Needemp

She was an old fish. I could see it in her scales and eyes. She was strong though. I only fished for an hour. I've never fished the upper. Would like to someday. If you take a boat, be careful because the Asian carp are bad. I had 2 jump in my boat this time, and 2 years ago, the last time I was there I had to duck to avoid be hit in the head by a big one. That's one of the reasons I stopped going there.

Decided to go to George Winter this morning on the Meramec River to do a little fishing. Hadn't been there in a couple years. 45 minutes in I caught this beauty. She weighed 7 pounds even. (the Asian Carp are still ridiculous)

Does anyone know anything about someone poisoning that lake and them having to drain it? Heard that rumor and just trying to confirm it.

My fish were holding to chunk rock, but I am sure they are using the pea gravel by now. The air temps won't really cool below the water temps till Friday. That may not bother your fish but it may. I would start off as if the cooler air temps won't bother the fish. Fish shallow w jigs, spinnerbaits and crankbaits. If you don't get bit or only catch 2 pound and less buck bass shallow, then fish the 4-10' range for bigger females. If the cool temps affect them, then they might be finicky. Try real slow. For those females fish big rock, brush piles skip far under docks.

St Louis here. I fish LOZ and Twain from spring to fall. Then I fish Baldwin Lake in the winter time. I fish the Meremac locally and I am going to start fishing Horseshoe Lake in Granite City. BTW LOZ is on fire right now. Get down there if you can. Baldwin had a major fish kill last summer. Last winter it was an amazing lake. Several 20# limits. This year I had one day with 19#s and not another day w more than 3 keepers.

Anyone know what the high and low temps are? Is there any clear water? What stage are bass in? Thanks in advance guys

I hardly ever consider the Osage in early March. I know there are some good creeks up towards the 70mm, but that's a long run and I find it to be more miss than hit in March. I stick by the dam/Gravois area and the Nianguas. Between the 2 of those areas you usually have 2 different patterns to choose from. I like the quality of the late winter/early spring fish. So what ever area has that going on is where I head first. Therefore it takes special conditions for me to head up the Osage. Do you ever have success up there?

If you have 3 temp gauges, then you have the accurate temp. Temp is relative. Its about what the bass are doing. This time of year its winter pattern. But when it begins to warm up, you might find warmer than expected temps, but the fish may not be doing what you think they should be doing. That's why sometimes going to your favorite part the lake can hurt you. For instance, the Nianguas usually seem to be ahead of the rest of LOZ. But if you go up there to fish warmer water, you might find the late winter schools have broken up and scattered to their migration. But the lower end of the lake might still have big schools on ml areas. You may have to bust your hump to find them in Nianguas, but you might sit on 1 point by the dam area and catch a nice limit. Vice versa when the Nianguas warm up first and the first wave of big females get real active, the dam area fish might still be slugish.

I have noticed that too. But I figured out why. The temp gauge must do the reading at midnight or early in the morning. So it is usually the coolest temp. But LOZ is pretty big. And you can find different temps all over the lake at the same time. As much as 15 degree difference. In spring the Nianguas can have 52 degree water, and the Glaize, Osage and Gravois areas can top out at 40 on the main channels. Sometimes the creeks can be more than 10 degrees warmer than the main lake. I don't know where that gauge is at, but let's say it is at the 6mm on the main channel. That same day you could be up the Nianguas and find 10-15 degree warmer water. You could also go pretty far up the Osage (especially if they are pulling water from Truman) and find 5-10 degree colder water.

I haven't been there yet this year so I don't know the surface temp first hand. But I would trust http://www.odd.net/ for fairly accurate temps. It says 35

Nick is right on about the water flowage. But it all depends when you go down and the conditions. Be careful not to pigeon-hole yourself. If you don't get your rain runoff, it may be foolish to commit to those creeks all or most of a day. Obviously you can go back and try a few just to see, but if conditions aren't right and you don't get bit or only catch small keeper fish, get outta there. In March, there are times you can catch quality fish from those creeks, but most of March your quality fish are deeper and main lake. In fact, there are times in March where the Glaize is the toughest area of the lake.

How has Coffeen lake been fishing lately?

I finished 4th out of 75. I missed the first tx and that hurt me. The top 6 didn't miss any. But I still had a chance to win AOY going into the last tx. But now I have my side imaging

I was at where you are at a few years ago. I just started fishing 5 years ago. I fished for a year then joined a club my second year. I did very well when I was the boater. I won a couple including our Classic and finished 2nd in a couple. But I knew I was not ready so I got out of the club for 2 years and practiced. I reentered this year and had a chance for AOY going into the last tx. I ended up 4th. But I had to miss the first tx and the other top 5 fished them all. My plan was not to fish any tx I wasn't ready to win. I had a lot of things go wrong this year including health, boat problems and all but one tx on water I had never fished before. Plus I missed a tx. Point is I know I am closer. My advice is based on my experience. You have to do a ton of studying off the water and know about what the fish should be doing when you get on the water. But when they are not doing what they are suppose to be, then start searching for them from that point. And you have to find the big fish. Not just keepers. Also, only get in the back of really good fisherman. You need to learn and that experience is best learned from you making the desicions. You have to be able to find your own fish and your own spots. And you can't always live by the same spots over and over. I could go on and on but you get the point. Oh yeah, confidence is the most important thing. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Yep. I'm still fishing. I pretty much exclusively fish Baldwin. Went out 2 weeks ago and I am going this weekend. I will fish there all winter till the beggining of March. Big fish over there. I know its hard to believe, but my smallest LM is 17" over there.