Missouri Lakes Fishing Report by Steve Wilson

Lake - Lake of The Ozarks 02/15/06:

Recent cold temps have dropped water temps throughout the lake. But good fish continue to bite.

Lake level: 656.00 Light generation is scheduled for next few days. Predicted lake levels of 656.1, 656.0, and 656.0 for the next few days. Truman lake level: 705.90

Garmin surface temps: 42 on the sunny Northwestern banks in the Northshore area. 41 down to 38 as you go up the Gravois. Glaize 40-41 around the 54 bridge temps drop as you head up river. Toll Bridge to Hurricane Deck Bridge 41-39 it gets colder as you go up the Osage. Nianguas: 39-43 around Larry Gale

The lake is fishing much smaller now that the water temps have dropped. The water temps have dropped below 40 degrees in much of the lake. So I will report on the "fishable" water.(Water over 40 degrees where a person can actually catch a fish)

Dam and Gravois: Clear. The Northshore area has some good jerkbait fishing. Fish the steep Northwestern Bluff ends. This will be some of the warmest water in this area. Especially if the suns out. You can find 42 degree water here.

Use a one-two punch on these bluff ends. Jerkbaits and Jigs. That’s really all you need to think about when the water is this cold. Use a realistic shad colored jerkbait on 8-10# mono. Approach the bluff end with the jerkbait fishing all the way around it.

If the jerkbait doesn’t produce go back to the bluff end where you started with the jerkbait and fish a 5/16 Eakins Jig in green gourd or PBJ 4-8' deep right against the vertical bluff rock. Fish the Eakins jig to the side of the point and switch to a 5/8 football jig in the same colors with a chompers trailer to probe the deeper drop offs of the point.

After fishing a few bluff ends the fish will let you know where the are positioned on this structure then you can eliminate the least productive of these three techniques to catch bluff end bass. This pattern is the dominate pattern throughout the "fishable" sections of Lake of the Ozarks.

Get all the lures for these techniques sent to your door from the MAO On line store. There is still some fish relating to secondary points in the northshore area. Jerkbaits are key to catching these fish.

Fish them slow on these secondaries. The best ones are located in short pockets near deep water. The creeks in the Gravois offer good stable winter fishing. The jerkbait is working on the deeper more vertical structures described before.

There is good jig fishing inside the creeks. Creek channel banks are key. Fish available cover on these banks from the rocks to the docks with a jig. This has been the most reliable way to get bit.

Grand Glaize: Clear. The water gets to cold above Fort Leonard Wood rec area. So all the fishing is from there to around 54 bridge. I like the steep bluffs around the bridge. There is always some fish wintering around here. Use the bluff end pattern described above to fish here. There is a few more quality spotted bass in this area. Which can save the day.

Toll Bridge to Hurricane Deck bridge. Clear to slightly stained. The fishing has been better going towards the lower lake. The fish are doing the same thing in this area of the lake. They are relating to bluff end main lake structure.

But don’t ever over look rock slides or small pockets (guts) along bluffs. They hold good fish in the winter. Another good location on this part of the lake are the short pockets just off the main river channel that have a short well defined creek channel.

The 45 degree chunk rock banks hold migrating fish. Fish that are going to and from secondaries out to deep water bluffs.

Nianguas: Clear The bluff end pattern works on the lower end of the Nianguas. But once you get up towards Larry Gale the fishing is better in the short creeks.

Fish the creek channel banks with wiggle warts and finesse jigs. The water is pretty clear so use natural colors. The fish aren’t as big as the ones in the lower end near the dam. But you can catch more numbers in this area.

Thanks and Good Luck!

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