Catfish No Report

Bluegill No Report

Crappie No Report

Bass No Report

Fishing Report by:     Wilderness Trail     

Mother Nature dealt us a mixed bag of weather this last week with some T-shirt weather in the mid-70’s and some much needed rain. Spring is just around the corner even though we are going to have a cool down in the upcoming week. The rain was a warm rain, which really jumped the temperatures in the lake and back in the creeks that had run-off. Main lake temperature is now 49.2 degrees with temperatures as high as 52 degrees in the back of northern creeks. The lake level came up almost a foot and we are at 644.87, 9 ½ feet below normal pool as of Sunday morning. 

White Bass, which we haven’t talked about in six months, are already moving back to shallow water in the northern exposure creeks. A few are being caught in Howard Creek, Sister Creek, Spring Creek, and Big Creek on Roadrunners and Lucky Craft Pointer 78DD’s. 

Crappie continue to be slow except in the upper lake areas above Lead Hill. Dragging a crappie minnow will trigger a few around brush piles and points in the mid to lower lake and in the upper lake tubes, crappie jigs and a jig and minnow are the bait of choice around blow downs and brush piles.

Largemouth bass made a major move off the main lake into the creeks and coves this last week. The big largemouth haven’t shown up yet but there are plenty of 15 to 16 inch males that are in. Jigs are great, Crankbaits (Bandits and Wiggle Warts) are even better, but suspending rogues are HOT! 

Smallmouth bass are showing up on transition banks and points and holding in 26 to 30 feet of water from the main lake to three-quarters of the way back into the creeks. Spider jigs and tubes are primary baits and on windy days, Wiggle Warts and Bandit crankbaits are also triggering some nice strikes. Suspending rogues are working on sunny glass water conditions, best colors are blue black and black back/orange belly. 

Kentucky bass are still with the shad but the shad have moved into the pockets and creeks and so the Kentuckys have moved with them. Spoons are still taking a few but the best bite is on grubs and rogues fished off the banks that have some large chunk rock present. Other baits that are worth fishing are Lucky Craft Pointer 78’s and Junior X-raps.

Walleye have been rumored to have already spawned. This not the case, they are just now moving to the chunk rock banks on the main lake and in the creeks. It is true that there were walleye in the back of some creeks in the upper lake areas a few weeks ago when we had the big warm up but that was a short-lived deal. Start working the entrance points and banks to small pockets or coves in the northern creeks with rogues, Lucky Craft Pointers, X-raps, Shad Raps and Glass Shad.

Fishing for trout on the White River has been up and down depending on the generation. With low or no generation Berkley Power Eggs in yellow and white have worked well along with a floating Rapala. With generation the Buoyant Spoons, Little Cleo's and Countdown Rapalas are the baits of choice. The fly fishermen have done extremely well with little generation on olive Woolly Bugger, Zebra Midges and caddis dry fly. The Brown trout are being caught on Countdowns, Jointed Rapalas, suspending rogues and nightcrawlers.

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.

Our lake is closed only during duck season now.

Which means it will open around the first of January each year and close around the end of November. 

Anyway check when you get your lake permit. Also our permits have been lowered. 

Crappie No report 

Bass No report 

Catfish are biting river worms and shrimp

Bluegill No Report

Crappie No Report

Bass No Report

Channel catfish FAIR

Largemouth bass POOR

Bluegill sunfish FAIR

Redear/Sunfish POOR

Crappie GOOD/FAIR

Trout FAIR, at Honker Pond (kid’s fishing only), Coot Lake and Plover Lake.

Both brown and rainbow trout were stocked in Coot and Honker Pond November 17, 2005. Another stocking of rainbow trout occur on January 31, 2006 for Honker Pond and Plover Lake. Lunkers were stocked into Plover and Coot Lakes. The last stocking of trout for the season was on February 16, 2006. Coot and Plover Lakes each received 1000 rainbow trout each. To harvest trout everyone must have a trout permit including children fishing at Honker Pond. Adults must also have a Missouri fishing permit.

