Outdoors report: Cold front could bring some major changes in angling during week ahead
Here is the fishing report for lakes and reservoirs in the Kansas City area and regionally around Kansas and Missouri for Sept. 9, 2020.
Missouri
BLUE SPRINGS: low 80s, stained, normal Outlook: Lee’s Summit Area Fishing Facebook Group reports: White bass can be found lakewide. Bandit 200s and 300s are a good trolling option that will get the whites, crappie, and hybrids. Hybrids have been hitting live shad near the dam. Look for the blowhole area to pick up if heavy flow is coming in from Jacomo. Largemouth have been slow in the last week. Try jigs or 10-inch worms dropped in tight to standing timber on points. Crappie can be found trolling or dipping trees. 3 bass at about 8.5 pounds won the most recent tournament.
BULL SHOALS: 85 degrees, dingy to clear, 16.5 feet high and falling Outlook: Del Colvin Guide Service reports: limited access to ramps and parking, call first especially on weekends. Summer patterns are in effect. You’re going to work for them! ACE has been pumping the water out which has some of the fish moving out on the points and there’s baitfish suspended deep off the points. 10-15 feet early, 20-28 feet later in the day. Find the bait, find the fish! If it’s hot, go deep. If it’s cloudy and windy, go shallow! Getting up early for topwater with poppers and Berkley wake bait has been good. Try whopper plopper, buzz bait, or chatterbait for powerfishing “shallow” if it’s cloudy or stormy. Target shallow flats close to old creek channels with runoff. As sun comes up, change tactics. Smallies/Kentuckies are stacked out on main and secondary points, sunken islands, humps, channel swings, bluffs, and bluff ends but are closer to main lake points in 26-32 feet. With shad present, fish position will change depending on sun, wind, current, clouds, etc. Docks and shade and have been good. Still a lot of places for them to hide with high water so keep it moving. The big worm in sunken trees is catching suspended fish in 20-24’ on points near ledges bluff ends or also try 1/2 oz jig in green pumpkin orange or GP blue. Smallmouth are on gravel banks, 28ft Check the last set of bushes off long points. Del Colvin’s online fishing report on YouTube. Below the dam: John Berry of Berry Bros. Guide Service reports: Little to no generation recently. The White has fished well. The lower flows have been extremely productive. The hot spot has been Rim Shoals. 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 San Juan worm with a peach) suspended below it).
JACOMO: low 80s, clear, normal Outlook: Lee’s Summit Area Fishing Facebook group reports: you need to stick to fishing 15 feet or shallower. 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 all species of fish. White bass are all over the lake, including out in front of the dam. Find them on your graphs. Look for bass along the weedlines in the coves. Bait will be moving shallower with the cold front and the predator fish will follow. Find the bait, find the fish. Bluegills are very good on small jigs tipped with pieces of nightcrawlers or crickets.
JAMES A. REED: 75 degrees, murky, normal Outlook: Missouri Dept. of Conservation reports: Channel catfish are good on live bait, cut bait, and prepared baits. All other species slow.
LAKE OF THE OZARKS: low 80s, slightly stained, 1 foot low Outlook: bassingbob.com reports: flipping and skipping docks has been the best producer for bass. Creek bite is heating up, especially on the docks with brush. You can still find them brushpile fishing 12-15 feet deep with a shaky head or jig. Some decent reports of bass coming below Truman dam off the river channel along structure near docks. Fishing wave break walls has produced a lot of bites on a chatterbait recently. Crappie have been fair/good trolling Bandit crankbaits in 15-20 feet of water on main lake bluff ends to secondary points. You can find them in brush piles jigging minnows vertically as well. Blue and channel cats are fair to good on long flats, rocky secondary points, and main lake ledge points.
LONGVIEW: 81 degrees, clear, normal Outlook: Longview Marina reports: The corps. will begin drawing the lake down on Sept 8 at a rate of 50 CFS for 10 days to a target level of 890 to facilitate the EDG cylinder repairs starting on Sept 21 and the dive inspection on Sept 25. Catfish are biting really well right now but with the cold front moving in there haven’t been as many anglers out. Crappie can still be found in the creek arms around timber. Marina open 8am-8pm and is stocked with minnows, worms, and chicken liver in stock but need a mask to enter.
NORFORK: 83 degrees, clear, 8 feet high Outlook: Bink’s Guide Service reports: No major changes other than most fish are shallow under 30 feet due to low oxygen in deeper parts. White bass and black bass are hitting topwater baits early in the morning and this has been the best bite overall. Stripers are still deep and not feeding. Walleye are feeding at about 30 feet on ½ oz Bink’s Spoons.
POMME DE TERRE: 82 degrees, clear, normal Outlook: Pomme Muskie Guide Service reports: a few different things starting to happen in the last week. Bass are really picking up, especially on topwater. Also, the muskies are starting to be found. Look for them large lures like black bucktail spinners around docks. Crappie are still pretty slow but you can find them if you put the work in.
