|
<<
Back |
The fishing
report for Truman Lake in Missouri, runs from the
first Thursday in
April until the end of September.
Fishing Report Courtesy of Tom McGovern - Local Guide
If you would like to have some help in
finding the fish you can go to www.Tomslastcast.com
or call Tom at 816-806-2215 to schedule a day of
fishing.
|
|
August 26, 2010
<>Lake Level: 706.74
Water
Temp: 84 Water
Clarity: A little Stained>
Crappie: The
crappie bite is pretty good right now.
Like usual there are different patterns you can try
to catch them. The first being around
cedar trees in around
12' to 20' of water. Look for them to
bite your blue and pearl jig anywhere from 5' deep to the bottom. If the shad are near the surface the crappie
will be shallower-if you don't see the shad then they have been pushed
deeper
and the crappie will follow them. The
other pattern and my favorite are the brush piles.
Go to your brush piles (not mine) in deeper
water and bump your jig in and around the limbs. If
the action is slow try tipping your jig
with a minnow.
Bass: The bass
are still hit and miss. Although they
seemed to be moving shallower as the water cools back down. The key is structure. Whether
the structure is wood, rock, or a
break line you'll want to drag your worm, jig, or crawl slowly through
the
structure-letting it pause helps out.
Most of the bites are smaller bass but, there are
definitely good
keepers mixed in. It's a matter of being
in the right place when the big ones decide to feed.
The most productive water seems to be in the
4' to 7' range. Flats or points-it
doesn't matter either-they're at both places.
Color doesn't seemed to matter that much. Throw the one you have the most confidence
in.
White Bass: These
guys are going crazy in the evenings.
They are tearing up the surface and anything that
gets in their
way. The old reliable such as the
rooster tail type of spinners to crankbaits to pop-r's are working. The lower Osage, Grand and Tebo are hot areas
right now. Just look for the splashing.
Catfish: No
Report, although I did catch a 30 pound flathead on a big red shad worm.
|
<>July
27, 2010<>
Lake Level: 708 Water Temp: 85 Water
Color: Clear
Crappie:
<>Now that the lake is close to being at normal pool of
706.6
the crappie are getting on their regular summer pattern.
Start on the flats in 15’ to 20’ of water and
fish the trees (both hardwoods and cedars) about 10’ down with minnows
and
jigs. The brush piles are starting to
hold crappie again. Another pattern is
the bluffs. Try fishing the trees about
7’-12’ deep. You will go through a lot
of smaller fish to get your limit, but you should have a lot of action.
Bass:
<>The bass are starting to show up where we expect them to
be
this time of year. They are suspending
in the trees on the flats in around 12’ of water. On
sunny days they are 7’-10’ down and cloudy
days 5’-7’ deep. Big worms or big brush
hogs in red shad, blue fleck, or watermelon are the colors to use. This doesn’t rule out flipping shallow water
stumps or logs. Have a buzz bait or pop
r handy throughout the day for bass busting shad on the surface. It can happen at anytime-shallow or deep. <>
White/Hybrid Bass:
Look for the whites and hybrids busting shad. G4,
G10, and KK Island are seeing good action
in the evenings. From 5pm until dark schools of whites and
hybrids
move in and out of these areas. Have
your top water baits handy for when they surface and your ½
ounce jigging
spoons to bounce off of the bottom for when they go back down. During the day, try medium diving crankbaits
off the points. LT2 was holding some
monster
white bass the other day. A blue and
chartreuse crankbait was their ticket.
<>Just as a friendly reminder, when they are
surfacing-don’t
troll through the area. That only spooks
the fish and ruins it for the others. Stay
back off the school and cast into them.
Catfish: No report |
|
June 30, 2010
Lake Level: 718 Water
Temp: 84 Water Color:
Lightly stained (It looks great)
<>Crappie:
<>The crappie can be found on the flats around the hardwood
trees. Look for trees in the 15’ to 25’
range and fish with minnows 10’ to 15’. Also,
the bluffs are producing some good crappie in
the same depth range
as the flats.
