Outdoors report: Turkey hunting, morel-mushroom foraging and some really good fishing
Here is the fishing report for lakes and reservoirs in the Kansas City area and regionally around Kansas and Missouri for April 22, 2020.
Missouri
BLUE SPRINGS: mid 50s, stained, normal Outlook: Lee’s Summit Area Fishing Facebook Group reports: marina is closed until further notice due to COVID19 precautions. Look for wipers near the blowhole if water is coming in from Jacomo. Some have been reported on the main lake near the dam. Crappie around standing timber is your best bet. Folks are still getting into them using jigs or minnows. They will be moving up shallow in the next week or so.
BULL SHOALS: 62 degrees, clear, 25 feet high and rising Outlook: Del Colvin Guide Service reports: limited access to ramps and parking, call first. Fish are in all phases of the spawn. Look for flat pockets halfway back to the backs of coves. Swimbait or jerkbait is working on shad balls. Close to spawning areas, the spinnerbait or chatterbait on windy banks with stain will work. Senko, jig, beaver, weightless worm, topwater frogs, spooks, and lots of other baits are working if you get around the fish. Beat the bank. Fish the conditions. High water is making great for the spawn. Little tougher for the fishermen. Gravel banks, boat ramps, and old roads are good places to drag baits. Google earth maps or a good memory is important. Below the dam: John Berry of Berry Bros. Guide Service reports: 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 (current favorite combination is a deep water worm with a weighted egg suspended below it).
JACOMO: mid to upper 50s, stained, normal Outlook: Lee’s Summit Area Fishing Facebook group reports: marina is closed until further notice due to COVID19 precautions. Look for crappie near brush in 5-10 feet of water or along the public docks using jigs or minnows. Folks are starting to catch good numbers from the banks lakewide, especially on the north end. They should really be up on the banks here in the next week. White bass should be up at the dam so look for them surfacing.
JAMES A. REED: 59 degrees, muddy, normal Outlook: Missouri Dept. of Conservation reports: crappie are fair using very small jigs or minnows near brush. Folks have been reporting using a 1/32nd or smaller jig fished starting shallow and moving deeper to find them. Largemouth bass have been hit or miss on a variety of baits, but seeing consistent reports on crankbaits. All other species slow. Due to public safety concerns from the coronavirus, MDC has suspended the channel catfish stockings for the Kansas City area park lakes until further notice. Also, the rental boats will not be available at the James A. Reed Area until further notice.
LAKE OF THE OZARKS: upper 50s, stained, 4 feet low Outlook: Gier’s Bass Pro reports: crappie are very close to spawning. Look for them 1-10 feet down on gravel banks and near structure in spawning pockets. Jerkbaits, crankbaits, and tubes on rocky banks should produce some bass.
LONGVIEW: low to mid 50s, stained, 1 foot low Outlook: Longview Marina reports: Marina is closed until May 15th due to COVID19 precautions. No dock fishing is available. The gates are closed until further notice but the lake is open. Crappie are on fire and being caught all over the lake on jigs in the coves and down in the trees on the Blue River side. Many anglers have reported catching them from the banks. White bass are making their runs up tributaries but may be winding down. Some largemouth were caught in the timber along rocky banks in the last week. Join Lee’s Summit Area Fishing Facebook group for daily updates.
NORFORK: 63 degrees, clear, 16 feet high Outlook: Bink’s Guide Service reports: walleye spawn is about done now. White bass, largemouth, kentucky’s, and smallmouth are still spawning. Stripers are in about 35 feet feeding on small shad. Smallmouth will be the best bite for the next few weeks.
POMME DE TERRE: mid 50s, clear, 0.5 feet high (250 CFS) Outlook: Pomme Muskie Guide Service reports: crappie are being found along the banks more and more. The next week should be getting good. Bass are slow but hitting a variety of baits. All other species slow or no reports.
SMITHVILLE: 54 degrees, clear, 2 feet low (250 CFS) Outlook: Burton’s Bait and Tackle reports: The crappie are still out deeper but will start moving in very soon when the temperature warms. Sailboat cove or brush piles could be areas to check. End of April is probably the time we will see them move in. Bass are picking up on spinnerbaits and jigs. Try rocky areas. The cats are biting well in the upper parts of the lake on cut bait. Try 10 feet or less of water. White bass are picking up in the river areas near Plattsburg. Quality white bass and crappie are being caught on the upper arms of the lake. No walleye on the flats yet.
STOCKTON: upper 50s, clear, 3.1 feet high (5664 CFS) Outlook: Tandem Fly Outfitters reports: walleye are on main lake points fishing a 1/8th Jakked shooter head tipped with a night crawler. Walleye, crappie, and white bass are being caught on #7 flicker shad. Crappie are spawning and catching them in 1-10 feet. The Big Sac arm is the best right now. Bass are staging to spawn and are being caught on spinner baits, jigs, and Carolina rigging a brush hog in the mouth of spawning pockets.
