Phil Lilley

The rain gauge on the Corp site says we got 1 inch of rain last night but I don't believe it. Taney is running a bit brown this morning but they're running 3 units so it will be cleared up in the upper lake by noon. The trophy area is already clear and fishable.

Good days for the river watchers to chime in... what are you seeing? I want to know how much Table Rock is going to shoot up...

Must be kin to Richard Branson...

by John Neporadny Jr. About the closest you can come to catching fish in a barrel occurs when Lake of the Ozarks white bass make their spawning runs up the creeks and rivers in the spring. White bass, a member of the sea-bass family, are close relatives of the striped bass. Most of the time, these silver-sided bass prefer deep, still water over sand and gravel bottoms, but when they make their spawning run, they seek out shallow, flowing water. Large schools of white bass concentrate near the mouths of tributary streams during their upstream spawning runs. Greg Stoner, Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) fisheries management biologist, likens white bass to salmon in that both fish migrate up rivers to spawn on clean swept gravel bars rather than build nests. Whites prefer to spawn on the gravel bars where their deposited eggs stick to the rocks. The current keeps the eggs clean and well oxygenated, which causes them to hatch within two days. The spawning run is mainly influenced by the increasing length of daylight during the spring, says Mike Colvin, a MDC fisheries research biologist who has studied white bass runs on the Niangua and Pomme de Terre rivers since 1991. Other lesser influences affecting the spawning run include water temperature and flow. White bass usually make their spawning runs at Lake of the Ozarks in early to mid-April through the first to second week of May, according to Greg Stoner, MDC fisheries management biologist and an avid fisherman. The best run occurs on the Big Niangua arm and some limited reproduction takes place on the Little Niangua River and Grand Glaize and Gravois creeks. The lake level determines where white bass spawn every year. "They tend to go to the first or second riffle above the lake boundary," Stoner says. "If the lake's down real low at that time of the year, they won't go up the river as far as they do when the lake is at normal pool or above." Stoner's lure selection for spawning whites includes Gay Blades, Roostertails and 2-inch Rapala Floaters. Cut shad also works well. "One thing about the Niangua , the hybrids will also move up in there during the spawning period so you might lose some lures with lighter tackle," Stoner says. To prevent hybrids from running off with this lures, Stoner uses 8- to 10-pound test. I have also caught spawning white bass in the Lake of the Ozarks creeks throughout the years. My favorite technique combines a 4 1/2-inch Rapala Floater with a 1/16-ounce white or bright pink doll fly. The jig is tied on an 18-inch leader line of 4-pound test and the leader is attached to the back hook of the Rapala. I cast this combination upstream on a gravel bar and let it drift down into the hole below the riffles. As the lure drifts down, I jerk the rod hard to make the Rapala flash and attract the white bass' attention. Most of the time, the whites hit the jig trailer, although I have caught some bigger fish that smashed the Rapala on the surface. When the white bass make their spawning run at Lake of the Ozarks this spring, you can catch them in a hurry if you find them bunched up in the tributaries. It's the next best thing to fishing in a barrel. For information on lodging and other facilities at the Lake of the Ozarks or to receive a free vacation guide, call the Lake of the Ozarks Convention & Visitors Bureau at 1-800-FUN-LAKE or visit the Lake of the Ozarks Convention and Visitors Bureau web site at funlake.com. Copies of John Neporadny's book, "THE Lake of the Ozarks Fishing Guide" are available by calling 573/365-4296 or visiting the web site www.jnoutdoors.com.

I don't mind cleaning, as long as I have a good electric knife. But I bought a Black & Decker at Sams last week as a backup. Started with it and it didn't get through one filet! The blades where moving together instead of separate... not good. Boxed it up and it'll go back to Sam. Found a iPhone in the parking lot at Cricket. Duane spotted it. Crushed... well the glass was shattered. But it worked! No case... amazing! Run over and still ticking. Called the last guy that called the phone and left a message. Mike from Harrison picked it up this morning.

Duane, Bill and I headed to Cricket Creek Access today. Met there at 5 p.m. and pointed the boat up lake. Running up Long Creek was an adventure. Lots of junk in the water including logs, big ones. Water color was good everywhere- for fishing anyhow. Boated up Long as far as we dared in Babler's big bass boat. Could see the first riffle above us 200 yards away. Also saw whites on the surface spawning up there. I didn't check water temp- may be Bill did. We started slow but caught on. They were on the shallow side, in pockets and holes, not in the channel. And we did the best on white 1/8th ounce jigs. We ended the evening by going up closer to the riffle and found whites everywhere. At first we were catching 5-6 inchers but as the sun dropped we caught the big ones. We (I) wanted to keep some for a fish fry but didn't want any big females. This became a problem because they all seemed to be sows. But we put 19 in the well, most looking like males. When I cleaned them tonight, I think I only had 3 males. The rest were females partially spawned out. I think, I know, Duane put most of them in the well. I told him I only wanted about a dozen. He kept slipping them in and chuckling cause he knew I'd be cleaning till late. Didn't see many boats up there. Couple above the riffle and two below. Some locals on the bank. Nice quiet evening with good friends and good fishing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIAu40spmrk&feature=youtu.be

Tim Dyer caught this 23-inch brown on a minnow in the mouth of Fall Creek yesterday. Released this morning after staying the night in our minnow tank.

Thanks- Just have to have people step up. How about anyone driving over Springfield Lake on 65 everyday. I know when I go over and always take a mental note.

Yes and in slack water in places. But Steve Dickey is having his clients drifting eggs, big scuds and san juans in the trophy area and catching big rainbows! No big numbers though.

We have several openings this weekend. If you can get away for at least a couple of nights, give us a call and we will see what we can do for you! 1-800-284-2196

Duane and I drove over to Swan after work today. First we went over to Beaver via 160 to take a peak. Today is the last day you'll see the Fisherman's Nose Road - the lake is about to swallow it up. Got to Swan about 7:15 pm. Parked in the park. Walked down to the water well above the corner. Started with jigs, then slider, then swimming minnows. Duane caught 2 nice whites at 8 pm on a purple swimming minnow close to the bank. Saw one other white caught by a boater early- that's it folks! Left at 8:30.

Created new forums in James River Beaver Watershed Illinois River And made you guys moderators of those forums. Thanks for helping!!

It's not pretty.

Not hiding... getting caught! Yep- you're right. That's where a lot of them are. But they're in the lake too but hard to hook.

If they're going to run 4 units will TR's level gets to 915 feet, it'll get down to that mark on Thursday by my calculation. But rain is in the forecast.

Hey at least it's not pics of Ned Rig things...

Heck- I don't want to sell them. Put them in my collection on the wall.

Duane said you guys would be interested in seeing these... I had them in a box he was going through looking for cranks to cast off the dock for trout. I didn't know they were worth anything - just a bunch of old bass lures I bought years ago and hardly ever used. Remember, I'm not a bass guy.

I would love it (and so would you) if we had more marinas and shops close to good waters to report every once in a while. If you frequent one of these shops, ask the owner if he would be interested. Put their ads in their signatures. Free advertising!

I have had 2 members step up and volunteer to give river conditions for the Finley and for the Meramec. Anyone else?

Across the river from Duane's summer place of employment.

How would you like to jet up this "creek"? Made Doty smile...