CentralIowan

Really there wasnt one spot that held more than another...anywhere you can find a ledge that has a steep drop to it we marked those on our electronics. Most notibaly the back side of the island right at the mouth of the Gravois arm, then just up into the arm there is an underwater island - one side is a shallower slope and held very few fish, the other side is a steep drop and held that huge group again. It's not very big though, so you'll need a lake contour map probably to find it. It comes up to within about 15-20 ft of the surface rising out of about 60-70 FOW. As a side note, I'm thinking someone or multiple people have trot lines/jug lines around that island. Each day we fished it there were different groups of jugs and in different spots around the island. It's all starting to make sense as to why they had those out in 80 FOW. Appreciate the commentary!

Thanks for the input guys...we kinda figured that's what it might be. It's awful strange to see all that on your electronics and awfully enticing to try and fish it. When they get down that deep I reckon they aint feeding are they? It'd be awfully cold (relatively speaking) for them to be too active wouldnt it?

Had the trip this week....down and back already. Buddy and I fished each morning from about 430 til 10 or 11. We fished the area where the Gravois meets the main lake channel alot. Caught about 25 largemouth spread out over the days. Biggest was 18 1/2" and we caught several others around 16-18 inches. One morning while working a shallow flat point, my buddy hooked into a 40lb blue catfish on a Booyah bass jig. Never saw a cat, attack a bait like this one did....jumped clear outta the water like a largemouth when he hammered it. Took us one hour (not an exagerration) to land him as he only had 10lb braided line on so we chased him w/ the troller all over the place. We had more consistent hook ups working slower sloping points than we did working the boat docks. Wasnt too terribly busy until we left yesterday (Thursday) We did notice something that we wondered...we found along shelf dropoffs around 50-70 FOW there would be loads of fish stacked up on the shelf ledge. That's awful deep to try and fish but we did wonder what those were? Anyone have any idea what that might be?

Well, headed down first thing Sunday morning....was wondering if anyone had been out lately? I've seen the articles on the water...yummy! Anyways, we'll be down around the dam all next week so any reports to point us in the right direction would be most appreciated. Looks dry, but warm - dog days fishin' is always a fun challenge. Cya'll on the water!

Hey, thanks alot for the input! Very much appreciated. Are the docks a better primary target for bass on LOZ, as opposed to a little bit deeper water on the points? I guess I would have fished it more like TRL since all of the boat traffic might send the fish deeper for security. This part of the lake is new to me, so please forgive the stupid questions....I used to stay up the Niangua arm quite often and we caught plenty of nice crappie and in the evenings would chase schools of white bass around. That was a blast!

That time of year for my annual trip to SW Missouri and the wife and I are headed down to LOZ. My buddy and I are looking to get some fishing in while dodging the cigar boats and pleasure people - which I know will be no easy task, let alone the week before the 4th. I've been reading around and wondered if anyone might point us in the direction of some Bass and Crappie? We will be staying in a condo near Osage Beach. This trip has a lot to live up to as last year's trip to TRL produced some excellent LMB fishing, including a wall-hanger. Thanks all, look forward to gettin' down there!

Purely wanting to share observation/first-hand experience w/ the zebra mussels.....I grew up just south of Chicago and my dad and I would go down to the lake and fish for Perch right by the Shed Aquarium (if anyone is familiar w/ the area). We could catch some huge perch down there and enough for a fish fry or 2 before the mussels exploded. Afterwards, the perch population took a HUGE hit and there were laws implemented on certain times throughout the year when fishing was prohibited altogether for the perch (it coincided w/ spawning and migration patterns of the perch). It's taken about 10-12 yrs now w/ the laws in place for the perch population to rebound partially (it's still not even close to pre-zebra mussel life) and they are gradually letting the fishing return. On the flip side of that, the smallmouth and walleye population have increased in number and size. Less places for the baitfish to hide from the predators, but it's not going to be a neverending supply of baitfish either. Short-term benefit but it is far out-weighed by the long term effects (at least in my opinion) That said, I dont know what kind of impact they would have on TR but it sure gives me an uneasy feeling to hear about 'em at TR.

Spent all last week down on the lake in the James River Arm (annual family vacation) Each morning Dad and I fished from 530/600 until we were too hot which usually put us at 9 or 10. We stuck to the points between marker 9 and 11 and it seemed like the closer to 11 we were the better the fishing was. For the week b/w the 2 of us we boated probably 15-18 LM's most in the 12-16" range and one SM. We probably hooked and lost another 10 before getting to the boat. Highlight of the week was the spectacular LM on tuesday morning....23" and 6 1/2 lbs (huge!!) We had our best luck on Carolina rigged plastics in 20-25 FOW. Tried jigs, jigging spoons, cranks, spinners, etc....but best was the Carolina rig w/ some shade of green in the plastic. One question, if anyone knows, one morning we fished around Oswalt Bluff and we were marking hoards of fish below that in the 50-70 FOW range but could not even muster a bite in that area. We wondered if it was a false reading or if we were missing something there? Any thoughts on that?? -------------------- Eric F.