Mid Lake LOO Bass Report

[Kathy E.]

Hubby and I were out 'social distancing' on the Lake yesterday and, boy, was the Lake crowded.  Go-fasts, cruisers, and LOTS of bass boats.  Even some pesky waverunners -- isn't it too early for those knotheads??  LOL!  Anyway, we found 55-degree stained water near the backs of coves but caught NOTHING during our four hours of fishing.  What's more, no one with whom we spoke from boat lengths away had caught anything either, unless they were lying to us.  (No, LIE??) (LOL!)  We were in a spot where we could see guys trying LOTS of different things but never saw anyone pull in a fish.  We tried Rogues, pointers, Megabasses, jig and pigs, Carolina-rigged worm, spinnerbaits, Wigglewarts, did everything we could think of and got two halfhearted strikes in 4 hours -- probably from big shad.  We will be heading out again in the next couple of days because we arrived back in Missouri from Florida last Friday and we still have another 8 days of serious social distancing to complete.  And I'll bet we will have many more after those 8 days are up, too. 

[Bill Babler]

Really nice Lake O report thanks for posting.  Have not read back on your post but what mile mark are you fishing?  Guide buddy fished the dam area today and said it was extremely challenging.   He also said the pleasure boats were out in complete droves.  

 Another buddy fishing the Mid Lake possibly where you are said he  has been getting bit decent 45 mile mark.  Most are in gravel pockets on a ned but that is pretty limited info. Said skinny bucks but he can get bit.  Most fish in the 10' range and it had to be just gravel pockets.  Said it was like watching grass grow but better than sitting in his lake house.

If your 60 mile mark up the spoonbillers are out in droves and the crappie spider riggers are just getting started.  Not many riggers yet in the major creeks but they are catching lots of crappie.  Size has been pretty small so far, according to the reports from the guys with their feet in the water.

Good Luck

[Kathy E.]

Hi, Bill! 

We were fishing around the 24 to 25 mm.  I will have to try the ned.  Had a couple of weak bites but may have been shad which were out in droves. 

I think we will be crappie fishing off the dock this weekend.  I will let you know how we do.  I bought buttermilk already so we are set!! LOL!

Our friend snagged a huge spoonbill last weekend.  His photos are awesome.

Thanks for the tips.

Good luck to you, too. Stay safe.

[crittermo]

thanks for the reports everyone.....is the buttermilk for drinking or fishing??

i haven't heard that one before but i'll try either😃

[Kathy E.]

I dip the crappie fillets in the buttermilk, then roll in seasoned flour and then into the Fry Daddy set at its highest possible heat setting.  YUM!

[Kathy E.]

Friend went out today and fished the Gravois where the water was very muddy.  The water color mid-Lake is stained so that you can see a lure being brought in one or two feet under the water as it nears the boat.  My friend caught two, neither one a keeper.  She caught one on a Carolina rig and the other on a spinnerbait.

Hubby and I will be going out again on Wednesday and possibly Thursday as we prepare to weather another month of (ugh!) social distancing.  I am a loner, ordinarily, and I must admit I MISS SEEING PEOPLE!! 

[Basfis]

Spent the morning between Larry gale and hurricane deck. We caught a dozen, none deeper than 2’. Wiggle wart pulled the load. 
They seemed to like gravel. 
sorry for the on carpet pic...

[slothman]

It was a tough day for most of my bass club today. Only one limit brought in. The wind was brutal. I caught three nice keepers on a spinnerbait earlier in the day for a little over 9 pounds. I only managed one other short fish. Looks like more people are starting to catch them on LOZ, but it definitely isn’t a great bite yet. 

[Kathy E.]

Thank you, Basfis and slothman.  We are planning to fish on both Wednesday and Thursday this week.  I wish we could go out today and tomorrow but my husband has to finish up a job he started in our boat.  I had been planning to use the Ned rig, as Bill Babler suggested, but now I will try the craw-colored Wiggle Wart first on gravel banks (maybe wait until the sun warms them a bit though) and also try the spinnerbait.  What color spinner bait worked best?  What blades and weight?  Also, where were you fishing it?  Was the water stained or muddy where you were fishing?  Our water is clearing by the day but with rain predicted for tonight, one won't really know what it will look like tomorrow or the next day.

Thanks for all the great tips.  I will let everyone know how we do over this next week.

[slothman]

On 3/30/2020 at 10:44 AM, Kathy E. said:

Thank you, Basfis and slothman.  We are planning to fish on both Wednesday and Thursday this week.  I wish we could go out today and tomorrow but my husband has to finish up a job he started in our boat.  I had been planning to use the Ned rig, as Bill Babler suggested, but now I will try the craw-colored Wiggle Wart first on gravel banks (maybe wait until the sun warms them a bit though) and also try the spinnerbait.  What color spinner bait worked best?  What blades and weight?  Also, where were you fishing it?  Was the water stained or muddy where you were fishing?  Our water is clearing by the day but with rain predicted for tonight, one won't really know what it will look like tomorrow or the next day.

Thanks for all the great tips.  I will let everyone know how we do over this next week.

I was catching mine pretty close to the bank. I had a 3/4 oz spinnerbait with white/purple skirt and two big willow blades (one silver, one gold). Sloooow rolling it. I caught mine close to 11 mile marker. Water wasn’t clear, but wasn’t muddy either. I don’t know what it looks like in the glaize, but I was thinking about heading in there sometime soon to check it out.