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Not many changes from last report. The water temperature is dropping with the cold temps we have had this last week. What a change!! Saturday January 3 it was in the mid 70’s, by Tuesday night it was in the single digits. Not may people fishing this week. With the water temp dropping, the fish should be in their winter patterns. They should be schooled up and slow to react. It seems that the largemouth are shallow as usual, the smallmouth are ranging from 10 to 30 feet, and the spotted bass are 40 to 60 feet. If the lake temperature gets down in the lower 40’s then we should have a good shad kill this year. I don’t expect the fishing to change until this happens. I will keep you posted on the water temperature.

From what I am being told and have heard the best patterns have been spinner baits and crank baits for largemouth bass in shallow water. For smallmouth bass use a jig-n-grub combination, crank bait, or plastics in 10 to 300 feet of water. For spotted bass drag night crawlers or jigs in 40 to 60 feet of water. The rest of the patterns below will also work as they do every winter.

-SPINNER BAIT- good pattern to use on a cloudy or windy day. Mostly around the brush piles or chuck rock banks, anything with cover on it.

-LIVE BAIT- Night crawlers are catching fish in the 35 to 60 foot range during the day. Main lake bluffs, bluff ends, lake flats, drop offs, timber and brush piles are the best places to look.

-DROP SHOT- This pattern is working well with night crawlers in 35 to 50 foot of water. There are several places to look- bluff ends, timber bluffs, brush piles, channel swings, and main lake flat points. I know this is a lot of places but the fish are really moving around to find the quality of water they need.

- SPOONING- This pattern is working well in 35 to 55 feet of water on the flats, drop offs and brush piles. The best thing to do is to try to locate the shad balls or bait fish and then drop your spoon around them. If there are any hungry fish around they should not be too far from the bait fish. The other thing to do is to look for bigger fish on your depth finder then entice them to bite by jigging a spoon in front of them.

-PLASTICS- The old grub, gitzit, tube jig, hula grub and any other variation of these are producing fish. Also, the lizards, french fry, salt craw and small plastic worm. Especially the bluegill or crawfish colored ones. Drag these in 10 to 60 feet of water depending on where the fish are on your depth finder. This has been the hottest pattern for smallmouth bass especially on the gravel flats and chunk rock banks on the main lake.

-JIG-N-FROG This pattern is working in the 15 to 25 foot range for smallmouth bass and 40 to 60 foot range for spotted bass

-CRANKBAITS- This pattern is producing fish esp. on cloudy windy days around the brush piles. Any perch-bluegill-sunfish color is working.

-TWIN SPIN- this pattern should also start to work on the timber bluffs any day.

Recommendations for Specific Species

WALLEYE - With the water temp increasing and the thermocline dropping the walleye are moving down past the thermocline. The old time fisherman will go way out on the gravel flats this time of year and look for the walleye hanging out there. They will look for shad balls and spoon around them or spoon around the blips on their fish finder screens.

1. Spooning in 35 to 55 feet of water on the main lake gravel flats.

2. Dragging a night crawler. This can be done with a basic split shot and hook rig, or with bottom bouncers. The walleye seem to be in the 35-45 foot range.

3. Trolling with chartreuse crankbaits. Flat trolling with deep divers is producing fish later in the day when the sun goes down and the walleye come up.

CRAPPIE- The crappie fishing is good. They are still coming in on small minnows, small jigs and small tube baits. Look around the sunken brush piles or standing timber in 30 to 40 foot of water.

CATFISH- The catfish are being caught on jug lines and trot lines off the main lake pockets and coves around brush piles and stumps. They are mostly feeding at night, however some day fisherman are catching them on night crawlers in 30 to 40 feet of water.

TROUT- There was a lot of trout caught on Bull Shoals Lake this last week. They are trolling spoons around the bluffs and deep water in the Bull Shoals Dam area and doing quite well. Most of the trout are in 55 to 65 feet of water.

