Anybody Fisnin Loz Or Mark Twain

[izzysfishin]

Sat. supposed to be fair, was thinking of LOZ or Twain because they're the nearest for a one day trip. I know MT is down about 6 ft. but does anyone know the clarity. I have'nt fished LOZ all year and really would'nt even know were to start for crappie. For that matter I've never fished Mark Twain this time of year, but I'M GETTING THE ITCH BAD. Any suggestions. Thanks, Izzy.:D

[TAE73]

I wonder if Twain might not be froze up any. It always seems to freeze up first. LOZ is good right now, pretty much any dock with brush in 5-15 will work.

[izzysfishin]

I wonder if Twain might not be froze up any. It always seems to freeze up first. LOZ is good right now, pretty much any dock with brush in 5-15 will work.

Probably should have asked that in my original post ( ice). Dues anyone know if M-T is has ice on yet.

[CrappieOutlaw]

yup lake is good, gravios arm and toward the dam.

[N2Crappie]

Fished Mark Twain Last Monday didn't do well only two fish. But I never seem to do well in the cold. I musn't know the secret of winter fishing.
Water color wasn't bad, stained but not muddy at all. Water Temp was 37 degrees. Only saw one icy spot in the back of a cove. I guess I should also say I was fishing in the Indian Creek area. Was using only jigs didn't have any minnows

I really wanted to go to LOZ but I couldn't find anyone to go with me. LOZ is about an hour farther for me and I'm afraid I will get too sleepy driving home alone after a day on the water. Would like to try it this weekene but I think my social planner has made other arrangements.

Good Luck
N2

[izzysfishin]

Guess I'll give Mark Twain a shot. I know a few spots that held fish in the early pre-spawn, but the water temps were in the low 40s. N2 did you try any of the bluffs or bridge piers on the main lake?

[izzysfishin]

Well I de-winterized the boat and went to MT this morning. Spent about an hour poking around trying to mark some fish. Finally about 9:30 found some (I thought) along the bluffs across from Sandy Creek, not even a bite. To make a long story short, I never caught a fish all day. Tried several of the spots I fish in early spring with no success. Threw every color and weight I have. I've come to the conclusion I'll leave the winter fishin to the guys in the know. This is my third year trying to catch winter fish and have had pretty much the same results every year. Maybe I need to hire a guide to learn this cold wheather fishin. For now, I'm gonna stay warm and stick to the tactics that work for me, spring,summer and fall.

[TwainGang]

I think you will have better luck going on a warming day and then going to the north side of the lake- just like later on in the morning. Was the water temp 37 degrees? I'm getting the itch bad too but I was thinking more about Thomas Hill early in the year instead of the regular impoundments. Ever fish Tom Hill? I've gotten into some nice 11-12 inchers there the year before last when I lived in Columbia- it was closer to me then compared to where I live now (O'Fallon).

[izzysfishin]

I thought it was a warm day TwainG. The surface temps averaged around 38 on my graph, I did find 41 on the west side of the 107 bridge in the middle fork.Marked alot of fish, but none were in the mood I guess. It's been several years since i've been on Thomas Hill. Did'nt do to well on the crappie, but slayed the White Bass where the warm water discharge comes into the lake. I think that trip was in Feb. Might have done better at M-T if I had brought some minnows, I got a lot to learn jig fishin.

[TwainGang]

Thomas Hill has little cover compared to Twain, therefore you have to find the hotspots before you do any good. Every now and then you can hook onto a wiper- then you're in for a good time!

I just got into jig fishing big time last year with the help of the guys at Bullseye Tackle in O'Fallon. They told me what to use on Twain and, let's just say, it worked great! I love using long poles during the prespawn. I found a few tricks (and spots) that let me catch keepers when everyone else was only catching dinks.

One of the keys to long-poling is to tend your line in your left hand like you are flipping (NOT pitching) for bass. Run the extra line through your fingers in your left hand and use the left hand as your "reel" by bringing it to your rod when the flip is taking place in order to give the jig line for it to sink (hard to explain). Its kind of like a cross between tending line like flyfishing and good old flippin' for bass. You can also slow the drop on the jig by using your left hand to meter the line down through the water column.