Joe Anderson is from Derby, Kansas, and caught a nice striper Saturday. This one hit a frisky 7-in. shad down about 24 ft., close to Starkey Marina. Stripers are being caught from the dam to the Rocky Branch area as they move into their summer pattern, which means adding weight to get the bait between 20 and 40 ft. Most fish making it into our boat we caught on lines running between 20 and 28 feet deep in water 40 to 60 feet deep. Look for them off the flats and river bends.
You can still get on top early mornings and evenings and through the night. They can’t stay in the warmer surface water very long. Shad is still the number one bait but we got three today with the biggest caught on a perch at 24 ft. deep.
Both lakes are running about 83° so most fish are in the deeper water off the flats. Some walleye can be found between Holiday Island and Beaver with plenty of small shad to eat all the way up to Houseman Access.
If you like catching white bass, we do still have a lot in the river that like the water about 1/2 way up where the water cools down into the 70s. Crappie have moved a little deeper holding over the deeper brush 8 – 20 ft. in the creek arms and standing timber from Holiday Island on up to Butler Creek, just up river from Beaver.
Big perch are in the shoreline brush 3 – 8 ft. deep. That’s your best bet if you want to show a kid that fishing is more fun then a Gameboy. Our green fish (bass) are also going shallow chasing bait in the cooler hours of the day, then hanging in the deeper shade being caught all the way down to 20 ft. deep when the sun is high. Spoons and jigs can get you some in the boat.
Well, that’s it for this week. I do have a trout trip this week, a walleye, crappie trip and a couple striper trips, so no telling what kind of pic we will have for you next week. Enjoy the Ozarks.
Robert Johnson, fishofexcellence.com, (479) 253-2258