The 2022 Crappie Spawn is on.  The lake level is 706.85 with current water temp in the mid to high 50's and in the late afternoon reaching into the 60's.  The creeks are a little stained, which is a good thing, as it holds the warm temperature.  Crappie are anywhere from 12 feet to right at the bank. Grab you a bunch on slip bobber set about 18 inches. pitch a road runner, or just let out a couple of feet of line and ease down the bank.  Color doesn't seem to matter but a yellow and white swarm jig just works wonders, so does white and chartreuse, or pink.  Look in the backs of the creeks and standing timber in shallow coves.  This is the first spawn at normal pool in several years. Here we are in the start of the spawn and rain and high winds continue to plague us.  I have had to reschedule several trips because of the weather....Oh well, Welcome to Missouri and Truman Lake. Th spawn should last about

Lake level currently is 706.52 with surface temperatures in the low to mid 50's.  On Good Friday water temperatures reached 57 degrees and the male crappie move into the very shallow waters and jigs flipped to the near bank triggered strikes within 1 to 2 feet of the bank.  We had 45 crappie, 41 males and 4 females.  That night the winds shifted to the northeast and the temperatures dropped to freezing and the water temperature dropped to about 47 degrees and the end result was the crappie disappeared. Good Friday Catch High winds, cold temperatures and little sunshine keep the water temperature below the needed 65 degrees for ideal spawn.  Hopefully this will occur over the next two weeks. In this issue I would like to take a moment to remember my son Bob, who died unexpectedly at age 44.  He and his two sons, Robbie and Jason, had joined us for a week of fishing.  They went home on Sunday and on April the 8th 2020 I got that call no parent should

The Lake level is  708.75 and rising.  Water temp is in the low to mid 40s and the lake is pretty clear in most areas. Some feeder creeks are stained but very fishable.  It's that time of the year when the crappie move from weather quarters to the mouths of spawning creeks and coves.  In some areas the water depth is 40 feet with the crappie holding at about 20-25 feet while other areas of shallower water, crappie are 4-12 ft deep.  Most colors are working, with blue or a shade of blue working the best for me. Bigger crappie have been coming up to about 4-6 when the sun in shinning to enjoy warmer temperature and will certain hit well if a jig passes by.  I'm thinking a jig and bobber combo might work well even though I don't use that method.  I have noticed that with the warming up of the water the crappie are moving back toward the backs of the cove at about 40 yards per week.  This crazy weather has

The Lake level is  707.83.  Water temp is in the low to mid 40s and the lake is pretty clear in most areas. Some feeder creeks are stained but very fishable.  It's that time of the year when the crappie move from weather quarters to the mouths of spawning creeks and coves.  In some areas the water depth is 25 feet with the crappie holding at about 18-20 feet while other areas of shallower water, crappie are 4-12 ft deep.  Most colors are working, with blue or a shade of blue working the best for me. Bucksaw area is on fire as well as the area around Windsor Crossing.  The Crappie are very shallow in 17-20 feet of water along the creek edges.  Jigs, Jigs tipped with minnow, or just minnows working great in these areas. I ready for the weather to warm up as it's cold and windy one day and the sunny with light winds the next.  March winds have been in the 10-15 daily average.  Today was sunny, 42 and 6 mph

`Lake level is 704.97 with water temp in the upper 30's in the lower part of the lake.  The mid lake area is pretty clear. Watch for patches of ice early in the day and around the edges.  Be extra careful at the ramp sites. Crappie fishing is excellent right now with limits being taken pretty much all over the lake.  It's cold and windy but several days it was in the low to mid 50's just before this current cold s nap.  Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we caught limits of crappie with lots of returns. Most all the crappie have been caught in the 12-16 foot  range in 20 feet of water or deeper.  Jigs with almost any color body are taking fish.  Caught a lot of white bass on the bottom in schools of shad.  Right now seems like crappie, whites and blue cats are feeding like crazy.  If you can brave the frigid temperatures you can get a limit in pretty short order.  We have been going out about 9:30 and fishing

