Missouri Lakes Fishing Report by Steve Wilson

Lake - Lake of The Ozarks 05/02/08:

Fishing has really been good this last week. Numbers and big fish are being caught at Lake of the Ozarks.    

Lake level: 659.39 with heavy generation scheduled for the next few days. The lake has been dropping and clearing.  Truman lake level 717.1

Water temps: 58-67 degrees  
 
Gravois and Dam area to the Toll Bridge. There is dirty water in the main channel of the Osage all the way to Bagnell Dam. This area is the best bet for pre spawn females. The fish are staging to spawn on this part of the lake. Secondary points and rock transitions that transition into pea gravel pockets have been holding quality fish. Spinnerbaits, jigs and carolina rigs are working good in these areas. What is so good about this portion of the lake right now...There is a wide range of water colors where you can fish stained and clear conditions as well as muddy water after rains. This allows anglers to change from power fishing to finesse fishing with in the same area of the lake as the conditions dictate.
 
Glaize: The water conditions are much better in the Glaize this week. It is recovering from all the rain. And the Dam is pulling some of that muddy water out of it. The best fishing is still with in a few miles of the state park. There has been enough tournaments now for this area of the lake to turn on. The large man-made population in that area are feeding now. Carolina rigs, jigs, spinnerbaits and crankbaits are all taking fish in this area of the lake. The fish are really point oriented with all the current from the generation of the Dam.   

Nianguas: The Niangaus are stained. The water conditions are improving. The bite is actually getting slower as the water clears and drops. They were biting a spinnerbait good in that dirty water. Now they are getting a little choosey about what they bite. Fish the weather conditions. Use the spinnerbait in the clouds and rain. Fish them in any available cover. It seems like you have to cover a lot of water. Then you’ll get on a little stretch and catch a few quality fish. And try carolina rigging the points when it is sunny and calm. Look for the rounded pea gravel points and slowly work them.   

Osage River: Very Muddy strong current in upper sections. More fishable stained to muddy conditions in the lower Osage near Hurricane Deck Bridge. There is some clearing conditions in the river right now. The main Osage has a lot of current passing through it since Truman is dumping water and Bagnell Dam is pulling it through the system. The Osage has ben a little hit and miss lately. Actually I shouldn’t say that. The Osage River is so big that there is always a good limit of fish to be caught out of it. There is just a lot of different water color conditions and the fish are pre spawn and spawn depending on where you are fishing in the river.  The lower river has more pre spawn fish. These fish are biting spinnerbaits, crankbaits and jigs. They are also starting to show up on secondary points. So the carolina rig should come into play up here now. In the upper Osage the fish are starting to spawn. And they are picky. If you don’t know exactly where they are spawning they are hard to catch.  Since you can’t see them. You need to blind cast to pea gravel.  

Thanks and Good Luck!

Note: Does the spawn confuse you? Your not alone. It confuses most fishermen. Including some pros that fish at the highest level. It use to confuse me. But now that I live on the water and fish almost everyday I have taught myself the clues to look for to know when and where they spawn. This time of the year it is important to know the moon cycles and fish smart. These is a great season to book a trip and learn these things. Sight fishing is a lot of fun and so is picking them off blind in the muddy water.   If you have any questions about fishing patterns/lures or would like to book a trip at Bassfactory Instructional Fishing Trips send me an email at Bassfactory@Charter.net

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