Table Rock Lake, Missouri

Ned Kehde - May 24, 2013

Before the advent of the Finesse News Network and In-Fisherman's blog site, there were only a few anglers who were devotees of the Midwest finesse tactics that the late Chuck Woods of Kansas City pioneered in the 1950s and 1960s by creating his Beetle, Beetle Spin, and several other baits.

Nowadays, the number of ardent recreational anglers who employ Midwest finesse tactics has grown appreciably. Dave Reeves of Lansing, Kansas, is one of them. Reeves' forte revolves around Z-Man Fishing Products' 2½-inch ZinkerZ affixed to a small jig. And for the past two years, not only has Reeves used this ZinkerZ combo to waylay an impressive array of largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass from a variety of lairs that grace Table Rock Lake, Missouri, but he has verbally trumpeted the virtues of this Midwest finesse rig to many of his fellow anglers around Table Rock Lake's boat ramps, tackle shops, resorts, and restaurants.

Reeves is also a regular contributor to the Table Rock Lake forum on ozarkanglers.com, where he has posted a goodly number of words, videos, and photographs about the 2 1/2-inch ZinkerZ and jig combo.

He recently sent an e-mail to the Finesse News Network, which said: "Here are just a couple of links to some recent reports on OAF from other folks who are trying the little rig at Table Rock. Should be interesting to keep an eye on OAF, especially the Table Rock page, going forward."

Here are the links that Reeves included in his e-mail:

Zman Baits

The Little Bait That Can

Aunts Creek

Cape Fair

It is nice to see that the recreational anglers at Table Rock Lake have discovered the effectiveness of the 2 1/2-inch ZinkerZ. Perhaps, they will soon discover the manifold virtues of Z-Man's Finesse ShadZ, Hula StickZ and several other Midwest finesse baits and tactics. For information about other Midwest finesse lures, anglers can examine these blogs: