Table Rock Lake Fishing

Here is how MDC biologists sized up Table Rock Lake for 2026:

Fishing for black bass should be excellent in 2026. Largemouth bass are plentiful throughout the lake as a result of the high lake levels in past years. Fall 2025 electrofishing surveys revealed good numbers of largemouth bass in the 15”-18” range. These surveys also revealed an abundance of spotted bass in the 11”-14” range, with just three percent of the spotted bass captured in the fall 2025 surveys exceeding 15”. Due to the high abundance and slow growth rates of spotted bass in Table Rock Lake, the minimum length limit is planned to be reduced to 12” in 2026. Anglers are encouraged to harvest spotted bass to help reduce overcrowding and improve growth.

Crappie fishing should be fair in 2026. Fall 2025 netting surveys in the James River Arm revealed fair numbers of black and white crappie in the 7”-9” that should reach the legal-size limit of 10” in the fall of 2026. Forty percent of the black crappie captured in the fall 2025 netting surveys were greater than 10” and 10% were greater than 12”. Thirty-six percent of white crappie captured in the fall 2025 netting surveys were greater than 10” and 3% were greater than 12”. Crappie fishing will be best in the James, Kings, and Long Creek arms where crappie densities are higher.

White bass fishing will be fair in 2026. The best opportunity to catch white bass will be when the fish congregate far up in tributary streams to spawn in March. Anglers willing to troll or fish jigging spoons can also catch white bass during the summer months. Gravel flats 25’ to 50’ deep are the best areas to troll or spoon for white bass. Trolling can also be effective in February and early March when these fish begin to move up the river arms. As water temperatures warm, the white bass will move further up the river into shallower water but will congregate in deeper holes in the channel up the river arms of the lake before moving up.

MDC, 2026 Missouri Fishing Prospects (report), quoted; retrieved October 27, 2026.

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USACE Little Rock District, Table Rock Dam; reading for October 27, 2026, retrieved October 27, 2026. Provisional; Corps water control page.

Check the caption for when the Table Rock Lake reading was taken.

By MDC acreage, Bull Shoals Lake tops the neighbours at 44,944 acres.

MDC waterbody outlines, ramp and attractor layers, 2026 prospects; retrieved October 27, 2026.