Bill Butts

Monday which is forecast to be cloudy and rainy would be a perfect day to find active feeding Whites about anywhere. Galena, Forsyth and Beaver Creek, both Sac Rivers, and others that would be a longer drive. Water temps across the Ozarks should remain stable overnight due to the warm cloudy conditions. Fish early in the day, and you would have it almost to yourself. Keep moving and varying your techniques until you find fish that respond to your efforts. Also keep in mind that smaller, slower and deeper is generally better early in the season, and the hits are not usually hard but sometimes no more that your line stopping. Good luck and be sure to share your experience. Bill

This is awesome, Al !!! So pleased you would spearhead this effort. It is so easy and comfortable to sit back and enjoy your personal knowledge and success on the rivers, but totally a different thing to organize and share your skills with fellow enthusiasts and newbies. To all participants, please cherish the moments in time that you can learn successful techniques to catch and release the greatest of our native Ozark Region species from an incredibly talented artist and fisherman. Keep up the passionate work, Al. Bill

Hello Jeremy, It's great that you would post an intro on the OA site. I met your co-worker, Paul Port, in Mt. Home recently and was impressed with the energy and enthusiasm he has for the Temperates and other warmwater species. Please share openly on this site, I doubt you would ever get a disrespectful comment. Thanks for being a contributor to the OA community. BB

agree with Rick..... the most productive fishing in a normal water level season is the first 3-4 shoals above lake backwater. does that make sense? so, in short, as the run develops you should concentrate on the water from Orleans bridge upriver about 2 miles. water temps have not stabilized at night, so subtle temp changes mess with our beloved spawning species, namely walleye and white bass. their metabolism is affected with temp swings, therefore they either retreat to a little deeper water or just hang near the bottom and don't feed as frequently. very wise to carry and use a thermometer to track temps, especially for future reference from year to year. suggest everyone keep a log/journal of their experiences. hope this helps.....

Heard a great report thru a friend of a friend confirming what Birdwatcher reported, and that the friend got into an area with a bunch of Hybrids and boated quite a few including some over 10#. What a way to start the Spring!! Pretty much assured this will remain consistent since the weather temps are to remain below normal, which will keep the water temps from rising any more. The deeper channel water will be their comfortable haven until the river water warms up. This is very similar to about every other regional fishery in E. OK, N. AR and S. MO. Find the first long stretch of deeper water, 12-15', and somewhere near you will find lots of fish. Reminder, please check water temps when you're out there, this is just as important to share on this board as your report of success or not.

very cool. were you up in the river water or below the 10 bridge in the channel? did you check the water temp? thanks for the report. two of my friends fished up in the river on Thur and managed to catch only 13 Whites total in 4 hours water temp was 51* in the moving water

It came up from about 350 cfs to over 2500 cfs in the last 48 hours, so it would be muddy for sure. It doesn't usually clear very quickly, and the rain was cold so it probably cooled off the river somewhat. Hopefully by the weekend the sunshine and moderate nights will allow water temp to recover. From a clarity perspective, if you have 12-18" of clarity it can be very productive. A bright colored bait, and a spinner blade, will make your bait more recognizable and effective. Retrieve them slow until the water temp, and fish metabolism, increases over the coming weeks. Would sure like to hear what the water temp is in the river above Hwy 10. Good Luck!

If you would like to learn about Fly Fishing for the Temperate Basses -Striped, Hybrid Striped and White Bass in the MO, AR, OK and KS region, there are two opportunities coming soon if you are close to the Springfield MO area. A 40 year enthusiast pursuing these fish with fly tackle, Bill Butts will present a seminar at the Plateau Fly Shop in Springfield on Sat. March 8 at 10 am. This seminar is one highlight of an entire day of emphasis on the upcoming Spring fishing for White Bass and their oversized cousins. There will be knot and leader tying instruction, fly casting instruction, and fly tying demonstrations related to this popular Spring fishing focus. Free food and drink, and drawings for great tackle giveaways will also highlight the day. The other opportunity to learn about these great fish will be at the Southwest Missouri Flyfishers club meeting on Thur. March 13 at the MO Department of Conservation’s Springfield Nature Center at 630 pm. Guests are always welcome! You can call the Plateau Fly Shop for information about both events at 417-889-6548. Get your Spring on!

