Missouri Lakes Fishing Report by Steve Wilson

Lake - Lake of The Ozarks 08/16/06:

It just doesn’t rain anymore at Lake of the Ozarks. Lack of rain and low water levels have hurt the fishing. The Ozarks is in desperate need of a good soaking to put some nutrients in the water and feed the baitfish.

Lake level: 658.1 with minimum generation scheduled for the next few days. This should hold the lake steady at 658.1. Truman lake level: 704.78

Water temps: The main channel is running 85-87 degrees. And the creeks up the rivers 88-90 degrees.

Dam and Gravois areas: Clear with some stained in the back of the Gravois. Patterns have remained the same. Just the bites are harder to come by. Night and early in the mourning is best for the structure bite. The majority of the bass are either deep on structure relating to brush piles. With the lake being two foot low and clear. The structure fish have been the most reliable. They just moved a little deeper on structure. Look for cover (brush) on points, humps in 15'-25' deep. During the day ½ -3/4 football jigs in PBJ and Watermelon and 10" Power worms in Watermelon and Blue/Flk. Texas or carolina rigged depending on how vertical you are fishing. There is also some fish being caught on the DD 22 above brush in 12'-16'. The deep crankbait bite is the sleeper pattern. It is just getting ready to turn on with the baitfish getting larger. They have a good selection of deep cranks at the MAO-Store. Check out the Specialty Tackle Deep Crank. It works. Some rain would bring some color to the back of the Gravois and bring the shad up. The fishing is starting to get good on the shallow docks in this area. It just needs some rain to make it really good. Look for shad schools on the flats and fish shallow docks and horizontal wood with spinnerbaits and crankabaits. This patterns better later in the day.

Glaize: Clear with the upper Glaize stained. Fish are still biting in the brush on structure. But their getting harder to come by. It seems early in the mourning you can get a couple of good fish off the best structure/cover spots. Then it is hard work. The best baits are football jigs in PBJelly. And 10" Power Worms fished deep through the cover on structure at 18'-25'. Like I said about the Dam area the fish have moved deeper on structure. A good Table Rock fisherman would really find these conditions to their liking. I don’t fish spoons here at the lake. But I am sure they would work here and on the lower end. The fishing in the upper Glaize is good. But also needs rain. Go up the Glaize till the water starts to show color around PB 1. Fish wood along channel banks with shallow cranks, spinnerbaits and 10" Power Worms. They got a good selection of Power Worms at Osage Bait & Tackle.

Nianguas: Clear with some stained in the upper portions of both rivers. At the mouth of the Nianguas near the Hwy 5 Bridge the few points near the channel with brush are holding structure fish. Football jigs, Texas rigged worms and DD 22's have been taking the better structure fish. When the get fussy a drop shot finesse worm works good. The better fish are still holding 12'-15' deep around docks with brush. 3/8 & ½ Rattleback Jigs and 10" Power Worms are taking the bulk of them fish. Smaller fish are relating to the wood along the flats of the rivers and can be caught on spinnerbaits and crankbaits.

Osage river: Stained to about 40 mile marker then it starts to color up and dirty past the 60 mile marker. The fishing has been better from the main river to about halfway into the creeks. Docks and ledges have been holding the better fish. The dock fish have been relating to brush. 10" Power Worms and Rattleback jigs are taking the better fish. Blk/ Blues and Blk/Neon colors are working good. If it is a tough day and hard to get bites switch to a smaller piece of plastic or Eakins Jig with lighter line. On the ledges the best baits are medium diving crankbaits, ½ football jigs, Texas rigs and carolina rigs. These ledges are shallower as you go up river. Start off with natural colors at the mouth of the Osage and use darker colors as you head up river.

Thanks and Good Luck!

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