Outdoors report: trophy brown trout caught during recent media event on Lake Taneycomo
Here is the fishing and hunting report for lakes and reservoirs in the Kansas City area and regionally around Kansas and Missouri for February 12, 2020.
FISHING
Missouri
BLUE SPRINGS: mid 30s, stained, normal Outlook: Lee’s Summit Area Fishing Facebook Group reports: lake is open.You’re best fishing opportunity will be around the marina for crappie. Folks are getting into them using jigs or minnows.
BULL SHOALS: 46 degrees, dingy to clear, 8.5 feet high and rising fast Outlook: Del Colvin Guide Service reports: Fishing is fair. Look for birds, loons and gulls actively feeding to find the shad at the surface. They’ll be at the top down to 60 feet. Tops of trees are holding shad 40 to 60 feet down halfway back into major creeks. Finding shad is key. The shad seem to be breaking up with water generation so use your graph to find them. A-rigs are producing. Cranking is good if there’s wind. A small group of fish are starting to move up. No wind or sun, go deep on drop shots, close to or on the bottom, use rapala ice jigs, spoons, or damiki rigs. Also try jigs on ledge transitions and points. You need to stay on steeper banks with big rock or ledge transition banks. Del Colvin also does a video fishing report on YouTube: Bull Shoals Lake Fishing Report. Below the dam: John Berry of Berry Bros. Guide Service reports: The White has fished well. The hot spot has been the catch and release section below Bull Shoals Dam. 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 combination is a cerise high water San Juan worm with an egg pattern suspended below it). Use long leaders and plenty of weight to get your flies down.
JACOMO: mid 30s, stained, normal Outlook: Lee’s Summit Area Fishing Facebook group reports: main lake is open. Look for crappie around the marina using jigs or minnows. They may also be sitting down deep on brush. A-Rigs and jerk baits for bass should produce a few.
JAMES A. REED: 38 degrees, clear, normal Outlook: Missouri Dept. of Conservation reports: trout have been very good on a variety of baits. All other species slow.
LAKE OF THE OZARKS: 40 degrees, murky, 1 foot low Outlook: Gier’s Bass Pro reports: fish are on the winter pattern. Things have been hit or miss. Look for crappie 15 feet deep over brush. Jerkbait bite worked extremely slow for bass should produce a few.
LONGVIEW: upper 30s, dingy, low Outlook: Longview Marina reports: crappie fishing started to pick up recently near the marina on white or pink jigs. Fishing hours are 8am-12:30pm 7 days a week. Join Lee’s Summit Area Fishing Facebook group for daily updates.
NORFORK: 48 degrees, murky, 6 feet high Outlook: Bink’s Guide Service reports: stripers and hybrids are moving from creek to creek with no real set pattern. Bass are on steep banks. Crappie are holding in brush piles. You can find white bass suspended in 60-70 feet of water on main lake flats. The ¼ oz Bink’s spoon has been the best bait recently.
POMME DE TERRE: 40 degrees, stained, 2 feet high (2800 CFS) Outlook: Pomme Muskie Guide Service reports: majority of fishing has slowed down. Crappie can be found over brush piles on jigs and minnows. Bass are being found most frequently on A-rigs. Walleye should start picking up soon.
SMITHVILLE: 34 degrees, clear, 2 feet low (250 CFS) Outlook: Burton’s Bait and Tackle reports: the lake is open but is expected to freeze soon. Crappie are still slow to fair but having to find them around the docks.
STOCKTON: 40 degrees, clear, 4.6 feet high (40 CFS) Outlook: Tandem Fly Outfitters reports: Bass are hitting well on a jerk bait, jig, and A-rig. Crappie are suspended 15-35 feet down in water as deep as 65-70 feet and biting 1/8th oz jig head with a blue ice colored jig. Also, try white, silver, or clown colored ¼ oz Bink’s spoons. A few walleye are starting to hit a jerk bait on main lake points. They have also been biting on ¼ oz Bink’s spoon or Rapala Jig-N-Rap.
TABLE ROCK: 44 degrees, clear main lake (clear to stained rivers), 0.5 feet high Outlook: Eric Prey of Focused Fishing Guide Service reports: For bass, A- rigs have been very effective around standing timber and around larger boat docks suspended 10 feet down over 25-35 feet. Jerkbaits have turned on especially on windy, cloudy days. Most fish are on steep banks with isolated cover. Finesse jigs have been effective working around boat docks on steeper banks 10-15 feet deep. White bass are being caught 30-40 feet deep on main lake points and flats holding close to the bottom. Spoons have been the bait of choice. Crappie have started to show up in standing timber 8-15 feet deep on bluffs and channel swings. Crappie jigs and tubes are your best bet.
TANEYCOMO: 47 degrees, clear, 10,000 CFS Outlook: Lilleys’ Landing reports: generation is continuous. Spill gates were shut off recently. Minnows and nightcrawlers have been working very well lately on the bottom from Fall Creek on down. PowerEggs will catch you rainbows as well. White marabou jigs have been working better in the trophy area with shad coming through the dam. Anglers are also dragging small 2.5-3 inch, minnow imitation crankbaits along the bottom using a Carolina rig. Drifting with #12 scuds and San Juan worms in cerise and pink color is still a hot technique both in and down from the Trophy Area. Egg flys have also been producing some nice trout.
