Guide finding small-mouth bass in high water

BLUE EYE, Mo. – Bill Babler was fishing Table Rock Lake’s flood zone.

The moment he launched his boat, he was surrounded by reminders that these aren’t normal times at the famous Ozarks reservoir.

With the water level almost 17 feet above normal – a near-record high – Table Rock is taking on a new look.

Trees that had been in backyards only weeks ago are now flooded timber. Boat docks have become islands, their walkways under water and cut off from land. And many ramps are flooded and at least temporarily out of use.

The fishing? Well, some anglers complain that the bass have become hard to find in the maze of new cover.

Not Babler. As he slowed his boat to a stop in a stretch of water off a point in the dam area, he talked excitedly about how good the smallmouth bass fishing has been.

“I’ve talked to a lot of people who have been frustrated,” said Babler, 57, who has been guiding at Table Rock since 1992. “But they’re casting the wrong [direction]. They’re working the new cover that has been flooded.

“They need to turn around and cast out deeper. That’s where the fish are.”

The smallmouth fishing has been as good as he can remember. Last week, he had one day when he guided clients to three smallmouths that weighed more than 5 pounds.

Other trips also have produced good quality and quantity.

“This year is the best we’ve ever seen for size,” he said. “We’re catching a lot of healthy, keeper fish.

“The high water hasn’t bothered the smallmouths at all. The fishing has been amazing.”