Outdoors report: There are big fish around ... if you know where to look, what to use
Here’s the fishing report for areas around Kansas City in Kansas and Missouri for the week of Feb. 8.
FISHING Missouri
BULL SHOALS: low 40s, clear, 6.4 feet low. Outlook: Guide Del Colvin reports: not much fishing activity in the last week. Largemouth – the bite has been better deep. Try the A-rig and spoons. Bass can be good when sunny on jerk baits around docks and when cloudy/windy on wiggle wart near bluff ends. A shad kill has been going on in the last week. Crappie – fair in brush piles. Below the dam: John Berry of Berry Bros. Guide Service reports: On the White, the hot spot has been Bull Shoals State Park. The hot flies were olive woolly buggers (#8, #10), Y2Ks (#14, #12), prince nymphs (#14), zebra midges (black with silver wire and silver bead or red with silver wire and silver bead #16, #18), pheasant tails (#14), ruby midges (#18), root beer midges (#18), pink and cerise San Juan worms (#10), and sowbugs (#16). Double fly nymph rigs have been very effective (my current favorite is a Y2K (#10) with a ruby midge (#14) suspended below it). Use weight to get your flies down.
TANEYCOMO: 45 degrees, clear, running water in the mornings for a couple hours Outlook: Lilleys’ Landing reports: Trout continue to hit gray, white, chartreuse and lighter color maribou jigs. Pink was a hot color from Trophy Run to Monkey Island over the weekend. Good numbers continue to be caught down lake from Monkey Island to the Landing. Float and pink power worm has yielded large numbers in 6-8 feet.
NORFORK: 42 degrees, clear (8 feet of visibility), 7.7 feet low. Outlook: Bink’s Guide Service reports: Bass – excellent in the creek channel swings and turns using ¼ oz spoon in 30 feet of water; crappie and walleye –slow in brush piles at the bottom in 30 feet of water; stripers – slow.
LONGVIEW: mid 30s, degrees, 2.5-3 feet of clarity, 0.3 feet low. Outlook: Longview Marina reports: Crappie – fair to good around the marina. The rest of the lake is ice covered. Fishing available around the dock during marina hours from 7am-1pm.
POMME DE TERRE: 38 degrees, 4-5 feet clarity, normal. Outlook: Muskie Guide Service reports: Crappie – fair on jigs around docks and above brush piles in about 15 feet. Bass – fair on jerk baits along the bank. No reports on other species.
LAKE OF THE OZARKS: 35 degrees, clear, about 5 feet low. Outlook: Gier’s Bass Pro reports: lake is very icy. No updated report due to very little fishing activity in cold temps.
REED AREA: frozen, clear, lakes 6 inches low. Outlook: All lakes froze overnight as of 2/5.
STOCKTON: 37 degrees, clear, 4 feet low. Outlook: Stockton Lake Guide Service reports: Crappie - good on jigs under schools of shad in 30-50 ft. All other species – no report.
JACOMO: some ice, 34 degrees, normal Outlook: Lake Jacomo Marina reports: Some ice is present, most people avoiding putting boats in. Little to no fishing in past week. Fishing available around the marina, but has been extremely slow.
BLUE SPRINGS: some ice, mid 30s, normal Outlook: Blue Springs Lake Marina reports: no updated report. Little to no fishing activity due to extreme cold
TABLE ROCK: 46 degrees, clear, about 6 feet low. Outlook: Focused Fishing Guide Service reports: Most largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass are being caught on crank baits, jerk baits jigs. River arms are better than main lake or dam area. Crappie – slow on jigs and lives minnows in the rivers around standing in 15-25 feet.
TRUMAN: 35 degrees, stained, about 0.4 feet low. Outlook: Jeff Faulkenberry’s Endless Season Guide Service reports: lake is frozen over as of 2/6 with a little open water by the dam. When lake opens up, the pattern should remain the same: crappie - excellent in 25-28ft of water suspended around 15 feet. Spider rig works best, but double rig jig works well in shad balls. Try two 1/8 oz. jigs and drag around through shad balls. Catfish – excellent in shallow and deep water on fresh cut shad.
SMITHVILLE: mostly ice covered, 32 degrees, about 1.7 feet low. Outlook: Burton’s Bait and Tackle reports: Lake is frozen. Ice is not safe to be fishing on. Some open water around the marinas that have agitators running.
