Weather, fishing heat up at Truman Lake

The weather has heated up, and so has the fishing. It is kind of strange that when one species of fish slows down another takes off. The crappie fishing has slowed down a little but the bass fishing is about as good as I have seen it this year. The Army Corps of Engineers is still dropping the lake, but the water color is still fantastic. We are getting low enough now that the whites should start moving back on the humps and we are starting to see some surface activity. I have started seeing the pods of shad instead of the big rafts, which will also help with the whites and hybrids.

LAKE LEVEL: 710.50

WATER TEMP: 83 degrees

WATER CLARITY: Clear to light stain

BASS: If you like to bass fish or have a youngster that is getting started bass fishing, now is the time to be on Truman. We are seeing a lot of good quality fish, along with a lots of smaller fish. The bottom bumpers are working as good as I have seen this year. Last night in the Hawg Fights, Tim Blankenship and Tom Mc Govern brought in a winning stringer of fish weighing 15.09 lbs. Second went to Desmin Carl and Paul Curry with 12.29 lbs. They also had big fish weighing 5.72 lbs. Third went to Marty Watson and Doug Long with 10.90 lbs. This is pretty good for fishing three hours. The best bite is fishing points in 5 feet to 12 feet of water that break off into deep water. Big worms, baby brush hogs along with jig and frog were the top baits last night. Look for tree rows running off the points. There are a few fish starting to suspend in the deeper trees.

CRAPPIE: The crappie are still a little slow. We are starting to see fish come in off of the outside tree rows on the ends of the flats. These are the same tree rows you would fish if we were at normal pool. The lake is still about 6 feet high, so you are fishing in 23 feet to 25 feet, instead of 17 feet. Fish minnows are down about 12 feet to 15 feet. I talked to several people who said they were catching small fish in 8 feet to 10 feet, but when they went deeper they caught better fish. This is kind of backward from the norm, which would be the better fish is the first fish to bite in the tree. There is also a bite on the bluffs in 30 feet to 40 feet of water with the fish down about 20 feet.

WHITES & HYBRIDS: We are starting to see more whites come in all the time. The best bite is still on spoons off the humps. G 4 has been one of the better areas. It seems the bite is better in the evenings. We are seeing some surface activity also. The fish aren’t staying up for long periods yet but if you see them surface and they go down, run a crank bait in the area.

CATFISH: Trot lines are still the best of the best. Cut shad and black perch are still the best baits. Set lines in 6 feet to 16 feet of water off the flat points. Fish as close to deep water as you can. With the warm temperatures, you need to run lines more frequently.
That’s it for this week from Sterett Creek Marina.

Tommy Novinska
(660) 438-2280
critter@dam.net