Fishing Report 3/9

[Bird Watcher]

For those of you that are interested in the White bass run, they are being caught really well right now. They have been all winter, so it's nothing new, but they are moving up the river. All typical white bass baits and presentations are producing. People are catching them many different ways. ie. trolling, casting hardbaits, slow rolling plastics, etc.

Craippie are being caught decent, but they are scattered. You probably won't pick up more than 3 fish on any location and although laydowns are a good start, they aren't necessarily on wood. If you move around you'll pick up some fish. Concentrate on depths of 5-10' and don't be suprised if the fish are suspended up around 3-4' deep. We fished Yesterday from dark 30 til noon and had 23 with some really nice Black crappie. Yesterday they wanted a really slow presentation, basically motionless. Just hold the jig in front of their nose until they bite. My friends went Thursday and were catching them well swimming jigs past laydowns and on bare pea gravel banks so everyday is different I guess.

[Bill Butts]

BW,

Thanks very much for posting such a well detailed report.

I hope that everyone interested in that fishery appreciates your info, especially since you know it very well.

That fishery almost always turns on (White Bass) earlier than most in our region.

Do you happen to know what the water temp is in the river?

Also, as a suggestion, when Crappie are in that type of water you described, an 1/80th or 1/64th oz. jig suspended under a foam float fished with a fly rod is absolutely money. The float allows the dead slow presentation you described, and the little jig will subtley entice the Crappie especially if there is a some chop on the water.

Thanks again, we must all do our part to contribute to this board, whether our trips are successful or uneventful.

Bill

[Bird Watcher]

Hey Bill,

No problem. To tell the truth, I didn't realize that it was a destination for some people to travel to and fish for white bass. I've come to understand that it is, so I'm glad to help out if there's someone who is trying to make the decision on when to make a drive and fish it.

The water temp was bouncing between 50 at dawn and on some days it's getting up to 52-53 in the afternoon. I went back down last night to see if I could find just a few more crappie, but the river was rising and getting muddy quickly from the rain. I don't know if that will cool the water down for a few days, but I'm sure it will be back up by this weekend. I only fished for about two hours and came back home.(too wet, too cold) Didn't catch any crappie, but was catching quite a few whites tucked up in the brushpiles. Maybe the increase in current had them seeking a current break. I also saw two other boats catch white bass while I was running to ramp after I froze out.

[Bill Butts]

When I started fishing it in the springtime, I was very intrigued to find out of state license plates in the lot at the launch at Hwy 10.

Over the years, we've talked with a lot of people there and it is surprising the distances some of them drive to get there.

And, it's not folks just driving from the larger cities, but some who drive from areas that have some great White Bass fishing that develops a few weeks later.

[Phil Lilley]

I'm planning on fishing the Spring River on Thursday with a friend from Neosho. May be I'll see some fellow OAF'ers over there.

[Ranger Dave]

Bird Watcher,

How long will it take for the water to clear up after the recent rain.

[Bird Watcher]

She's going ballistic right now. Kind of hard to say, but I'd guess when it gets back down around 7.5' or so it should start to clear up. That's just a guess though.