Kansas
SHAWNEE MISSION PARK: No report available until end of February.
KILL CREEK PARK: No report available until end of February.
COFFEY COUNTY: low to mid 60s at hot-water outlet, clear, about 3.5 feet low. Outlook: Coffey County reports: catching most fish in the warm water discharge area. White bass – fair; all other species slow.
MELVERN: 32 degrees, visibility around 7 feet, 1.1 feet low. Outlook: Melvern Lake Marina reports: wind and ice have increased. Crappie - poor to fair around the docks using red and dark jigs. Numbers above 10" are increasing in early morning and mid-afternoon, mostly on the south docks; smallmouth - poor, along the shoreline and rip rap face of the dam using spoons and shallow crankbaits; white bass - good to very good lake wide on jigs and minnows; largemouth Bass - poor on open water nearer rock shorelines with shallow crankbaits and around the docks on jigs; channel catfish, blue catfish, and walleye - poor with no reports.
CLINTON: partial ice, mid 30s, clear, 0.15 feet high. Outlook: Clinton Marina reports reports: ice that is present is considered unsafe. Little to no fishing activity due to cold temperatures. Boat ramp one is open, but two is iced in. Courtesy docks at all boat ramps in Bloomington Park have been pulled for the winter.
POMONA: 95% ice covered, 33 degrees, clear, about 1.8 feet low. Outlook: Lighthouse Bay Marina reports: lake is frozen over. Boat ramps are closed due to ice. Crappie – continue to be good near docks on jigs; all other species – no report.
PERRY: 90% ice covered, 33 degrees, clear, 1.2 feet high. Outlook: Don and Tom’s Bait and Tackle reports: Some people still ice fishing in Rock Creek leading up until the weekend before it warmed up and ice got rotten, main lake open. Crappie and white bass – good around the marina. Boat ramps are still open as of 2/5.
MILFORD: 40% ice covered, 34 degrees, clear, 1.9 feet low. Outlook: Vic Oertle Guide Service reports: lake is frozen enough that it will prevent any boats from getting in and getting out. Some fish being caught below the tubes at Milford.
HILLSDALE: 34 degrees, about 2 foot low. Outlook: Jayhawk Marina reports: Thin ice present throughout most of lake. Crappie – fair on jigs and minnows deep around the dock. Boat ramp in the state park has ice as of 2/5. Fishing around the marina is available for $7 a day.
LA CYGNE: 52 degrees at the hot-water outlet, clear, normal. Outlook: Linn County Park reports: not much fishing activity in the past week due to cold temperature. Crappie – fair; all other species – no updated reported.
GLEN ELDER (WACONDA LAKE): 80% ice, about 1.2 feet low. Outlook: Wildlife, Parks and Tourism reports: As of 2/1, the ice is bad around the entire reservoir and not safe for ice fishing. The boat ramps are also locked up with ice and can't be used now. The only options for anglers now are to fish off the docks in marina cove, fish the outlet below the dam (trout permit required), or trout fish on the park pond. The park pond is wide open now with no ice and we will be stocking another batch of trout soon.
TUTTLE CREEK: some ice, open water 32 degrees, about 1.8 feet low. Outlook: Vic Oertle Guide service reports: main lake is mostly frozen. Ice is still too bad for boats to navigate water safely. No fishing activity to report.
WYANDOTTE: Lake closed for the season. Opens up first Saturday in March when they will stock trout.
WILSON: 5% ice coverage, 34 degrees, 4 feet of clarity, 0.1 feet high. Outlook: Hines Guide Service reports: A lot of ice present on the lake. Boat ramps are still open. Stripers – good in 35-40 feet of water on drop offs on rocky points using 5/8ths oz. white spoons. Walleye – slow to fair in deep brush piles.
EL DORADO: some ice, mid 30s, clear, about 3.7 feet low. Outlook: Wildlife, Parks & Tourism reports: very little angling activity with cold temperature. Wind has been unfavorable and the recent cold snap has re-iced areas of the lake. If you can get to where the crappie and white bass, they'll most likely be biting.
This story was originally published February 7, 2018 at 10:47 AM with the headline "Outdoors report: There are big fish around ... if you know where to look, what to use."