Another Fishing Report

[Don House]

CRAPPIE

Long Creek Area:

Crappies are moving in and out of the shallows on a daily basis. Most fish are coming from the 8 foot to 25 foot range. Try swimming twin jigs or vertical jigging the big trees in the channels and along the channel swings midway back in the creeks. The best color seems to be yellow and white or all white with sliver tips with small 1/16 or 1/32 once jigs. Cricket Creek and Yokum Creek are where most of the fish have been caught.

James River Area:

Crappies are holding on the flats up past Flat Creek and also in the channels from Bridgeport to the upper ends of the James River in water around the 10 to 16 feet range. Swimming jigs has produced the best in this area with small 1/16 once jigs or heavier in the wind, but we found you must use a double jig setup. Colors change everyday but yellow and white, blue and white, chrome and white seemed to be the best as of last week. Good limits are coming out of this area but are still on a day to day basis.

White River Area:

Reports show the same as the James but a little closer to the banks up past viola area. I will have a better report in this area next week as season gets in full swing.

SPOONBILL

James River:

We are marking a lot of big spoonbill on our graphs around the Bridgeport area all the way up past Flat Creek area. So these big spoonbills are moving up and ready for the opening day next Wednesday.

BASS

Long Creek Area:

Bass have been holding on the bluffs and channel swings through out the winter. While the water is still in the Mid 40"s there is a stick bait bite going on with some color's like blue back and chrome side with a orange belly worked the best with cloud's and black back chrome sides and a orange belly for clear day's. The fish I caught wanted a fast steady jerk the day I was up there last week, but most reports are a slow 30 second pause try both until you find what the fish want. Fish the stick baits in the deeper trees and bluff ends or channel swings midway back in the creeks or a try small brown / purple flash or green pumpkin and brown jig with a craw in the same areas or around brush piles. With the new rain this week hopefully fishing will pickup in this area.

Kimberling City to DAM area:

Fishing in this area is slow and tuff at best. The best bite I have found is on windy days with a swimming grub on the bluff ends and midway back in the creek channel bends. Use a 3/8 ounce jig with a 3” smoke or sliver flash grub with a very slow retrieve. Also it’s a good time to start using the spilt shot rigs and drag them along the bottom, most fish I have been marking are on the bottom or right off of it. Use a Zoom trick worm in watermelon with red flakes, watermelon with cotton candy flakes or watermelon pepper. Slow dragging of these types of baits will produce in time. Also try using spoons ½ ounce and ¾ ounce when you find schools of shad with slow easy jerks just below the shad or drop shot the same areas with small 4” ROBO worms in bluegill green or oxblood brown color.

James River area:

The James is a little bit warmer (low 50’s) than the rest of the river areas but is much shallower this water will warm up much faster. Look for windy flat banks with mixed small rock banks; also don’t forget the plain do nothing looking flat banks fish seems to be moving up on these to feeding on shad. Try stickbaits in the same color patterns as the rest with easy jerks and long 30 second pauses. Also try small jigs in brown / purple flash or green pumpkin and brown with a craw around pole timber and brush piles with a very slow. Warning this area is very low!!! There are a lot of big trees just under the water in the channels and in the bends of the river, go slow and watch for trees just barely exposed.

White River, Baxter, Camel Point Area:

No Report. Check back next week.

[SKMO]

CRAPPIE

Swimming jigs has produced the best in this area with small 1/16 once jigs or heavier in the wind, but we found you must use a double jig setup.

Hey Don - Thanks for the report, it was a good one. Just curious why you think a double jig works better than a single in certain situations. I have fished doubles at times, and I am positive I am twice as likely to get hung up, and I am sure I lose twice as many jigs, but was never sure it was worth it, (although I still do it if not too brushy). Please fill me in and what do you thiink is going on here and why does it work ?

Thanks

[Don House]

Well, good question...

We have found that when the fish are on the flats they are chasing minnows, with the double rig setup, it looks just like a school of minnows swimming along and they blast it.. Most of the time they come on the top jig, because they are following this rig along and when you are reeling it up it is the first jig that moves up to the top of the water the fish thinks that it is going out of the water and they nail it.. Just like a bass would do with shad, they push them to the top of the surface and eat them..

Now if they are in the trees I will verical jig for them, I use my graphs to locate them to save me from loosing all of those jigs..

Here is another thing to try use the berkley power nibblets in white or orange they really work, put one or two on the hook of your jig and you will get alot more bites..

Well hope that makes some sense to you and that is my 2 cents worth of knowledge but it does work.. Good Fishing

[Phil Lilley]

Hey Don- how is Rick doing? Haven't heard from him in a while.

[SKMO]

Don - Thanks for the reply. Makes sense I guess, as much sense of about 75% of the stuff I do. I'll try your Berkley power bait on the jigs, I know I have some in the boat if I can find them. Are they the kind of maggot looking things?

[Don House]

Lilley, Rick is fine amd say's hello... Business is good and growing..

SMKO, they are little chunks not the maggots looking things, wally world has them...

Talk to you later..