Bull Shoals Bass Hole Fishing Report

 03/07/14


The Bass and Crappie have started to move.  Water temp Friday the 7th was low forties.  Monday water temp was 44 and today, the 10th of March it was 48.
I.m fishing a pre=spawn pattern of Jigs, Cranks and botton bounced spinner baits up to 18'.  Most strikes are from two to eight feet.  I've had my best bite between 10 am and 5 pm, most are largemouth.  Crappie are in the brush piles.  I have only thrown Under Spin Jig into the brush and caught two.  I think by jigging live minnow you could whack them.


SPRING IS HERE, LET'S RIP SOME LIPS!


3/14/14 Team Concepts Bass Fishing Team is here and they are all catching the Bass!  Just posted pics, scroll thru and have a look!
3/15/14 We saw alot of Bass today being weighed.  Just a few pics of Team Concepts and a couple of guys from another team.  

3/17/14
We got some great info this week thanks to the guys from the Missouri State Qualifying tournament here at Bull Shoals.  The biggest Bass and five Bass bag came Alabama Rigs.  White 2" and 3" Curly Tail and Swimbaits seemed to be the go to dressing on the Rigs.  Jerk Baits also were on everyone's deck.  Most of the guyss did thier work from the mouth of coves close to creek channels.  Water temps range was 40-48 degrees.  As always a few fish fell for Jigs, Wiggle Warts and DT 6.  Several guys caught Walleyes along the channels.  A few warm days this week are going to fire them up so find a day and Rip some Lips!

March 25, 2014
Holy Cow Folks The Bass are on Fire!
Spring has sprung here at Bull Shoals Lake here in Diamond City-Sugar loaf area. surface temps running 45-55 degrees.  The large mouth are staging in 8-12 ft of water close to spawning flats and can be caught with a variety of methods.  I spent five hours yesterday trying different baits including Crankbaits, Jerk Bait, Jigs, Grubs, Sinking Worms, Tubes and Poppers.  They seem to react best to a slow presentation and seem to still be grouped up.  The Spots are really working the bottom so it seems to be a Jig deal.  Between 1 pm and 6 pm I caught 24 fish, 16 were Largemouth and 8 were spots.  Only five of the Spots were 12 and 16 inch but 14 of the Largemouth were over 15 inch.  I'm getting reports of a few Crappie being taken on minnows but those guys don't share info so I will have to figure them out myself.  Walleye should be spawning now so they may turn on next week.  It's time to find a way to get to the lake and hook a few.  If you get to the Diamond City area stop in and let me know how you did or get some info from me.  See you at the Bass Hole, Have a Blast!

March 26th, 2014


It's been a Crappie Day!
Well I took a day today to check out the Crappie here in West Sugarloaf/  I didn't have to travel far to find some brush piles.  Breaking out the Spinning Rod felt funny but I tied on a 1/8 oz Jig with a pink 3' Curly Tail.  After catching a couple of short spots I found by keeping the bait moving aboput three feet under the surface the Slabs would take it.  I kept at it four about an hour catching five.  The two biggest were 1.71# and 2# the other three were 10.5" to 12".  I'd forgotten the fun of Panfish but you can bet I'll be after another Crappie Day soon!  A couple of pics inserted to the right.
 
March 28, 2014


Prespawn is a Constant Adjustment
With water temp 47 to 51 degrees most winter patterns are evolving into prespawn.  Everyday when I go out, adjusting what worked yesterday is job one.  While color can be important it seems vibration and action are the trigger for bites.  Today a Jerkbait failed to produce regularly.  With the cloudy water dark colors would make sense but White & Sexy Shad set them off.  I'm going to focus very shallow tomorrow morning and try some aggressive power fishing.  It won't surprise me if some aggressive fish are active.  Check out the report Sunday night and I will let you know how the weekend shakes out.  Find some time to get out, Let's burn some gas and catch some Bass!


March 30th, 2014
The Prespawn Stage


The water temp continues to rise, Friday 47-49, Saturday 49-51 and Sunday 49-51.  There is a pronounced pattern developing here at Sugarloaf on Bull Shoals Lake.  In the areas adjacent to spawning flats I'm seeing the Bass feeding in 10-15' water.  While a occasional fish is cruising the flats you can catch good numbers of both Spots and Largemouth by using your sonar to identifysecondary points in that range.  My favorite bait for picking off the most aggressive fish as they move up is a Rapala DT10 and a Bladed Jig.  Each day they seem to prefer a slight adjustment in color and retrieve but it seems to be mostly a matter of water color.  This weekend we had normal Spring weather with temps from 27-71 degrees, dead calm to 30 mph winds from every directions, bright sunshine, cloudy, thick ground fog.  Oh well thats part of the fun of the outdoors.  Find some time, Don't miss the prespawn!  See you at the Bass Hole!