TRUMAN: 37 degrees, stained, 4 feet high (12,000 CFS) Outlook: Richard Bowling Guide Service reports: Crappie bite is on. Fish the creeks in 20 feet of water and more. Spider rigging is working well with double minnow rigs. One pole jig fishing or minnow fishing is working as well. Quality and quantity are being caught. Catfish are being caught on main lake flats in the upper end in 8-15 feet of water using fresh cut bait 2 feet off the bottom.
Kansas
CLINTON: 34 degrees, dingy, normal (50 CFS) Outlook: KDWPT reports: Good reports of crappie coming from deep water down to 30 feet over channel breaks and brush using chartreuse jigs. Minnows will work too. Fish are tightly bunched up on brush for the most part. Boat Ramp # 1 and 2 (Marina) are open in the State Park. The west ramps (#3) in the State Park are closed as is Campground 3 for repairs. Also, the Bloomington Ramps are open, but the docks are not in.
COFFEY COUNTY: mid 30s/low 40s, clear, about normal Outlook: KDWPT reports: Fishing near the hot water outlet should be most productive until spring, especially for white bass and wipers. Use shad imitation lures and swimbaits. Both channel and blue catfish have been fair to good fishing along wind blown banks with cut bait. Look for creek channel swings and humps. Entrance gate phone number is 620-364-2475. Be sure to call ahead for lake conditions.
EL DORADO: mid 30s, stained, 0.3 feet high (13 CFS) Outlook: KS Dept. of Wildlife, Parks & Tourism: All boat ramps usable. Trout fishing has slowed due to water release which has dispersed the fish. You can find them on baits such as PowerBait, cheese, spinners, spoons, and small jigs and flies. Crappie are fair on brush piles using minnows and jigs, but far from great fishing right now.
GLEN ELDER (WACONDA LAKE): low 30s, stained, 1.1 feet low (600 CFS) Outlook: KDWPT reports: Lake is 10% ice covered as of Feb 7. The marina and Osage boat ramps are open as is Boller Point boat ramp. Ice fishing is not advised. Crappie are biting very well in deeper brush piles near Campground 3, Swim Beach Point, Walnut Creek, and the two piles west of the causeway. White bass continue to be good on the lower end of the reservoir near the dam.
HILLSDALE: 36 degrees, stained, 0.8 feet low (160 CFS) Outlook: KDWPT reports: lake is in winter drawn down. Crappie are fair in brush piles or near the heated marina dock using minnows and jigs about 20 feet down on minnows and jigs.
LA CYGNE: upper 30s, clear, normal Outlook: KDWPT reports: all ramps open. White bass are fair near the hot water outlet. Some wipers have been caught out over the bridge. They can be found chasing gizzard shad on the surface as well. Largemouth are very slow on deep side of riprap areas and weed beds. The few bites you’ll get right now will likely be big, though. Crappie are holding tight to brush in various depths over 10 feet. Try for them with jigs or minnows. For information on the Linn County Marina boat ramps, call 913-757-6633.
MELVERN: 33 degrees, stained, 1.7 feet low (250 CFS) Outlook: Melvern Lake Marina reports: Crappie are fair to good over established brush piles and along the docks on minnows and small ice jigs. Smallmouth are fair lakewide on minnows and shallow crankbaits. White bass are fair on shallow crankbaits and minnows.
MILFORD: low 30s, stained, 4 feet low (1800 CFS) Outlook: KDWPT reports: 30% ice coverage. Channel catfish fair on cut bait, worms, and stink bait. Blue catfish fair on fresh cut bait. Target wind blown flats. Crappie fair 10-20 feet deep suspended near points, flooded brush, and ledges on jigs and minnows. Walleye good near rocky or wind-swept mud banks with jigs. White bass and wipers are fair on jigs in the river on the north end of the reservoir.
PERRY: 31 degrees, clear, 2 feet low Outlook: Don and Tom’s Bait and Tackle reports: Thompsonville ramp was open, but some other ramps have had ice so use caution. There is quite a bit of ice in the coves. The agitators are on in the marinas. Crappie fishing has been very good in 14-20 feet. Schools have been scattered but when you find them it’s on. Fishing around the docks continues to produce. Some catfishing has been going on in the spillway using shad.
POMONA: 33 degrees, stained, 1.8 feet low (250 CFS Tues) Outlook: KDWPT reports: Crappie are biting very well. Good sizes of 10-11 inches are being caught around the rock quarry, the heated docks and along Dragoon. Best baits are dark jigs and/or minnows. All other species slow.
TUTTLE CREEK: 32 degrees, clear, 2 feet low (0 CFS) Outlook: Kansas Department of Wildlife reports: Crappie are good over brush piles with jigs and minnows 15-20 feet deep. The high release rates have moved a lot of saugeye from the Reservoir downstream which has led to some good fishing in the River Pond, the river below the dam or at Rocky Ford. So far this trout season, Willow Lake has been stocked with 5,450 trout. As of 2/4, there was no ice on the lake. Anglers have been doing well with traditional trout baits or power baits. A trout permit is required for fishing at Willow Lake during the trout season.
Tyler Mahoney is a Rockhurst University-educated outdoors fanatic who works to support his hunting and fishing habits. Read more of his next-generation insight at mahoneyoutdoors.com.