Catfish are biting river worms and shrimp

Bluegill good on crickets waxworks and river worms

Crappie fair to poor on minnows

Bass fair top water early am

Fishing Report by:     Wilderness Trail      

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This has been a comfortable week; we had a front come through, which dropped the temperatures from 100 degrees to the upper 70’s and low 80’s. With the temperature change there has been a big change in the lake conditions. Surface temperatures dropped from 88 degrees down to 84.8 degrees, the thermocline has moved from 35 feet to 30 feet and the shad have moved into the thermocline. With these changes it will take a few days for the game fish to reposition on new structure. Lake level was pulled down this week and is at 650.38, 4 feet below normal pool and 1 foot down from last week. Oxygen levels were checked on the lake this week by Game and Fish. The numbers were amazing, the highest level was at 30 feet and there are safe levels all the way down to 125 feet, so that means game fish can go anywhere they want to. 

Crappie picked up a little with the lake temperature cool down. They moved back toward the brush piles hanging around the 28 foot level. Crappie minnows are working the best along with crappie tubes and Bobby Garland’s Swimming Minnows.

Largemouth bass continue to feed early in the morning and throughout the night. Buzz baits, along and around creek arm secondary points, is the key for some morning action. The bite is over when the sun light hits the water surface. Carolina rigs and football jigs should come into play during the day in the next few weeks. 

Smallmouth bass are still using ledge rock banks and boulder banks but they have slipped down into the thermocline (30 feet) and are positioning themselves under the ledges and boulders where there is some shade. The bite is slow and you need to fish slow. Best baits are tubes, brush hogs and Spider Jigs. There are some smallies that are up on the banks in the morning chasing bluegill and shad. Zara Spooks, buzz baits and Chug Bugs will trigger a few strikes. 

Kentucky bass have not changed; they are still under the shad moving when the shad moves. This movement makes it difficult to pin point their whereabouts. Graph channel swing points and the middle of main lake cuts and pockets for schools of Kentuckys. Vertical fishing a drop shot or spoon is the best method for triggering some strikes.

Walleye have been active throughout the week in 29 to 32 feet of water along pea rock points and banks and long transition banks. Leeches and crawlers have been the best bait fished on harnesses with bottom bouncers. The bite has been on all day and some nice limits have been caught. The bite for the long liners has been so-so on Reef Runners and Glass Shad. The suspending walleye don’t seem to be as active as the walleye in shallower water

NIGHT TIME UPDATE: The bite is starting at dusk up until 2 a.m. or so along channel swings and on points. Best baits have been jigs, Texas rigged worms and tubes. Some of the "go to" baits are Gene Larew craws and 8" strawberry/gold worms, Spider Jigs or football jigs and Berkley 10" June bug worms.

LAKE RATING: Even with the lower pool level, the lake temperature dropped and the thermocline moved up, the bite has improved. This week we will call the rating GOOD.

Fishing for trout on the White River has been good this past week. The Berkley Power Egg bite has been good in yellow and pink or orange and Belgium red worms. With generation the Buoyant Spoons and Little Cleo's are the bait of choice. The fly fishermen did well on olive and black Woolly Bugger, tungsten bead head midges, soft hackles, and scuds. The Brown trout are being caught on Suspending Rogues, Flat Fish and nightcrawlers or red worms.

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.

Crappie is slow reason is no one is fishing much. 

Bass slow. Same reason 

Catfish have been doing good in the evening hours 3 to 6 lbs on worms and shad.

Catfish are biting river worms and shrimp

Bluegill good on crickets waxworks and river worms

Crappie fair to poor on minnows

Bass fair top water early am

Channel catfish FAIR

Largemouth bass FAIR

Bluegill sunfish FAIR

Redear sunfish FAIR

Crappie SLOW

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

Honker Pond will be closed through the end of August for some renovation work.

Lake of the Ozark water elevation is 658.01’. Truman Lake water elevation is 706.30’. Water temperature is 81 degrees Fahrenheit. Water discharge from Truman Dam is 550 CFS through the gates.

Bass (Largemouth): Great!

