jcmojo

Redbeard, Don't plan on fishing primarily for walley or you will go home disappointed. There are walleye in Lake of the Ozarks, and the Mo. Conservation Dept. has done a fairly intensive job of stocking them, but the bite is mainly in the upper portions of the lake. You might catch one here and one there, and most are caught by accident. You could spend a whole season fishing for crappie on the lower half of the lake and if you caught any walleye at all you would be doing good. Crappie is the name of the game for the next two-three weeks. I don't know where Bass Point Resort is located at on the lake, but if you will be here within the next few weeks the crappie fishing should be good to excellent barring cold fronts, monsoon rains or other mother nature calamities. Good luck. jcmojo ps: good walley lakes in or partly within Missouri are Stockton, Bull Shoals, and Norfork. These are probably the best known. There may be others of lesser distinction. Redbeard, I forgot to add the crappie bait and lure of choice. You can't go wrong with crappie minnows and/or crappie jigs in 1/16 oz. size. Plain leadhead is ok, with a white or chartruese tube tail or twister tail. Ask locally at bait shops for the depth they are biting at when you get here, or check this forum for postings right before you leave. jcmojo

greenwoodmo, Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like you have the perfect boat for Mallard Bay. I won't be trying that. My boats a little too deep. If there's one black on the banks others can't be far behind. Glad your wife didn't kill you, although that would probably have spared countless crappie who are doomed to come under your fillet knife in the years to come. I used to have the same problem, but have since retired and can go during the week. That's a pretty nice perk, but all the aches and pains that go along with getting old are not so good. Maybe she'll let you escape on one of your other days off while the crappie are still at it. I won't be around LOZ for a few days, as I am heading to Table Rock for 3 days next week. Good luck. troutgnat, We didn't get hammered last night in JC as the storms split and went north and south of us. Good luck on your trip this weekend. Looking forward to your report. I will post my TR trip when I get back. jcmojo

troutgnat, The only areas that I know about the water clarity is on the main Osage arm above the 36mm and on the Gravois arm. I know for certain that above the 36mm the water is perfect. Just a little off-color with about 2 foot visibility. The Gravois as of last week was very clear in the area that I was in. I believe the entire lake is about 6 foot low, which puts a lot of shallow brush out of water, but brings the medium depth beds up shallow, which is fine. jcmojo

Greenwoodmo, Mallard Bay is the name of the resort that we used to launch at. I had forgotten, but it all comes back now. How was the ramp. It used to be tough if the lake was down like it is now. Did you pick up any black males up there? Was the fishing as good as up at Brown Bend? jcmojo

Just got off LOZ water today (around 36-38 mm). Fished yesterday in the wind and had a great day. Many nice crappie. They were against windy, southern exposure banks feeding on shad and acting like they were spawning, but they weren't. No males dressed in black yet. Lots of shad remains when cleaned. Not an indication of spawning crappie, but the eggs are highly developed. Maybe one more week. Tube and twister tail jigs. Today was a lot prettier than yesterday, but not nearly as good. About half the catch of yesterday. Had to be around sticks today. Don't know about shooting docks. Should probably be good though. Water temp 54-58.

Thanks Greenwoodmo. I've never fished that far up the lake. The farthest I've been up is the 55 mm. That's pretty good for early spawners. We took rt. J coming south from Versailles just before you get to Gravois Mills. It's been a few years and I don't remember the name of the resort that we launched at. Anyway it was about the 55mm. jcmojo

Greenwoodmo, What part of the lake is Brown Bend on? We are getting ready to head up the lake to around the 38 mile marker within the next 6 or 7 days to give it a try. Have you heard any reports on that part of the lake? It should get going up there before too long. I was at Coffman's Beach ramp last Saturday giving my new boat and motor a breaking in. I talked to one crappie fisherman pulling out, who had done some good on small white jigs with a minnow 4 or 5 feet below a float. He was working between docks. The way he talked it was not necessarily around brush. Also, some bass fisherman were picking up some nice crappie on Rogues. If we can get some warm weather and warm rain, it should really break loose soon. Good fishin and catchin: Jcmojo

