WHARFRAT

Caught this accidentally while dipping for crappie on LOZ. 21" caught on 10' B&M rod with a 32oz hand tied jig tipped with a crappie nib

I was down there last week, and big males were right on the bank, many were in the 10-11.5" range. Caught a couple of 13"+ females out from the bank in about 4' of water. On Thursday of last week, we had a real nice day and the fish moved off the bank in the 4-6' of water range. Also, talked to a bass fisherman that day that said he had one of his best days ever. I saw that he was throwing a chartreuse tandem spinner bait. When I saw him around 4pm, he said he had caught at least 25 keeper bass with 5 of them between 5 and 6 pounds. Plus he said he had caught a lot of shorts. Back to crappie. By Friday, they were all off the bank, started catching them on the back side of docks that were in approx. 10' of water, and was catching them in 3-8 foot down. Catching more small females, but still caught a couple of limits of 10" or better fish. I was fishing on the big Niangua between the 9 and 13mm. My bro-in-law is down there this week, and so far he said its a little frustrating. Not catching a lot of numbers, but still managing to get a limit. He's around the 31mm and Linn Creek area. Said the big females had no eggs, and the small females appear to be full. Hope that helps

Havent done great yet, but have managed to catch some crappie so far. B4 the boats came out, caught lots of dinks from lake 33, went over to 38 and caught a few by the corner straight across from the parking lot. None over 9.5"s. but only a couple. Went over to 34, caught one right off the dock not quite 11"s. But didn't catch anything else. Went to 35 and fished both points between the boats and caught 5 over 9"s. and maybe one dink. Since the boats have been out, I've fished it 3 times, lake35 only. Did ok, lots of dinks. Seemed like the fish were real scattered. Son-in-law caught one 14.5"er on a jig, but most have been under 8"s and much less. Managed less than 20, 9 inches or better in all three boat outings. I think its better in the fall of the year.

A lot of Condos allow rentals and they are pretty nice units for the most part. Everyone that I've stayed in was as affordable as most resorts, especially if you are going during the off-season. They usually come with a boat slip and I've even had them with lifts.

If I didn't live too far from there, I'd probably hit it, but I don't know if I'd drive farther than an hour to fish it. I have caught bass, crappie, pretty decent bluegill, and a few nice pickerel. But I've never really caught a lot of numbers of fish. Hope that helps.

got 2 pair, love them. One a dark lens for sunny days and an amber lens for cloudy/partly cloudy days. They are expensive though.

Good time at the grizzly jig show this weekend. Met some crappie.com dudes, went to a couple of seminars, talked with some pro's, got some more gear. Pretty good turn out.

Has there been any word on lake 33? are they done? is it filling back up? (don't know if it's spring fed or not).

Nice mess of fish!

Most of the time I rent boats. I do go out early in the year and walk the banks b4 they put out the boats. I did walk lake 6 during bug season, but when I do, I normally wear hip boots and spray myself down pretty good. Seems to work real good. I've learned the hard way, believe me. It can be bad for chiggers and ticks. Not sure when they are taking up the boats. It's about time they take them all in. Which is a shame, The water temp is just right for some good action. I think 34 would be taking off right now. 35 is good, just have to fight the moss all the time.

As far as size goes, was one of the better years. I think numbers were down, plus didn't fish there too much during the heat. I only fish for crappie. Myself and who ever I was fishing with, caught more fish 9" and larger. This bite has been better since Labor Day. Started fishing the bank at 33 late January thru February. Didn't catch a whole lot, but wasn't catching the 6-7 inch crappie that normally bite on that lake. When the boats came out, shifted to Lake 35 and it was either on or off. But, was catching 9 to 10" fish. Fished a small lake, either 20 or 21, (some guy at the outpost said he was catching nice ones from the bank), thought I'd give it a try b/c one of my buddies wanted to take his kid out there for an hour or so and was looking for some action. We caught a lot of crappie, but none over 7.5". Maybe Lake 38 in late spring didn't produce much, fished hard for about 5 hours and maybe caught a dozen fish. All but one was about 8" the good one was almost 11". Tried 6 around that time, and nothing big, but a lot in the 8+" range. Don't remember anything getting to 9" Also fished 36 the same day and caught more small bass than small crappie. That's not a bad looking lake, seems like it would be really good for crappie. Early June before it got really hot, went back to 6 and 35. 6 was a bust, and 35 was still decent, but really mossy. Hard to get your boat thru. But where you could, we managed good fish in the 9" range. Not bad for Busch. Didn't go back from middle of June until the Middle of August. Went by 35 and it was really low. So decided to fish 34. It was still pretty hot outside, and fishing stunk. Probably only caught 4 or 5 crappie in the 8" range. Went back around Labor day when it cooled down a little, and 34 was pretty good to us. Caught a lot of crappie in the 8.5 to 9.5" range. Also hooked a couple of nice bass that you could have kept. The last two weekends of Sept, fished 35. Started out one morning with a snake in the boat, but first 4 fish were 10" crappie. Thought it would be pretty good, but then the under 9's started showing up. The last weekend was the best, Lots of 10" fish and one was 14.5". Best one in many years from Busch. My personal best at Busch is 15" on lake 33, but that was probably 20 yrs prior. Really hadn't caught one over 12 between those years. So all in all, the size seems to be improving. I'm catching fewer and fewer of 6 - 7" crappie. Now the small ones seem to be 7.5 to 8". Don't know if thats a trend or what. Didn't get to try 37 this year, just not enough time. Looks good for crappie, but I've never fished much for them at that lake. I don't know how long 33 will take to fill back up. Plus, not sure if they lost a lot of fish, (which could be a good thing). 33 is so full of small crappie it's not funny. I don't normally fish there unless it's with someone who doesn't care about size, just wants to catch fish. Hoping this change will help this lake. Didn't try any of the C&R lakes. Only fished one of them once in the past and only caught bass, so don't know much about crappie in there. Hope everyone else did good this year!