Catfish fair on shad

Bluegill slow

Crappie slow

According to AmerenUE the current lake level is 654.91 with light generation scheduled for the next three days, which according to AmereUE should give the lake a level of 655.0 by Friday, February 20th. AmerenUE reports the water temperature taken at Bagnell Dam at 40 degrees, however bass boat gauges show surface water temperatures ranging between 36 degrees in the morning and 39 degrees in the afternoon if the sun is out. Most areas of the lake are dingy with a some portions in the creeks a little clearer, but not much. Visibility ranges from 2 to 6 feet. The ice is begriming to melt in the creeks and coves, but there is still quite a bit of ice midway to the backend of the creeks making it almost impossible to find any fishable secondary points. The good news is warmer weather is forecasted the rest of the week with some rain forecasted Friday or Saturday, so this should melt a majority of the ice.

LARGEMOUTH BASS - FAIR The jig n trailer,(brown, brown/purple, brown/black, grn pumpkin) with (brown, black or grn. pumpkin) trailers and the Chomper twin tail and single tail grubs (grn. pumpkin, watermelon and dark melon pepper) is probably the most reliable bite. The jig bite is still soft and when the bass take the jig they are just holding on, no tick or jerk indicating a bite. The suspended jerkbait is not producing like it should this time of the year, but the most consistent baits and colors have been the Lucky Craft 100 and the Bevy Shad (Aurora Black, Chartreuse Shad, and Baby Bass) and the large 5 1/2 inch Rouge (Black/Silver, Firetiger and Grey Ghost). The bass being caught have been coming out of 10 to 15 feet of water off large chunk rock banks on or near the channel swing, around docks and main lake bluff pockets. When working the jerkbait the best results have been to let the bait set for a minute or longer. Again, the most important thing is to locate a large concentration of shad, but this has been difficult because of the ice covering the better structure. Some bass are in brush or suspended over the top of the brush piles, but there has to be shad nearby to get bit.

SPOTTED BASS (KENTUCKY) - SLOW No change from last week. There hasn't been many large spots being caught, but the most productive pattern has been live crawdads and grubs off main lake points and bluffs. Road Runners and doll flies worked around main lake docks is producing some spots, but most are small.

CRAPPIE - FAIR The crappie are concentrated on the main lake bluffs and bluff points near brush 18 to 25 feet. Road Runners tipped and marabou jigs (white, chartreuse/black, purple/white and blue/white) tipped with Crappie Nibbles have been the best bite. Minnows also tipped with Crappie Nibbles are producing as well. 

Catfish No Report

Bass No Report

Crappie No Report

Trimble Wildlife Refuge is now closed to all boat traffic. You may not go North of the W-hwy bridge from the W boat ramp for any reason.

CRAPPIE: FAIR to GOOD After the water cools down most people start fishing in the marina coves and around the docks. Some nice fish can be caught under the W-Hwy bridge also from time to time. More people are starting to fish around the docks at the marinas and are catching fish. Small jigs and spoons are catching fish as well as minnows. Minnows are still your most consistent bait but the jig bite is getting better. Try pink jigs.

BASS: Poor: Fewer people are fishing for the bass now. Sunny days along the rocks or lay downs on sunny banks in the Campbranch arm. Jigs, spinnerbaits or crankbaits should work.

CATFISH: Fair: Some people have been doing well on the catfish using shad or goldfish but fishing in the deeper water. 15' to 20'

WHITE BASS: Fair to Excellent: The whites are feeding up in shad and can most often be found on main lake points in fairly shallow water. 10' or less. Use jigging spoons for best results usually in less than 10' of water. Around the mouth of Sail Boat Cove and main lake points, in the Little Platte area are also good. Fish the shallower points with the shallow water markers on them.

WALLEYE: Slow: A few small walleye are starting to show up in the main lake points with the white bass. As the water cools they should start moving up into the shallower water and onto the points.  

WATER LEVEL - 911.85 Normal Pool 915'
JAMES RIVER Upper 38-41
MAIN LAKE 41-44

Sorry about the lack of fishing reports this winter, I have been working another job and not able to get out on the water. I usually don't post from the end of November to the end of February, and start again the first week of March. Everyone has been asking for the weekly fishing report. I got out on the water the past few days so I would have something to report. I will be able to start posting them weekly again, hope you stop by once in a while and check them out.

BRANSON CHAPTER OF TROUT UNLIMITED MEETING TUESDAY, February 27, 7:00 p.m. at Shepherd of the Hills Hatchery.