Bass: <>Water is being
discharged around 32,000 cfs through the
dam
and this is pulling the bass to the main lake and secondary points. These fish seemed to be holding in the 10’ to
15’ range. Basically, they are most
concentrated along the original bank line. Jigs,
worms, and brush hogs are working well texas
rigged and Carolina
rigged. There is a little top water action
early and
late on buzz baits along riprap and on the flat points.
White Bass:
<>With the current flowing again the whites and hybrids are
getting back to doing what we want them to do and that is going to the
humps. They are back on the humps around
KK island, O3, cemetery, and on the weir. Bump
½ ounce jigging spoons and larger
crappie jigs off the bottom in
15’ to 25’ of water. Trolling over these
areas with medium divers are picking up some nice fish.
Some (although brief) periods of whites
busting the surface is going on through out the day.
So keep a top water rod ready by your side.
Catfish: No
report |
|
June 17, 2010
Lake Level: 717.83 Normal 707.6 Lake Temp:
83 Current
Flow: 0 CFS
Water Clarity: Lightly Stained
<>
Well the rains came again and the lake is back on the
rise. Last weekend the lake level was
around 714 but the heavy rains to the North and West is causing the
lake to
rise again. By Saturday the lake level
is expected to be around 719. The COE
isn’t expecting to release any water for at least several days.
<>
Crappie: The
crappies are still pretty slow. Your
best bet is to use minnows 10’ to 12’ deep in the hardwoods on the
flats. You
will need to keep on the move. I have found some over brush piles on
jigs
tipped with minnows. There are lots of
shad holding in 15’-20’ of water about 5’-10’ deep off of points in
open
water. They could be mixed in with the
shad and suspending away from structure.
<>Bass: Over the
several weeks the bass have been feeding up from the spawn. The blue gill and shad had moved up shallow
bringing the bass with them. Bass are
holding in 7-10’ of water. They were in
4’-6’ prior to the lake coming up several feet this week.
Crank baits and soft plastics are
working. Over the last couple of weeks I
and my clients have boated over a hundred keeper bass and two to three
times
that counting small fish on T-Dawgs and Brush Dawgs flipped into the
middle of
the bushes and letting in sit there for a few seconds.
I had one guy had a glass bead between the
weight and the hook to add sound to the bait while in the bushes. He was able to pull the biggest bass of the
day with that technique. The
Timbe-R-Stik (senko style) worked along the wood lay downs has been
deadly. With the stained water conditions
these baits
in Dark Melon with red flake really stands out and the bass really
seemed to
like them. These are hand poured lures
to meet the water conditions at Truman. You
can find them for sale at Long Shoal Marina,
Parkside Cabins, and
the C Store.
White bass: There
are definitely whites and hybrids following the schools of shad off of
the main
points and over the humps. Large numbers
of shad schools are suspending 5’ to 15’ over deeper water. With the hotter weather causing the water
temp to rise; some surfacing action is happening. Look
for these schools of shad on you sonar
(they are easy to find) and fish around them with crankbaits, spoons,
and
jigs. <>
Catfish: No report
Good Luck and Have Fun
|
<> May 27, 2010
Lake Level: 722
Lake Temp: 76 Current Flow: 49,000 CFS
<>Water Clarity: Tebo
& Lower Grand Arms: Stained
Upper Grand and Osage
Arms: Stained to Dirty <>
Crappie: With the
lake being so high the fish are scattered. There are two patterns to
choose
from for catching crappie. First is the
summer pattern. Look for trees on the
flats adjacent to the channel. Drop your
jig tipped with a small minnow down along side the tree.
These trees are anywhere from 15’ of water to
30’ deep. The bites have been coming
anywhere from 12’ to the bottom. Work
your jig all the way to the bottom until you find them.
They crappie could be 12’ down on one tree
and a tree next to it they could be on the bottom 20’ deep. The second
pattern
is shallow as in still spawning. About
midway to the backs of the coves in the flooded bushes 4’-6’ deep there
are
crappie still spawning. The fish have
been on the smaller size (around 10”) but none the less they taste as
good as
those big slabs. Weed less jigs (black
& chartreuse) dipped from bush to bush have been working for some.
