LoweSTX175

Work took away my entire spring fishing away. Last time I was by cole camp creek was the opening weekend of Snaggin' and the water was so low that we had to bring in some rock to put on the backside of the ramp to even launch. I went up the creek a bit to look at some areas to look for exposed brush....the waster was only about 2 foot deep so I couldn't go that far back. I would assume the water is still low. Not this weekend but the next I'll be out there hopefully

Fished around Grosse Point and up into Cole Camp Creek both Monday and Tuesday. Crappie were up in the creek biting on chartreuse jigs tipped with crappie bites under docks once the sun started to come up. Was working on a fast limit until a bass fisherman decided he needed to come over to take a look at us by driving across the creek. He got within about 50 foot under idle...once he saw a couple of fish picked up he hammered down and stirred up the water. Crappie shut down over the next hour. Moved out the main channel and trolled some cranks. Picked up two decent Whites (returned unharmed) along with one keeper Walleye. On Tuesday went back to the spot where the crappie were picked up and had three keep. Trolled again the main channel and had one flathead brought in that would have gone about 10 pounds. He was turned back to grow. None of the crappie had eggs.... looked like the spawn is either over or has slowed down significantly.

I'll start having more reports now that the level is up and the snaggin' season is over. I'll eventually work all the way up to Deer Creek once the trolling conditions are ready. Memorial Day weekend will be the next time I can get down there with all the spring activities this weekend.

Crappie fished Cole Camp Creek area both mornings of the 15th and 16th. Caught lots of small males (20+) with 5 keeper females. The males seem to be biting early with the females moving in closer to the banks around the 8 AM timeframe. They were hitting rubber jigs under the cork in around 8 FOW with the jig set roughly at 5-6 foot. TOW on the finder had the water upwards of 70 degrees. Water was being moved fairly fast out on the main channel but seemed calm up in the creek.

Figured I would share two of the Spoonbill Tournaments coming up in April for Rick on the forum. They are on the 2nd and 23rd of April.

I stopped on the way home from work to get some new cranks to try to give it a troll this weekend. I'll still stop in Lincoln to get some minnows to put on the end of jigs to toss behind some docks. My neighbor in the city and I will do some more trolling on Clinton Lake in Lawrence KS within the next few weeks.

These are great videos. I've tried trolling the main part of the water around MM 81 and haven't had that great of luck. Might just try to give it another shot this weekend for an hour or two just to see what happens.

Agree with LVN2Fish. There are plenty of species there. I have a place at 81 as well and did decent yesterday with crappie. The key is to get out there. It took me a while to figure out that area. Be sure to not be bashful and fish close to the docks. Its not illegal to cast around them. This tends to be the area that the bass/crappie tend to hang out around. Walleye I have only caught trolling out on the main channel. Feel free to PM me as well. When spring hits the level will be real low until about a week before Memorial Day and everything is basically mud. But there are some rock areas at the first turn in Turkey Creek...during the summer it turns into a party area on weekends is the only problem.

Fished around the Cole Camp/Turkey Creek area. Caught lots of small crappie but ended up with 7 that kept. Found all fish on the backside of docks in shaded areas early in the morning in 8 FOW. Water temp was 81. Used minnow tipped chartreuse plastic jigs. Most fish caught were in the 9 inch range but all those kept were 10+ with the largest at 13. They didn't hit hard.

I'm a weekender in the Warsaw area and wouldn't call it dirty. My place is about 11 miles by water to the harbor. The nice part about Warsaw is you have two bodies of water to fish (Osage River/Truman Lake). If I didn't have to work in the city I would be down there as a full time resident just to be able to fish just about every day.

I won't be out on the water until the weekend after next. I'll post a report on what is going on in Turkey/Cole Camp Creek.

What part of the lake/river were you on? I am at MM 81 at Cole Camp and Turkey Creek. I have trolled Flicker Shad at 2.2 MPH with really no luck. I have done better with crappie using slip bobbers with plastic jigs tipped with minnows. I have trolled in the past on other lakes in KS and MO with great success....just not on LOZ.

I didn't troll for them this season...I stuck with Crappie on Cole Camp right after the no wake zone ends to enter it. I caught lots of small crappie and some decent channel cats this summer...but absolutely no walleye. Last walleye caught was the 4th of July of 2019 trolling flicker shad literally right on the main channel turning towards the Truman Dam coming out of Cole Camp Creek. I really haven't had much luck over the past years trolling this area. Some of the other locals I guess did decent on the White Bass trolling close to the dam.