SMITHVILLE: 84 degrees, clear, 0.2 feet high (8 CFS) Outlook: Burton’s Bait and Tackle reports: main lake brush piles 10-15 feet deep are key for the crappie right now. Drop a minnow right to the top of the brush. Bass are poor with lots of small fish being caught on the main lake around the grass. Buzz baits, frogs or senkos are good choices for the grass. Small crankbaits around rock are also producing fish. The catfish are good and biting in shallow bays in less than 10’ of water. Dough or dip bait, like Sonny’s, works great for channels. Some nice flatheads and blues are also being caught on trot & limb lines. Goldfish or cut shad are best for these methods. Watch for the whites busting the surface, chasing shad, in the morning or evening. Walleye are poor. Your best bet is trolling a medium diving crank bait on main lake points. A few small ones are being caught but few keepers.
STOCKTON: 78 degrees, clear, 4 feet low (140 CFS) Outlook: Tandem Fly Outfitters reports: Walleye are still being caught, quality is getting better. Jigging crawlers or pulling bottom bouncers are good ways to get them. Look for them on main lake points using a 1/8th- 1/4oz jig tipped with a night crawler. With a bottom bouncer and a worm harness, target main lake points and main lake flats. The whites are schooling throughout the lake still around points surrounded by flats in the evenings. Throw a 1/4oz silver spoon or a 1/4 white road runner. Crappie are still suspended in 12-25ft and can be caught trolling with flicker shad or near brush or standing timber with a jig or minnow. Very light bite and have to work through a lot of little guys. The bass are on main lake points eating a 10in worm or a jig. Dragging neds and tubes should pull a few smallies off rocky points.
TABLE ROCK: 82 degrees, clear main lake (clear to stained in rivers), 1.5 feet low Outlook: Eric Prey of Focused Fishing Guide Service reports: Bass: Most are being caught around 28’-35’ deep on long gravel points on the main lake with a drop shot rig. Casting a spoon for surfacing fish has been productive if you have the patience to wait for them to show themselves. A few fish are starting to show up on the brush piles in the river arms; 12’-20’ seems to be the most productive depths. 7” – 10” Texas rigged worms have been the ticket. There have been a few fish on steeper banks with a topwater early and late and all day when it is cloudy. Crappie: Most are coming off deep brush around docks in the rivers, live minnows below a slip float set at 15’ – 18’ has been the best option. White Bass: Are still tough to find, a few are being caught trolling flats with small crank baits 10’ - 15’ deep over 25’. Occasionally you will find them schooling on the surface in the river arms early in the morning.
TANEYCOMO: 56 degrees, clear, no generation in mornings Outlook: Lilleys’ Landing reports: generation finally shut off Tuesday at midnight and stayed off for 11 hours. We are hoping this will be the pattern for the next week. It will take about a day or so for trout to get used to the “new normal” and then should resume feeding normally. Nightcrawlers have been the best bait recently and you’ll need to inject them with air to float off the bottom with no generation. As water continues to clear up heading into the fall, you’ll need to start using 2-pound line. 4-pound is probably okay still for the next couple weeks. Dry fly fishing was very good in the mornings when 1-2 units were running but now will have to figure out a new pattern with water off. #14 tan scud and #16 primrose & pearl under a float 3-4 feet deep has caught some fish. The pink power worm under a float should still be good and pick up as trout get used to the new water pattern.
TRUMAN: mid to upper 70s, stained, 2 feet low Outlook: trumanlakefishingintel.com reports: crappie are being caught shallow in the river arms less than 8 feet of water on minnows and jigs. They are on structure but can be found out in the open suspended. Lower lake they will be deeper in brush piles. Largemouth bass are starting to get good. Topwater bite is picking up and the fish are starting to get up shallow. Squarebill and spinnerbait on flats anywhere around bait should produce. White bass/hybrids can be found by the dam and KK Island area. 1 oz spoons or live shad should be your go to. Catfish has been a tough bite but you can find them on the flats in 8-12 feet of water drift fishing with fresh cut shad.
Kansas
CLINTON: 80 degrees, stained, 0.1 foot high (21 CFS) Outlook: KDWPT reports: Boat Ramp #4 in the Bloomington West Park is closed. Crappie are hitting over brush piles and standing timber 10-20 feet deep mostly on jigs. Channel cats fair on shad, cut bait, or minnows. White bass fair/good casting crankbaits on the dam or windy points. Wipers have been mixed in. Look for humps in deep water along channel breaks to target wipers.
COFFEY COUNTY: upper 80s/low 90s, stained, normal Outlook: KDWPT reports: Largemouth are slow/fair fishing around shallow woody cover. Topwater in the morning! Walleye are slow/fair on bottom bouncers, crankbaits, rattletraps, and twister-tail grubs worked along rocky shore line. Humps and points should produce some bites. Catfish have been fair/good on wind blown banks or creek channel swings and humps. Crappie are in deep standing timber and brush piles or near the channel breaks on jigs or minnows. Smallmouth are fair on crankbaits, swimbaits, and finesse plastics around rocky habitat. Offshore humps and dropoffs, using drop shot rigs should produce. Whites/wipers are fair/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. Entrance gate phone number is 620-364-2475, call for lake conditions.
