Fishing report: Lakes are turning over, but upcoming cold blast should improve activity
Missouri
BLUE SPRINGS: upper 60s, 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 and have been caught shallow from the bank as well. Watch for wind blown banks for the hybrids/whites. Largemouth have been slow in the last week. Try jigs or 10-inch worms dropped in tight to standing timber on points. Topwater is getting better early in the mornings. Crappie can be found trolling or dipping trees. 4 bass at 9.79 pounds won the most recent tournament.
BULL SHOALS: 70 degrees, dingy to clear, 2 feet high and falling fast Outlook: Del Colvin Guide Service reports: ACE has been pumping the water out! When the generation slows, the shad should get balled up more. There are baitfish pushing towards the backs of creeks. Start in the back third of a major creek and then move out. Some of the shad balls are getting bigger but suspended over the old creek channels. Topwater has slowed drastically. Try spinnerbait, chatterbait, or squarebill for powerfishing “shallow” if there’s bushes with deeper water close and shad, if it’s cloudy or stormy. Target shallow flats close to old creek channels with runoff. As sun comes up, change tactics and slow down. Pockets, channel swings, transitions with wind. With shad present, fish position will change depending on sun, wind, current, clouds, etc. Keep it moving. The shad are moving and so are the fish. Also try 1/2 oz jig in green pumpkin orange, GP blue, or GP orange shaky head. Keep moving, but slow down when you do get bit. Del Colvin’s online fishing report on YouTube. Below the dam: John Berry of Berry Bros. Guide Service reports: heavy generation and no wadable water. The White has been inconsistent, good one day tough the next. 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 San Juan worm with a girdle bug suspended below it).
JACOMO: low 70s, clear, normal Outlook: Lee’s Summit Area Fishing Facebook group reports: catfish are fair anywhere from 20+ feet down to 5 feet or less on fresh cut bait or prepared baits. Crappie will be 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. Look for wind blown banks and find them on your graphs. Look for bass along the remaining weedlines or rocky banks in the coves. Find the bait and you’ll find the fish. They’ll be up shallow.
JAMES A. REED: 68 degrees, clear, normal Outlook: Missouri Dept. of Conservation reports: Fishing pressure is almost non existent still. Channel catfish can be found on live and prepared baits. Largemouth are fair plastics and squarebills. All other species slow.
LAKE OF THE OZARKS: low 70s, slightly stained, 2.3 feet low Outlook: bassingbob.com reports: Most bass are coming off of jigs and worms in the backs of creeks holding bait fish. Brush piles and main lake points are still producing as well. Best bite in the last week has been when the water generation has been on, even at minimal generation. Things have still been a little slow overall with a lot of shorts caught. For crappie, dock shooting has been productive where there has been at least 25 feet of water at the end of the dock. They’ve been in the shade and hitting the best in the morning on jigs and minnows.
LONGVIEW: 66 degrees, clear, low Outlook: Longview Marina reports: Catfish are biting really well right now around the marina area and there are big ones being caught. Crappie are fair in the creek arms around timber, a lot of 7-10 inchers. Bass fishing is slow. White bass are schooling in the early morning around the shelter 13 and Beach corners and coves. Marina open 8am-6pm and is stocked with minnows, worms, and chicken liver in stock but need a mask to enter.
NORFORK: 71 degrees, stained, 3.25 feet high and falling Outlook: Bink’s Guide Service reports: The lake is turning over for the fall and as most fishermen know, that’s a hard time to catch fish! It will last for about 4-5 weeks over various parts of the lake before fishing gets back to normal. We are catching a mixed bag of fish right now, mostly small at this time.
POMME DE TERRE: 73 degrees, clear, 0.2 feet low Outlook: Pomme Muskie Guide Service reports: bass are hitting, but it’s slow. Topwater early has been productive. Crappie are starting to bite a lot better, either jigs or minnows and moving shallow. Muskies are still staying consistent. White bass are in the backs of coves chasing shad like crazy.
SMITHVILLE: low 70s, clear, normal (8 CFS) Outlook: Burton’s Bait and Tackle reports: main lake brush piles 10-15 feet deep are still key for the crappie right now. They’ve been hitting around the marina and some of the docks, too. Bass are getting better in 10 feet of water or less around stumps. Buzzbait is working well in the morning. Catfish are fair to good in 10 feet or less on dough or dip bait. 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. They have been in the backs of coves recently and on wind blown points. All other species slow or no reports.
