nomolites

Yes. Depth varies with location, etc. but it was fairly deep(20'+) when I was there two weeks ago.

Agree on the gar; I occasionally hook one and if they get their head turned and the line around their beak it will usually get cut. Where you find one you usually find more.

Both but evenings are always better for me on LOZ. I saw boats on that hump above the mouth of the Gravois every time I passed it but all I've ever done there other than catch a few LM is donate tackle to Davy Jones.

Looked like the cold water started at 32' in the area I was fishing and all our fish were caught 25-30' deep. Yes, the blues love cranks and slam them just as hard as any other fish will. I catch a LOT of them when I fish this way but none over 6 pounds this week. I think they were spawning as there were loads of big arcs stacked up in the gravel pockets at about 25' so I avoided those spots after a few passes brought up catfish. Mike

We were dragging crank baits deep on the windblown side of the lake; the more wind the better with calm periods slow. Tried to keep the baits just above the thermocline for best results. The traffic from Thursday on put the fish down but we still were able to pick up a few. I did not see any significant surface action this trip but the boat traffic likely accounts for that as well.

Had the last week at the lake; didn't catch the numbers of fish as a couple weeks ago but had some good hybrids, big crappie, and a couple of good walleye to go with the assorted blue cats, bass, and drum. Probably caught 2 blue cats to every other fish this week, they are thick on the lower end of the lake. Here are a couple of pics with my daughters being the largest at 11#. Mike

The fish are deep on the lower end(dam/northshore), 25-30 ft and are scattered with the light current. Trolling for walleye tonite I caught everything but, including a 4# bass, all in 25+ feet of water. Couldn't buy a bite shallower- I tried. Caught a couple bigger bass last time out, same depth-they seem to be chasing fry down there. Some whites caught tonite spit up shad less than 2".

Two weeks ago the hybrids were surfacing over a wide area in the Gravois; most were in the 3-4# range but caught some nice ones deeper along with a few really nice whites. I am not a big spoon bouncer but those that are should do well on the flats just before dark; they(hybrids, whites, crappie, spots)had the shad scattered from top to bottom and seemed to prefer the smaller profile baits over the big stuff. Hope to be back out tomorrow, and that the bite is as good as it was then.

Agreed. Big boats and big wakes make fishing less enjoyable. I will say, however, that after recently spending time on Bull Shoals and Mark Twain that LOZ is imminently more fertile, and depending upon your target, a better fishery as far as numbers of fish and their relative "catchability". They are there, and lots of them, just deeper than most people are comfortable fishing in this heat. They were moving lots of water on both ends when I fished last(12th-14th)and the fish were piled up at 25-30 feet with the shad just waiting for your lure to come swimming by. Looking forward to being back on the water to see what's up this week.

The baby shad body styles really shine vertical jigging from docks; I like the pearl to natural hues for that. A standard lead head is fine - just enough weight to get to depth at a slow fall...most of the time they hit on the drop. For crappie jigs I use almost all plastic/silicone; stick 'em on good with a dab of loctite super gel for a keeper and they last a good long while.

Ditto the chartreuse. If I had to pick only one pattern it would be black and chartreuse which is awesome in stained water. Lately in gin clear water a white/chartreuse or a clear/metalflake slider on a road runner style head have been better but black/chart still catches fish.

Pretty close; they love crankbaits. Congrats to your wife!!

3) The bass were in the backs of the creeks on secondary points this weekend: the bite was hot. I wax walleye fishing but every bass boat I saw was hooked up all morning. Not to worry as the K bass far outnumber the LM. BTW-most fish were coming out of the buckbrush on jigs.

I have pulled some toads out of the walk ins in years past on white buzz baits. Have not been out there fishing recently. Wear DEET!

We have a 40X70 dock that I have been sweetening with brush for years. Even even though the brush is weighted significantly it still tends to migrate some; I believe it is the mega waves some of these "plowers" put out like Wrench said. If they can move our dock around(concrete topped and roofed) they can move a dinky brush pile. Agreed that SI is pretty sweet; in the old days we had to memorize by lining up between points on opposite sides of the lake and if they moved a bit fan cast til we found them - almost always right under the boat!

Nice fish! Glad you got into some.

Well done! Second and a check usually qualifies as a good'n for me as well.

Wife and I cleaned 26 this afternoon that went 11-14" with just 2 males in the bunch. Caught quite a few smaller with a couple small whites and about a 30# gar trolling cranks 12-15 ft deep. About a third of the females looked close to spawning, a third not even close and none spawned out. We were fishing basins off pea gravel spawning pockets.

They can still be caught but it is primarily an evening game these days from what I see. You used to be able to pitch a topwater anywhere in the Gravois on a spring morning and have a ball on nice 2-3# spawners. Not so much now. I did catch a bunch of nice fish last March on the fiat below Gravois Mills but since then not much to report. Too bad; they fight and eat pretty good too if you take the time when fileting. They make great sandwhich filets

Caught really nice fish trolling a flat in 20 FOW in the morning and pitching sliders just off the bank in the evening. They are ready but were not on beds yet; most of the evening fish were males but some really nice size. Male bass are bedding up everywhere. Fished from below Gravois Mill to the dam area.

They are holding on transitions near gravel on the N Shore. Sliders are my choice but any jig will likely do.

Plastics on brush with an early topwater bite would be my guess; possibly a bluegill colored willow leaf spinnerbait early and in backs of coves may be good too. Jigs are always good on rocky transition banks. Look for fish in less than 15 FOW. My topwater bait would be a brass bladed white buzzbait.

Nice!

Still scattered and suspended on the N Shore; scratched out a limit of decent fish trolling cranks in Racoon Hollow. Couldn't buy a fish on pea gravel with jigs.