Fishing and hunting report for Nov. 27
Fishing
Missouri
▪ NORFORK: 49 degrees, clear on the main lake, off-color in the creeks, normal. Outlook: Bink’s Guide Service reports: stripers, wipers, white bass, crappies excellent on white Bink’s Spoons in 30 feet of water on the main lake.
▪ TABLE ROCK: 55 degrees, clear, 4 feet low. Outlook: White River Lodge reports: largemouth, Kentucky and smallmouth bass excellent on spinnerbaits, Wiggle Warts along chunk-rock or windy banks; white bass good on jigging spoons in 30 to 50 feet of water where shad are being marked on electronics.
▪ STOCKTON: 51 degrees, clear, 1 foot high. Outlook: Stockton Lake Guide Service reports: walleyes very good on 2-inch grubs in 10 to 12 feet of water along the bluffs; crappies good on jigs in 20 feet of water along bluffs.
▪ LONGVIEW: 43 degrees, clear, normal. Outlook: Longview Lake Marina reports: crappies very good on jigs off the marina docks. Marina will be closed from today through Sunday for Thanksgiving weekend.
▪ BULL SHOALS: Low 50s, clear, 6 feet low. Outlook: 125 Marina reports: largemouth, Kentucky bass fair on spinnerbaits along windy banks.
▪ LAKE OF THE OZARKS: 53 degrees, clear, 2 feet low. Outlook: Gier’s Bass Pro reports: bass fair to good on buzzbaits behind the dock cables and in the back of coves; crappies fair on jigs in 20 to 25 feet of water in main-channel brush piles.
▪ TANEYCOMO: 49 degrees, clear, 1 to 2 units running in the morning and late evening. Outlook: Lilleys’ Landing reports: Trophy Area: brown trout good on No. 16 or No. 18 zebra midge flies; rainbow trout good on scuds along gravel banks. Below Fall Creek: trout good on inflated night crawlers, orange and white Power Bait.
▪ SMITHVILLE: 44 degrees, stained, slightly high. Outlook: Burton’s Bait and Tackle reports: crappies good on jigs off the docks at Camp Branch and Little Platte marinas and in Saliboat Cove.
▪ JACOMO: Mid-40s, clear, normal. Outlook: Jacomo Marina reports: crappies good on small plastic tube or marabou jigs off the marina docks. Marina will be closed today through Sunday for Thanksgiving weekend.
▪ TRUMAN: 49 degrees, stained, 2 feet high. Outlook: Bucksaw Marina reports: crappies fair on chartreuse and pink or black and purple tube jigs in 15 to 25 feet of water along bluffs.
▪ REED AREA: 43 degrees, clear, full pool. Outlook: Department of Conservation reports: No report available.
▪ BLUE SPRINGS: 44 degrees, clear, normal. Outlook: Blue Springs Lake Marina reports: crappies fair on jigs, minnows off the marina docks. Marina will be closed today through Sunday for Thanksgiving weekend.
▪ POMME DE TERRE: 51 degrees, clear, 2 feet high. Outlook: Muskie Guide Service reports: all species poor.
Kansas
▪ COFFEY COUNTY: Low 60s on the main lake, clear, 2 feet low. Outlook: Coffey County reports: largemouth, smallmouth, white bass, wipers very good on plastic baits jigging spoons, crankbaits.
▪ WILSON: Upper 40s, clear, 8 feet low. Outlook: Knothead’s reports: white bass good on jigs along rocky banks; stripers, walleyes very good on slab spoons in 30 feet of water.
▪ POMONA: Low 50s, murky, 2 feet low. Outlook: Lighthouse Bay Marina reports: crappies excellent on jigs in 12 feet of water in brush along marina docks.
▪ HILLSDALE: 46 degrees, clear, normal. Outlook: Jayhawk Marina reports: crappies very good on jigs 6 to 10 feet down in the brush along the marina docks; walleyes fair on crankbaits in 10 feet of water on the main lake.
▪ MELVERN: 43 degrees, clear, 11/2 feet low. Outlook: Melvern Marina reports: crappies good on minnows, ice jigs in 18 to 20 feet of water in afternoons off marina docks.
▪ LA CYGNE: Upper 50s midlake, clear, normal. Outlook: Linn County Parks: crappies good on jigs, jigging spoons at the spillway gate.
▪ MILFORD: Upper 40s, clear, 2 feet high. Outlook: Guide Vic Oertle reports: crappies fair on jigs in 12 to 15 feet of water; wipers poor to fair on spoons, Bubbas on dropoffs.
▪ EL DORADO: Low 40s, clear, 1 foot low. Outlook: Wildlife, Parks and Tourism reports: crappies fair on jigs in brush along channel dropoffs; white bass, wipers fair on jigging spoons on strucutre.
▪ PERRY: 39 degrees, clear, 2 feet high. Outlook: Bait Hut reports: crappies, white bass fair on jigs in 15 feet of water in brush.
▪ CLINTON: 38 degrees, clear, 1 foot low. Outlook: Clinton Marina reports: all species poor.
▪ SHAWNEE MISSION: Mid-40s, clear, normal. Outlook: Johnson County Park and Rec reports: all species poor.
▪ KILL CREEK: Mid-40s, 1- to 2-foot clarity, normal. Outlook: Johnson County Park and Rec reports: all species poor.
▪ HERITAGE: Upper 40s, murky, normal. Outlook: Johnson County Park and Rec reports: all species poor.
▪ GLEN ELDER: Low 50s, clear, 1 foot low. Outlook: Wayne’s Sporting Goods reports: all species poor.
▪ TUTTLE CREEK: Low 50s, muddy, 31/2 feet high. Outlook: Guide Vic Oertle reports: all species poor.