TABLE ROCK: 58 degrees, clear main lake (clear to stained in rivers), 1.5 feet high Outlook: Eric Prey of Focused Fishing Guide Service reports: Colder temperatures have moved the majority of bass back out from spawning pockets in the last couple of days. Secondary points fished with swimbaits, grubs and small jigs have been effective. With warmer weather coming this weekend the fish will move back into the pockets and join those that are already on spawning beds, look for sight fishing to be a dominant pattern this weekend and through next week. Crappie are moving back to the banks in the river arms. Look for them on shallow wood cover less than 10 feet deep on steep banks leading into spawning pockets. White jigs, small tubes and live minnow have all been effective. The white bass are all but done spawning, they have moved to larger flats in the river arms and can be caught with small crankbaits, swimbaits and grubs. Look for schools of whites chasing shad on the flats less than 10’ deep.
TANEYCOMO: 47 degrees, clear, 15,000 CFS Outlook: Lilleys’ Landing reports: trout are still being stocked in the lake, but very anglers are out. Quality fish are being caught everyday, both really nice browns and rainbows. White and sculpin/peach jigs are working. Dragging small floating minnow baits behind the boat from the dam to Branson Landing is producing big browns. Monkey Island has produced numerous big browns recently. The jerkbait bite has produced more so in the middle of the lake than the banks recently. Live bait and scuds should produce some fish as well.
TRUMAN: mid 50s, stained, 1.7 feet high (20,000 CFS) Outlook: Richard Bowling Guide Service reports: Crappie are being caught in the creeks in 10 feet of water and more. Spider rigging, 2 pole trolling and dipping are all working. Minnows are the bait of choice but can be caught on jigs. Best approach is to go to the back of the creek and fish your way out. Bite is fair all day long. Spawn is getting is coming in the next week and a half. Get to the ramps early to beat the traffic. Cats are being caught in 6 to 8 feet of water on fresh cut shad. Both rod and reel and jugs are working. Fish the flats.
Kansas
CLINTON: mid 50s, dingy, 4 feet high (500 CFS) Outlook: KDWPT reports: crappie in 3-15 feet of water near brush and rocky areas on jigs and minnows. Channel cats are good near recent inflows on nightcrawlers. No major reports of wipers in the last week but can be found near windy points and should be some in the outlet. Walleye are slow but have been caught using suspending crankbaits off the dam and should be some in the outlet. The road over the dam has been closed until further notice by the Corps. and Douglas County Sheriff’s Office due to unsafe social distancing and parking conditions. 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. The dock is in at the north Bloomington Ramp.
COFFEY COUNTY: 57 degrees north end, hot water outlet 71, upper 40s everywhere else, clear, low Outlook: KDWPT reports: lake is closed until April 29th. Entrance gate phone number is 620-364-2475, call for lake conditions.
EL DORADO: low to mid 50s, murky, normal (7 CFS) Outlook: KS Dept. of Wildlife, Parks & Tourism: Wipers/white bass are fair near breaks or humps early and moving towards shallow points and shorelines as the water warms up during the day. Jig and plastic or crankbaits work well. 4-inch shad are numerous so match your bait accordingly. Crappie have scattered from winter time patterns and are spotty right now. Walleye spawn is winding down but fish remain on the spawning areas. Jerk baits are great choices this time of the year, but walleye can also be caught on jigs and live bait.
GLEN ELDER (WACONDA LAKE): low to mid 50s, clear, 1.5 feet high Outlook: KDWPT reports: The outlet has been pumped nearly dry, no fishing opportunities below the dam until releases resume. Good reports of crappie caught near the marina boat docks, Campground 3 brush pile, and the swim beach brush pile. Find them in 10-15 feet of water on jigs or minnows for the next couple of weeks until they move in shallow to spawn. Walleye spawn is winding down. Some have moved toward the Cawker City causeway and some can be found along the north shore points in 5-10 feet of water. There are also fish hanging out in 40 feet of water along the river channel south of the marina toward the saddle area. Anglers should be able to catch a few fish using jig/crawler combos along the river channel or by targeting fish around the Cawker City Causeway and Mill Creek area in 5-15 feet of water. Anglers need to be on the lookout for adult walleye with a Pink Tag attached to the dorsal fin in Glen Elder. A multi-year telemetry study is underway examining walleye mortality patterns, habitat use, and movement. Anglers catching a tagged fish will receive a $100 reward for return of the transmitter which has been placed in the internal cavity of these fish. Smallmouth bass are good along the dam, the south bluffs, and along the state park shoreline. Anglers typically catch them using a variety of crankbaits, soft plastics, and Ned Rigs. Largemouth bass can also be caught in most of the main lake coves as well as in the state park using spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and Senkos. The white bass fishing has been excellent up the rivers, especially the South Fork. Anglers have been catching fish around the log jam and near the bridges west of that area using roadrunners, Mister Twisters, and Panther Martins. The fishing will slow a bit with the colder weather but should get going again as things warm back up. These fish will also start to congregate along rocky banks such as the Cawker City causeway, Granite Creek, and the dam.