Now the fun starts!
04/09/2014

Spring is here at Bull Shoals.  Water temps are 52-59 degrees and the Bass have the feed bags on.  Last weekend there was a Elite tournament on our sister lake of Table Rock.  Being able to spy on the worlds greatest fisherman is coll beacause the two lakes are so much alike.  Ozarks Bass really do go crazy for Storms Wiggle Warts.  Mark Davis racked them up with a Swimming Craw and patterns work all over the lake.  I took off at 9 am and quit at 4:30, I fished nine different patterns when 5 Bass hit the boat I put the rod away.  The Wiggle Wart took seven casts for a fast five.  The Bladed Jig took the longest but I missed the first few hits by not setting the hook.  My three biggest Bass came on Green Pumpkin Football Jigs with a PBJ trailer.  NOW IS THE TIME, DON'T MISS IT!  See you at the Bass Hole!  

Sunday, May 4th, 2014


The hardest thing to do now on Bull Shoals Lake is picking the fish to go after.  Last week the Bass and Crappie were starting to bed then a cold front pulled them back so we have had a extended prespawn.  The Walleye have been real consistent feeding 8-15 feet deep.  Blue Gill are grouping up to feed on eggs and ready to spawn.  Catfish are well distributed along the channels.  Bass are very active and Swim Jigs, Texas rigged plastics and drop shoting will draw alot of strikes.  The big girls are looking for a large profile so a Jewell 1/2 oz Jig with a big craw like a Paca is the ticket.  Some Crappie are being taking trolling but big bags are being taking off brush piles with Ice Blue Jigs.  Walleye are hitting Bottom Bouncing Crawlers on a Harness with a Chartruse Blade.  Dock fishing for Blue Gill is on now with a simple Split Shot Rig.  For Catfish, bait along channel swings will draw them out.  For Channel Catfish, night crawlers and shad.  For flatheads, live Blue Gills and Minnows are the ticket.  Sorry about being tardy with the report but I've been enjoying ALL the action on and off the water,  getting to know all our guests and doing my best to get out there to fish to report back to everyone.  If you need a up to the minute report give us a call here at the Bass Hole and I will gladly spend time telling you what has been working for me, if we are not in, as soon as I get off the water I will return your call!  Spring has Sprung and the Fun has Begun!  Who am I kidding, it is fun everyday just alot more fun when them fishing are on the end of the rod!  See you soon!

Saturday, May 10, 2014


It's what you have been waiting for!  Right now the water temp here in Sugar Loaf is 68-72 degrees.  Bass are thick on thier nests so lots of methods are working.  When the sun comes up I like to go out and mark big females so I can go back during the day, stay back and simply make long casts and start laughing.  The Crappie are in schools suspended so the easiest way to catch them is to troll, mark a waypoint when you get bit and go back to pick off the big ones.  Walleye are being caught on points and steep walls by trollong with countdown lures about ten feet and Bottom Bouncing Night Crawlers in 16-25 feet.  My best bite has been in the pm between 4 & 8.  As for colors Bass will hit most colors but a little Chartruese mark on the tail seems to make them angry.  Carppie just need to see a moving bait so I've been using Firetiger.  The Walleye are also hitting the Firetiger but pink seems to get them up also.  The great thing now is rain or shine the fish will dine so get out now and make some memories!

Post Spawn Search is On

June 6 2014

Sorry about the lack of reports but there isn't much to report with the Spawn happening.  Now with the post spawn I am back to searching out the fish.  Most days Bass are piled up on secondary points and channel breaks.  The best baits for me are Rapala DT6, DT10 and DT16.  If they don't hit the reaction cranks, Jig worms and Tubes are a sure thing.  The Walleye haven't gone to the flats yet but on the breaks next to the flats you can pick up some keepers on a bottom bouncer with a crawler or by trolling med Running Cranks.  The Crappie right now are maddening, they can be caught on brush piles and suspended in trees but they don't seem to feed like Post Spawn Crappie should.  Jigs tipped with minnows and vertical Jigged Spoons will get a limit but it takes time and a lot of jumping from pile to pile.  As for color the Bass don't seem to be particular so I have been using Firetiger on bright days and Mardi Gras when it's cloudy.  Walleye seem to be on Chartruese both with Worm Rigs and Cranks.  The biggest slabs are on a Shad bite so white, pink and chartreuse seem to be the ticket. 

Make plans to get to the lake this summer, the fish are here for you and the memories will last a lifetime.  For up to the minute fishing report stop by the Bass Hole Lodge or look for my black boat on the lake. 

While Bass fishing today this is what Bob caught!  5/5/14 A whole bunch of Crappie

---