Fishing report for April 30
Missouri
▪ TABLE ROCK: 60 degrees, clear, one-half foot high. Outlook: White River Lodge reports: largemouth, Kentucky, and smallmouth bass excellent on Ned rigs, suspending jerkbaits in less than 15 feet of water in spawning pockets; crappies fair on jigs.
▪ STOCKTON: 59 degrees, clear, near normal. Outlook: Stockton Lake Guide Service reports: crappies fair on minnows, jigs in spawning areas; walleyes fair on jigs with night crawlers in 3 to 8 of water off points; bass fair on jigs, Wiggle Warts in 2 to 8 feet of water; catfish good on trotlines.
▪ LAKE OF THE OZARKS: 60 degrees, clear, 21/2 feet low. Outlook: Gier’s Bass Pro reports: crappies fair on jigs in 15 feet of water out from spawning banks; bass fair to good on plastic lizards along rocky banks in coves; catfish fair on jug lines, rod and reel with cut bait in 10 to 15 feet of water.
▪ NORFORK: 62 degrees, clear, 5 feet high. Outlook: Bink’s Guide Service reports: bass good on jig and pig on sunny days and spinnerbaits on cloudy days in flooded buck brush; crappies fair on jigs, minnows; stripers good on swimbaits (fish are suspended 20 feet down); walleyes poor to fair on jigging spoons along banks (most of fish being caught are small)..
▪ TRUMAN: Low 60s, slightly murky, 1.6 feet high. Outlook: Cody’s Bait and Tackle reports: crappies fair to good on jigs, minnows along spawning banks. Below the dam: crappies, hybrids good on jigs, minnows; catfish fair on cut bait.
▪ LONGVIEW: 59 degrees, 42-inch clarity, normal. Outlook: Longview Lake Marina reports: crappies fair on jigs, minnows off the marina docks; bass fair on soft-plastic lures in the shallows.
▪ JACOMO: 60 degrees, clear, normal. Outlook: Forty Woods Bait and Tackle reports: crappies very good on jigs, minnows along the spawning banks; channel catfish fair on minnows during the day and blood bait at night along the dropoffs off points; black bass good on live minnows, spinnerbaits in brush; in 6 feet of water along rocky banks; walleyes good on worms along the dam; bluegills very good on crickets.
▪ BLUE SPRINGS: 59 degrees, stained, 1 foot high. Outlook: Forty Woods Bait and Tackle reports: crappies very good on minnows along dam, rocky banks and at the marina; channel catfish fair to good on minnows, goldfish in the coves; bass fair to good on crankbaits; hybrids fair on chicken livers; bluegills excellent on crickets in the rocky area
▪ TANEYCOMO: Clear, low power generation. Outlook: Lilleys’ Landing reports: Trophy Area: trout good on midges, San Juan worms, small jigs, glowballs. Below Fall Creek: trout good on white and orange PowerBait.
▪ SMITHVILLE: 61 degrees, clear, 1 foot high. Outlook: Burton’s Bait and Tackle reports: bass good on square-bill crankbaits, creature baits, Brush Hogs, spinnerbaits in the shallows along rocky banks and in river arms; crappies fair to good on jigs, minnows along the banks in the evening; channel catfish good on liver, worms in the back of coves; white bass fair to good on Road Runners, spinners near the Highway W Bridge.
▪ REED AREA: 61 degrees, clear, full pool. Outlook: Department of Conservation reports: crappies good on tube jigs near the brush; bluegills good on worms under bobbers; black bass, channel catfish fair; rainbow, brown trout poor to fair.
▪ BULL SHOALS: 61 degrees, clear, 9 feet high. Outlook: 125 Marina reports: smallmouth bass fair on plastic baits along windy banks (fishing is best when it’s overcast).
▪ POMME DE TERRE: 60 degrees, clear, 2 feet high. Outlook: Muskie Guide Service reports: crappies fair to good on jigs, minnows out from spawning banks.
Kansas
▪ WILSON: Low 60s, clear, 8 feet low. Outlook: Knothead’s reports: stripers, white perch, largemouth and smallmouth bass good on live bait in Elm and Hell creeks; walleyes fair on jigs with night crawlers in 25 feet of water and deeper.