Shannon Harrison of Belton, MO and Dennis Dahlke of Bonner Springs KS cracked the code on Largemouth this weekend. I ran into the duo Saturday morning as they were headed out fishing and I told them to let me know if they had any luck. They shagged me out of the restaurant right around dinnertime to show off their catch. Apparently they both do real well in the local and regional bass tournaments and their live well full of fat bass proved their point. The first fist Shannon hoisted from the live well was a real nice 6 ½# (if not bigger) fish. He likes to use his fish finder to find the baitfish schools and then fish under the schools for best results. I took several pictures of their fish, which should be posted under the "pictures" link in a couple weeks. They said they fished the flats in 8’ of water and used worms, jigs and spinner baits. After our photo session they released all their fish unharmed. Well-done guys!

Catfish: Good.

Chad Wiseman from Slater, MO reports he had pretty good luck using limb lines this past week. He prefers to fish the deep water where the channel angles towards the shoreline and he uses live perch hooked through the tail. Chad uses a good stout nylon cord and sets his limb lines just before dark. He caught nothing but flatheads. He said fishing is slow during the heat of the day, find the cooler waters and you will find your best fishing. Father and daughter duet, Larry and Kelsey Hopkins had a good time cat fishing this weekend with Kelsey catching the biggest catfish on a night crawler. She had a nice 3# channel catfish she had caught for their dinner. Take a kid fishing and they will be hooked for life!

Crappie: Poor.

I couldn’t find anyone who had any luck fishing for crappie this weekend.

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

Lake Level : 601.8
Normal Lake Level : 606
Water Condition: Clear
Surface Water Temp: 85 - 88

Crappie fishing has taken an upswing since the weekend. Still lots and lots of small crappie being caught, however the number of crappie in the 9 inch range and better has increased. Main lake tree covered points and bluffs, next to the river channel. The best bite continues to be early in the morning, till about 9:00 am, and the last hour of daylight until about midnight. They've been caught anywhere from 12 - 18 feet deep. Minnows or minnow tipped jigs, or jigs tipped with Crappie Nibbles.

Bass fishing continues to be good. They've been suspended anywhere from 8 - 15 feet deep over 20+ feet of water. At least that's the report I've gotten today. The best bite continues to be in the main lake area. Carolina rigged plastic baits (worms, lizards, brush hogs) or jigs.

Cat Fishing has been good. It is still mostly channels on rod and reel, using nightcrawlers or cut shad. Trot line and jug fishing has been tougher.

White Bass fishing has been hit and miss. Most reports are of individual white bass being caught.

Black bass No Report

Walleye No Report

Crappie No Report

Bluegill No Report

Bass - No report

Walleye (Fair)-some are being caught by crappie anglers in the standing timber and moderately -deep brushpiles on minnows and minnow-imitating jigs. Trolling points with shad raps and hot-n-tots is producing also. Most are undersized -from 13-16", but fish up to 24" are being caught.

Crappie (Good) - Crappie are staging above the thermocline near brushpiles and standing timber. Fish with shiners during low-light conditions for best results.

Bluegill (Good) - Fish with nightcrawler pieces in the same areas where you are targeting crappie.

Catfish (Good) - Dip-bait, liver and gobs of nightcrawler in the shallows is producing for fish from 3 to 10 pounds.

Black bass fair on plastic baits early in the morning

White bass fair trolling on the flats using rooster tails

Crappie fair on minnows around trees and structures

Catfish fair on shad and worms

Bluegill fair on worms 8'-10' deep

Walleye/Muskie slow.

Catfish (good) on liver, worms, dip and cut bait. Try shady banks near timber during the day, better at night.

Bass (good) at dusk, fair at other times. At dusk, try Pop-Rs, Zara spooks, or buzz baits on the shoreline for fun top water action.

Crappie (good) try above the thermocline from 4-12' down. try minnows or tube jigs under a bobber around timber

CRAPPIE: Good: The crappie have moved into their summer patterns. Fish the brush piles and tree lines in the deeper water. The fish are in 18' to 24' of water approx. 10' feet deep. This pattern should hold true for the rest of the summer. Minnows or jigs

BASS: Poor: The bass are playing hide and seek with the fisherman and most of the time don't get found. Some nice fish are being caught occasionally but not consistently. Worms, jigs, brush hogs seem to catch the majority of the fish. 8' or less of water seems to be the areas to concentrate on.

CATFISH: FAIR: The catfish are feeding up. The crappie fishermen are catching some nice ones in the deeper water on minnows so try the 20' of water areas with your favorite bait. A variety of baits is working.

White Bass: Good: The rest of the summer should continue to produce nice stringers of whites. Fish main lake points early and late by throwing small crankbaits in the 2' to 8' water depths. Watch for surfacing schools. During the day troll to find the schools which are roaming following the shad. The size of most of the fish is excellent.