Lake level is 705.53 with water temp in the upper 30's in the lower part of the lake.  The mid lake area is pretty clear. Watch for patches of ice early in the day and around the edges.  Be extra careful at the ramp sites. Needless to say, I've been in hibernation.  The main part of the lake has been pretty rough with the high winds except when the wind is out of the NW.  Then I can hide under the bare bank bluffs.  Of course, for some unknown reason my skin is not as thick as it was a few years ago.  Now that I have "wimped" a little, crappie fishing has been fair to good in the main lower lake area.  The little fish are hanging in schools in the tops of the trees 15-20 feet below the surface and the larger fish are scattered in the deeper trees and 20 foot brush piles. We were able to take this bunch from a brush pile half way back in a cove loaded with

Lake level is 705.06 with water temp in the upper 40's in the lower part of the lake.  The mid lake area is pretty clear. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL Windy is the best way to describe the middle lake area fishing.  When you can get on the bare bank bluffs, crappie fishing is great.  This year they seem to be at all depths.  From 4 feet to 30 feet.  Jigs and minnows fished 12 feet deep seem to pull the crappie in.  I have fished on the bottom in 25 feet of water one turn on the reel with almost any color jig on a 1/4ounce pink jig head.  I have slowly move down the bank fishing 12 feet deep and the bite has been solid.  Winter is just great crappie fishing if you're brave enough to fight the cold.  I bought a Stryker Flotation suit at Cody's Bait Shop last year and a pair of Stryker rubber boots...So far I've been toasty warm.  I am seeing more large crappie this year than last year

Lake level is 705.21 with water temp in the lower 50's in the lower part of the lake.  The mid lake area is pretty clear.   Mike Edwards I took most of November off to do boat maintenance.  Getting parts like thermostats is a chore but Truman Lake Marine got everything ready and we pulled the boat and put new sparkplugs, lower unit maintenance, water pump, oil change, etc etc.  Replaced fishing seats and replaced two batteries.  Now we are ready for winter fishing. This past week Mike Edwards was here for the week, and I think he got his limit all but Thanksgiving day.  Thursday was a cold very windy day in the mid-lake area, but still had an enjoyable day catching 8 63/64th inch crappie,  There are still some nice white bass mixed in with the crappie in the 20-22 foot deep water.  We fish with jigs all week right on the bottom for the larger fish.  The bite was hard most of the time as these fish are feeding in

Lake level is 705.21 with water temp in the upper 60's in the lower part of the lake.  The mid lake area is pretty clear. White bass action this past week was out of sight.  Whites and small hybrids were on the shallow humps with some nice hybrids  in just a little deeper water near the humps. This past week with wind blowing on the rocky points and banks, the whites and hybrids moved to feed on the small shad.  Rooster Tails, Flicker Shad, Shad raps, and Blue Foxes all were extremely effective.  I continued to hammer out limits on spoons on the humps. I slipped out for about an hour last week to see what the crappie were doing, and in about an hour of jig fishing I decided to stay with whites for a while longer.  In that hour I had 31 crappie and not a keeper in the bunch.  All little fish and they were fat.  I guess the bare bank bluffs will be the next target area for crappie when I

Lake level is 705.43 with water temp in the lower 70's in the lower part of the lake.  The mid lake area is pretty clear. White bass action this past week was out of sight.  Whites and small hybrids were schooled on the shallow humps with some nice hybrids  in just a little deeper water near the humps. All caught on my 3/4 oz jigging spoons.  Green and white combo was the best producer followed by Green Chartreuse..Casting with a bouncing retrieve seemed to be the best pattern. Can't say much for crappie fishin this week as I didn't do any.  I saw a few at the cleaning station and the remarks were, hard to find and weed through the little ones.....  This will all change about mid October when the water cools some more. The weather is cooling off and I have a good schedule for October.  Get in on this white bass action. That's about it for  September 30, 2021. Help the other guy when you can and remember your life jacket works