STOCKTON: 68 degrees, clear, 5.25 feet low (40 CFS) Outlook: Tandem Fly Outfitters reports: everything is transitioning to the fall pattern. Fish are moving shallow. Overall it’s been a tougher bite in the last week and you really have to grind to find your fish. Use the same techniques, but start looking in the mouths of the creek arms. Walleye are fair vertically jigging crawlers or pulling bottom bouncers. 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 still active and schooling throughout the lake still around points surrounded by flats in the evenings. 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 and secondary points and really starting to smash a squarebill, wakebait, buzzbait, and jigs.
TABLE ROCK: 71 degrees, clear, 3 feet low Outlook: Eric Prey of Focused Fishing Guide Service reports: Bass: Most are being caught around 15’ -25’ deep on long gravel points on the main lake with a football jig. Smallmouth are starting to move up shallow with the cooler days and cooler water temps, look for them to be on mixed gravel and rock main lake points 12’ - 20’ deep with a Pee Wee Jig, shaky head or Ned rig. The topwater bite early and late on steeper shady banks is still producing a few fish a day, the key is to follow the shade and keep your bait in the shade to get bit. 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: 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, dingy, little to no generation Outlook: Phil Lilley of Lilleys’ Landing reports: nights and mornings there has been no generation with a little flow added late in the afternoon/evenings for about three hours most days. Right now, I use a small jig-and-float rig when using a spin cast, and if fly fishing, I use a small Zebra Midge under a float. I target trout midging around patches of leaves on the lake, especially in the evening. If fly fishing, I’d use either a four- or five-weight rod, nine foot with a light to medium light tip action, weight forward line, 12 foot, 5x tapered leader and 6x tippet. Spin fishing, it’s best to use a longer, medium action rod like 6’6” or 7’0.” The length of the rod provides more power when you set the hook on a fish. I like the Turner Micro Jig in the half micro or a small marabou jig, as small as 1/125th ounce. We also carry PJ’s Finesse Jig, and they do come in two small sizes, perfect for this application -- 1/125th- and 1/50th-ounce. Good colors are black, olive, sculpin, ginger and brown. Good flies would be the Zebra Midge, Prince Nymph, Soft Hackle, or even a small beaded scud if you’re fishing close to a bed of pond weeds. I’d use nothing bigger than a size 14. If there’s no chop on the water, you’ll need to give the jig a little action by nudging or popping the float every five seconds or so. Look for very subtle movements of the float for the bite and set the hook fast. Fish around the leaves and especially look for rising fish feeding on midges and other bugs on the surface. Using the same application as small jigs and Zebra Midges, fish a marabou jig or micro jig under a float but deeper. Also try the Berkley Pink PowerWorm under a float four- to seven-feet deep.
TRUMAN: mid 60s/low 70s, stained, 2 feet low Outlook: trumanlakefishingintel.com reports: crappie are being caught in the river arms in 10-12 feet of water anywhere from 6-10 feet down on minnows and jigs. Starting to move to bluffs on lower lake. Largemouth bass are slow, but are hitting shallow in less than 5 feet of water on main lake flats and bluff channel points. Creek bite hasn’t turned on yet. Buzzbaits/whopper ploppers fished shallow on main lake channel points is good in the morning. White bass/hybrids can be found by the dam and KK Island area and are biting well. 1 oz spoons or live shad should be your go to on humps 15-20 feet deep. They still haven’t pushed super shallow yet. Catfish are getting better. Find them on the flats in 10-25 feet of water drift fishing with fresh cut shad. Osage arm has been the best. Visit trumanlakefishingintel.com for daily/weekly reports and videos.
Kansas
CLINTON: 68 degrees, clear, 0.2 feet low (7 CFS) Outlook: KDWPT reports: Boat Ramp #4 in the Bloomington West Park is closed. Crappie slow to fair 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. They are hitting swimbaits and large jigs. The evening bite has been good when shad are at the surface.
COFFEY COUNTY: mid 60s to mid 70s, clear, normal Outlook: KDWPT reports: Largemouth are slow/fair fishing around shallow woody cover with topwater and jigs. Walleye slow/fair on bottom bouncers, crankbaits, rattletraps, and twister-tail grubs worked along points and humps. Catfish have been fair/good on wind blown banks or creek channel swings and humps. Crappie slow/fair in deep standing timber and brush piles or near the channel breaks on jigs or minnows. Smallmouth fair on crankbaits, swimbaits, and finesse plastics around rocky habitat. Topwater walking baits have been productive. Whites/wipers 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: mid to upper 60s, stained, 1.1 feet low (7 CFS) Outlook: KS Dept. of Wildlife, Parks & Tourism: lake currently under a watch for harmful blue-green algae bloom. Wipers/white bass are fair to good on 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 fair in standing timber and brush piles 15-18 feet deep on minnows or trolling with 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): mid 60s, clear, 0.6 feet high (50 CFS) Outlook: KDWPT reports: crappie can be found 10-20 feet deep on brush piles and other submerged structure. The walleye are moving out to the river channel but many still remain in shallow water 4-8 feet. Look in the Walnut Creek area, west of the causeway, and in the shallow end of the north shore state park coves. A handful can be found in 30-35 feet along the river channel. Smallmouth bass fishing continues to produce with anglers catching some fish around the state park along the north shore. The best catfish numbers in the fall can be found around the mouth of Walnut Creek, along Sandy Beach, near Takota Point, and on the flats south of the golf course. Anglers continue to catch good numbers of large white bass across the reservoir. Slab spoons, white and chartreuse twistertails, roadrunners, and Rattletraps are all good bets to catch some white bass now.
