Lake of the Ozarks Crappie Fishing

Planning on coming the weekend of May 29-30 for some sprint car races and was wanting to fish also. I'm guessing this will be spawn/post spawn time? I have watched some of Mike Baker's videos of him pulling crankbaits there. Would this be a good time to try to troll? I've bass fished it before and really don't want to shoot docks but will if that's the pattern they're biting. I know there are tons of brush piles around and in front of docks that wouldn't require shooting. Any advice on patterns and techniques you guys would like to divulge? What baits and colors to use? I think we will be staying at Bear Bottom Resort so if that helps because we probably won't go more than 10 miles away from the resort.

Thanks,

My guess is that will be when the trolling bite will really be heating up (but, we are talking about crappie, so no telling!). But, my guess would be they will be at the mouth of creeks near the channels. I haven't had much luck dock shooting at that time as they are transitioning from spawning to deep water to rest. And, like you mentioned, brush piles are always worth trying, no matter the time of year. Overall, I will be in full trolling mode at that time.

As far as colors, for me it varies by the hour. Just have plenty of two patterns: bright, high contrasting colors (hot pink, taco salad - my favorite, mistake, etc.), and a shad pattern (chartreuse shad, silver/blue back, etc.). I will go along for an hour or two with taco salad killing them, then all of a sudden they want silver/blue back. Again, its crappie we are talking about, they change their minds constantly.

Good luck.

May/June can be a tough time on LOTO, however, it can be quite the opposite, too. This past year, I hopped in the boat late May on LOTO and planned on fishing brush in front of docks, post spawn style. Much to my surprise, my electronics lit up in a small cove with fish scattered EVERYWHERE. I assume they were in transition from spawn to post spawn. It was definitely a pattern I wasn't expecting. I just happened to have my rigging rods with me, so I spread 8 rods out for coverage and fished 10ft down in the middle of the cove. I had a limit in an hour after I weeded through lots of short fish. If you find yourself rigging on LOTO, get 3x as many minnows as you think you will need. Lots of short fish to go through before you find the keepers. As far as pulling cranks go, I have heard of people being successful as early as late May. The fish tend to go deep to crankbait depth around June if the weather doesn't turn hot too quick. I personally don't pull a lot of cranks, so I can't speak from experience.

Good luck!

I'd plan on trolling crankbaits in deep water...bluffs...big coves...Also that's the best time of year to night fish with a green light

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