Winter 2016/17

[top_dollar]

Bass: this winter (nov til yesterday) bass have been very easy to catch on medium and deep diving jerkbaits along south facing rock dams.  Clearer lakes are best.  Long cast, very light and quick twiches back to you.  5-15 second pause.  Also 3-4 inch swimbait on 1/16th oz jig works well, with an occasional slab crappie.  Best lakes have visibility of 6 feet or more, some are clear as 10 or 12 feet.  Flukes, small crankbaits, crappie jigs, and wacky worms have also worked for me in the winter, but jerkbaits are the ticket for consistent success.  Lakes that have less than 3 feet of visibility in the winter time are a complete mystery to me.  I cant catch em at all. 

Crappie: after a very good october and november for size and numbers, they have gotten much more difficult to catch up until this week.   October and november they were about 10-30 feet off the bank and 3-6 feet deep.  Any sort of vegetation and/or wood that reached out off the bank a ways would produce.  I use a 1/64 and 1/32 oz jig with a 2, or 2.5 inch swimbait.   With rod tip an 10 o'clock ,slow swim back about 1 turn of the reel every 3 to 5 seconds.  Watch your line for a light "tick, or jump" then set the hook.  That pattern stopped dead in december and i couldnt find em.  Then, just this past week they started showing up again in those same spots (execpt lake 33 that works all year for 6-8 inchers).  I have noticed that the clearer the water the larger the average crappie in that lake.

Trout: no idea, but guys catch em by the hundreds on small jigs under a float. Talking to some fellows up there it seems they use little scuds and various other flies under floats, or they use a similar deal on a split shot rig dragged along the bottom.  I occasionally catch a stupid one in a jerkbait or swing impact.

Other species worth targeting

catfish: no idea

Hybrid whites : catch several on crappie jigs every year from lake 33, 34, and 35. Never bigger than 15 inches, but id imagine there are bigger ones in there if one were to target them.

Musky: lake 35, there are lots in that lake, most are not big, but some are.  If your a musky fisherman youll be able to catch one there.

Bluegill/redear : i never catch em in the winter time, but fish for them in may-july.  Most of the fish in a particular lake will be the same size.  My suggestion is to fish lots of lakes and find the ones the have good populations of big gills.  There are a few good lakes up there.  Lake 34 is a good starting point.

[WHARFRAT]

Thanks for the report.

[top_dollar]

Bluegill and redear are going crazy right now.  Tiny jigs, live bait under a float, and small topwaters will work.  Some are holding off the beds 4-6ft deep amd others are right up on the beds 1ft down (truck tire size circles/holes in the vegetation).

[snagged in outlet 3]

I fished a small private lake in the area this weekend and the bluegill were attacking everything I threw.  They were also up in 6 inches of water making babies.

 

[Greasy B]

18 minutes ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

I fished a small private lake in the area this weekend and the bluegill were attacking everything I threw.  They were also up in 6 inches of water making babies.

 

That's what I was expecting. We fished a central Missouri lake that produced well in the past, only found a couple of abandoned beds and no active fish????  Go figure. 

[snagged in outlet 3]

I don't like to bass fish when the bluegill keep dragging my bait to shore to mate with it.

[top_dollar]

Yeah its been a lot of fun,  anything small they will attack.  Even your bobber! Plenty of fish in the 8 inch range, no real big redears though.

[goosetalk]

I know of a few lakes that would work but what are the best lakes for a fly rod novice? 

[top_dollar]

Cant help with fly fishing.  I generally use short rods and im in tight quarters. 

[stlfisher]

Jig and pig along the rocks in winter is killer....especially in lakes it is to mossy in summer.

Nice redear and bluegill fishing in many lakes....just gotta look around a bit.