Other area waters
▪ GRAND (Okla.): 51 degrees, clear, normal. Outlook: No report avsilsble.
▪ WHITE RIVER (Ark.): Clear, variable power generation. Outlook: Gaston’s White River Resort reports: Spin fishing: trout excellent on PowerBait worms (fluorescent pink has been best color) with one PowerBait egg; also on red worms, night crawlers and spoons. Fly fishing: trout good drifting egg patterns (peach or orange have been best colors); jigs, San Juan worms.
▪ BEAVER LAKE (Ark.): 52 degrees, clear, low. Outlook: Bailey’s Guide Service reports: stripers fair to good trolling live shad up to 30 feet deep in the Lost Bridge area and along channels that run up against humps in the Big Clifty area.
Hunting
Missouri
▪ FOUNTAIN GROVE: 35,000 ducks (mostly mallards); 2,000 geese. Hunting 40 positions. Heavy pressure. Hunting has been poor. On Saturday and Sunday 109 hunters took 206 ducks.
▪ SQUAW CREEK: 100,910 ducks (mostly mallards); 415 geese. Most of the ice has melted.
▪ SWAN LAKE: 36,650 ducks (mostly mallards); 2,000 geese (mostly snows and blues). Most of the ice has melted.
▪ BOB BROWN: 51,100 ducks (mostly mallards). Ice is off the marshes. On Saturday and Sunday, 85 hunters shot 312 ducks.
▪ NODAWAY VALLEY: 22,340 ducks (mostly mallards). Hunting has been fair. Hunters averaged two ducks per man Tuesday.
▪ GRAND PASS: 220,000 ducks (mostly mallards). Heavy hunting pressure. Hunting has been good. On Saturday and Sunday, 219 hunters shot 862 ducks and 2 geese.
▪ FOUR RIVERS: 97,000 ducks (mostly mallards).Ice has melted. On Saturday and Sunday, 100 hunters shot 291 ducks.
▪ SCHELL-OSAGE: 55,500 ducks and snow geese in the area. Thirty-seven positions are available. Hunting has been fair. On Saturday and Sunday, 199 hunters shot 340 ducks and 10 geese.
▪ SMITHVILLE: 12,000 ducks (half mallards); 4,000 snow geese. Hunting has been good.
▪ MONTROSE: 7,590 ducks and 30 Canada geese. On Saturday and Sunday, 66 hunters shot 36 ducks.
▪ DUCK CREEK: 11,170 ducks; 50 Canada geese. Hunting has been poor.
▪ OTTER SLOUGH: 53,050 ducks (mostly mallards), 14,180 geese. Thirty-one spots available. Hunting has been good. On Saturday and Sunday, 208 hunters shot 713 ducks and 8 geese.
▪ DUCK CREEK: 45,195 ducks (mostly mallards); 200 Canada geese. Heavy weekend hunting pressure. On Saturday and Sunday, 251 hunter 466 ducks.
Kansas
▪ CHEYENNE BOTTOMS: 15,000 ducks (mostly mallards and green-winged teal); 200,000 geese (half darks, half lights). Hunting has been fair to good. Most of the ice has melted.
▪ MARAIS DES CYGNES: 15,000 ducks (mostly mallards). No ice. Heavy hunting pressure. Hunting has been fair.
▪ QUIVIRA: 10,000 ducks (mostly mallards); 50,100 geese (60 percent darks). Ice has melted. Area is now open to hunting in designated areas.
▪ MELVERN: 8,000 ducks (80 percent mallards); 1,500 Canada geese. Most birds are using the refuge. Ice has melted.
▪ MILFORD: 200 ducks (mostly mallards); 600 geese. Ice has melted on marshes. Hunting has been poor to fair.
▪ PERRY: 4,500 ducks (mostly mallards); 7,000 geese (75 percent snows). Most of birds are using the lake. Hunting has been fair.
▪ TUTTLE CREEK: Several thousand ducks and geese in the area. Water is opening up.
▪ HILLSDALE: Good waterfowl numbers (mostly mallards). Marshes have open water. Hunting has been fair.
▪ GLEN ELDER: 85,000 ducks (70,000 mallards); 256,500 geese (90 percent snows). Hunting has been good.
▪ NEOSHO: 25,000 ducks (mostly mallards and green-winged teal); 150 Canada geese. Marshes have mostly open water. Hunting has been good.
▪ KIRWIN: 290,000 ducks (one-third mallards, the rest are divers); 450,000 geese (70 percent snows).
▪ FLINT HILLS: 2,500 ducks (mostly gadwalls and mallards); 750 geese. Hunting has been fair.
▪ CLINTON: Low waterfowl numbers. Limited water in the wildlife area.
▪ McPHERSON VALLEY WETLANDS: Low waterfowl numbers (3,000 geese in the area.). Marshes have thawed.
▪ JAMESTOWN: Fewer than 500 ducks (mostly mallards); 150 geese. Hunting has been poor. Marshes are thawing.
To reach outdoors editor Brent Frazee, call 816-234-4319 or send email to bfrazee@kcstar.com.
Brent’s best bet
If you are an avid mallard hunter, this is your time of year. The recent cold spell pushed hundreds of thousands of greenheads into the region. And a brief warmup has melted ice from marshes and has kept the ducks here. In Missouri, Grand Pass, Squaw Creek and Four Rivers have impressive numbers of mallards. In Kansas, the Kirwin National Wildlife Refuge and Glen Elder Lake have attracted thousands of mallards.
This story was originally published November 26, 2014 at 4:54 PM with the headline "Fishing and hunting report for Nov. 27."