WHARFRAT

So, a friend of mine called me up yesterday wanting to know if I had my boat here in StL. Unfortunately for him, its now down at LOZ. But anyway his neighbor had an open spot for him last Saturday and they hit the Mississippi on both sides near West Alton. Said the bite was pretty good. Said they fished Dresser, across the river to the Alton Marina, then took out and fished Piasa Creek, and ended up fishing on the docks across from Pere Marquette. Said Dresser was best overall, lots of small crappie, said they think they kept about 20 fish around 9". Nothing over 10". Minnows was the ticket about a couple ft down. Alton Marina was ok, but nothing to write home about. Orange/Chartruse jigs, about a foot off the bottom. Nothing on minnows. Piasa creek was also pretty good, but only 1 out of 10 was 8" or better. Pere Marquette was slow, he went there by himself after this neighbor went home and said he was throwing jigs around and caught one 11 incher and one that was over 13". That's pretty good. I used to fish there quite a bit years back, and I don't know if I ever caught one over 8 or 9". I told him that I'm going to check his ruler next time I see him. lol

yeah, its fine. I put in my new boat this weekend and took out the old one. I did hear the lake has been on the rise, about a half a foot since Saturday. I could tell it was up just a bit compared to last weekend. I hear it might be another chilly weekend. Hopefully not much wind. I can stand chilly weather as long as the wind isn't too high.

Larry Gale is the closest public ramp, it's approx 8 1/2 mm of the Big Niangua There was a pay ramp at DerVater Edge, just under the north end of the 54 bridge. Not 100% sure if its still there. I doubt you can use it with the water this low.

I caught my fair share of walleye last year, the only alarming trend was, no small ones. I think the smallest we boated was 19" and the biggest just shy of 28". Most were caught trolling bandits and shad raps. Did catch a few on jigs while crappie fishing. But you would think you'd catch some smaller fish once in a while. I'm not complaining about the size. I broke my own personal record twice last year. Does anyone know when the last time they did a stocking? Normally white bass run pretty good down on that end of the pond. Last year,,,, lets just say it was hit or miss. I never keep any, but I sure like to catch them. Never got into a sustained jump. If I did see them busting shad, by the time I would get there and cast,,, it was over. Again, it seemed like the ones we did catch were pretty good size. My goal this year is to concentrate on walleye a little more. Maybe try some "North Woods" techniques on them. It seems like a lot of walleye are caught within sight of our home, I think people caught quite a few last year. I did hear that middle of last April there were good numbers caught in HaHa Tonka Cove. So, I might give that a try.

Fish have been bitin' So who cares right now! It'll keep some of the big boats away!

TWO Free Hats!

You see me out there on the Big Niangua, come by and say hi!

Though I'm not real big on bass fishing, but this is the time of year that I have caught some pretty nice bass on Simpson Lake. The bank straight across from the pavilion seems to warm up rather quickly and I've caught some 18" + fish while targeting crappie on small jigs. Most of the time more bass than crappie.

Picked up a new ride yesterday morning, so spent most of the afternoon breaking in the motor.. So didn't get a chance to fish. Lots of paddle fishermen out there. I was able to get out Friday about 4. Crappie were biting very well and were pretty aggressive. Wife and I caught quite a few between 11-13". The majority were black crappie. Fish were just off the banks and hangin out around the backs of docks. Today, well that's a different story.

I don't know of any stocking on any of the lakes in Weldon. There are some lakes south of fire lake, I've made a few casts on them without any results. But one little pond, kind of southeast of fire lake holds some bass, gills and have seen a couple nice size carp in there.

CORRECTION!!!! He caught a bunch of small bass on Lake 33 inside Busch WA, NOT Prairie Lake! He did fish Prairle Lake, but said he got skunked, but didn't fish it very long.

I didn't witness or see any pics, but a friend of mine said he caught a bunch of small bass at Prairie Lake last Sunday evening. Said he was throwing small lipped crankbaits and spinnerbaits, retrieving very slow. He said all were caught on the dam area of the lake. Nothing over 13" He fished Fire Lake earlier in the day, said he caught 1 small bass. And was down at Howell Island access and caught a drum and a white bass. He has caught a lot of white bass down at Howell Island, but not lately. He says its better when the water is way up.

So I guess your not going to do the ol Polar Bear thing and head out for an afternoon swim?

Mainly whites and hybrids. I've personally never caught a true striper. My wife caught one about 12lbs years back. I wasn't 100% sure if it was a striper. I just had a polaroid picture of it, and most said it WAS a striper, others said they were not sure. So who knows. I never hear anyone talk about stripers much. The only think I've ever heard was the MDC has stocked them in the lake.

If it's the lake I'm thinking of. It's just north of Gerald. Small but very scenic lake, some standing timber in both the arms. I think one side was a lot shallower than the other. Went there about 6/7 yrs ago, fished for crappie out of a jonboat. Don't remember catching any crappie, but did remember catching a good number of small bass. I think most were around 10-12". Don't remember catching anything bigger than 12". We were only using crappie jigs, and not targeting bass. Did they ever call the lake something else?

Porcupinefishattractor.com Mossbackfishrack.com

See porcupinefisharttractor.com And there is a variety of types of stake beds you can put out. They are real easy to locate, especially with the lake drawn down.

Was able to get out for a couple hours. Caught nine over 10", probably that many shorts. Found fish under docks in natural brush, no deeper than 4'. Fished some stake beds and porcupines with no luck. Kept 4 for dinner tonight. Nice to get out for a change.

Do you have the updated chip? I heard that they have one out, or it just came out, or it's coming out. I've talked to a couple people at BPS and Cabelas and can't get a straight answer. They just said "they heard" LOZ was much improved, compared to the last chip that they have. The reason, I'm buying new electronics for my boat and would rather have the Lakemaster chip just in case I upgrade to I-link down the road. But I've heard most people are not happy with the current Lakemaster chip for LOZ.

From what I've seen in demos, and other peoples Hummingbirds, the Lakemaster chip is very good and user friendly. But, it supposedly sucks for Lake of the Ozarks. I have heard there is an updated chip out there that includes a better defined Lake of the Ozarks map. Does anybody have any information, or seen one in action? Any input will be appreciated.

I have a friend that did regional bass tournaments 10-15 yrs ago. I'm not sure if it was cold out, but it was raining. He wore one of those high-tec (at the time) rainsuits that you could velcro tight against the ankles and wrists. He fell overboard, with his life jacket on. His fishing buddy was laughing at him for falling in. But the trouble came when water rushed in from the top of the suit and filled up with water, with hardly anyway out because he had the pants and jacket pulled tight at the ankles and wrists. Even with the lifejacket on he started to sink. He said he grabbed on to the bottom of the trolling motor, until his buddy realized what was going on and helped him. He says now he never tightens his pant legs or his sleeves.

It is about as low as I've ever seen it.

No ice at the 13mm of big niangua. But a half mile up from me it's locked solid.

Bring a blow torch, you'll be fine!