Fishing report: James A. Reed continues to produce big bass and the weather looks good
Here is the fishing report for lakes and reservoirs in the Kansas City area and regionally around Kansas and Missouri for May 27, 2020.
Missouri
BLUE SPRINGS: mid 60s, stained, normal Outlook: Lee’s Summit Area Fishing Facebook Group reports: White bass can be found lakewide, especially near the dam, but having to work through a lot of small fish. Trolling crankbaits for crappie should be a good way to find them. Largemouth bass have been better in the last week. 14 boats fished the tournament and winning weight was 11 pounds with 4 keepers.
BULL SHOALS: 70-75 degrees, dingy to clear, 35 feet and rising Outlook: Del Colvin Guide Service reports: limited access to ramps and parking, call first. Post spawn and early summer patterns are in effect. Look for flat pockets halfway back to the backs of coves. Post spawners are moving out. Secondary points have been good using a swimbait or jerkbait near shad balls. Looking forward to the next moon for another shad spawn. Cloudy with wind, the spinnerbait or chatterbait on old banks and bushes with stain will work. Or, jig in green pumpkin orange or gp blue are Del’s favorite. Try a beaver style bait flipping bushes where you can reach the shore. Topwater frogs, small spooks, and lots of other baits are working if you get around the fish. For smallmouth, gravel banks, boat ramps, and old roads are good places to drag baits like the ned rig, hula grubs tubes, or Carolina rigs 18-32 feet down. Topwater is still hit or miss. Spooks and poppers are working early then bite is somewhat random. If the Corp. releases the flow big time which appears likely, the bite is going to change. Below the dam: John Berry of Berry Bros. Guide Service reports: The White has fished well. The hot spot has been Rim Shoals. The water below Crooked Creek and the Buffalo is high and off color. 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 size fourteen pheasant tail with a size eighteen ruby midge suspended below it).
JACOMO: mid 60s, stained, normal Outlook: Lee’s Summit Area Fishing Facebook group reports: Look for crappie near brush in 10-15 feet of water or along the public docks using jigs or minnows. Trolling crankbaits should be a good way to find them as they move out from the spawn. For bass, look for spawning pockets in shallow parts of coves close to deeper water.
JAMES A. REED: 74 degrees, stained, normal Outlook: Missouri Dept. of Conservation reports: crappie are fair using jigs and minnows near brush. Anglers are still finding them shallow. Bluegill are fair to good on small jigs or small pieces of worms. Largemouth bass have been hit or miss on a variety of baits. Due to public safety concerns from the coronavirus (COVID-19), the rental boats will not be available at the James A. Reed Area until further notice.
LAKE OF THE OZARKS: mid to upper 60s, stained, 0.5 feet low Outlook: Gier’s Bass Pro reports: crappie are biting well but spawn is about done. They are moving out deeper and fishing windy side of docks has produced a lot of fish. Bass bite has been good in spawning pockets as the lake has stained up more recently. Topwater has been especially good. Main lake points have been hit or miss but using deep diving crankbaits or football jigs will find a few.
LONGVIEW: 63 degrees, clear, normal Outlook: Longview Marina reports: dock fishing closed until further notice. Crappie have picked up all over the lake. Check the timber near mouths of coves in 8-15 feet of water and shallower. Largemouth have been hard to come by. Fishing at marina is still closed but they do have minnows, worms, and chicken liver in stock. Join Lee’s Summit Area Fishing Facebook group for daily updates.
NORFORK: 72 degrees, clear, 23 feet high Outlook: Bink’s Guide Service reports: 12 spillway gates are open. Stripers are hitting on swimbaits. Bass are biting really well on topwater baits like spooks and poppers. Walleye have been fair to good hitting ¼ oz Bink’s Spoons.
POMME DE TERRE: 70 degrees, clear (dam) to murky (up lake), 4 feet high (3000 CFS) Outlook: Pomme Muskie Guide Service reports: Crappie are fair on jigs and minnows. Overall everything is pretty slow. All other species slow or no reports.
SMITHVILLE: 61 degrees, clear, 0.6 feet low (8 CFS) Outlook: Burton’s Bait and Tackle reports: the crappie are still biting but are about done with the spawn. Some areas are producing spawning fish but most are done. It was one of the best spawns for catching lots of big fish in many years. The walleye are starting to be caught on main lake points. A flicker shad or shad rap or rattle trap are good choices. Shallow flat points in 10 feet or less of water. Lots of white bass are roaming the main lake and biting. Rooster tails or road runners in white colors will catch them. The channels are moving into the shallows feeding up. Lots are being caught by the crappie fishermen. Night crawlers, liver, or dough bait will work.
