FishinJack

My neighbor's docks are fine but check out Porta Cimea. I've fished back there before. Looks like some new million dollar crappiebeds. http://www.lakeexpo.com/

Yep, crappie fishing has been very good the last few days. Several limits caught over the last month Jack's Guide Service Main lake has been the best for me

The problem with the extreme upper ends of these rivers and creeks is they are very tempormental. The problem you ran into to is the dam (Bagnel) was sucking water down. It really affects those super shallow fish. Usually this time of the year water generation is limited. However recently we have recieved a fair amount of rain allowing UE to make some money through pulling the water down. Now this isn't a bad thing for fishing. But it changes things instead of fishing super shallow you most likely would have done a lot better fishing deep points. Take avantage of the current. Water level is always iportant, and it changes daily. Don't get me wrong I love fishing shallow cover in the flats this time of the year, but you can't be to hard headed and only limit yourself to fishing in water only three feet deep. I'd bet if you went back there today things would be back to normal. Jack's Guide Service www.FishingLakeoftheOzarks.com

"two limits a day"? ---- No No No, I'm usually not even fishing. I'm a guide on the lake and my job is to make my clients time the most productive it can be. So I bait hooks, unhook fish, measure fish, boat control, that kind of stuff. See my customers have been limiting up. The bass are biting too, in surprizingly shallow water. On 10inch power worms, sinkworms, crankbaits. Jack www.FishingLakeoftheOzarks.com

The crappie are biting on deep docks and deep brush piles. Surprisingly well too! With as hot as the weather has been, it's got them in huge schools. They are reverting to an almost winter pattern. Two limits a day for the past week. Not huge fish but keepers. The whole lake's population of crappie is starting to grow from what was a lot of 8 inch fish a few months ago to keepers now. It's great news. Also below the Bagnel dam (for crappie and whites)is doing just fine too.

I think they get stuff stuck in their gills and they can't reach in their to pull it out. So they jump. Same with carp. Carp are always mucking around in the mud. Get stuff like old leafs stuck in their gills and jump to try to remove it. Paddlefish get stuff like trigs or whatever stuck b/c they constantly sein the water for plankton. Only way to dislodge the crap is to jump and force water quickly in and out of their mouth. What does a bass do when they have something in their mouth stuck? They jump to dislodge the lure.

Sorry for the bad news but alot of short crappies in the lake this year. Two great spawns the last couple of years means by next year we will be catching lots of good keepers again. But this year sucks. You can still catch some good fish scattered around brush. Up the rivers you can get into some differant populations of crappie and do better than the main lake. On the otherhand the catfishing has been great!! Three limits of blue cats this morning on a half day guide trip. No giants this morning, but earlier this week a boy caught a 25lber. Last week we had a 43lber! All trolled with rod and reel. Lots of good fish for the frying pan. Jack's Guide Service www.FishingLakeoftheOzarks.com

Yep the 10inch Berkley Power Worms. Black and Blue at night or lighter shades during the day. Texas rig em on a big 7ft med heavy rod. Crawl them on the bottom by pulling them with your rod tip and then reel up the slack. Fishing brush(sunken trees) is pretty important right now. Use a good sized worm weight to help you feel your way around while you are getting used to it. We had two 5lbers this morning plus a number or other good solid fish. Or a big shaky head. Don't be afraid to go out well after dark and fish during the night. Jack's Guide Service wwww.fishingLakeoftheOzarks.com

We had a 43lb blue the other day. Rod and reel. A couple pic's on my website www.FishingLakeoftheOzarks.com

Fishing has been great>! Most of the fish are done spawning but some fish are still shallow. But the point fishing on the main lake is where it's at. 10inch Berkley worms. Some quality fish too, I had a 8 pounder over the weekend! Also there is a great white bass bite too on the main lake. You can catch 100 fish a day if you want to. Mostly small but really fun if you don't find the largemouth. Jack's Guide Service

Remind me when we get close to your tournament. Most Mays with these conditions you can still see em until the thrid or fourth week in May.

Hey if they are running a lot of water you're pretty much fine. If they are running just a little water or no water you can mess up your boat quickly. Watch your maps closely. Do you have GPS on your fishfinder with a maps chip? I don't fish up there very often but I went up there last week and put in at Warsaw ramp ran down river a ways and stuck a seven pounder pretty quick. On a jig, steep bank, rock and wood 20lb test big rod. It's fun fishing up there (upper end of Lake of the Ozarks) but it can get real shallow real fast if you're not watching your map!

Yeah you can pretty much throw your whole tacklebox at them right now and get bit. Spinnerbaits, finesse jigs, football jigs, flipping jigs, senkos, lizards, topwater, floating worm, drop shot, texas rig, carolina rig, shaky head, jerkbait, have I missed anything? I know this doesn't tell you exactly what to use but pick a bait and stick with it and you'll get bit. This is a great time to work on a techniquie that you are particularly weak at. For instance the one gentilman mentioned he was not a sight fisherman. (which is fine for him you don't need to be perfect at everything) but if you wanted to learn a specific technique like sight fishing right now is perfect. Lots of clear water, lots of sunshine, lots of fish up on the beds, good weather the next few days. Even yesterday (monday) more fish moved up to bed. These kind of conditions happen once a year. And not every year at Lake of the Ozarks because some years we have to much rain and too much stained water. For the most part on my guide trips we've been sticking with the big soft plactics. Skipping is a great techique on this lake and is fairly easy to master with a good instructor. Carolina rigging is the other main technique my clients have been landing some really nice bass on. Jack's Guide Service www.FishingLakeoftheOzarks.com

Looks to me like at least a seven pounder.