If you would like to learn about Fly Fishing for the Temperate Basses -Striped, Hybrid Striped and White Bass in the MO, AR, OK and KS region, there are two opportunities coming soon if you are close to the Springfield MO area. A 40 year enthusiast pursuing these fish with fly tackle, Bill Butts, will present a seminar at the Plateau Fly Shop in Springfield on Sat. March 8 at 10 am. This seminar is one highlight of an entire day of emphasis on the upcoming Spring fishing for White Bass and their oversized cousins. There will be knot and leader tying instruction, fly casting instruction, and fly tying demonstrations related to this popular Spring fishing focus. Free food and drink, and drawings for great tackle giveaways will also highlight the day. The other opportunity to learn about these great fish will be at the Southwest Missouri Flyfishers club meeting on Thur. March 13 at the MO Department of Conservation’s Springfield Nature Center at 630 pm. Guests are always welcome! You can call the Plateau Fly Shop for information about both events at 417-889-6548. Get your Spring on!

I think it might be a wet spring--- 1130.00

Awesome post for critical advice! Thanks for posting. Anyone who respects the fishery would absolutely not be targeting this species until fall. Those who doubt the high release mortality, please do the research and then decide in your heart whether to be a friend or foe of the fishery. Education, education, education.

Buddy of mine drove from NW AR over to Gore on Saturday to catch the river rise in hopes of sticking some Stripers. How's that for dedication, drive all that way to fish for 4-5 hours, then drive back home. Checked in at MarVal as usual, crossed the river while it was low and went upstream to a usual favorite spot. He takes a float tube, fins and CO2 inflatable lifevest to safely cross after the river comes up, so he stashes it up in the trees out of site. As the river is coming up, many tubers come down the river, most or all of which pull out at MarVal. So, once the river was at or near peak he decided it was time to quit and cross back over to the resort. But, his gear was gone!! He is 99% sure it was a floater since no fishermen were around when he stashed the gear. He is guessing that someone went up in the trees to take a leak, found the gear, and claimed "finders keepers". That SUCKS folks!!! Watch your gear if you stray away from it anywhere on the river. Fortunately, he was able to flag down someone in a boat that gave him a lift across the river. Thank you, whoever you are. Only positive thing is the thief wasn't a fisherman, but unfortunately the low life is probably staying or was staying at MarVal. Fishermen beware!!! BTW, yes, he did catch some nice Stripers for his efforts and the extra $200-300 it will take to replace the gear.

Hello Dgames! Thanks very much for the awesome report of progress on the LIR water issue. It is truly a beautiful thing to understand that so many gov't agencies are communicating and working together toward a common cause. Great photos, too. I have forwarded this to my local fishing buddies that I partner with for Striper fishing on that fishery, as well as the Whitlock's who love that fishery, too. VERY surprised that so few have taken interest and replied to your post. Your club's work for the benefit of many others is wonderful!!!! Everyone who follows the fishery on this wonderful Forum, please take time to read the full content of the report. GREAT news for the future of your beloved trout fishery in SE OK!!! All the best, Bill Butts

Nice going, and great fun! Were you using regular gear or fly tackle? Find them on or near the surface, or graphing them deep? Please encourage and help others to enjoy and pursue these awesome fish. Bill

Nice report, thanks for sharing!!!!!!

Always cool to hear from someone who has just caught their first White Bass or Striper on fly tackle!! Nice job! Maybe your dad will want to try it, too. Phil will be particularly proud to see that OA hat on your dad.

Great photos, Phil. Amazing how a fish that gets so little respect can put a big smile on an angler's face! A lot more great days ahead this month.

Hey Phil that's a really thorough report, but unfortunate your luck was not better for your strategic efforts. Thanks for the great detail, despite the disappointment. Table Rock is scheduled to generate 24/7 on Friday, so might be a better day to be working that tailwater. Cloudy and rainy days are the best, in my experience.