I had a different start of the morning yesterday. Went to lake 35, it's usually pretty good for everything this time of the year. BTW the lake is probably 5 ft low right now from normal level. Anyway got my stuff in the boat pushed in out, and slow trolled a little jig out until I get to my first stop. I'm straddling the back seat and watching my line when I feet something on my leg. darn! I've got a snake in the boat with me. Don't know what kind it was, but was able to id it and was pretty sure it wasn't a nasty one. After a failed attempt to get him out, he gets mad and real active. And what seemed like forever, but probably only a minute, I finally pitched the darn thing out of the boat. Never got bit, but got struck at twice. He was probably 3 ft long, give or take a bit. Kind of a dusty brown color with markings on its back. I've seen them before, but don't really know my snake species.

I've seen a few caught on Lake 35. I saw a dead one floating one day, had a follow of a decent one, and last year had a real nice one destroy a crappie that I was reeling in. I thought the people at the outpost said they were tiger muskie in 35. I know the ones I've personally saw at 35 were not like the ones I've seen in Minnesota as far as the markings go. i hope this link will get you there: http://www.missouriwhitetails.com/forums/viewthread.php?tid=181511

Ok, real confused. On another forum, I saw someone who just caught a very small tiger muskie out of lake 35. #1, I thought they gave up stocking muskie years ago, and #2 is I didn't think they reproduced. The picture I saw of the fish didn't look like it was much over 10" long. Which would lead one to believe that it isn't that old. So is MDC stocking them again, or are they somehow reproducing?

I think the sign said that no fishing after March of 2013. Never fished more than 4 or five time, and that was early in the year before the boats came out. I do remember one time catching quite of few bass on spinnerbaits. Nothing huge, 10-14 inch fish. The other times were not as memorable. I never did go after cats there, but would see people catching them. Again, nothing big, but good eater size.

Went out yesterday for a few hours. A lot of lakes are really low. Stopped by 35, but didn't fish there. It was low last fall, but it looks like it's a lot lower now. Decided to fish 34. Went all the way around it, not a whole lot of luck. Though, I never really do good on that lake. To me, its one of the best looking lakes out there, but I never catch a whole lot. Drove by 33 which is closed. I think you could walk acrossed it right now and never get your knees wet. Saw a sign on Lake #8 that says they are going to close it permenately. Something about too expensive to repair and it'll be used for retreiving training. When I turned in the boat, they said fishing is really slow right now. The worst they've seen it in a while. Talked to a few people, and they verified what they said.

it'll also compact all the duck hunters too! so, hope you have a private spot! if not, we'll all be in competition for spots!

I was thinking about going this weekend for a few hours. I know 35 gets mossed up pretty bad, but it can give up some decent fish. So, just wondering if anyone has been catching any crappie.

The ones that I had heard that got tickets were fishing on Simpson Lake inside the park.

Has anyone been fishing out at Busch's lately?

I have heard of people getting tickets for fishing in the park at Simpson Lake after closing time.

good thing at Busch this time of year is that when you catch them they are already poached and ready to eat, just add a little salt.

they are renting boats on a limited basis this weekend

walked about half way around Prairie Lake yesterday. Lake is really low. They've cut a lot of trees down on the dam area and the brush has fallen into the lake. I fished all around the bruch piles and nothing. Ran over to Busch's, lake 33, managed a few small crappie. Went by lake 35 on way out. I was there 5/6 weeks ago and it was really low, looks like it's filled up again. Didn't fish it, just wanted to see how it was.

Think they'll bring out some of the boats early this year?