Even in the last few days more and more fish have moved up. Bass and crappie both beded up overnight in some areas. So in a week even more will be ready to bite. C-rigs, split shot, floating worms. Work on your sight fishing skills and perfect your skip casting. water cooled a little bit today to 64 (b/c cold front) but the fish are still up there getting ready. We still did really well even with the cold front

Only some fish are up there shallow right now. Almost everybody is still prespawn just outside or close to where they are going to spawn. The fish that are shallow enough to see them are real spooky. Water temp is right about time to spawn at 68 for most of the lake. I'm sure somebody somewhere has got a group of fish on beds but for the most part I think they are waiting for something. Maybe the proper moon phase or the water level to stay put. Jack

The fish are biting! Now is the time to get on the water. In the last few weeks everything has changed, we had frozen water a month ago now the lake's water temp is as high as 68 degrees. Most of the lake is around 59 with most of the fish are in full prespawn mode. All this warm weather has got them feeding and thinking about the spawn. Secondary points, main lake points, steep banks, even a few fish have moved all the way back in the coves to where you can sight fish them. There are a few beds made however I have not caught any fish on them yet. Very spooky females for the most part, I can catch a few little buck bass sight fishing so far. I imagine that will change this week with the 80 degree sunny weather for the next 5 days. The entire lake has turned on however I'm still concentrating my efforts on the Niangua and lower lake section of the lake. There is a good early morning bite, and good all day bite especially if you have some wind. In the afternoon or early evening keep your eyes open and look for fish. The surface water is the warmest and some fish are hanging around the docks or anything floating in the water. Right now you can catch fish on the whole tackle box everything from jerkbaits, jigs, crankbaits, spinnerbaits, tubes, worms, mojo rig, beavers, brushhogs. Fish the wind on the bright days and try to be as stealthy as you can while casting. The crappie are also biting really good. Mostly on jigs with a crappie nibble fished around docks. The crappie are also mostly prespawn. However some people are catching spawning crappie. My crappie are definitely turning darker every day. The males change color during the spawn to a dark black from a silver white. I would expect to catch at least one limit per person in about 5 hours. Casting accuracy is key right now or if you have permission to fish on some of the condo docks is the key to success. I've been using 4lb test line with a 1/16 oz jighead. Colors haven't made a big difference however stick with your lighter colors for bright days. Something with a silver flake in it. Then a yellow crappie nibble to enhance your jig. As always fish around brush for crappie. Some are moving very shallow some are still around 10 feet deep. The crappies are also moving up in the water column later in the day. You're able to sight fish them also. This has been the best early April I've seen in many years. After such a cold winter we are now really cooking with lots of nice weather. Fish during the week when possible because the weekends are seeing so much fishing pressure. The more fishing pressure the more creative you have to be to still produce. Some people are still struggling to catch fish and I don't know why. Of course I get to fish almost everyday so I had better be on the fish pretty good. Give me a call if you're interested in booking a trip or if you have any questions. Jack Uxa www.FishingLakeoftheOzarks.com (573) 434-2570

I've been doing really well lately. I had a limit of bass plus a limit of crappie today. (I let them all go however). These bright sunny days you need to take advantage of the docks. You also need to fish whatever wind you can get. I hear some guys are having a hard time, I know myself and a few other guys have been tearing them up. The water temps are sky rocketing and the fish are getting close to the spawn. We are blessed on this lake to have lots of docks. Utilize them, figure out on days like this where the fish relate to the docks. Jack

Are fishing around dock lights or do you float your own lights?

Wind is going to be a problem for running around the lake and fishing. You can hide from the wind and fish effectivly this time of the year. Go to the coves that you can hide from the wind. You'll still catch fish just fine. Now going from cove to cove is a differant story. Bring your rain gear. A lot of the times the wind gets worse as the day goes on. so maybe try fishing first thing instead of waiting till the afternoon. The bite itself is an all day bite.

With the warm temps coming this week fishing should be dinamite! Highs close to 80 degrees! About time huh? They have't been in the main lake. To much current, I quess. And they haven't been everywhere, but when you do find em there is tons of them stacked in there.

Smoked em yesterday!! 3 limits plus a number of 11-12 inch fish. One guy had his personal best, almost 15 inches!! I have been fishing down by the dam, or up the Niagua. The dam area is better. But the Niagua is warmer. It's like low to mid 50's (sunny afternoons) rest of the lake is mid 40's still.

I am guide down here so I fish a whole lot. On monday afternoon they moved to the docks real bad. Abandoned everything else for some reason. We hit three spots tuesday afternoon, 5 hours had 2 limits. No big fish but had enough keepers. It was that intense sunshine.

The cold weekend didn't change the water temps much. I'm sure some upper rivers chilled but will rebound by tuesday. Glaize is still in the low 40's. The creeks in the glaize are warmer, 46ish. Things should continue to warm this week. We didn't get much frozen wet stuff. Some sleet, but mostly lite rain. I hear just west of us got 10 inches.

WOW Trout? that's crazy, I've been fishing here for 20 years never seen a trout. I think I got a better chance at catching a Piranha!!! How many of you guys have caught a smallmouth in Lake of the Ozarks. This past big tournament a guy had 2 smallies. I've caught 3 but that's three in 20 years of fishing.