Lee’s Summit Fishing Report courtesy of Lee’s Summit Area Fishing Facebook Group
BLUE SPRINGS: mid 50s, stained, normal Outlook: Lee’s Summit Area Fishing Facebook Group reports: White bass can be found lakewide. Bandit 200s and 300s are a good trolling option that will get the whites, crappie, and hybrids. Hybrids have been hitting live shad near the dam and have been caught shallow from the bank as well. Watch for wind blown banks for the hybrids/whites. Largemouth have been slow in the last week but some nice ones are still being caught around the marina on Ned rigs. Crappie should be getting up shallow feeding on shad.
JACOMO: mid 50s, clear, normal Outlook: Lee’s Summit Area Fishing Facebook group reports: catfish are fair anywhere from 20+ feet down to 5 feet or less on fresh cut bait or prepared baits. Crappie will be near brush in 10-15 feet of water or along the public docks using jigs or minnows and moving shallow. Trolling crankbaits should be a good way to find all species of fish. Bluffs will probably be holding more fish soon. White bass are all over the lake, including out in front of the dam. Look for wind blown banks and find them on your graphs. Look for bass along the remaining weedlines or rocky banks in the coves. Find the bait and you’ll find the fish. They’ll be up shallow. Squarebills and spinnerbaits should produce.
LONGVIEW: low 60s, clear, a little low Outlook: Longview Marina reports: a lot of crappie are being caught but most are small. They are about 18 feet down. Catfish are biting really well right now around the marina area and there are big ones being caught on livers and worms. Bass fishing is picking up along the drop offs and rocky areas near the beaches. Marina open 8am-3pm. Minnows won’t be available until April 2021.
JAMES A. REED: 50 degrees, clear, normal Outlook: Missouri Dept. of Conservation reports: Fishing pressure is very low. Largemouth are fair on plastics and squarebills. Nice fish are being caught, but not necessarily getting a lot of bites. This week should be better with warmer weather. Crappie have picked up a little bit in last week. All other species slow.
GENERAL TACTICS: The fall is known for being a great time to fish shallow. Predator fish are feeding up as the shad seek warmer water. In many cases, the bass, white bass, and hybrids will be up in less than 3 feet of water on windy banks. So what are some good baits to try?
Squarebills should absolutely be tied on at all times in the fall. The Strike King KDV Squarebills are good options and come in a variety of colors. Sexy shad is a good all around color. You may go with one that has more chartreuse in it for more stained water. Many folks don’t know that crawfish spawn in the fall, so any crawdad imitations can be good as well. One thing you may consider doing is swapping out the front hook on your squarebill to a Gamakatsu Round Bend #2 hook. I’ve seen it firsthand where the red hook gives the fish an extra target to focus on. When you do the land the fish and it’s only hooked by one of the trebles, it will almost always be the red treble.
Other baits to try include spinnerbaits, rattle traps, buzzbaits, and jerkbaits. The Megabass Vision 110+1 is deadly and widely popular due to its extreme quality and very good suspending action.
For crappie fishing, minnows dipped along standing timber is always a good bet, especially up in the creek channels. Throwing jigs tipped with Bobby Garland baits should get you a few bites as well.
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