Mike3004

Thank you for providing this great seminar on this site.

I agree with the Big and Little Niangua at the end of March. I have also heard the Gravois has some springs but I do not know for sure or their location.

First, the Heartland Bass Tournaments were held at LOZ this past weekend. The report on the Team and Pro Am Tournaments have been posted. When you read the reports, please note depending on where you are at on the lake, this will determine the approach that the successful fisherman used. For example, we fished the upper Osage 2 weeks ago and were successful fishing laydowns on the flats in the backs of creeks. As you come back to PB2, the bass were caught on secondary points. This weekend we stayed in the Glaize. Fishing in the Glaize was really tough for us. Reading the reports we may have been better off to fish secondary points closer to the main channel around Lodge of the Four Seasons or Tan-Tar-A. Second, for this upcoming weekend what worked last weekend may have changed. The bass are in transition. In some areas we found shad in the back of creeks and coves but the bass had not followed them. This may have been due to the continued draw of water through the dam. If I knew for sure, I would be fishing again this weekend. I wish I could be more specific. If you can get down there a day ahead and pre-fish, you may be able to narrow down the areas and techniques you will fish. Good luck!!!

Was up the Osage far from where you will be. Found shad in the backs of creeks and white's feeding heavily. Good luck.

While you are at DJ's, check out the what I call the tinsel jigs. These have flashy skirts of various colors and found them to be another good jig to use in addition to the green and white rubber legs. Sometimes one will work when the other won't. Caught some of my biggest stringers in July on these tinsel jigs. As far as the worm color goes, yellow and orange works better than most for me. I like to rig these with the hook in one end. Bigger fish seem to bite more readily. I will switch to wacky style just to give the trout a different look at the same. To say the least, with the clear water line is critical. I switched to thread a few weeks ago to get bit during the day. I also like Maxima 2 pound test but sometimes the thread is the only thing that works. Any suggestions on line to use in clear water like now would be appreciated.

Thank you for your help!!!

Well the water is clearing and you could tell by the quality of fish being carried by alot of smiling fisherman this past weekend. I have been fishing the springs for 30 years now, and this has to be one of the best years in terms of number of quality trout in the spring right now. The number of people are still down and will probably continue to be down. How long these quality fish will be there is tough to predict. But I am looking forward to fishing the springs and maybe a day trip floating and fishing the river. I had a blast Saturday fishing a 3 boulder formation in the middle of the stream just up from the bridge. Trout were flying out and attacking anything edible as it floated by. I could not remember this structure being there before but the past few years I have been spending most of my time upstream. To give you an idea how good fishing was, there was a young lady standing up on the bank wanting to fish the same spot but too bashful to do so. Her father was fishing just upstream from us. So when she did not take me up on my offer to fish standing a few feet up from me, I decided to leave so she could try her luck. Now if you ask my sons they would say the sun must have been getting to the old man because I seldom leave a productive and fun spot. But hey there's plenty to go around right now and I am mellowing as I get older. Good luck and be safe during the holiday weekend.

I will be vacationing next week and would appreciate suggestions for one day trips floating and fishing the Current River. I am not a fly fisherman but I do enjoy fishing for all species. I appreciate your suggestions.

I will be vacationing next week near Meramec Springs and I would appreciate suggestions on float and fish opportunities on the Meramec. I am not a fly fisherman (I know, my bad) but I do enjoy fishing for trout, smallmouth, etc. I appreciate your suggestions on techniques to use for the particular stretch being suggested. I appreciate your help and look forward to your suggestions.

I just saw your post so this may be a little late. The discharge from Truman will have a big impact on the quality fishing up near Warsaw. The latest report I heard is that they are continuing to release a large quantity of water from Truman into LOZ making the upper reaches a chocolate river. My choice at this time of the year would be to travel to PB2 and fish the brushpiles on the points of the Glaize early in the day and in the evening, ajdusting the hours as the recreational boaters affect the fishing. If PB2 is too far, then Larry Allen on the Niangua or Hurricane Deck boat ramp on the Osage would be my next choices. If you are in need of local fishing report, then Van Hooks is a place I like to go to for that area of the lake. Hope this helps and is in time for your reading. Good luck.

Got down to the springs about 11 AM. Water has dropped so the hillside sidewalk at the bathroom hole is out of water mostly. Water still dingy and moving fast, but probably the best I have seen it this year. At the bathroom hole a good number of trout are residing in the rocks and there was a handful of people actively fishing for them so I continued on to see how the rest of the spring looked. A large tree had fallen into the river well below the bathroom hole but was not affecting fishing in that area I could tell. At the bridge there were 2 people fishing from the bridge, and one fishermen fishing the water going over the rocks. That was it. I only could see one trout in the hole below the bridge, but I suspect there may have been more lurking out of sight down deeper. The water color did not allow you to see the bottom. During the short time I was there watching the floaters moving slowly down the Meramec River from the spring, none of the anglers had I walked back up and stopped at a spot up from the bridge about a hundred yards where the springs bend towards the hillside and a point across the spring funneled the water into a smaller chute. Although the water color prevented me from seeing any trout, I knew from past trips this was an area that held trout in these conditions. I cast the yellow and orange worm into the spring and soon saw and hooked a nice trout that had aggressively raced in to bite the worm near the bank. I landed a 2nd trout soon after. Several times I saw some nice trout but they shied away. I suspected they were laying in am undercut in a deep hole slightly upstream. I was fishing with a doughbait at this point. I removed the small spit shot to allow a slower drop and different line angle. The next cast I hooked a nice fat trout that was 15"+ inches. Several casts later I saw another nice trout shoot out from the undercut and swallow the bait. After landing that 15"+ fat trout I was happy with my stringer and headed to the cleaning station. It was 1 PM in the afternoon and the day was heating up nicely. The only bad part of that trip was that long uphill wak to the parking lot. LOL. There are several factors contributing to the quality of fish at the springs right now. The reduced creel from 5 to 4, the dingy water hindering sight fishing, and the smaller weekend crowds that should make the rest of this year an enjoyable trip for those that can afford to make the trip to the Springs.

Friday found the water up and fast. Fished the hole by the bathroom on the bathroom side. Found fish biting up in the rocks. Tough fishing getting hung up and losing hardware on rocks. Found using a float about 3 feet above a pinch on sinker about 6 inches above a treble hook with a yellow/orange worm worked well in this situation. Weight would bounce along the bottom slowing the drift. After hookup, let fish go down to next hole and out of current making easier to land.

One compromise that could be reached is to post one cove or creek arm that provides good spawning habitat off limits to fisherman around the lake during a specified time period each spring. For example, in the James River Arm pick one spawning area and make it off limits. The same with other areas of the lake as well. Tournaments would be required to specify these areas and tournament anglers would be required to know where these areas are and how to tell from the bouys or markers that an area is off limits. Areas could be rotated if desired from year to year.