I made a few phone calls and gathered all the fishing reports around the area lakes that I could and here are the results:
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Stockton Lake

Water temp 36-38 or cold to really cold

Crappie are biting excellent in 50-60 foot of water in brush piles.  Use a jig and a 2" grub and get right into the brush.  The brush close to drop offs, channel swings and on points seem to produce bigger fish.  Look for schools of shad and the fish seem to be a little more active.

Bass- All reports so far have been pretty slow.

Walleye are fair in 35-45 foot of water on jigs and minnows.  Some of these are being caught by crappie fishing.  Won't be long till the big ones are biting!!

No report on catfish
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Lake Of The Ozarks

 The ice has melted from the main channel due to all the current in the main Osage. There are also some launch areas that have ice cleared from their coves. The water is still very cold. The coves are still frozen and the main lake is 37-38 degrees for the most part. There are some warmer temps over on the North Shore area. The water was clear. But now since it has risen and with all the current there is some stain to it. Most of the fishing is main channel stuff. The coves were frozen and the fish I've been catching are deep with their bellies on the bottom. More will develope as the lake thaws out in the Gravois. This will be the good clear water.
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Lake Norfork

101 Grocery and Bait said cold weather has kept some anglers off the water, but fishing has been good for those who have managed to get out. Live bait and jigging spoons are catching fish well. The surface water temp is in the mid-30s depending on the area of the lake you are in.

Norfork Tailwater:

John Berry from Berry Brothers Guide Service said generation has been around the clock, with no wadable water. Brightly colored San Juan worms (red, cerise and hot fluorescent pink) and egg patterns (peach and orange) have been the go-to flies. Long leader tippet combinations and heavy weight have been the secret to success. Work the banks and submerged weed beds. Be on the lookout for a shad kill. Dry Run Creek has fished well. The hot fly has been a sow bug in size 14. Worm brown San Juan worms and egg patterns also have done well. The weather has improved a bit and now is the perfect time to take your youngster to Dry Run.
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Bull Shoals Lake

As the temperature goes up and down so do the fishing patterns,habits,and locations. When the temps were rising the shad started to die, Thus the stick bait bite increased. Then the temps dropped and the Bass went back to the main lake bluffs where soft plastics and twin spins did the trick.When the hard overnight  rains came the fish started feeding where the stained water entered the lake. Crank baits and spinnerbaits were best fished at the 'stain' line. This time of the year it is imperative to pay attention to the weather and adjust accordingly.
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Truman  Lake - No report


You can usually always, catch fish on Missouri's Lakes and streams - if you check with the locals you can find out where and how to catch those fish! Good luck and tight lines!

Fall Bass Fishing - Truman Lake Always Good

Hello, and welcome to "Kenny's Great Outdoors", where bass fishing is the main topic and sometimes the tales are pretty tall, but always true! I just got back from a 2 day trip on Truman lake!

Rather than tell you all the lures we did use, we will tell you the lure of choice, not my choice, but the lure that the bass seemed to choose! This is of course what we are suppose to be doing when we fish, what the fish want seems to pay higher dividends in the long run!

With the days getting shorter and the weather and water cooling down, the bass are going into the transition of getting ready for winter! This in itself can be a challenge, and can be a hit or miss, situation. Friday we spent half the day giving the bass a wide selection and a large variety of lures to choose from. Mid afternoon I stumbled upon the lure of choice, again, the bass chose, and I limited out on large mouth bass in about 3 hours!

The rattle trap, chrome with a black back, 1/2 ounce, turned out to be the ticket for the afternoon limit! I caught 6 bass ranging from 2-4 lbs. Now mind you these fish weren't big, but we cleaned and fried them, along with some potatoes, and lounged around the campfire all evening and turned in early as to rest up for a long day Saturday. We got up at day break and fried some eggs and bacon, and a pot of coffee. We had to fuel up for the big day. I tied on a Zara spook and Steve tied on a chrome wiggle wart.

We fished hard all morning and Steve hammered me pretty hard catching 3 four pound large mouths, with me catching only 1 two pound bass. I was catching some nice hybrids on the spook as we caught them surfacing for about 5 minutes! I caught 3 nice hybrids and Steve caught 2 on his wiggle wart!

