Hey all, I don't spend a ton of time on the Ozark lakes, but I know they stay warmer considerably longer than the Kansas flatland reservoirs I fish most. Does anyone have any insight into seasonal movements from early fall through into winter? I will be fishing from a kayak and looking to target the largest fish possible with a combination of jigs, big swimbaits and other presentations. I know that last year, water temps on the main lakes were around 70 at nearly Halloween, but I'm not sure if they'd be schooling bait in the creeks or out on main lake stuff preparing for the winter transition. 

I fish Table Rock a lot and it is like two different worlds from one river (James) system to the other (White).  They don’t stay on a pattern for more than a few days.

 

Fishing from a kayak you will be limited in coverage.  Pomme de Terre is a relatively small lake.  If you haven’t already tried it you might want to.

Some fish will follow bait to the backs of creeks, I usually think this happens early to mid October. I always think the creeks that have consistent moving water are better for that pattern. I'm not great at this pattern,  but it's a numbers game- the boat guys will run a lot of coves in general. 

 

Not all fish follow the shad back. I think some shad stays in open water especially in the lakes and areas that don't have moving water creeks. My thought is that the shad relate to oxygen, which draws them back to moving water creeks. Windblown main lake stuff can also have stirred up water too and shad around that are less likely to sprint up a creek (I think).

 

Once things cool down more, shad start to move back towards the mainlake... it always seems like the movement back out is quicker than the movement to the backs of creeks. 

 

At some point when the water temp hits low 50s, the fish start turning more towards crayfish. Sometimes you can find the shad deal and crayfish deal at the same time on mainlake bluff points and that can get fun. 

 

Not all the Ozark lakes seem to set up the same in the fall. Pomme is harder (for me at least) I blame the lack of consistent moving water creeks. A lake like Stockton gets interesting- the south end has a lot of the moving water creek and shad in the backs deal, but the north end has a lot of the windblown stuff.

 

Fish can spread out and get tough but they're generally hungrier... covering water helps, and sometimes the ugly flat pockets hold more active fish than the stuff the looks 'fishy'. Slick sunny days are hard for me- the conditions seem to dictate slowing down,  but it's hard to slow down until you locate fish. Good gray days with a little wind are a lot easier for me!

 

Good luck!

 

- Jared