Sorry no report last week. I did find out when you’re signed out of your Google account all seems to work fine except you don’t receive any new emails and yours don’t go out. Guess i know now.
Looks like this cold front finally dropped our water temp down to below 46°. Crappie are still being caught 5 – 15 ft. deep moving slow with drop shotting being the best way to catch them, with a live minnow working better then a fluke now.
Stripers are staying close to the big schools of smaller shad on Beaver Lake and are stacked up around the Hwy. 12 bridge area around 30 ft. deep waiting for the water to warm up so they can run upriver to spawn.
When March rolls around they will get more active. That gives you about six weeks to refresh your tackle and put on some fresh line. Until then you can still catch them if you just move slow and get the bait deep. A lot of big fat bass get caught during the winter months. Slow and deep is the way to find them with a jig, spoon or big minnow.
Drop shotting for them as with crappie can find them, too. Here at the Island your deeper water will be across the Missouri line, so head north and get a WLR License along with your Ark/ license which allows you to fish on our lakes that cross the border, like Table Rock and Bull Shoals. Cost is only about $10 a year and well worth it.
Trout are your best winter fish to go after now since they are our cold water fish here. Anywhere you can find a spot to sit below the dam in the tailwaters should work. They love a worm with a little power bait on the tip to float it up off the bottom. If they’re generating, then throwing a rooster tail, small spoon, rapala or any lure that resembles a crawdad or minnow is your best bet.
So if this cabin fever is getting to you just grab a pole and go. If you want to hit the lake in a boat just dress warm and carry that phone. Not a lot of boats out this time a year to help if you have problems. When that sun starts to go, it’s time to be thinking of getting it on the trailer.
For those waiting on spring, we’re now giving a 15% discount on our 2019 trips and then 10% off if in the books by February. Book it now and choose your day later. The days are getting longer as the sun stays in the sky a bit more each day. We are past the halfway point of winter. Dogwoods will be blooming before you know it, and with that the stripers and white bass will be making that arm sore. Stay warm by the fire or get some handwarmers till that day comes.