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      

WALLEYE SEMINAR WITH ERIC OLSON (FLW WALLEYE TOURING PRO)
Tuesday December 6th - 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Lunch included)
$15.00 per person (no need to prepay but pre-registration is a must)
Location to be announced later (depends on number of people wishing to attend)
E-mail (wtrail@bullshoals.net) or call 870-445-2703 to make your reservation ASAP

November 7, 2005
This is fall right? Or is it spring or maybe we are still in summer – maybe next week it might be winter. What a strange year weather wise. The fish are all confused and so are most of the anglers. Lake temperature is now at 64 degrees and as far as the turnover is concerned it is still a work in progress. With the exceptionally warm weather this upcoming week who knows what will happen. Lake level is at 646.26, 8 feet below normal pool and the water clarity is at 14 feet in the lower and mid-lake areas and 18 feet in the Lead Hill and upper lake areas. 

Crappie were spotty throughout the week with the best bite occurring in the late afternoon hours around the crappie cribs. Live bait is working the best fished on a red or chartreuse jig head.

Largemouth, Smallmouth and Kentucky bass are all scattered due to the weather and the lake turnover conditions. On windy days work wind blown points with Wiggle Wars and Spinner baits. Check pockets and cuts for shad that are pushed in and when you find the shad drop a spoon or fish a finesse worm on a jig head or a drop shot rig for Kentuckys. Dragging a football jig around secondary points is a good way of finding a smallies or two, you might also fish a Carolina rig with a brush hog or lizard in green pumpkin or watermelon color. As far as the largemouth are concerned try buzz baits in the mornings, spinner baits and crankbaits on wind blown banks and jigs along secondary points or transition banks in 20 to 35 feet.

As you have noticed the report is not real specific this week but sometimes we have situations take place in our water system that disrupts the patterns of the game fish and the lake is in one of those periods. Hopefully by next week things will settle down and there will be good news to report.

Walleye are also spotty but a few were caught during the week in 34 to 46 feet of water on entrance banks in the creeks and main lake pockets. Lead core line pulled at 2 mph with Hot’N Tots and Glass shad works the best. A few walleye were also caught on spoons in 40 feet of water off points in the mid-lake area. Silver and white Bink’s spoons were the key.

Fishing for trout on the White River has been good on Berkley Power Eggs in yellow and white and Sunrise. With generation the Buoyant Spoons, Little Cleo’s, and Rooster Tails are the bait of choice. The fly fishermen did well on olive Woolly Bugger, olive scud, Zebra Midges and Serendipity flies. The Brown trout are being caught on, Flat Fish, nightcrawlers and Rogues.

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.

Catfish No Report

Bass No Report

Crappie No Report

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 GOOD

Largemouth bass FAIR

Bluegill sunfish FAIR

Redear sunfish FAIR

Crappie FAIR

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.

Lake of the Ozark water elevation is 655.92’. Truman Lake water elevation is 705.55’. Water temperature is 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Water discharge from Truman Dam is 0 CFS through the gates.

Bass Largemouth: Good Mike and Tim caught several nice bass on rubber night crawlers fishing the transition zones from the flats to the deep channel. They also had good luck using a variety of buzz baits.

White Bass: Good Stacy and Stu caught some nice white bass and a large catfish while fishing the flats Saturday afternoon. The wipers and catfish all struck their "Glow In The Dark" minnows Stu swears by. He buys the glow in the dark minnows at the local Wal-Mart.

Catfish: Good. Matt McKinney caught a nice 16# blue cat on Liver over the weekend. 8-year-old Hanna Bond landed a nice blue cat off our docks Saturday morning. The two-pound fish had her squealing with joy so loudly I stopped what I was doing on the far end of the docks and came over to see what the ruckus was. She caught the catfish using night crawlers. Take a kid fishing and they will be hooked for life!

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

Date: 11/11/05
Lake Level : 599.9
Normal Lake Level : 606
Water Condition: Clear

Surface Water Temp: 56 - 60

Crappie fishing is still pretty much like it has been the past few weeks. The better catches have been caught shallow near the bank in about 6 - 8 feet of water, further up the branches. Look for cover, the more cover the better, log jams and fallen timber are good sites to dip a minnow into. Some crappie can still be caught in deeper water, suspended anywhere from 6 - 12 feet deep, in water anywhere from 10 - 20 feet deep, around submerged cover.

Bass fishing has been fair, shallow near points using spinner baits.

Cat Fishing is still good for rod and reel fishermen, using nightcrawlers.