▪ GLEN ELDER: High 50s, clear, 2 feet low. Outlook: Wayne’s Sporting Goods reports: walleyes good on jigs with night crawlers or minnows in Schoen’s Cove and in the Sandy Beach area; white bass good on Road Runners, jigs on the west side of the lake and in Granite Creek
▪ HILLSDALE: 62 degrees, clear, normal. Outlook: Jayhawk Marina reports: crappies good on jigs, minnows in 10 feet of water in the brush; white bass good on crankbaits trolled on the main lake; catfish poor to fair; bass fair on crankbaits in rocky shallows.
▪ CLINTON: 60 degrees, clear, 1 foot low. Outlook: Clinton Marina reports: crappies good on jigs, minnows along spawning banks.
▪ WYANDOTTE: 60 degrees, clear, normal. Outlook: Wyandotte Marina reports: crappies fair to good on jigs, minnows in 10 feet of water in spawning areas; bass fair to good on Senkos, spinnerbaits along the banks; channel catfish good at night on night crawlers, liver off points.
▪ KILL CREEK: 60 degrees, murky, normal. Outlook: Johnson County Park and Rec reports: crappies fair on jigs, minnows in the shallows; bass fair on spinnerbaits, soft-plastic baits; catfish fair on worms, stinkbait near the marina.
▪ SHAWNEE MISSION: 60 degrees, murky, normal. Outlook: Johnson County Park and Rec reports: trout fair on yellow PowerBait along the dam; crappies fair on jigs, minnows on the flats and along the dam; catfish fair on worms, cut bait, liver; bass fair on spinnerbaits, plastic baits on flats and off points; wipers fair on liver along the dam and on flats.
▪ MELVERN: 59 degrees, murky, 2 feet low. Outlook: Melvern Lake Marina reports: crappies poor to fair on jigs in 10 to 18 feet of water in brush; bass good on crankbaits in 4 mto 6 feet of water along banks; catfish poor.
▪ HERITAGE: 62 degrees, murky, normal. Outlook: Johnson County Park and Recreation District reports: crappies excellent on jigs in the shallows; catfish fair on worms, stinkbait along the dam.
▪ EL DORADO: High 50s, fairly clear, 2 feet low. Outlook: Wildlife, Parks and Tourism reports: walleyes good on jigs with night crawlers, crankbaits in 8 to 20 feet of water; white perch good on jigs in shallows; crappies fair on jigs, minnows in 10 to 12 feet of water; catfish fair.
▪ PERRY: High 50s, clear, 1 foot low. Outlook: Tightlines Bait and Tackle reports: all species poor.
▪ POMONA: low 60s, clear, 2 feet low. Outlook: Lighthouse Bay Marina reports: crappies fair to good on jigs in 10 to 15 feet of water; catfish good on cut bait, shad.
▪ COFFEY COUNTY: Low 60s, slightly murky, 2 feet low. Outlook: Coffey County reports: smallmouth good; white bass good; wipers fair.
▪ LA CYGNE: 60s, fairly clear, 1 foot high. Outlook: Linn County Parks reports: crappies fair at spillway gate; white bass, wipers poor to fair.
▪ MILFORD: mid 50s, slightly murky, 1 foot low. Outlook: Guide Vic Oertle reports: all species poor.
▪ TUTTLE CREEK: Mid 50s, murky, near normal. Outlook: Guide Vic Oertle reports: all species poor.
Other area waters
▪ GRAND (OKLA.): 64 degrees, fairly clear on the main lake, muddy in the creeks, 1 foot high. Outlook: Grand Fishing Report.com reports: largemouth bass very good on jigs, plastic baits along chunk-rock banks and bluffs; crappies good on jigs, plastic baits along spawning banks in the evening; catfish good on cut bait in 12 to 15 feet of water; paddlefish snagging good; catfish good on cut shad in 12 to 15 feet of water.
▪ WHITE RIVER (ARK.): Clear, variable power generation. Outlook: Gaston’s White River Resort reports: Fly fishing: trout good on white or pink jigs, streamers, nymphs, ruby midges. Spin fishing: trout good on one-eighth-ounce white or gray-white jigs, stickbaits, river-slick minnows.
To reach outdoors editor Brent Frazee, call 816-234-4319 or send email to bfrazee@kcstar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @fishboybrent.
Brent’s best bet
Stripers, white perch, largemouth and smallmouth bass all are biting at Wilson Lake in central Kansas. Live bait has been the best bet.
This story was originally published April 29, 2015 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Fishing report for April 30."