Even early dam opponents conceded fishing was good in newly filled reservoirs. Decaying vegetation and flooded timber provided fertility and cover for the fish.
One species drives sport fishing on Table Rock Lake, and hundreds of other government reservoirs – the largemouth black bass. They are superbly adapted to artificial lakes and they hit artificial lures with wild abandon.
As expected, Table Rock was excellent fishing soon after the dam was completed. This 1962 photograph of Virgil Ward and guide Dick Hovick with a two-day catch of Table Rock big mouth was in an ad for Ward’s “Bass-Buster” lures. This syndicated fishing show was often filmed there. Fifty years later, bass growth has slowed, but “The Rock,” as Table Rock Lake is called, hosts hundreds of bass tournaments. Since the lake filled, Missouri Department of Conservation biologists have kept track of fish populations. The Department’s “Annual Prospects Report” stated, “Fishing for black bass should be good in 2016.”
James Fork of the White: Transformation of an Ozark River (page 320)
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