Phil, You may have already tryed this one, but in case you haven't here it is. The wife and I like to broil our's in the oven. It's pretty easy, tastes good and doesn't leave much of a mess. We use a cookie sheet and put foil in the bottom wrapping it around the edges. If you're carefull and don't tear the aluminum sheet, you don't even have to wash the cookie sheet. We melt a little light margarine in the micro-wave and baste each fillet. Then sprinkle on a favorite seasoning, ie: lemon pepper, garlic powder, ect. plus a little salt and pepper to taste. You don't even have to turn crappie. Walleye, might need a turning. We usually pull the fish out after 4-5 minutes and check to see if they flake apart with a fork. If not, return em. Serve with a veggie or salad and you have a very low-calorie good tasting meal. I've done this same sort of thing in the microwave (just on glass), but I don't think it has quite the same flavor. JDKehr

Doesn't seem to me that any company internal secrets were divulged here. Most companies have perks. If I were a fly fisherman in need of a great rod I would definitely appreciate the heads up. Good post 10pointer. JDKehr

Hi Tom, I've been around for awhile also, but have not introduced myself yet. I grew up around the Lake of the Ozarks area in Central Mo. and have lived in Jefferson City Mo. most of my working career. I've been retired now for a few years. I spent a five year stint in Canfield Ohio, and had many opportunities to fish Mosquitoe, which was only about 12 miles away. Good walleye and crappie lake. You and I have been very fortunate to have always lived around good fishing lakes and rivers. I know parts of West Virginia and Pennsylvania are blessed with scenery like the Ozarks, but that area of Ohio that I lived in was pretty blah for scenery. It didn't hold a candle to the Ozarks. I don't fish year round nearly as much as I used to, because I caught that dreaded bug called golf. I still love to get after the crappie in the spring, and will be spending most of April doing just that. Hope to get down to TR for a short 3 day trip. I love to read this site, but don't have much to post yet. I try to log on every day and catch up. Good luck on getting back to the Rock someday Tom. Doug Kehr

You got me there. I can't quite figure out where you are at on the Gravois, unless possibly around Camp Sabra or on the upper end. I haven't fished the Gravois much in the last few years, so I stuck pretty close to Coffman's Beach where I launched, and found a few dock beds to fish. Like I said, the water is super clear there. I had the feeling that the crappie were not so much off feed that day, but instead probably were not even there, but didn't know where else to try it. Anyway, looks like you had them patterned pretty good. Maybe if we get some of the big rains this week that are being predicted the whole lake will murky up some. Should warm the water and start the crappie moving toward the coves. Continued good luck to you. JDK

You must be somewhere uplake. Maybe 42 MM or so. I don't think there's too many shorelines that long, that are empty of condos and homes below there, unless it's in the state park. Looks like you're doing ok. Did you catch them within the last couple of days? I went out on the Gravois last week Wednesday and didn't score much. Awfully clear, and the crappie are not in the beds much. At least I couldn't find them.

I hope to get down to TableRock in early April to try the crappie. Would like to stay on Long Creek arm at a resort with ramp (or close by ramp) and boat slip availability. Any help with names of resorts offering these particulars will be greatly appreciated. Thank you. JDKehr

Kyle, Another thing you might try is a heavier jig in the 1/2 to 3/4 oz. range with a large 3" shiner behind it. Also, you might want to add a small stinger treble tied to the hook of the jig on about a 2-3 inch mono. We used to use this rig to fish for sauger and walleye at the mouth of the Osage where it empties into the Missouri, and deep holes on up the Osage. With this method you drift, normally over the deepest holes you can find. Drop the rig to the bottom and keep it as straight down as possible. A whole lot on how straight you can keep it depends on the weight of the jig and the speed of the current. Jig the rig up and down slowly on about a 6-8 inch lift. A walleye or sauger will flare their gills, and all you will feel is a slight tick. If you feel this tick, jerk immediately. If a fish hammers it, it will usually be a drum, cat or maybe a sturgeon. jcmojo