Focused Fishing Web Log

NOTE: Anglers Tackle Box is Moving, by Mid April they will be in their new location on N Main in Nixa, Watch for Grand Opening / Moving Sale Info!!!
Kimberling City Area: Deep fishing has been the most predictable bite again last week with drop shot rigs, spoons and single tail grubs in 40’ – 60’ being the best baits. Look for suspended schools of shad to have the most active fish around them, points, bluff ends and deep tree tops are all holding fish. The jig bite did improve over the past week, main lake and major creek arm ledge rock banks are holding both Kentuckies and Smallmouth, cast or pitch to the bank and slowly work a PB&J Eakins jig with a green pumpkin Eakins craw down to 25’ – 30’ deep.

James River: The stickbait bite is still the most productive pattern up the James River, both pointers and rouges are producing, throw chrome or clown colors when the sun is shining and chartreuse shad or Table Rock shad when it is cloudy. Look for isolated brush piles, trees, or rock piles on mixed rock flat banks. A back up pattern is to fish channel swing banks toward the back of major creek arms with an Eakins’ jig in Missouri Craw with a green pumpkin Chomper jig trailer. Look for the area where the channel first makes contact with the bank to be most productive.

White River: The White and Kings rivers both have a good stickbait bite as well. The bite is better above shell knob on the White and above Viola on the Kings. Much like in the James River look for isolated piece of wood on windy, flat mixed rock points and banks to hold most of the fish, make multiple casts to each piece of cover hitting as many angles as possible before leaving the cover. Pauses from 3 – 15 seconds is all that is required right now to draw a strike but make sure your bait suspends next to the piece of cover you are targeting.

Dam Area: With the exception of Long creek the best bite in this area continues to be on drops shot finesse worms, spoons and single tailed grubs fished in and around suspended schools of shad from 40’ – 60’ deep. Look for the shad on long main lake points, bluff ends and saddles. Further up Long creek there is a good stickbait and jig bite developing; look for the same types of cover and banks as up the James and White rivers to produce above the Arkansas line.

Main Lake: Still a pretty good stickbait bite in the main lake area of Stockton; both Pointers and Rouges are producing well on rocky main lake and creek arm banks and points with isolated pieces of wood cover. On sunny days try; American Shad, Nishiki or black / chrome and on cloudy days Table Rock shad, chartreuse shad and bleeding Tennessee shad are more productive. Early in the day the fish have been less active so allow the bait to pause 15 – 30 seconds between jerks but as the day goes on and the water warms speed up to 5 – 10 second pauses.

Above the bridges: The river bite has been dominated by two patterns over the past week; stickbaits and jigs, for the stick bait look to flat mixed rock points with isolated pieces of wood to be holding most of the fish. Just like on the main lake longer pauses by these piece of cover in the morning and shorter pauses as the water warms. The jig bite has been on main river channel and creek arm ledge rock and channel swing banks. Cast a Missouri craw Eakins’ jig with a green pumpkin Eakins’ craw trailer to the bank and work it slowly back to 15’ – 20’ deep. Most of the bites have been coming as the bait is falling off of one ledge to another so pay close attention as your jig falls.

The walleye appear to be moving into the rivers; jerkbaits and crankbaits fished on flats have been the most productive pattern.

The crappie have not moved much, they are still on deep brush and are being caught on squirts, grubs and live minnows.

Dam area to Lead Hill: A couple of patterns are shaping up in the lower end of Bull Shoals; there is a good deep bite for Kentuckies on both spoons and drop shot rigged finesse worms and Smallmouth are being caught on Jewel 5/16 oz. spider jigs and small tubes. For the deep bite look for schools of shad on points and bluff ends suspended in 30’ – 60’ of water. The jig bite is also deep from 20’ – 40’ on mixed rock and gravel points and swings work either the jig or the tube on the bottom and pay close attention to any rock pile or wood cover you come across.

Lead Hill to Power site: Largemouth continue to be the story above Lead Hill, most of the action is taking place on Rouges and Pointers fished on windy, flat mixed rock banks and points with isolated brush, laydowns or trees. On sunny days chrome / black, American shad or Nishiki are top producers while on cloudy days chartreuse shad and Table Rock shad will work better. Make multiple casts at each piece of cover and allow the bait to pause for 5 – 10 seconds between jerks.

The water temp has rebounded a little bit on Pomme since last week. The bite on the main lake closer to the dam is still your best bet with Rouges and Pointers fished on windy mixed rock point and banks producing some nice fish over the weekend. Chrome / black, clown or American shad have all been top producers on sunny while Table Rock shad and chartreuse shad are better on cloudy days. A good back up pattern has been fishing an Eakins’ jig and craw combo on main lake and creek arm ledge banks, brown / black with a green pumpkin trailer has been the best color, fish it slowly from the bank down to as deep as 25’ deep to get bit.

Crappie fishing is still hit or miss, best bet has been live bait fished over marked brush piles with a float.

Best fly patterns for the week: Tungsten midges, sow bugs, scuds and sculpins have all been effective, try sizes 14 – 18 in tan, grey and olive.

