You can sure tell it's the end of July in the Ozarks, hot and humid. The morning and evening fishing is still good though. Take lots of ice and water with you for any outing in the outdoors. Some frozen bottled water works great in a minnow bucket to help keep bait healthy. Even putting a chunk of ice in your live well to help keep fish healthy is a good idea.
LAKE LEVEL: 705.5
WATER TEMP: 84 deg.
WATER CLARITY: Clear to lightly stained.
CRAPPIE: The crappie fishing is good here on Truman. Brush piles in 15' seem to be working the best right now. Minnows are the best bait with fish holding tight to cover. The hard woods on the flats are also working. Look in 10' to 15' of water with fish at about 7'. Minnows and jigs are working here. During the hot weather if you need to find a little shade the bridge pillars will provide it along with a few nice crappie. 25' of water down about 15' on top of the rubble has been good. Minnows are working the best here.
BASS: Last weekend the bass bite was on. The bluff ends seemed to be the most productive with jigs. 10' to 12' of water worked the best. The secondary points are always good this time of the year. Creature baits or a 7" worm fished in 6' to 8' of water will net you some fish. Top water early and late on the main lake flats will also work. Buzz baits and Pop R's are the best. 5' to 8' of water over old road beds is one of my favorites.
WHITES & HYBRIDS: The whites have been doing vary well in the evenings. Lots of surface activity going on. The KK Island area has been holding lots of fish. Jigging spoons have been working along with trolling deep running crank baits. The hybrids are still slow now and what are being caught are coming off live bait. I have been seeing more surfacing activity during the day now. Rooster Tails have been working on these fish.
CATFISH: The cat fishing is the same as last week with rod and reel fishing being the best along with floating jugs. The flats in 8' to 12' of water seem to be holding good numbers of fish. Cut bait by far is the best. Flats close to channel swings are the best. With the warm water temps stationary jugs should be run every 3 to 4 hours to keep fish alive.
WALLEYE: Trolling deep running crank baits has produced some nice walleye this week. The evening bite seems to be the best in 10' to 12' of water. Crank baits need to be bumping the bottom. Fish have been coming off KK Island and off the airport hump. During the day crawler rigs with bottom bouncers are the way to go.
That's the report for this week. We have a few stalls left for the Labor Day holiday so if you would like to get one reserved you can reach us at Osage Bluff Marina 660-438-2939 or for rooms at Osage Bluff Motel at 660-438-2891.
Till next week
Tommy