HILLSDALE: 47 degrees, stained, 1.7 feet high (500 CFS) Outlook: KDWPT reports: walleye should begin feeding on adjacent shallow flats to the dam. Crappie fishing has been productive off the marina docks and as water temperatures warm to 60 the crappie should be moving shallow. Quality fish are being caught on jigs or minnows. White bass are fair on wind blown points. Jigs and shad imitation lures are the best baits right now. Channel cats have been pretty slow lately.
KILL CREEK PARK: 51 degrees, clear, normal Outlook: Johnson County Parks and Rec reports: trout are fair on powerbait. Crappie and bluegill have been hitting minnows and worms. Bass have been fair on spinnerbaits. Catfish are fair on chicken livers.
LA CYGNE: low to mid 50s, clear, about normal Outlook: KDWPT reports: some anglers targeting large blue cats now at drop offs close to the creek channel are finding success. Fish feeders are off still. The crappie are moving into staging areas for spawning and should be hitting the banks soon. Some have been caught off the wall gates where water is released at the dam. Quality fish are being reported on jigs/minnows near structure. Largemouth are slow to fair fishing the deep side of the riprap areas and weed beds. Use cranks, jerkbaits, or spinner baits like shad imitations. White bass are fair using shad imitations or silver spoons in the area of the hot water outlet. Most have been in the 1-2 pound range.
MELVERN: 55 degrees, stained, 0.75 feet high (20 CFS) Outlook: Melvern Lake Marina reports: Crappie are fair over established brush piles and along the docks on minnows and small ice jigs. Look for them to be moving to the banks soon. Smallmouth are fair lakewide on minnows and shallow crankbaits. White bass are fair on shallow crankbaits and minnows. Channel catfish are fair with a few caught near cleaning stations and in the outlet area on nightcrawlers. Walleye are poor but a few have been reported caught along the dam face trolling with nightcrawlers. All other species slow or no reports.
MILFORD: 53 degrees, stained, 0.7 feet high (25 CFS) Outlook: KDWPT reports: Catfish are fair overall. Channel catfish are fair to good on cut bait, worms, and stink bait. Look for freshwater inflows. Blue catfish are typically caught on fresh cut bait. Target wind blown flats and river channel ledges for catfish. Crappie are fair 10-20 feet deep suspended near points, flooded brush, and ledges on jigs and minnows and starting to transition. They will be moving up soon as the water temp nears 60. Walleye are fair to good near rocky or wind-swept mud banks with jigs or jerkbaits as they move up to spawn. Use a slow retrieve with significant pauses while throwing a jerkbait. White bass/wipers are fair along windy banks and points using jigs on the reservoir and should start moving up the river on north end of the reservoir.
PERRY: low to mid 50s, stained, 7 feet high (90 CFS) Outlook: Don and Tom’s Bait and Tackle reports: Folks are catching their limits of crappie and finding lots of eggs. Spawn is close as folks are getting them on the banks on warm days. Bank fishermen fishing around Slough Creek Bridge are getting into them. Fishing around the docks continues to produce. White bass have been hitting around Rock Creek Bridge and are making their run up the Delaware.
POMONA: 52 degrees, stained, 2.3 feet high (500 CFS) Outlook: KDWPT reports: White bass/wipers are slow. Whites have been found in the tributaries. Good baits are minnows/live baits, cut bait, sometimes wipers hit liver and shad imitation lures. Crappie are moving in to spawn. Work the shallow areas. Some nice fish caught especially around the rock quarry on dark jigs and/or minnows.
SHAWNEE MISSION PARK: 54 degrees, clear, normal Outlook: Johnson County Parks and Rec reports: trout are still biting well on powerbait. Crappie and bluegill are hitting small plastics and worms and moving shallow on warmer days. Catfish have been good on hotdogs. Bass and wipers have been hitting minnow imitation baits.
TUTTLE CREEK: 54 degrees, clear, 7.5 feet high (200 CFS) Outlook: Kansas Department of Wildlife reports: Crappie are excellent near brush piles with jigs and minnows 10-14 feet deep and moving shallower. The next week should be the start of solid bank fishing. Catfish are fair on fresh cut bait on flats and channel swings. Look for fresh inflows of water. Saugeye are best in the River Pond or at Rocky Ford.
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.