Best spinning tackle: There has been so little water running your best bet has been live night crawlers on drift rigs.

Main Lake: The clear water of the main lake was not as affected by this recent cold front as the river arms were. Fish can still be caught on Eakins’ jig and craw combos fished on channel swing and bluff banks both on the main lake and in the major creek arms. Missouri craw and brown / black have been the best couple of colors in the jig both matched up with a green pumpkin craw. Look for piece of wood or rock cover to hold most of the fish and make multiple casts to each piece of cover to be successful.

Above the bridges: There is still a stickbait bite up the river but chances are you will catch a mixed bag of bass and walleye if you fish it long enough. Look for bass to be holding to isolated piece of cover on mixed rock banks from about 10’ – 25’ deep. The colder water requires a longer pause to get bit and if you are fishing deeper pieces of cover you will need a longer pause as well. If you are not getting bites on a stickbait switch over to an Eakins’ flippin’ jig and fish steeper banks and points slowly.

More and more walleye are showing up in the rivers, jerkbaits and crankbaits fished on main lake flats have been the most productive.

Deep brush is still your best bet for crappie; squirts, marabous, 2� grubs and live minnows are all producing.

NOTE: Anglers Tackle Box is Moving, by Mid April they will be in their new location on N Main in Nixa, Watch for Grand Opening / Moving Sale Info!!!
Kimberling City Area: With the exception of deep fish, the bite has really slowed around the mid lake with this latest cold front. While there are still fish being caught on an Eakins’ jig and craw combo in PB&J / Cinnamon / Purple, you will need to slow your presentation way down to be effective. The more consistent bite has been fishing a finesse or drop shot worm around the schools of shad. The fish have been holding very tight to the bottom and won’t even show themselves unless bait is in the area so you will need to find bait to be successful.
James River: Prior to this cold front the stickbait bite was getting really good up the James; multiple fish were starting to show up suspended in the trees and other cover and we had gotten down to pausing the bait as little as a couple of seconds to draw a strike. Now the stickbait bite has gotten to be more of a traditional Table Rock pattern where long pauses and short sweeps of the rod are necessary to draw a strike. Table Rock shad, Nishiki, and American Shad have been the best colors and a Staysee has been out producing a Pointer.

White River: The Kings river has got a lot more color than the rest of the lake right now; snow run off from Northern Arkansas has colored the water and actually dropped the temperature into the upper 30’s. With this in mind your best bet is an Eakins’ jig and craw combo fished on channel swing and bluff end banks or a stickbait fished on mixed rock windy banks with isolated cover. The best color in the Eakins’ jig continues to be Missouri craw with a green pumpkin craw trailer, fish it slowly around any cover on channel swing banks in both creek arms and on the main lake. Flashy colors like American shad or Nishiki have been very effective stickbait colors when fished around isolated cover.

Dam Area: The dam area was affected the least by this passing front; the deep bite continues to be the most productive way to fish in this area. Much like in the mid lake area you will need to locate shad in order to locate active fish right now in the dam area, long points, bluff ends and island saddles are all holding fish but without the presence of shad getting these fish to bite is almost impossible. Once shad are located fish a drop shot rigged finesse or needle worm around the edges of the bait watching closely for any fish, once you locate a fish work it hard until it bites or you are convinced it won’t.

Dam area to Lead Hill: Off and on best describes the bite around the dam area, Kentuckies can still be caught on spoons and drop shot rigs off of main lake and secondary points, look for bait to be successful. A Jewel 5/16oz. spider jig in PB&J or Brown / Purple flash matched up with a 4� green pumpkin Chomper jig trailer will produce bites around the transition areas and bluff ends. Fish the jig from the bank all the way out to 25’ – 30’ deep and pay close attention to any rock or wood cover that the jig runs into.

Lead Hill to Power site: Up above Lead hill the largemouth have been a little bit more predicable; start about ½ way back in major creek arms and fish every channel sing bank to the back of the creek. The recent run off has moved the fish toward the backs of the creeks as they follow shad following zooplankton. Northern banks have been move productive because they receive more light and in turn the zooplankton and shad move toward the surface making the fish easier to catch. Stickbaits have been very effective around any isolated cover you may find in these areas and an Eakins’ jig will work from the bank out to 25’ deep as well.

Still the best advice I can give on Pomme is to slow down, the front didn’t seem to move the fish it just made them a little more lethargic. Stickbaits fished on windy mixed rock banks with isolated cover will produce a few fish if you fish them slow enough; pause the bait between 10 – 30 seconds between jerks until you discover how aggressive the fish are on a given day. An Eakins’ jig in Missouri craw or Jewel 5/8 oz. football jig in brown / purple flash is effective in the deep brush piles on the main lake.

Crappie fishing has gotten a little tougher; most of the fish are coming on live bait right now over brush tops 15’ – 25’ deep.

Best fly patterns for the week: Midges, scuds and sow bugs in sz. 14 – 18 in grey, tan, olive or rusty zebra have all been effective this past week.

Best spinning tackle: With the limited amount of current your best bet has been power eggs and nuggets, if the water is running buoyant spoons and little cleos.