Missouri Lakes Fishing Report by Steve Wilson

Lake - Lake of The Ozarks 01/12/06:

Bass Fishing continues to be good at Lake of the Ozarks! It took nearly 20#’s to win a small tournament last Sunday.

Lake level: 656.45 with no generation scheduled for the next few days. This will hold lake levels steady at 656.4 Truman lake level: 706.16

Garmin surface temps: Dam area 43-45 Glaize 43 at Bridge then drops as you go up the Glaize. Osage River from mouth of Glaize to Hurricane bridge 43-44 then temps drop as you go further up river. Nianguas 42 to upper 40's

Dam and Gravois areas: Clear. The fish have been moving more horizontally the last couple of weeks. The best bite is on jerkbaits on secondary points. The mild weather and lake temps are keeping the fish in the feeding position. In Dec when the air temps where in the teens these fish were holding on deep main lake points in front of creeks.

Only moving to the secondaries in favorable conditions in the afternoon. Now they are feeding on the secondaries earlier during the day and holding on the first break out from the point. On warm days these fish are right up on the rocks and will hit a jerkbait hard. Also they don’t need it to suspend for very long. So the cadence between jerks can be a little quicker.

A few different jerkbaits are working so I will list a few with colors. Suspending Rogue ( Tequila ) Specialty Tackle ( Deadly Black) Lucky Craft Pointer 100 and 78 (Blk Aurora, Chart Shad and American Shad) and Mega-Bass 110 in (Shad colors).

There are still some fish on the bluff points on the main lake. (There always are) but they are biting better on a small finesse jig 5/16 (The one I make is just like the Eakins by Jewel) PBJ and Green Pumpkin have been the best colors. But don’t discount the pumpkin green flk color with a matching Lil Critter Craw trailer if the sun is out.

Fish the jig right up against the rocks on the bluff from 1' out to about 6'. Most of these fish are spots but some are very big spots. We have been catching lots of 3-4# spots this winter. The better largemouth have been taking jigs fished near dock brush on secondaries. The creeks near the middle of the Gravois have been good for this pattern.

Glaize to Hurricane Deck bridge: Clear to slightly stained. The same patterns that have been working on the lower end of the lake will work here in the middle. The only difference in the jerkbait bite is you need a little color to your bait as the water gets stained. Table Rock and Clown colors work great in this slightly stained water. Wiggle Warts fished on those secondaries are also taking fish.

Crawdad colors with a small amount of chart have been best. Check out the MAO Store. Jerry and Brad have a great selection and great prices. The green crawdad color is hard to beat. But experiment with colors some are better than others and this will give you an edge on the other guys come spring time. The 5/16 jig is also good along steep channel banks in the small pockets in the Osage.

Fish the jig in dock brush at the 4'-12' range. I like green pumpkin with a little black in it. This is the exact color of the crawdads that I have caught in the Mid-Osage. It seems there are two species that I see the fish eat. One is the green and blk one and the other is brown and black. I hope this helps you out when it comes time to buy jigs.

Nianguas: Clear to Clearer. The bite seems to be the best from Larry Gale to Big Island. The small creeks in this area have good steep defined creek channels. Also some have small springs that are just big enough to heat the water up a degree and small enough not to clear it up too much. The patterns remain the same in the Nianguas with the one exception.

You can get some big bites on a spinnerbait here. You don’t get very many. So this is a big fish deal and mainly an afternoon thing. I see a lot of guys that get on the water at day break and quit at 2 or 3p.m. This is a mistake. Don’t forget you are trying to catch a cold blooded species. You are better off starting later and fishing till 5 p.m. The action between 2 and 5p.m. is the best unless you get a cold front that drops temps during the day.

Osage River: Slightly stained. The water temps drop as you head up river. But as long as you can find water temps 40 degrees and up you can catch them good. Steep channel holes in the creeks hold schools of fish in these draw down conditions. The same patterns mentioned for the lower end and middle work here. You just need to adjust your color to the visibility of the water and fish shallower.

Thanks and Good Luck!

Click here to email Steve Wilson To schedule your fully guided dream trip today.