Walleye13

I was out today. Fished from Gravois to 2mm. Water a bit stained in all creek arms, especially as you get farther back. Some debris in main channel. Water temp 43-45. Bite not great, but did luck into one big one.....6lb 3oz. Will try to post pic later.

Glad to hear that Wrench. Where are the results posted?

Good point Shrapnel. Two of those recent events were out of Alhonna (there was an 8.16lb er taken in Saturdays event). Nice to hear your observations from the '90's. I have only been fishing it hard for the past 5 years so I don't have that perspective to compare to. To MoCarps point, I've not been able to find any studies on tourney or relocation impacts on LOZ (and why if not needed??). From what I can gather, LOZ head biologist Greg Stoner stays on top of things pretty well. Certainly seems like the population continues to maintain and thrive as you noted. Good luck up there in the Glaize. Hope you get one of those 10 lbers this spring!

Shrapnel, I respect your opinion and knowledge of the tournament circuit. But...hard for me to believe that the winning limits didn't come from the lower end (dam to the 6mm). Especially since I saw and talked to Rob & Ben who won two of them (sorry if that wasn't what you meant). That's not the issue though, year round relocation really is. Aside from the normal tournaments, how about the timing of the Big Bass Bash last April? Lots of fish solidly on beds that weekend. The number of females displaced and relocated by 2400 boats probably over shadows the effects of all the other tournaments....

Interesting take on the big boat effect by Mr Neporadny (thank you John). I think that is certainly accurate to some degree. I think Nomolites & Wrench hit on a couple of key factors as well. This is certainly a fertile fishery, as evidenced by the incredible shad population. Coupled with the infinite number of boat docks, these probably do more to preserve the fishery than anything. The big question for me, as Wrench mentioned, remains the re-location issue due to the increased tournament pressure on the lower end in recent years.

Great explanation Wrench....and beautiful pics! Interesting similarity between speed stripping with the fly, and the jerkbait I was catching em on. The ones I caught this week were on wind blown, rocky, secondary points. They were only in 6-8ft of water.

Ran into several of these Wed & Thurs bass fishing in Lick Branch & Raccoon Hollow. Most were 14-16" but this one was almost 18". They fight much harder than a largemouth in this cold water. Getting these scrappers on a fly rod would be wild!

I didn't catch any Whites either. Wasn't targeting them but usually pick up a couple. Followed your lead and threw a rattle bait for a bit (Strike King Tungsten 2Tap). No keepers but enough to warrant more of a commitment to it next time out. LM, Spots, even a nice crappie. And you were right about how shallow some of those fish can be!

No tournaments for me Wrench. Caught the biggest near home just inside the Gravois and the pair off two secondary points in Lick Branch. Brought those 2 (and 3 other keepers) back to Gravois to be residents of Blue Anchor Bay. At least until the tourney guys take em out and move em to PB2! Mike, the shad I'm seeing are on steeper breaks near Channel swings. Where I would expect to see them in winter, not necessarily now with 56 deg water. Didn't see that many in backs of creeks, but really didn't look that hard either. Maybe because water dropping? Maybe Wrench and others are seeing it different farther up the Gravois.

Couple more from this week....

Fished Wed thru Fri this week. Chased the wind when we had it fishing dock corners on secondary points mostly. Jerks and ARigs, a few on Plopper. Moved to rock banks toward dusk and got several on craw cranks. Pitched jigs to shaded docks in same areas when wind quit. Bite was sporadic but decent. 6.1 lb best fish. Would really like to be on the water next Mon/Tues when the front moves in! This post has been promoted to an article

Good report Wrench. Thanks for the info....

Hey MO Smallies, those are beautiful Spots! I wouldn't be too worried about the Largies or the deer if was catching fish like that. Nice work...

Very well said Wrench. If you need support for starting a movement to curb the tourney mania or the current format, I'll be the first to sign up!

Beauty Conor....that gals been feeding!

Water clarity on lower end is almost too good. Not winter clear but at least 2-3ft visibility. May be more stained up the Gravois where Wrench is....

GPSHunter, I am on the lower end of the lake. I have a condo at Blue Anchor Bay. Water temp was 77-78 today. Like Wrench said, some nicer fish moving shallower but not big numbers yet. Still some fish on main lake points too....

Solid limit this a. m. with a nice kicker. No wind, all fish on big worm in or near brush...

Same here.....got mine on big crank bait ticking brush tops in 15'. A few small fish on top water early but no keepers.

Dandy fish Hydro! I got this 20" er this a.m. but not as heavy as yours. They are definitely in transition. Ahead of schedule with this cooler weather pattern...

Couple nice keepers there Warrior. I'm hopin for a better bite today if the cloud cover holds. Guessin Ameren will be pullin water after the the big dump in the Truman watershed...

I went for a couple hours early this a.m. Couldn't buy a bite on a jig, worm, or movin bait. Maybe they already had their eclipse glasses on? I got the one in the pic Sat a.m. on a big jig.....21.75"

That's good advice on the cross bar pattern. When they move to those, it it is reliable on the shaded side. I've had trouble locating the shad balls on main lake structure lately, but found the mother lode late Monday afternoon after Ameren cranked up the water a bit. I was on a bluff end point and the bait was so thick I was getting a false bottom reading on my Lowrance.. Got this big Flathead on 1st cast and the Walleye on my 3rd cast. Got several bass, a White, and a big Crappie all in a 1hr flurry. Then it stopped abruptly. All fish on a deep crank