riverrat

Hello Loo10- I don't know why you would want a crappie report from me. I don't know anything about fishing for crappie and I've never been to Mark Twain Lake. I do have a suggestion that might help though. There is a member of this forum who is a crappie guide on Lake of the Ozarks and Mark Twain, but he hasn't posted any reports on this forum. He used to post reports on conservation cafe. email him and ask him if he would post reports on this site-it can't hurt his business. His email address is b Carpenter@HAFMO.org.

I can't imagine the amount of time Phil spent setting up this forum and maintaining it. It's the best forum I've ever seen. Everyone is serious about their fishing, lots of people willing to help with everything, no backbiting. I for one really appreciate your efforts.-Anybody else. thanks, Riverrat

Has anyone fished Beaver Creek lately? I've seen whites spawn in 65-70 degree water. The key is water flow. There has to be more water flow in beaver than Swan and I'm assuming that Powersite is not running water. This year I've fished two creeks that normally have white bass runs, same water temp. One creek had good water flow one had almost none. Guess which one was full of whites? If it was me I would find the first shoal on Beaver and fish the hole above it or below it.

Anybody know a good raindance?

Shadman, Al is right about good smallmouth fishing being around access points. I find most of my wading holes while floating. Sometimes all it takes is fishing the hole from the opposite side most bank fisherman fish from. Sometimes all it takes is moving a few hundred yards. One of my favorite smallmouth holes anywhere is within 30 yards of a gravel road, but it is hidden by willows-you can only see it from the water. Good Luck-Riverrat

Don what is a wiggle diggle bait? Am I going to have to add to my arsenal?

Just got back from a short trip to Forsyth. Fished Tuesday evening below Swan from a boat. Caught 2 both males. Wade fished Beaver on Wednesday from the rock hole to the tin whistles. Caught 4 big males at the tin whistles in the morning. Saw a school of males moving up the shoal but they wouldn't even look at my lure. Came back at noon-it was cloudy. Talked to a guy who said he caught his limit in 45 min. on Tues using swimming minnows. Talked to another guy who said he and 4 buddies had limited out Tues. evening. Apparently I was a day late. Did end up catching 7 males on a rebel. Did get to visit with a flyrodder, mentionned this forum and he said he was a friend of Phil's. He said he grew up in Kansas and worked for Phil's father and followed them to Branson-good guy. Made the hike from the rock hole to tinwhistles and back again on thursday morning-caught 1 white on each end. Fished below Swan thursday afternoon-caught 2 whites. Caught 2 at the tin wistles on thursday evening after the storm. The water in Beaver was clear with a good flow. Riverrat RIVERRAT

Butts, I called the hatchery. They used to list the stockings on a web page, but not any more. I was told that the fishery manager for each lake put in a request each year for the numbers. Where do they come up with the numbers? Maybe that's all the lakes will support. I used to look up those numbers and they were about the same for every other year that they are now for every year. I fish for whites in LOZ in the fall and have noticed an increase in the percentage of hybrids{small ones} caught in the last few years.

Welcome Joefish. Join in on the chit chat. There are a lot of members from the Kansas City area on this forum. Your input would help both them and yourself. Who knows-you might just lure some of us up your way.

Barker Hole is between Swan and Beaver. There is a link for a map of upper Bull Shoals in this forum.

My fishing buddies are still catching some whites in the Barker hole, just not as many. One of them waded just below the 76 bridge and caught some just before dark. I would appreciate a little information. I remember back in '99 or 2000 when the lake was real low there was a shoal about a half mile above Swan. That was the most fun I've ever had white bass fishing. Is the lake low enough for that shoal to be wadable this year? I would also like some pointers on sluggos. When sluggos first came out I tried them on smallmouths and loved them,but thought they were too big for whites. That winter I made a 3" mold and hand poured some. Tried them on whites the next spring,but had so much trouble getting a good hook set I went back to my rebel. Any tips?

One group of my fishing buddies are fishing for whites on Tenkiller. They are fishing from 2 boats. One boat fished a holding area and caught 26. The other guys fished the first shoal on the Illinois and caught 55-it looks like they're moving up.

