Wind, wind, and more wind. The last couple days it has been almost impossible to fish with the lake rolling like the ocean. The good thing is that it was warm enough to pick a few mushrooms instead. The reds are up good and we did see a few grays but we need a little rain to really get them going. The weatherman is not being nice for the rest of the week calling for lows in the 30's and highs in the 50's but next week is supposed to be 70's and 50's with the wind laying down. With turkey season opening on Monday and weather like that lets hope we can get a three some, a turkey a big bag of mushrooms and a limit of crappie the conditions look right.
The lake has begun to drop with the COE running water through the turbines every day. Depending on the storm going through the upper midwest pushing more water down the Missouri and Mississippi hopefully they can keep running. We fished Monday and there was a little trash floating but not bad. Way up the rivers there is a lot of floaters coming down. The water color goes from a light stain to muddy depending where you are at. Most of it is fish able but with the color you have to slow the baits down.
LAKE LEVEL: 718.8
WATER TEMP: 54 deg.
WATER CLARITY: Stained to muddy.
CRAPPIE: With the water conditions we have most of the crappie are being caught drift fishing the creeks. Put your boat in the center of the creek channel in 20'-25' of water and drift a minnow or jig down 15' to 18' moving the boat as slow as it will go. There are some fish coming off the bluffs in the creeks out of 20' of water down 15' on minnows. I look fir these fish to start moving next week. There is a good chance that they will spawn deeper this year because of the high water.
BASS: There are still some bass hitting rogues on the main lake points with cedars working the best. 15' to 18' of water down 8' and moving the rogue at a 10 count. There are also some fish on the secondary points back in the creeks hitting spinner baits. 12' to 15' of water down about 6'. Chartreuse and white with silver and gold blades. Look for the points with the wind blowing in to.
WHITES & HYBRIDS: Last weekend we saw some of the pretties hybrids I have seen in a good while. They were caught on 3" pearltruse sassy shad 3/4 quarters of the way back in one of the bigger creeks off the flats. They said if you went to catching whites they had to slow their baits down. I was sure excites to see those big of fish this early.
CATFISH: The main lake bluffs seem to be the hot spot for cat fish this week. Run sets in 15' of water using cut bait down 8'. Lots of fish above the slot. You can also run sets along the edge of the creek channels in 20' using cut bait down 15'. There are some shad starting to show up in the backs of the creeks but they are down about 12' and without a good fish finder hard to find.
WALLEYE: No report this week.
We are open now and have most of our stock in. Plenty of bait, fuel and what ever else you might need. We are taking reservations for boat stalls at Osage Bluff Marina 660-438-2939. The Motel is booking rooms at Osage Bluff Motel 660-438-2891. The season ha started so come on down to Osage Bluff and enjoy some of the best fishing on the lake and have some fun.
Till next week
Tommy