STOCKTON: 69 degrees, clear, 8.6 feet high (895 CFS) Outlook: Tandem Fly Outfitters reports: fish have been scattered, but walleye are still biting well on main lake points fishing a 1/8th Jakked shooter head tipped with a nightcrawler. Start deeper in 25 feet or so work shallower until you find them. 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: 70 degrees, clear main lake (clear to muddy in rivers), 12.5 feet high Outlook: Eric Prey of Focused Fishing Guide Service reports: For bass, the top water bite has been awesome as fish are coming off the spawn. Look for fish to be on main lake and secondary points. Small jigs, shaky heads and Ned rigs are effective on gravel points close to the old bank line. A few fish can be caught in the flooded bushes and timber by flipping or throwing a floating worm. Crappie are moving back to standing timber and brush now that the spawn is over. White jigs, small tubes and live minnows have all been effective. The white bass have moved to larger flats and flat points and can be caught on swimbaits and grubs. Look for schools of whites chasing shad on the flats less than 15’ deep.
TANEYCOMO: 46 degrees, clear, low to no generation Outlook: Lilleys’ Landing reports: Fly fishing has been very good with low flow. The Narrows has been a hot spot using a #14 scud 2-4 feet deep. Jerkbait bite for browns has really slowed down with little generation. The brown marabou jig with an orange head is reportedly one of the best colors this past week, along with the black jig. The trophy area is good as well as Short Creek area. If the water is off, throw a 1/16th-ounce using either 2- or 4-pound line or throw a 1/32nd-ounce jig with 2-pound line. Night crawlers has been good for some. Power Eggs are working when the water is running. An orange/white combination did well for those drifting from Cooper Creek down to Monkey Island. The Berkley Pink PowerWorm on a small jig head fished under a float 5 to 6 feet deep down around the bridges and the Branson Landing has been productive. Use 2-pound line for best results.
TRUMAN: 69 degrees, stained, 2 feet high (15,000 CFS) Outlook: Richard Bowling Guide Service reports: Crappie are being caught in the creeks, pockets and on the flats leaving the spawning areas. Fish in 10 feet of water and more fishing an average 10 feet down. Minnows and jigs both working but minnows are the best. Fish the post spawn areas. The bite is good and crappie are showing up on the trees and brush piles. White bass are being caught on the humps road beds and saddles with current. Jigging spoons and minnows are working. Blue cats are being caught on jugs in 15 feet of water and more setting them 10 feet deep with fresh cut shad. Fish along the main lake channels. Black bass are being caught on crankbaits, spinner baits and buzzbaits in 1-6 feet of water. Fish the flat pockets on the main lake.
Kansas
CLINTON: 62 degrees, stained, 0.6 feet high (21 CFS) Outlook: KDWPT reports: All boat ramps open in State Park. Bloomington ramps are open, except Bloomington West. Anglers have had good luck recently catching crappie from the bank using jigs and minnows pretty much lakewide. White bass are good. Casting crankbaits on the dam is working some days. Some action trolling with crankbaits. Wipers have been mixed in. Catfish will bite well on nightcrawlers near inflows. Walleye are on the flats now and can be targeted with jig and a nightcrawler or trolling with crankbaits.
COFFEY COUNTY: 74 degrees north end, hot water outlet 83, rest of lake mid 60s, clear, normal Outlook: KDWPT reports: Restricted lake hours are from 7am-4pm. All boats are to be off the water by 4pm. All people and boats are to be off of lake property by 5pm. Fishermen should remain in vehicles at the gate during registration. Largemouth are slow to fair, but quality are in the lake. Walleye are fair trolling crankbaits or spinner rigs with live nightcrawlers or minnows over points and humps. Catfish are biting very well on wind blown banks or creek channel swings and humps on various baits. Crappie are still shallow near woody cover but won’t be for a lot longer. Smallmouth are fair on crankbaits, swimbaits, and finesse plastics around rocky habitat. Fish should be up shallow, but don’t be afraid to go offshore and fish deeper around humps and dropoffs, using drop shot rigs. Whites/wipers are fair to good on shad imitation lures like small spinners, crankbaits or bucktail jigs. Look for schools of shad or focus on wind blown flats or rocky points. Vertical jigging slab spoons is also a good technique. Entrance gate phone number is 620-364-2475, call for lake conditions.
EL DORADO: low to mid 60s, murky, 1.5 feet high (1244 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. Crappie have been biting near shallow cover on jigs and minnows. Some blue catfish being caught on shallow windy points or shorelines with an incoming wind. Fresh cut bait has been best. A few walleye have been caught on the flats on jig and crawler combos in water 6 to 9 feet deep. Should continue to get better.