Bass:
During the
past two weeks the bass fishing has been as bad as I’ve seen. The high water has had them shut down. Fortunately, today, I was able to find a
couple of spots that actually held a good amount of bass on them. Two of us were able to boat around 40 bass
and 20 of them were keepers. These fish
were on main lake points in 5’-8’ of water. The
bites came on darker soft plastics rigged texas
style. No fast moving baits worked for us
today. <>White bass: There
is plenty of current flowing now. The
whites and hybrids are starting to get back with it.
Look for the normal humps and fish heavier
jigs and spoons just up off the bottom. I
have been finding them around 15’ to 25’ deep.
Catfish: No
report Good Luck and Have Fun |
<>May
6, 2010
Lake Level: 708.7
Lake Temp: 67-70
<>Current Flow: 23.000
CFM
Water Clarity: Tebo
& Lower Grand Arms: Lightly stained
to stained <> Upper
Grand and Osage Arms: Stained to
Dirty <>
Crappie: There are a
couple of different patterns for catching the crappie now.
The first pattern is still the shallow
bite. Some crappies are still trying to
spawn. These seem to be the smaller
ones. They are anywhere from the bank
out to 6’ deep in the pockets off of the main lake or back in the coves. Look for the 45 degree sloped banks. Chartreuse and black or chartreuse and red
jigs are working well. I have been using
a 1/8th ounce pony head with the spinner to catch mine. The other pattern has the crappie moving out
to 10’ to 12’ feet of water on the flats and over brush piles. These crappies are the ones that spawned a
couple of weeks ago and are going to their summer pattern.
Jigs and minnows are working well for this
pattern.
<>Bass:
The bass are
biting. The 45 degree banks are holding
decent numbers of bass. Jigs and soft plastics are working well-in the
darker
colors. These fish are anywhere from the
flooded bushes out to 6’. Look on the
secondary points and pockets in the coves from about half way back to
the
mouths. These fish will be working their
way out to the flats and main lake for their summer patterns.
<>White
bass:
Well I’ve
loaded up my live wells a couple of times since my last report; so I
can report
that the whites are biting. They are on
the humps and weir. The humps around KK island and the old cemetery are
a good
bet. The weir (out in front of the
dam-just look for the boats) is producing as well.
Jigging spoons and plastic shad bodies seems
to be the ticket from 15’ to 20’.
Catfish: No report
Good Luck
and Have
Fun
|
April 16, 2010
Lake Temp: 63-67
Current Flow; 16,600 CFM
Water Clarity: Tebo &
Lower Grand Arms: Lightly stained to stained
Upper Grand and Osage
Arms: Stained to Dirty
Crappie: This is the
weekend to forget about the housework and the ball games and get to Truman Lake. It is time!!!!
The crappies are spawning and the sounds of electric knives are filling
the
airwaves at the cleaning stations. Mostly
males have been caught this week with the
females showing up
towards the end of the week. I have been
using black and chartreuse or red and chartreuse jigs on either 1/16 or
1/8
ounce road runner heads. As windy as it has been the heavier jig makes
it
easier to stay near the bottom. Look for the crappies to be in the 4’
to 8’
depth range on 45 degree sloped banks. An
important thing to know; YOU
MUST WORK YOUR JIG SLOW AND ON THE BOTTOM in order to get bit. The bad thing about fishing the bottom is
that you get snagged a lot. So bring
plenty of jigs.
<>Bass:
The bass are
hanging out anywhere from the banks to 10’ of water.
With the CORP releasing water, it’s keeping
all the fish from making their beds too shallow. 3’
to 6’ seems to be where most of the males
are coming from. Spinner baits, lizards,
brush hogs and stick baits have been productive. There
are some really big females getting
ready to spawn. So treat them gentle and
get them back to the water as soon as possible. <>
White
bass: Not too
much to report here. Some are being
caught up the creeks on jigs while crappie fishing but nothing worth
chasing
after. They should be showing up on the
humps pretty soon. I’ll let you know
when they do (that is only after I have filled my live wells a time or
two). <>
Catfish: No report
|
|
|