What's Mark Twain Lake Like?

[Phil Lilley]

I know nothing about this lake. You don't hear much about it. You guys who fish it, what's the lake like? Compare to other lakes in Missouri...

[MoSportsmen]

Lots of standing timber, suprising amount of rock bluffs for north Missouri. Water color can get pretty muddy. Boat traffic is mostly fisherman....???? I have not been there much in the heat of the summer? The major marinas with the big boats are on the east end mostly so the big boat probably stay up that way. The facilities are pretty new so camp grounds and such are pretty nice. Not a lot of places to buy gas on the water on the west end where I have spent most of my time on the lake.

Last week with the crappie bite on the word had got out and there were boats in every cove where I was, but like most people we never got very far from the boat ramp.

Don't know how the fish populations are most people were fishing for crappie and cats. We have encountered successfull big cat fisherman both times I have been there durring turkey season.

Tom

[Daryk Campbell Sr]

I have not had an oppurtunity to fish it, but I have swam in it. I consider it to be a large lake, it has many accesses. It is much murkier than the ozark streams ( I am still not used to being able to see the fish I am trying to catch), gets very deep, and I have heard many success stories from it. It has a beautiful area of forest and wildlife around it and has many camping/hunting opportunities.

The forest around Mark Twain Lake is broken up. What I mean by that is there are patches of forest that are owned privately, while alot of other parts are owned nationally I believe, and some of it is not connected.

From MO State Parks' website:

Fishing

at Mark Twain State Park

Excellent fishing for crappie, catfish, largemouth bass, bluegill, carp, walleye and perch awaits you at the 18,000-acre Mark Twain Lake.. The lake has many quiet coves where you can spend peaceful days fishing and relaxing. Take advantage of fishing opportunities on Mark Twain Lake 24 hours a day, year-round (when lake conditions permit). Ice fishing on Mark Twain Lake is not advised due to fluctuating water levels under the ice, as well as variable ice thickness. Be aware of length and possession limits for all fish.

If you don't have a boat, or you have small children that would like to fish from shore, four-acre Tom Sawyer Lake, near the junction of Highway 107 and Route U, offers opportunities to catch blue gill, largemouth bass and catfish. Fishing at Tom Sawyer Lake is available from sunrise to sunset year-round. Ice fishing is not permitted on Tom Sawyer Lake. Please observe length and possession limits posted at the lake.

On the Fishing Report, provided by the Missouri Department of Conservation, Mark Twain Lake is listed under Northeast Region:Lakes.

[Jerry Rapp]

best way to visualize it would be a smaller size version of Truman. It is definitely a "northern" lake as it gets the brunt of many cold fronts that just graze the ozarks.

[Addicted to Creeks]

I tend to see more crappie fisherman than any other type on MT but I don't fish there much (not really a lake type of guy) seen photos of some nice bass out of there and I know they do obe (maybe2) tourneys a year

[Tom Tricamo]

Has anyone caught bass on the lake?

[Jerry Rapp]

19lbs won the Joe Bass Team tournament over the weekend. It usually has very good bass fishing in May, June and into July, then it normally gets really tough.

[MoSportsmen]

Every bass guy I talked to last week were not happy (with current conditions). Not to say the bass fishing at the lake is bad just sayin.

The one boat of bass tourney guys had two keepers in the boat. I have seen worse stringers in tournaments.

[Jerry Rapp]

hey MoSportsman. Have the white bass ever really taken hold at Mark Twain? Are any walleye ever caught anymore. Used to sit out on that lsland in mid lake and catch a lot of walleye right at dark on crank baits. But that was back in the late 80s and early 90s.

[MoSportsmen]

I really don't know about the walleye. Heard they are not what they once were and have not heard anything else. I have heard some recient reports that there are whites up the creeks. Actually.....we did catch a few small whites while crappie fishing last week. Small...like 4 or 5 inches.