WALLEYE: Poor: The wallies have sort of vanished for the time being. They are either buried in the grass of laying in deep water either making them difficult to get to. Use crankbaits or a jig and leech or crawler.

No Report

GENERAL COMMENTS

Water still off until noon earliest, 1:00-2:00 p.m. latest.

Water Conditions: Water still off until noon or so. Today all four generators came on around noon and the rise was fast. Have been running 4 generators until 9:00 or 10:00 p.m.

FLY FISHING TROPHY AREA (dam to Fall Creek)-SHALLOW WATER-WADING-

Trips out every day. One boat caught most of their fish today on the Ugly midge, size 18 and a red bloodworm size 20 dropper. Other boat caught them on either the Ugly Midge or the Rusty Midge, all in size 18. Monday caught good number of fish, several of them 16" Rainbows or better on cream colored soft hackle, size 20 and a pearl/cream soft hackle, size 22. Takes were real soft. Another lady introduced to fly fishing Monday. She caught all her fish on the red bloodworm dropper. Early mornings while the fog is still on the water, size 12-14 olive woolly bugger with flash in tail has been doing well using a sink-tip line. Fishing slow in the early mornings, but picks up steadily all morning until the water comes on.

STAN'S TIP: Hard to believe while you are standing in 40 degree plus water that you can get hot and dehydrated! Drink lots of water while you are out fishing in this weather. Wear a good hat to protect your face, ears, and neck. Lots of sun lotion. and don't forget to protect you eyes with sunglasses. Both from the UV rays as well as flying hooks. But most of all....LOTS OF WATER ! !

The weather has been kind to us this and the fishing has picked up a little to make it a perfect week. The hybrids are still a little slow but the bass and crappie have made up for it. The COE hasn't been running much water this week and I really think this is why the hybrids have slowed up. We are supposed to warm up a little this weekend so maybe they will run a little.

BASS: The bass bite here on Truman has really picked up this week. Last night in the hawg fights Doug and Ozzie Wallace took 1st. place with 15.16lbs. 2nd. went to Marty Watson and Clint Rayburn with 9.68lbs. 3rd went to Emil Tally and Jim Lehares with 7.19lbs.and they had big bass weighing 4.87lbs. 4th. went to Ernie Cox and Russell Beck with 6.16lbs. All these fish were caught in 3hrs.15min. So as I said the bass bite is pretty good. The suspended bite is the best thing going. Outside tree rows with 12' to 25' of water fished with big worms about 6' seems to be working well. You have to move the worm through the limbs real slow but the fish will bite it. Point fishing is also working, The deeper points falling off into 30' of water fished with big worms is another good producer. Plum to watermelon seem to be the two predominant colors.

CRAPPIE: The crappie fishing has also gotten a little better this week. The Hennis Boys out of St Louis did real good last weekend taking limits both days. The best bite seems to be from Hogles Creek to Berry Bend. The bluff banks are still doing the best and minnows are the bait of choice. 20' to 30' of water fished 10' to 12' deep on the hard woods is where to look.

WHITES & HYBRIDS: The whites are starting to show up in the KK Island area. Sassy shad and small jigging spoons are working the best. The 16' humps seem to be the prime areas. I have been seeing some surface activity later on in the evenings. Rooster tails and small Rat L Traps will work on these fish. It seems they don't stay up long but they come up in the same areas two or three times. I have talked to a lot of hybrid fisherman and they tell me they are grafting a lot of fish suspended over deep water but can't seem to get them to bite.

CATFISH: We have seen some nice catfish come in on jugs this week. They have been setting their stages about 16' deep and drifting them over deep water. Cut shad seems to be the best bait. If you are running lines you have to check them quite often so you don't loose your fish.

That's it for this week from Sterett Creek Marina

Fishing is good using cut bait drifting across flats 2-8lbs blues 15-20 fish per day

Crappie are still being caught on the flats in 14 ft of water or more. Minnows are the bait of choice. Fish down 11 to 13 tithe best area is bucksaw to longshoal.Look for isolated trees or fencerows.

Bass are hard to find ,the ones we are seeing are being caught on buzz baits and crankbaits on shallow points. Point hop is the best approach. As the sun comes up fish out deeper using 11 in red shad worms.

Catfish are being caught on jugs using cut bait. The best water dept is 10 ft fishing down 5 ft. Fish the flats.

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