Cottontail Lake will be closed for physical renovation for the next couple of years. The lake has refilled and has been stocked with small fish. After they reach a harvestable size the lake will reopen for fishing.

Lake of the Ozark water elevation is 655.77’. Truman Lake water elevation is 705.21’.  Water temperature is 42 degrees Fahrenheit.  Water discharge from Truman Dam is 0 CFS through the gates. 

Crappie: Good: The crappie were starting to bite again as temperatures began to warm. I have had good reports of crappie in the coves. Try to find where a creek empties into the cove and set up in 8-10 feet of water. Minnows are the bait of choice. We tried jigs off our docks this past weekend and managed to land three crappie in a half hour, one of which was legal. Frozen fingers on the fiberglass rods forced us back inside to the woodstove and the hot toddys!

Catfish: Good: Anthony Ford @ catfishingguide.com said the best cat fishing right now is down near Bagnell Dam in the deep water. He has been routinely catching 20# blues. When you catch one big one he said don’t give up on the hole because like big deer, these big fish run together. Shad chunks (heads and bodies) are still working real well for him. He recommends a throw net in the gravel bottom coves to stock your live well with shad. He said watch for the ripples on the surface and you will know where the shad are feeding.

Remember a bad day fishing is better than a great day at work.

Report By: Anthony Ford: Catfish & Spoonbill Guide 

Fishing on lake of the Ozarks is really good catching limits 0f 4-6lbs blues in a few hours 1-2 20lb per day few over 30lbs shad heads seem to be best in 40-50 foot of water of the main channel here some pictures from a aver day this week

Date: 3/10/06
Lake Level : 599.5
Normal Lake Level : 606
Water Condition:
Surface Water Temp: 40

Most fishermen plan their first trip of the year around the crappie spawn. However the past couple of years have seen good runs of white bass as they head upstream to spawn, and perhaps this could be a good reason to get out of the house earlier than normal. 

White bass are usually the first to kick off the spring fishing season when they get the spawning urge from about mid-March to mid-April. White bass inhabit Mark Twain Lake and have spring spawning runs up its tributary streams. The South Fork, Elk Fork and Middle Fork branches have seen particularly good runs. Male white bass migrate upstream in large schools to shallower water with rocky or sandy bottoms, followed shortly by schools of females. Spawning occurs in moving water over gravel shoals or a hard bottom. Look for shallow water (riffles) with rock shelves or rocky banks to help find likely spawn areas. Large females may lay as many as half a million eggs that stick to rocks and gravel. After spawning, they abandon their eggs and provide no care. Fry hatch in only two to three days and may grow eight or nine inches during the first year. The usual white bass lures can be used throughout the year, for the spawn or post spawn. Good lures include spinners (including beetle spins), rattle traps, and spoons, including the hammered metal spoons. White bass mainly eat shad so your baits should imitate them in color (white, silver or silver and black). The lake is ice free, all ramps are open. The courtesy walkways have been pulled from the ramps.

Monroe County Conservation Agent Bob Lyons has written a new article for the Conservation Corner. It deals mostly with some of the fishing regulation changes that went into affect this year. 

The 2006 fishing prospects report for Mark Twain Lake is now available, click here to view it. This report is put together by the lake's Fisheries Management Biologist, Ross Dames of the Missouri Department of Conservation, and is based on actual lake surveys conducted during 2005.

The water level of Mark Twain Lake has been at a very low level for a while, this is an excellent opportunity to locate good structure, drop offs and river channels. For example, tree tops that are just above the surface now will be hidden spots holding crappie when the water is at or above normal pool. This is the time to find those hidden spots that help make a successful fishing trip. Another advantage, as anybody that has boated Mark Twain knows, is that the river channels are much easier to find and follow than when the lake is higher. The upper reaches of any of the branches can be very challenging to navigate through the trees. A GPS unit, map or even a video camera are good methods to mark these locations and routes for later reference.