I did some research on hybrids today. They are raised at the Lost Valley Hatchery near Warsaw. Until 4 or 5 years ago hybrids were only raised every other year, alternating with walleye. Now they are raised every year. The numbers for stocking this year are: LOZ-165,000 Truman-150,000 Thomas Hill-49,000. There is also smaller numbers for some small lakes. This seems like a small number compared to the 700,000 stocked in Grand Lake. What was it the biologist in Oklahoma said about emails and phone calls? Is this a hint or what?

My fishing buddies have been catching whites for the past week and a half from Johnson hole to Beaver boat ramp on rebels. Yesterday(Monday) they caught several in the Barker hole.

I'm not Mr Butts but maybe I can help a little. I know nothing of fishing the Mo or Miss. rivers. Would you consider going after hybrids instead of stripers? They get up to 20lbs and put up a heck of a fight. Lake of the Ozarks is closer to you and is stocked with hybrids. You can catch them in the main lake or below the dam. Below the dam works best when they are running water, but in the spring flow is intermittent because the lake has to be full by Memorial Day so that the Ozark cigar boat has a place to play. All of the major tributaries have a spring white bass run with hybrids mixed in. You could also check on lakes closer to St. Louis to see if they have hybrids. Some of the lakes in Illinois have hybrids one is Rend Lake.

Phil, how do you fish the sluggo for whites? Shallow water,in current,at night, do you twitch them ? Also what size hook do you use?

I learned something today while trying to find information on hybrids. They are raised in ponds down south for market. Can you imagine fishing in a pond loaded with these bad-tempered eating machines? They are more tolerant of extremes in water temp and dissolved oxygen content than either of their parents. That explains why the conservation dept. switched from stocking stripers to hybrids in Lake of the Ozarks-they do better. One thing I've noticed during the spring white bass runs is that there is always some hybrids the same size as the whites with them. The bigger hybrids always show up at the end of the white bass run. This is just food for thought-if you catch what you think is a white and its trying to steal your rod and reel, look a little closer its probably a hybrid. And while you're at it would you consider turning him loose? If he's the same size as the white bass, he's just a baby. Maybe next year if you hook him and you don't do everything just right he will steal your lure. Not to worry they sell more lures at the store.

One other trick I've learned is to do is either raise the rod tip or actually pull all the slack line away from the spool before turning the handle. It seems to me that most loops start from having slack between the line roller and the spool.

I've never fished the upper Gasconade, but on the middle Gasconade my favorite lure is the super fluke. When the smallmouth are on topwaters buzzbaits work, but I like to use a Super Spook Jr.. There's nothing quite like a BIG smallmouth exploding on a spook.

This is just a third hand report-so take it for what it is worth. I stopped by the Reel Doctor in Forsyth yesterday. The owner said a guy came in with a nice stringer of whites yesterday morning. The guy wouldn't give any details-said he didn't want elbow to elbow company. Maybe its starting and it will be a good year. Riverrat

This depends on when you fish. Right now below would be better. As the lake rises and the water warms above is better. This is only a generalization, when the sows are moving upstream anywhere is good enough. If you go above the bridge remember that the left bank is private property.

Hello Linhardt. I've fished the swinging bridges for about 20 years. With a little effort you can wade fish about 1 mile of the stream there. The white bass run there is not as good as it was 10 years ago. About six years ago and for the next couple of years there was absolutely no run,I do not have a clue as to why. The past few years it has gotten a little better each year. Typically the males will show up first and come and go with the cold fronts. Once the water temp approaches 60 the females show up to spawn. The females are usually only there about a week. What to use? My favorite is a 3" blue rebel. You can also use a jig, swimming it. A lot of people use minnows. The most fun is catching post spawn whites on a light colored zara puppy. The peak of the spawn is usually last of April-first of May, depending on the weather. Hope this helps-Riverrat

Dano- do you ever fish for smallmouth in the winter?

A friend of mine fished the Glaize(LOZ) at the swinging bridges on Saturday. The creek was up a little and very dingy. He caught no whites, but with these warm rains the whites should start moving very soon.

Anybody out there know anything about fishing for whites on Tenkiller in Oklahoma? Are there any hybrids there? My brother and several fishing buddies are going down there in midMarch. I can't go because of work and family concerns-its killing me! Any information would be greatly appreciated. I'll keep in touch with my brother and give a regrettedly secondhand report. Thanks-Riverrat