EL DORADO: upper 70s, stained, 0.4 feet low (16 CFS) Outlook: KS Dept. of Wildlife, Parks & Tourism: Wipers/white bass are hitting off the main lake points and deep water areas during mid-day hours. Trolling cranks in areas where the wind is blowing into or across is a great way to locate active fish. Crappie are in standing timber and brush piles in water 12-15 feet deep. Minnows are best bet but can also troll for them with small crankbaits. Blue cats are fair near river channels in the lower half of the lake on fresh cut bait. Walleye have been caught on the flats on jig and crawler combos in water 9-12 feet deep.
GLEN ELDER (WACONDA LAKE): upper 70s, clear, 0.8 feet high (50 CFS) Outlook: KDWPT reports: find crappie around the grate on the north end of the dam. They’ve been stacked there. Also look at submerged structure and channel drops to find them. Walleye are fair hanging out near the mouth of Mill Creek and Walnut Creek as well as toward the upper end in some cases all in 20 feet or less. Smallmouth bass fishing is excellent. Anglers are focusing on the state park along the north shore and along the dam. Catfish are good and anglers have turned to chumming for channel and blue catfish. Fermented soybeans, wheat, and milo all work well. Large white bass are hitting across the reservoir on slab spoons, white and chartreuse twister tails, roadrunners, and Rattletraps.
HILLSDALE: 76 degrees, stained, 0.5 feet high (24 CFS) Outlook: KDWPT reports: some walleye are being caught on shallow flats and mud banks drifting live bait, jigging, or trolling crankbaits. Search for crappie on structure and brush near channel ledges, biting well on jigs and minnows. White bass fair on wind blown points. Channel cats are fair/good being caught lakewide at dusk. All other species slow or no reports.
KILL CREEK PARK: 80 degrees, clear, normal Outlook: Johnson County Parks and Rec reports: trout are slow to fair, try powerbait. Crappie and bluegill are good on nightcrawlers and minnows. Bass have been good on jigs. Catfish are fair on dough bait and nightcrawlers.
LA CYGNE: mid to upper 80s, stained, normal Outlook: KDWPT reports: fish feeders off for the season. Catfishing is good from shore using sunfish or cutshad, worms, prepared baits, or liver. Start at the creek mouth and look for water inflows. Crappie are biting well on structure. Some caught off the wall gates where water is released at the dam and also on Georgia cubes. White bass are good using shad imitations or silver spoons in the creek mouth area. Hybrids have been tough recently. Notes from area local: Best bass bite has been yum dinger green pumpkin red fleck rigged wacky style. Some keepers caught on green pumpkin tube. Look for topwater to pick up.
MELVERN: 78 degrees, clear, 0.25 feet low (20 CFS) Outlook: Melvern Lake Marina reports: Crappie are fair to good lakewide in deeper water over established brush piles and along the docks on minnows and jigs in 10-20 feet of water. Smallmouth are fair lakewide on shallow crankbaits. White bass are fair on shallow crankbaits and minnows on wind blown points and along the dam. Channel catfish are good with a few caught near cleaning stations and in the outlet area on nightcrawlers and cut bait. Blue cats are fair on mud flats. All other species slow or no reports.
MILFORD: 80 degrees, stained, 1.5 feet high (400 CFS) Outlook: KDWPT reports: Catfish are biting very well overall. Channel catfish are biting cut bait, worms, and stink bait. Blue catfish are typically caught on fresh cut bait on wind blown flats and river channel ledges. Crappie are fair 10-20 feet deep suspended near points, flooded brush, and ledges on minnows. Walleye are slow to fair on rocky or wind-swept mud banks with jigs, crankbaits, or bottom bouncers. White bass/wipers are good along windy banks and points using jigs on the reservoir. Black bass are fair. Find the smallies on gravel banks and points.
PERRY: Upper 70s, stained, 1.3 feet high (25 CFS) Outlook: Don and Tom’s Bait and Tackle reports: crappie are in brush piles 8-14 feet deep. Anglers are catching their limits of cats everywhere on the lake using beans and Triple S dip bait, shrimp, or chicken liver. Whites are being found at the Devil’s Gap area.
POMONA: 81 degrees, stained, 0.1 feet low (15 CFS) Outlook: KDWPT reports: Catfish are very good on worms, dip baits, sunfish entrails, cutshad, and stink/prepared baits. Both of the parks provide many good shorelines for bank fishing. Crappie are biting well on minnows in the rock quarry and in brush piles. All other species slow.
SHAWNEE MISSION PARK: 79 degrees, clear, normal Outlook: Johnson County Parks and Rec reports: trout are slow to fair on powerbait. Crappie and bluegill are hitting small plastics, worms, and minnow imitation lures. Catfish are fair on cut bait. Bass and wipers are good on plastic baits and squarebills. Topwater picking up.
TUTTLE CREEK: 79 degrees, stained, 2.8 feet high (100 CFS) Outlook: Kansas Department of Wildlife reports: Crappie are better and being found in brush 8-12 feet deep on jigs/minnows. Lake and connected river system have a great population of channels and they are biting shallow. You’ll find bass in the southern third of the reservoir. Saugeye are fair to good and 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.