Table Rock Lake is one of Missouri’s best bass fisheries for a reason. Fisheries biologists are focused on keeping it that way. To do it they must manage the bass population to keep it healthy, prolific and for anglers to catch the size of bass they come looking for here in the Ozarks.
For Table Rock that means a 15-inch minimum size limit. Longer than normal minimum size limits aren’t unusual, but they are when covering the entire bass population. Largemouth, spotted bass and smallmouth all show sustained, healthy populations at Table Rock.
On a lot of lakes a 15-inch minimum might only apply to one of the bass species. Here, it’s all three of them. That poses a challenge for the anglers to meet the minimum size for every bass caught.
This morning I spoke with many of the anglers who are catching bass just below the 15-inch mark. That will make this tournament a game of ounces, more than pounds. And catching a “kicker” big bass will mean even more than it does elsewhere.