” here on Table Rock. We later tried other flats with limited success and spent a lot of time pitching jigs around laydowns on bluff walls near the channel. This worked out to be somewhat successful but the fish caught were definitely smaller. The jigs we were using had green heads and the skirts were green with black flake and green/black flake and orange. The jigs were 5/16 oz
These are jigs that I make and sell under the name Advantage baits. On clearer days, I also use jigs in watermelon candy and have found great success with these. If anyone needs custom jigs made, they are welcome to contact me and make an order.
UPDATE: It’s a week later and we are getting lots of rain. If you are fishing Table Rock Lake this summer, always make sure that if the water has risen due to heavy rains, you watch for debris traveling down river. This takes place every time the lake or areas upstream get heavy rain. It is very common that some of the logs will be under the surface and a boatel not being extremely careful could hit one and do a lot of damage and personal injury
