Outdoors report: Here are the fishing and duck hunting conditions in Kansas, Missouri

Fishing report

Missouri

BLUE SPRINGS: mid to 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 9.07 pounds won the most recent tournament. Big bass was 4.75.

BULL SHOALS: 69 degrees, dingy to clear, normal Outlook: Del Colvin Guide Service reports: ACE has been slightly slowing the generation and the shad are getting balled up more. There are baitfish pushing towards the backs of creeks and that’s where I’ve been doing better. 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. Brush piles are getting good if there’s shad present. The fish position will change depending on sun, wind, current, clouds, etc. Keep it moving. Jig bite is picking up - 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 good. 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 size eight 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. Bluffs will probably be holding more fish soon. 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. Squarebills and spinnerbaits should produce.

JAMES A. REED: 54 degrees, clear, normal Outlook: Missouri Dept. of Conservation reports: Fishing pressure is very low. Largemouth are fair on plastics and squarebills. All other species slow.

LAKE OF THE OZARKS: upper 60s, slightly stained, 2.5 feet low Outlook: bassingbob.com reports: Big rock main lake banks slow rolling spinner bait and top water has produced some decent bass. Bluff cuts with offshore structure and deep main 20′-30′ foot main lake points with a big jig has probably been the best bite recently. 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: low 60s, clear, a little 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 picking up along the drop offs and rocky areas near the beaches. Marina open 8am-6pm and is stocked with minnows, worms, and chicken liver in stock but need a mask to enter.

NORFORK: 69 degrees, stained, 1.5 feet high Outlook: Bink’s Guide Service reports: The lake is turning over making it tough on the fishing. It will last for about another few 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: 66 degrees, clear, 0.5 feet low Outlook: Pomme Muskie Guide Service reports: bass are hitting, but it’s slow. Topwater early has been productive. Crappie are are still slow but should be picking up a lot better, either jigs or minnows and moving shallow. Muskies and walleye are slow. White bass are in the backs of coves chasing shad like crazy and there are some good quality sizes being caught.

SMITHVILLE: mid 60s, 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, but getting shallower. They’ve been hitting around the marina and some of the docks, too. Bass are hitting in 10 feet of water or less around stumps. Catfish are fair to good in 10 feet or less on dough or dip bait. 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: 62 degrees, clear, 5.7 feet low (1350 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: 68 degrees, clear, 3 feet low Outlook: Eric Prey of Focused Fishing Guide Service reports: Bass: Most are being caught around 8’ -20’ 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 5’ - 15’ 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, intermittent generation Outlook: Phil Lilley of Lilleys’ Landing reports: fishing has been fairly slow in the last week. Nightcrawlers below Fall Creek has been best fished on the bottom with a little air injected in them to float off the bottom. Four-pound line is still fine. Our water clarity is still a little turbid so they don’t see the line. The best areas to fish have been from Fall Creek to Trout Hollow, but there are a lot of rainbows holding in the stretch above our dock here at Lilleys’ Landing. Trout have been midging quite a bit, but it’s been hard to catch them with the usual flies. I’ve done fairly well using a black Zebra Midge or a Rusty Zebra, sizes 16 and 18. I’m using 6x tippet and fishing the midges under a small indicator 12 to 36 inches deep. I’ve been fishing the Mega Worm with some success. I’m using white but also fishing the chartreuse and peach under a float three- to five-feet deep depending on the depth of water in the trophy area and just below Fall Creek. If water is off, use the 1/100th oz jighead. We’re throwing marabou jigs with good success, using white, sculpin, sculpin/peach and black. Now that the water is running, we switch to heavier jigs depending on how much water is running. Other bonus species of smallmouth, kentuckies, and walleye have been caught below the dam. White jigs will be your best bet below the dam.