Depends on the water. The best lure I've had is either a #9 FlickerShad and my personal favorite is using a Road Runner with a leach on it. Hot N Tots have worked as well. Trolling is the best rout with the cranks, but I have really had success with leaches. The Stockton Forum has plenty of guys who are Walleye experts that I have really learned by reading their posts.

Thanks Seth. I'm going to probably use the pedestal and mount it in there and tie it off on the cleats on the boat. The size is what i was more interested in. It wouldn't make sense to buy something that is going to break if I get hung up on something.

Excellent. I make my own dipsy divers out of PVC, eye bolts and weights. I'll drag them at about 4 mph. I have rod mounts on my boat but they are the plastic kind...I've broke a few over the years. I know they aren't going to hold up snagging. I also have a driftmaster spider rig I use in the back. I'm worried it might break as well. But I'm going to be willing to try it this season if I can't find one someone has used and recommends. I'm starting to get cabin fever.... I'm ready for the season to start.

Anyone have any recommendations for a commercial off the shelf snaggin' rod mount that can go in a pedestal? I have one I use for trolling whites, crappie and walleye...just been a bit shy of using it for snaggin'. I don't think it will hold up something big gets on it. I was going to make one out of lumber but I don't really want it to be real heavy. I'm starting to get where I don't care to hold the rods when snaggin' with the boat moving. Any ideas would be great.

We've picked on up trolling right off of Gross Point where Cole Camp Creek meets the Osage. Only issue you'll have during the spring run is all the snagggin' going on. You might have to go past the 65 bridge where snaggin' isn't allowed if you do it during the spring.

I'm still learning it myself. I've slowly started to catch more fish in the area. The big thing is to be patient and get out on the water. Lots of big catfish were taken this year in this area on the big mudflats. People netted their own shad then drifted the flats. In the spring when everyone is snaggin' don't be hesitant to run up into Cole Camp Creek even though it is shallow. There are a few deep areas that have produced crappie. I'm an old school wiggle wart/flicker Shad/Hot 'N Tot troller that has had to adapt to catch fish. In this area I suggest going with a slip bobber set to the desired depth and use a jig or live minnow or shad. The slip bobber allows me to pitch close to the docks and suspend the bait without getting into the brush. For some reason trolling really hasn't produced for me in this area.

Launched the boat on Saturday morning at 8 AM...trolled #9 & #7 FlickerShad at 2.2 MPH in about 25 FOW. Didn't get a bite. Went back out an hour before dark and targeted brush against the docks using live minnows with slip bobber set to suspend them. Caught several small channel cats as well as a couple keeper crappie. Most of them hit with about 15 minutes until sun down. Went back out yesterday morning at 6 AM and targeted the same docks using the same technique. Mostly short crappie, but at about 8:30 after the rain stopped got on top of some whites that were aggressive. Only was able to stay on them for about 10 minutes but caught 5 of keeper size. Overall seems like it picking up in the early morning and late evening.

You nailed it when you said be careful navigating this area. I weekend live around MM81 and cringe when I see guys driving fast. The flats change in size regularly also. The navigation maps have been know to make mistakes in this area.

This has been a great year in that area for the kitty cats. Lots of my weekend neighbors have been nailing some big ones. If I catch one its by pure accident. I'm going to try and figure out how to actually target the cats this fall. Having water moving out of the dam has really helped this year.

Yes you can launch at Drake Harbor. Water is up a bit on the tail of Truman but not too bad. Appears to be about 3-4 foot high. Witnessed several guys picking up bass about 8 miles downstream on the smaller points around Turkey and Cole Camp. They appeared to be bouncing jigs off the bottom in about 8 FOW. Water is running about 2-3 MPH in the area.

Got the chance to fish both the early mornings and evenings around MM81. Caught several keeper crappie and catfish around the docks and my nephew nailed this solid walleye the morning of the fourth off of Gross Point. Crappie were hitting live minnows just above the brush, catfish were hitting dead minnows and cut shad in the same area. The walleye was taken using a #9 flicker shad trolled against the current right at the shelf above the main channel. This post has been promoted to an article