Focused Fishing Web Log

Kimberling City Area: Water, water everywhere……. Still over flood pool and the bite is beginning to transition. While there are still several fish being caught on Chompers Jerry McCutchen Spinnerbaits up on the bank on whatever cover the fish can find, better numbers of fish have begun to be taken out away from the bushes on main lake and secondary points. Flat pea gravel and mixed gravel and rock points have been the most productive from 18’ – 24’ deep with Chompers 4” smoke / pepper or salt and pepper on a ¼ oz. head fished on the bottom or green pumpkin Zoom Fish Doctors on a split shot rig. With either presentation dip the tail of the bait in chartreuse to increase visibility in the stained water.

James River: Some of the warmest water on the lake is up the James River; temperatures are as much as seven degrees warmer in the James than the main lake. Some different patterns have started to emerge as the fish are moving shallower and starting seek out spawning locations. While several fish are being caught on spinnerbaits, the best bite has been on points adjacent to spawning coves using a combination of split shot rigs and jigs. While several fish have been caught on main lake points, better quality fish are coming on secondary points further back into the creeks directly in front of spawning pockets. A variety of baits have been effective on a split shot rig; lizards, fish doctors, french fries and baby brush hogs in watermelon or green pumpkin have been tough to beat. Brown / purple flash and green pumpkin / candy flash 5/16 Jewel Spider jigs with green pumpkin Hyperflex Grubs have also been working on these points, a hop and drop retrieve is the most effective.

White River: The bite up the White has been a little different than the rest of the lake; plenty of fish are being caught on Chompers grubs on main lake and secondary points just like in the Kimberling area, the split shot rig has also been effective, the spinnerbait bite is also a viable alternative from Baxter to Eagle Rock. The Kings River has warmer water then most of the lake and fish are starting to group on points close to spawning coves, split shot and Carolina rigged lizards and baby brush hogs are catching both numbers and quality on these points. A few fish have been caught on shallow crankbaits in and around the trash in the back of spawning pockets as well, look for areas with fresh water running in and groups of shad to be the most productive.

Dam / Branson Area: The best bite on the lower lake has been outside of the bushes and trees on flat gravel points. Chompers’ 4” single tail grubs in smoke / pepper and salt and pepper have been very effective for both numbers and quality. Position your boat in 24’ – 31’ of water, make casts to the edge of the bushes, allow the bait to fall on a semi-slack line , then retrieve (scrub) the bait along the bottom back to the boat. Pay close attention to the bait as it falls next to the bushes, there are still fish suspended in the bushes and a number of bites will come as the bait falls. There is a topwater bite starting to emerge in the dam area as well, while not a consistent pattern, it is a good idea to have a spook or Sammy handy when fish begin to surface.

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Best fly patterns: Best fly patterns this past week have been scuds, San Juan worms, small white jigs, Clouser minnows and egg patterns fished on or as near to the bottom as possible. With wading impossible, position your boat to make casts to eddies and other slack water area to be effective.

Best spinning tackle: The usual collection of baits are working on spinning tackle right now. Scud and egg combos on a drift rig, 1/8 oz. white jigs, little cleos, panther martins and power eggs on 1/80th oz. jigs below a strike indicator are all putting numbers fish in the boat. Lucky Craft pointer 78 and small Rapala baits are catching a few big brown trout in the slack areas from Fall Creek to Branson.

Don’t Miss Tournament Fishing Radio on ESPN 1400 AM Springfield
Mondays 5:30pm and Saturdays 5:00 am or on-line at www.espn1400.com
www.focusedfishing.com

Link to the Generation Schedule: http://www.swpa.gov/generation.htm

Best fly patterns: Too much water, the Water patrol has asked that all angling stop until water level is closer to normal.

Best spinning tackle: Too much water, the Water patrol has asked that all angling stop until water level is closer to normal.

Dam area to Lead Hill: As of this report Bull Shoals is almost 40’ high and I have not been able to get on the water.

Lead Hill to Power site: As of this report Bull Shoals is almost 40’ high and I have not been able to get on the water.

Kimberling City Area: First let me apologize for the lack of reports over the past couple of months, I have been extremely busy with off the water projects and when you combine that with guiding there just haven’t been enough hours in the day to sit down and write any reports. O.K. now the good news, the mid-lake area is on fire, water is up almost 20’ feet and dropping and the fish have finally acclimated to the high water. The best bite by far is on a spinnerbait, white and chartreuse or all chartreuse with painted willow leaf blades is the ticket. Personally I prefer the new Jerry McCutchen spinnerbait from Chompers, ½ oz. chartreuse / white with two chartreuse willow blades. Look for banks that are fairly open to be the best to fish; get in behind the brush and cast to anything you can see in the water. Most of the fish are coming from the bank out to about 10’ deep.

James River: The James has been very productive as well, the color is starting to clear and there are a couple of bites starting to develop. The best bite is still a spinnerbait, same pattern as in the Kimberling City area. In addition, several fish were caught over the weekend on a shallow crankbait; Lucky Craft R.C. 1.5 & 2.5 in chartreuse / black has been the best color, just like the spinnerbait, hold the boat in 6’ – 10’ of water and hit everything use see with the crankbait to e successful. The floating worm bite is starting to heat up as well, if the wind ever quits blowing this will become a very strong pattern, match the worm to the water color, dirtier the water bright the worm.

White River: The clearest water on the lake is in the White River, all of the water coming out of Beaver has pushed the dirty water to beyond the mouth of the Kings. Just like the rest of the lake a spinnerbait is the ticket right now, same pattern but use white and shad colors seem to be a little more productive in the clear water. Have spoken to a couple of anglers that have been doing very well on weightless Senkos and Floating worms in the backs of creeks and big pockets out of the wind. This is a target specific pattern; you will need to throw the bait at something (bush, tree, lawn ornament, etc…) to be successful. I can’t emphasis enough the importance of hitting the cover with whichever bait you choose, I caught two fish off of one wood pile (yes, a pile of firewood) on Friday both over thee pounds.

Dam / Branson Area: The lower end of the lake has had the toughest fishing, spinner baits are still king but the fish don’t seem to have moved to the bank in the dam area like they have on the rest of the lake. Most of the fish are being taken on the outside edge of the bushes near the old bank line; in addition you will need to slow roll the spinner bait through the bushes to draw strikes. Further up Long Creek the bite is similar to the Kimberling City area and James River, Chompers McCutchen spinnerbaits and Lucky Craft R.C. series crankbaits have been effective on flat shallow points.