TRUMAN: low 60s, stained, 2 feet low Outlook: trumanlakefishingintel.com reports: the best bite going right now are the hybrids and white bass in the lower lake by the dam and KK island area. They have moved up on the windy banks and points in less than 3 feet of water. Crappie are somewhat scattered on the lower lake, but biting well in the upper Grand anywhere from 6-9 feet deep in 7-14 feet of water. Most have been tight to timber. Catfish hav been poor in the upper arms. Stick to the main lake drift fishing with fresh cut shad. Bass have been tough. It took 31.3 pounds to win first place in the recent 2-day Joe Bass tournament over the weekend out of 200 boats. Spinnerbaits and squarebills on wind blown banks and pockets was a popular method for most anglers. Visit trumanlakefishingintel.com for daily/weekly reports and videos.

Kansas

CLINTON: 68 degrees, clear, 0.7 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: low 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 60s, stained, 1.3 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): low to mid 60s, clear, 0.5 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: upper 50s/low 60s, stained, 0.3 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: 63 degrees, clear, normal Outlook: Johnson County Parks and Rec reports: Trout were stocked October 21st and the lake is closed until Saturday October 24th at 5:00am. 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: 64 degrees, clear, 0.6 feet low (20 CFS) Outlook: Melvern Lake Marina reports: Crappie are poor-fair 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 fair on nightcrawlers and liver lakewide. Blue cats fair on cut bait on mud flats and by the marina. Walleye fair while trolling nightcrawlers along flat areas on north shore near State Park. All other species slow or no reports.

MILFORD: 65 degrees, stained, 1.1 feet high (500 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: 61 degrees, stained, 0.8 feet high (25 CFS) Outlook: Don and Tom’s Bait and Tackle reports: white bass fishing has been excellent near Slough Creek Bridge and on points. Crappie fishing has been fair over the weekend with the high winds. 8 feet down in 10-20 feet is where you want to look still. Catfish are good lakewide using beans and Triple S dip bait, shrimp, or chicken liver.

POMONA: 61 degrees, stained, 1 foot 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 8-15 feet deep. Wipers are slow but can be found moving shallow on wind blown banks chasing shad. All other species slow.

SHAWNEE MISSION PARK: 61 degrees, clear, normal Outlook: Johnson County Parks and Rec reports: Trout were stocked October 21st and the lake is closed until Saturday October 24th at 5:00am. 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: 62 degrees, stained, 2 feet high Outlook: Kansas Department of Wildlife reports: Crappie fair in brush 8-12 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.

Hunting report

Missouri

SWAN LAKE: As of 10/21, 2,200 ducks including roughly 1,600 mallards and 250 wood ducks.

Kansas

CHEYENNE BOTTOMS: On 10/20, 30,000 - 40,000 ducks, mix of all species. Huge concentration of ducks in the refuge, limited number of ducks in the hunting pools during daylight hours. 15,000-20,000 geese, mostly whitefronts, with a few thousand snows and a few Canadas. Few sandhill cranes have been staying on the area.

MARAIS DES CYGNES: On 10/14, Several hundred teal and wood ducks. Very few other ducks.

NEOSHO: On 10/20, Neosho WA saw the first major migration of the year over the weekend of Oct. 17th and 18th. 20,000 mixed ducks including Mallard, Pintail, Gadwall, Wigeon, Green Wing Teal and Blue Wing Teal. White fronted geese 20,000, 1000 Snow Geese and 350 Canada Geese.

PERRY: As of 10/14, around 700 ducks were observed. Mostly Teal, both Green and Blue-winged, and a good number of Pintails and Gadwalls. West River Boat Ramp and parking area are currently under construction and heavy equipment will be working down there when conditions allow to improve the surrounding area. The boat ramp is cleared for launching, however the parking area will be in rough shape until work is completed and new gravel is in place. Please try to stay clear of heavy equipment when using this area to not slow the construction process. Kyle Marsh is full and both East and West ramps are usable for launching.

TUTTLE CREEK: As of 10/6, 55 ducks and 6 Canada Geese were observed.

MILFORD: No measurable waterfowl estimates this week.

QUIVIRA: no recent estimate reported.

MELVERN: As of 10/15, Willow Marsh - 50 pintails, 25 blue wings and 10 gadwalls; Shoveler Slough- 4 mallards and 15 blue wing teal; Refuge - 20 gadwall, 9 ringneck, 10 unknown ducks and 1000+ coots.

This story was originally published October 21, 2020 at 12:37 PM.