I had notice, Steve, was getting a lot of action on the chrome wiggle wart, so I decided to try the black backed chrome rattle trap again, why not, It was a hot lure Friday! I fished it hard for about an hour and was about to change lures when, BAM a big one hit and the fight was on! I thought I had hung a big striper and Steve grabbed the net to help me! Now for you regulars , you know I have had trouble landing stripers (big ones) this year! Not to be the case this time. When I got it up to the boat and we saw that it was not a striper , but a huge large mouth!

Steve netted him for me and he came off as he entered the net! I got lucky this time, we weighed him on my digital scales and he weighed in at 11.50 lbs. Not the biggest bass for me but a lunker never the less! Steve made a cast while I was taking care of jaws and hung a huge striper! He fought him for a while and I netted him. He weighed in at 27.25 lbs.

We both limited out on bass, and had close to 30 whites, 27 to be exact. Turned out to be a rather enjoyable trip. The weather was awesome, in the upper 70's partly sunny and partly cloudy. To top it off, the wind was almost non existent, which made it a beautiful day on Truman Lake! Steve caught an 8 lb walleye trolling back to the truck and he had another big one get off at the boat with me trying to net it! That's OK, you can't catch them all. Better luck next time, Steve!

With winter closing in some of the best bass fishing is just ahead! Bass fishing gets really hot on Truman in October and November! So get your butts out there and make sure to try the rattle trap, You can fish it fast and cover a lot of water quick. Once you find them you can really catch a lot of them old lunker jaws.

So until next time, keep your hooks wet and boat safe! Make sure you enjoy the "Great Outdoors!" See ya out there, I hope! Good luck to you and yours, and practise catch and release, after you keep what you can eat! See ya!

Catching Those Summertime - Suspended Bass!

Memorial weekend has come and gone, hopefully, everyone has taken care of that awful disease that all fishermen get in the winter time, "cabin fever!" I call it BASS fever! Hopefully everyone has caught enough bass, white bass , bluegill, walleye, stripers, hybrids, etc to get them through till the next fishing trip!

With spring fishing well under way, and the spawn is nearly over, at least in most of the area lakes around here, of course some are still spawning, but as a whole , we are in post spawn. It won't be long until we are dealing with summertime and those lock jawed bass!

If we can catch them feeding, we can have a successful trip, but this is not always the case. When bass are full of grub, and or the weather has shut off the bite, bass have a tendency to... SUSPEND!

Oh my, sorry for the vulgar language but it's not like we haven't heard this nasty word before. I have a tip or two , that will put those finicky , lock jawed , stubborn, large mouth bass, along with other predatory fish like stripers, etc. into the boat or live well.

Introducing, Berkley's "Power bait Hollow Body" a relatively new Lure but growing in popularity on the pro circuit and hopefully after today, enjoyed by all who fish!



Have you ever been on the lake fishing and no fish can be found , except, suspending fish. When this is the situation it can be down right frustrating and a pain in the #@*! <------- censored!

These soft swim baits can be virtually fished from the surface to the bottom of the drink, which makes it a complete tackle box, all in one lure! You can fish it weedless for thick cover or open hook for open water! While there are many ways to rig this little critter, my favorite, personal preference is rigging it with the hook that comes with it and fish it weedless. Because the bait is hollow and soft hook set is relatively easy and this increases your chances of a higher percentage of hook ups!

Now you can cast this out over suspended fish and count it down until it is right on top of these suspended fish and swim it to the boat and it stays at the desired depth of the fish! You want to use good line, lets say 12 to 15 lb test and a good strong rod as you don't want to break your line on the hook set! You will find that turning these suspended fish on the hook set, will put a lot of shock on your line and reel.

Just be sure to let the fish run with it before you set the hook! I know that this sounds too simple , but try this soft swim bait and then you be the judge , I think you will find that this is the ideal bait for almost all fishing situations, especially handy on suspended fish, but a very versatile, all conditions, all terrain fish bait.

If you don't have these baits then get some and then be sure to USE them as you can't catch fish on them if they are at home or in your tackle box. They have to be fished, to be effective! ;-)

So Until next time, keep your swim baits wet and boat safely! But above all, enjoy the "Great Outdoors!"