HILLSDALE: 69 degrees, stained, 0.1 feet low (3 CFS) Outlook: KDWPT reports: Some walleye are being caught on shallow flats and mud banks drifting live bait, jigging, trolling crankbaits, or casting baits while targeting structure. Crappie fair on structure and brush near channel ledges, biting well on jigs and minnows 12-16 feet deep. White bass good on wind blown points. Channel cats fair lakewide at dusk on natural and artificial baits. All other species slow or no reports.
KILL CREEK PARK: 68 degrees, clear, normal Outlook: Johnson County Parks and Rec reports: trout will be stocked on Wednesday, October 21. Once stocked, the lake will be closed to all fishing until 5:00 am Saturday, October 24. Trout are slow to fair, try powerbait. Crappie and bluegill are fair on nightcrawlers. Bass are good on jigs. Catfish are fair on dough bait and nightcrawlers.
LA CYGNE: mid 70s to upper 80s, stained, normal Outlook: KDWPT reports: no changes. Catfishing is good from shore and excellent on set lines using sunfish or cutshad, worms, prepared baits, or liver. Start at the creek mouth. Crappie are biting well on structure. Some caught off the wall gates where water is released at the dam and also on Georgia cubes. Hot water area is getting better. White bass are excellent using shad imitations or silver spoons in the creek mouth area and hot water area. Hybrids are tough to come by. Largemouth are moving with the bait and the creek channel has been a hot spot. Crankbaits, plastic worms, and spinnerbaits should produce. Bite has been pretty decent recently.
MELVERN: 68 degrees, clear, 0.6 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. Dam area should be a place to target. White bass fair on shallow crankbaits and minnows on wind blown points and along the dam. Channel catfish are good on nightcrawlers and liver lake wide. Blue cats are good on cut bait on mud flats and by the marina. Walleye are fair while trolling nightcrawlers along flat areas on north shore near State Park. All other species slow or no reports.
MILFORD: 69 degrees, stained, 1.4 feet high (100 CFS) Outlook: KDWPT reports: Catfish fair to good lakewide. Channel catfish are biting cut bait, worms, and stink bait. Blue catfish are being found on fresh cut bait on wind blown flats and river channel ledges. Crappie fair 10-20 feet deep suspended near points, brush, and ledges on minnows. Walleye fair on rocky or wind-swept mud banks with jigs, crankbaits, or bottom bouncers. White bass/wipers slow to fair along windy banks and points using jigs on the reservoir. Black bass fair on gravel banks and points.
PERRY: 66 degrees, stained, 1 foot high (25 CFS) Outlook: Don and Tom’s Bait and Tackle reports: crappie are in brush piles, most are 8 feet deep anywhere from 16-20 feet of water though. Catfish are good lakewide using beans and Triple S dip bait, shrimp, or chicken liver. Whites are being found at the Devil’s Gap area and getting better. Find them on any wind blown rocky bank chasing shad.
POMONA: 66 degrees, stained, 0.7 feet low (15 CFS) Outlook: KDWPT reports: Catfish fair to 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. Wipers can be found moving shallow on wind blown banks chasing shad. All other species slow.
SHAWNEE MISSION PARK: 69 degrees, clear, normal Outlook: Johnson County Parks and Rec reports: trout will be stocked on Wednesday, October 21. Once stocked, the lake will be closed to all fishing until 5:00 am Saturday, October 24. Trout are slow to fair on powerbait. Crappie and bluegill are fair on small plastics, worms, and minnow imitation lures. Catfish are fair on cut bait. Bass and wipers are fair on topwater and squarebills.
TUTTLE CREEK: 68 degrees, stained, 1.6 feet high Outlook: Kansas Department of Wildlife reports: Crappie fair in brush 10-14 feet deep on jigs/minnows. Look for them to move shallow now. 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.