GLEN ELDER (WACONDA LAKE): 65 degrees, clear, 0.5 feet high (300 CFS) Outlook: KDWPT reports: the weather has been pushing crappie in and out. They should make another push shallow but could be deeper in 15-20 feet of water trolling crankbaits and jigging over Georgia Cubes, brush piles, and other structure. Best bet is to change your tactics according to the temperature. Anglers should still be able to find walleye hanging out in the deeper river channel areas on the east half of the reservoir as well as toward the springs and Wally World. Other fish may be starting to move toward the flats south of the Cawker City dike or could even be found along the Cawker City causeway. Smallmouth bass fishing has been very good recently with anglers catching high numbers of spawning fish. They can be found along the dam, Granite Creek, 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 channel catfish spawn is getting close and there are already reports of anglers catching fish along the rocky shorelines along the Cawker City causeway, Granite Creek, and the state park points. Fishing for these spawning channel catfish involves placing a leech or worm under a bobber in 1-2 feet of water near the shoreline and moving around if the fish aren’t biting in one area. White bass spawn is about done but can still be caught up the rivers, especially the South Fork. You can find them along rocky banks as well.
HILLSDALE: 61 degrees, stained, 0.8 feet high (750 CFS) Outlook: KDWPT reports: some walleye are being caught on shallow flats and mud banks. Drifting live bait, jigging, trolling crankbaits, casting baits while targeting structure can all be effective methods right now. Crappie are shallow still and can be caught on jigs and minnows. White bass are fair on wind blown points. Largemouth are fair near shallow water structure on plastics.
KILL CREEK PARK: 69 degrees, clear, normal Outlook: Johnson County Parks and Rec reports: trout are fair on powerbait. Crappie and bluegill have been hitting minnows and worms and biting well. Bass have been good on plastics. Catfish are fair on chicken livers and nightcrawlers.
LA CYGNE: low to mid 60s, clear, about normal Outlook: KDWPT reports: catfishing has been good from shore. Look for fresh inflows and use nightcrawlers. The creek mouth is a good area to look. Fish feeders are off. The crappie are moving into staging areas for spawning, usually close to structure. Some fish have been caught off the wall gates where water is released at the dam. Some fish caught off of marina coves and it’s usually good at the hot water outlet area. Largemouth are fair to good fishing the deep side of the riprap areas and weed beds. Some 6+ pound fish have been caught near the hot water outlet recently. 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. The creek mouth has been a good area for them as well. Some wipers have been found near the bridge.
MELVERN: 62 degrees, clear, 1.6 feet high (896 CFS) Outlook: Melvern Lake Marina reports: Crappie have slowed down in the past week. Check shallow established brush piles, on the shore on the north side of the lake, and along the docks on minnows and small jigs. Smallmouth are good lakewide on minnows, crankbaits, and jigs on rocky banks. White bass are fair on shallow crankbaits and minnows on wind blown points and along the dam. Channel catfish are fair to good with a few caught near cleaning stations and in the outlet area on nightcrawlers. Blue cats have been good on mud flats and around the docks on crappie entrails or fresh cut bait. Lots of blue have been reported recently. Walleye are fair and being reported along the dam trolling nightcrawlers.
MILFORD: 62 degrees, stained, 1.1 feet high (64 CFS) Outlook: KDWPT reports: Catfish are biting very well overall. Channel catfish are biting 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 good 10-20 feet deep suspended near points, flooded brush, and ledges on jigs and minnows and should still be shallow, too, on warmer days. Walleye are fair near rocky or wind-swept mud banks with jigs or jerkbaits as they move up to spawn. White bass/wipers are fair along windy banks and points using jigs on the reservoir and in the river on north end of the reservoir.
PERRY: mid 60s, stained, 1.5 feet high (262 CFS) Outlook: Don and Tom’s Bait and Tackle reports: Devil’s Gap boat ramp is closed. Crappie are still great all over the lake. Bank fishermen fishing around Slough Creek Bridge are getting into them. Fishing around the docks continues to produce. Folks are finding them below the spillway as well. Minnows are best but plastics are working great, too. White bass have been hitting around Rock Creek Bridge and are making their run up the Delaware. Catfish have been biting very well on fresh cut shad or crappie remains and have been moving up more shallow recently.
POMONA: 65 degrees, stained, 1.2 feet high (15 CFS) Outlook: KDWPT reports: catfish are biting well. Good baits are worms, dip baits, sunfish entrails, cutshad, and stink/prepared baits. Both of the parks provide many good shorelines for bank fishing. Crappie are still spawning. Work the shallow areas then move deeper. Some nice fish caught especially around the rock quarry on dark jigs and/or minnows.
SHAWNEE MISSION PARK: 70 degrees, clear, normal Outlook: Johnson County Parks and Rec reports: trout are fair on powerbait. Crappie and bluegill are hitting small plastics and worms and moving shallow on warmer days. Probably deeper now with the cooler weather and rain moving in. Catfish are fair on cut bait. Bass and wipers have been hitting crank baits.
TUTTLE CREEK: 70 degrees, clear, 5.3 feet high (314 CFS) Outlook: Kansas Department of Wildlife reports: Crappie are good lakewide on jig and minnows 2-6 feet deep. Anglers have been reporting lots of limits. Coves in southern third of the reservoir have some locally good largemouth bass populations but fishing has been fair lately. 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.