Fishing Report by:     Wilderness Trail      

The Ozarks had an early taste of summer this last week as the temperatures jumped into the upper 80’s for a few days. The lake temperature went from 65 degrees to 70 degrees in three days pushing sunfish to the banks and largemouth bass that had been in deep water into spawn and onto beds. Lake clarity varies from creek to creek and pocket to pocket this week. You will find some parts of the lake clear and other parts stained. Lake level this week is at 653.86, ½ foot below normal pool. For you catfish lovers, they have moved up on the banks in creek arm cuts and there are some in the main lake cuts. Chicken livers, Magic Bait, nightcarwlers and small perch are the best baits. 

Crappie continue to move toward their spawning areas and a few are already spawning. Fish close to the banks with crappie minnows, Swimming Minnows or crappie tubes for best results. White Bass are still close to the back of the creeks although their spawn is over. Look for top water frenzy feeding in the mornings and fish clear Pop R’s, small spoons or #5 Shad Raps. During the day they will school under shad; drop spoons or ¼ oz. roadrunners to trigger a few bites.

Largemouth bass remain in post spawn and spawn patterns. The post spawn fish have moved to deep ledges, boat docks and elongated points. Some top water is present in the mornings and late afternoons with Zara Spooks, Spit’N Images, buzz baits and Chug Bugs. During the day flip jigs or throw a Carolina rig with lizards or centipedes.

Smallmouth bass are in deep water off the side of points, both pea rock and chunk rock. They are moving up on the points to feed and can be caught on tubes or jigs and any other crawdad imitation you wish to fish. When they slide off into the deeper water jigs seem to shut down and tubes or Mojo rigs with a centipede, 4" lizards, finesse worms and brush hogs seem to work the best. 

Kentucky bass are all over and very hard to pattern. There is a lot of shad against the shore as well as in the middle of the pockets or cuts. If you see Kentuckys breaking the surface throw Spit’N Image or Pop R baits into the schools. The Kentuckys that are working the shad along the banks will strike Fish Doctors, centipedes and small crankbaits. Also try watermelon or watermelon/red tubes.

The big story for walleye this week was turned in the PWT Walleye tournament. Some walleye were caught early in the week on Reef Runners pulled on lead core line over the standing timber in 60 to 70 feet of water. That pattern changed drastically when summer arrived and warmed the lake 5 degrees. The pattern changed to 6 to 8 feet of water off the banks on small crankbaits and bottom bouncers with crawler harnesses. The winning weight for three days was 47.97 pounds turned in by Bill Ortiz from Richland Center, WI. His winning pattern was working stained cuts and creeks pulling small crankbaits about 50 feet behind his boat. He kept his boat in 10 to 12 feet of water and set an 8 ½ foot pole off to the side using his trolling motor to pull with. Congratulations also to Bill Prust and Mark Schuyler of Bull Shoals and Larry Devors of Salesville for finishing 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the Co-Angler Division. Congratulations to all of the PWT anglers. Once again it was a terrific tournament.

Lake Rating: We need the weather to stabilize so the fish will set up some patterns. This week we will call the rating GOOD.

Fishing for trout on the White River has been good this past week. Generation has been low so the Berkley Power Egg bite has been good in yellow and white. With generation the Buoyant spoons, Thomas Colorado’s, and Blue Fox are the bait of choice. The fly fishermen did well on Olive Woolly Bugger, tungsten bead head midges, San Juan worms and soft hackles. The Brown trout are being caught on Countdowns, Suspending Rogues and nightcarwlers.

Remember to keep only what you can eat and release the rest for another day. Rick Culver of Wilderness Trail does the research for this report and the writing of this report.

Blue cat fishing on lake of the Ozarks really slow catching small fish on the flats drifting shad sides.

Truman looks like blues are going to the nest

Date: 5/12/05
Lake Level : 606.2
Normal Lake Level : 606
Water Condition: Dingy
Surface Water Temp: 68 - 72

Crappie fishing has been good, especially compared to the previous couple of weeks. Lots of small crappie have been caught on the banks this week, with the bigger ones hanging back and shallow. If no luck near the banks, work your way out, or move on to a different bank or cove. A limit of good size crappie can be had with patience and keeping on the move. The serious part of the spawn is yet to happen. Find good rocky banks, log jams and pockets along the banks with cover. Minnows and white or pink jigs or Road Runner type lures, along with white or pink crappie nibbles.

Bass have been good using white/chartreuse spinner baits or tubes, fished anywhere from 2 - 10 feet deep, near rocky points and banks.

Cat Fishing has been tremendous. Several large flatheads and blues were caught on trotlines or jugs using perch for bait. Channel cats are have been very good from the banks with a pole and reel, using night crawlers, shad sides or stink bait.

White Bass have been slow.

CRAPPIE: Good: The crappie are spawning and are near the banks. After our rains last Thur. ( 5+ inches ) the lake has come up almost 2'. The fish that were spawning are still in the same spots, just 2' deeper. The backs of the creeks are muddy now and those fish are going to be difficult to catch. Keep fish in the same places and concentrate on the cleaner parts of the lake.

BASS: The bass fishing is much improved over last year. Our first three tournaments have produce good numbers of fish being caught. Jigs, spinner baits and rogues are still the lures of choice for most fisherman. The fish are shallow especially up the river arms and up the Branch. See Thurs. 2005 or Weekend 2005 tournament results for the weigh-in.

CATFISH: GOOD: The cats are biting and can be found in shallow waters. Fish shallow points and flats where the cats are feeding. Several nice stringers are being caught by fisherman on a variety of baits. Channels and blues are most common.

White Bass: Fair: The whites are starting to show up on the main lake. They are not concentrated in large schools yet but you can fish points and humps and find nice size fish. Use pepper spoons on the deeper fish and rooster tails and roadrunners on the shallower point fish.

WALLEYE: Fair: A few fish are showing up on the main lake points. Crappie fisherman are catching a few while casting the shallow points.

The fishing the past few weeks has been tough for the most part. It's been hard to pattern anything because of the weather changes, one front after another. We seem to be about two weeks behind as far as water temperature and spawn. Fish are starting to bed in some areas of the lake now where water temps are ranging from 56 to mid 60's in some areas in the afternoon.

The upper rivers, King's White & James you can catch lots of numbers, mostly small buck bass moving up on 4"worms, French Fry's, 3"-4" grubs on main lake and secondary points, split shot, Mo-Jo rigs or Carolina rigs working best. Fish the smoke or white, or watermelon 3"-5" grubs on 1/8 or 1/4 oz jig heads. Watermelon & green pumpkin worms are working good, also Chompers in the same colors. Fish these worms and grubs in 3'-15', most of the fish have been on bottom or close. On windy days try slow rolling a 3/8 oz. & 1/2 oz. spinner bait from the mouths of the creeks to the very backs, fishing in 2'-10'. Crankbaits in crawdad patterns (browns & greens) Wiggle warts, Bandit 200's, Bombers will also work. I have also started to catch some on Senko's in the creeks as well.

With the water temps rising and the fish moving up to spawn, all sorts of lures will catch fish, you just have to be patient and give your favorite lure time. The Dam area, Kimberling City, Baxter & Campbell Point areas the patterns will also work in these areas, but the mosson bottom can be a problem while split shotting, Carolina rigging, or any bottom baits fished. Most of the moss seems to be from the bank out to about 8', and not all areas have it. Try to position your boat so you can fish the outside edge of the moss. Smallmouths are starting to turn on in the clearer water, they can be caught on grubs and 4" worms split shot or on slider head rigs.

Good Luck!!