I think most guys would suggest you direct your efforts and time to going south. North Fork River east of Gainesville, the Theodosia area on Bull Shoals, and Beaver Creek and the tailwater below Powersite Dam in the Forsyth area are all excellent White Bass fisheries especially in the Spring.

If you live in the El Dorado Springs area, you would need to drive south on Highway 32, thru Stockton, then south on Hwy 123, cross the lake, then left (east) on Hwy 215 at Eudora to the turnoff I described above as S. 60th Rd. Follow the above instructions. Pull up an online map of Morrisville MO. That turn-off and the river are west of that town, it should be pretty easy to zero in from there. Good luck!

There is not a website or a phone # the public can call to get generation info for Powersite Dam. My personal opinion is that the electric co-op that owns the dam shows little respect for the safety or convenience of the fishing public. Unfortunately, about all you can do is monitor the generation schedule for Table Rock Dam (TRD) and assume if they are moving water thru TRD that eventually Powersite has to begin releasing some of the accumulated volume. This can be insanely frustrating when you are trying to make a decision if and when to fish there. Here is the weblink to the SWPA site for the daily generation of many of their facilities: http://www.swpa.gov/generation.htm When you open this page, click on Monday and note the actual date which is today the 18th. You can read the anticipated (NOT guaranteed) generation schedule for a number of SWPA facilities. There is a key to the abbreviations at the bottom of the page. But, if you click on Tuesday you will see that the actual date was last Tue. The schedule for tomorrow the 19th will not be posted to the site until about 5 pm, daily. The exception is on Fridays, after 5 pm they post the schedules for Sat, Sun and Mon. Hope you find this helpful, it is about all that any of us have for reference. Bill

That's really cool, you must have an incredible hunger for catching fish! How's the shoulder and what is the healing time for such an injury?

Would expect the water is still quite cool. Whites will actually spawn in water that is 58 degrees, but the majority of the spawn usually occurs in water that is closer to the mid-60's. In 40+ years, I've never heard anyone talk about a spawning run into any trib of those lakes. Not saying it couldn't happen, just so little water. Usually in lakes and reservoirs that have limited or no tribs to support a run, White Bass will choose wind swept rocky points and flats to do their thing. I'd be curious to know if Whites were ever intentionally planted in Fellows Lake. Growing up, I never saw or heard of them being caught. But, sometime after the installation of the pipeline from Stockton Lake I started hearing about Whites being caught at Fellows. The first time I personally saw any at Fellows was about 12 years ago when I found 20-25 filleted carcasses right where the Stockton pipe empties into Fellows. My assumption is that they made their entry into Fellows via the pipeline. Some testimonies from fishermen who have caught Whites at Fellows would be greatly appreciated.

Find a decent road map online to reference. From Springfield (your profile doesn't indicate where you live), north on Hwy 13 then west on Hwy 215, thru Morrisville. Continuing on 215 going west you will cross the Little Sac River about 3-4 miles, then about another 3-4 miles there is a road that turns to the right, S. 60th Rd., if I'm reading the map clearly. Stay on that road for a few miles until it tees. Turn right and you will immediately cross Taylor Bridge, access to park under or near the bridge is past the bridge on the right (will be obvious). No boat ramp, but easy to slide a jon boat, canoe or yak in right there. Fishing is usually good up and downstream from that point. Orleans, which many just know as steel or iron bridge, is found by continuing past Taylor. Take the first road that turns left, follow it until it tees, then turn left and the road dead ends at the bridge, which is no longer open to vehicle traffic. It can also be accessed from the opposite side of the bridge, depending on which is best from where you live. All this will be even easier when you view a map. That area gets pretty crowded in late eves and weekends, so some additional walking or paddling is suggested to get away from the crowd. Also, once the nights begin staying consistently warm, about 50 or higher, the mornings are my favorite any day of the week because most people are used to fishing the pm and eves and you will usually have your pick of where you want to fish. Good Luck! Hope this helps. Bill

Wow, that was a nasty fall!! You sure have a great attitude toward the unfortunate situation. Great that someone was nearby to help. Look forward to hearing about catching Whites on your cane pole.