I know, I know… pretty sad that I haven’t posted a fishing report since October! Believe me, Judy has been yelling at me too! Really excited about the Corps keeping the lake level around normal for this spring! We have access to the boat ramp as well as the courtesy dock! Big thanks to our friends at Taney County Road and Bridge for keeping the access road and parking lot cleared of debris!
The Lake looks Great for this weekend! Still cold compared to the temps on Table Rock, but we are starting to get the surface temps up. Crappie are really starting to hit live minnows! Not on the banks yet, but decent reports down the lake from the dock. Slow presentation and live minnows on brush piles in the coves!
Lake Level – 658.66 (Normal pool is 659.00)
Water Temp – 49 to 52 degrees
Water is Stained to Clear
Crappie – Good to Fair on Live Minnows on top of brush piles and structure. Colors of swimming minnows to use are: Pink & Chartreuse, Pearl and Smoke & Glitter. Had a few anglers with some good limits last weekend! Most were finding the crappie in the creek coves from the 36 lake marker down to the Arkansas line. The water is a few degrees warmer down the lake. But, the coves near K Dock are really starting to produce some good numbers of Big Crappie!
Black Bass – (Large Mouth, Small Mouth & Spotted Kentucky’s) A-Rig, Jerk Baits and 1/2 oz or smaller jigs. Bass will start hitting the Thread Fin Shad and searching for Crawfish for protein coming out of the winter months. Ned Rig is a great plastic to throw in the spring as well! However, great reports of bass being caught on Wiggle Warts and Rock Crawlers! Brown/Tan and Red Craw colors. These work great with a little wind! Crank them down in the 5 to 8 ft range right now. Make contact with the rocks on the high bluff sides and then slow your retrieve. Remember, these fish are still a little slow coming up from 48 degrees water!
Walleye – Fair on trolling with small to medium crank baits. Still deep, but that should change soon. Hitting spoons off of points. Hope to get a better report this weekend.
White Bass – Head to the Beaver Creek arm of the lake just 6 miles up from the dock! If we get the high temps this weekend, they should be feeding there! White Rooster Tail or a Silver Rattle Trap!
Well, I look forward to seeing lots of you at the marina this year! Lets hope we can put the crazy floods behind us for a few years! I wish all of you the best of luck fishing this year and pray that your motor starts when you turn the key! Ha! (By the way… we sell cranking batteries too!)
