Truman Lake Fall Preview 2020
Truman Lake Fishing Fall Preview
Missouri is very blessed to have some of the best fishing reservoirs in the country. Lake of the Ozarks and Table Rock are premiere destinations for both recreational boaters and anglers alike. But Truman Lake fishing is right up there with them. It boasts a diverse list of species to target as well as quality. The experts at trumanlakefishingintel.com expect good things in the coming months and have a few pointers if you plan to get on the water in this Truman Lake fall preview.
Here in mid-September, the water temperature is finally starting to creep down into the low 70s. Several arms of the lake seemed to have started the process of turning over or getting close. The lake level is about 1.5 feet low still, exposing many logs and stick ups you can’t normally see at normal level or higher.
Expectations are high this fall for many species. Largemouth bass have come on strong all over the lake in the past several years, and this year has gotten even better. It has regularly taken 20-pound+ bags to win tournaments.
As we progress into fall, you need to be spending your time in the creeks and secondary pockets. The shad are already moving in there and the bass aren’t far behind. Folks are reporting finding the bass shallow already all over the lake, but not necessarily all the way into the creeks yet.
“If you pull into a spot and see a big, long meandering school of shad, turn around and leave,” Steve Blake, longtime guide on Truman, said. When you see shad like this, they aren’t being pressured by any predators.
“You want to look for those shad balls that are bunched up tight in a 6-8 foot circle swimming round and round because there’s something feeding on them.”
Topwater is already picking up throwing the medium-size whopper plopper and PopRs.
“But you can’t beat a squarebill from now until mid-October,” Blake added. “I like a Tennessee shad color in clear water and a chartreuse black back in dirtier water.”
Some of the most fun action you’ll have this fall is chasing white bass and hybrids. The lower end of the lake near the dam and KK Island are very popular places to target them. Once that water temperature hits 70 degrees, it will be on!
“Look for any windy bank whether it’s chunk rock, gravel, or otherwise and they’ll be there in 1-4 feet of water,” Blake said. He expects this fall to be one of the best times the lake has seen in years for white bass.
And, the hybrids won’t be far behind. They will move up shallow right there with the white bass so you better be ready to hold on for a fight.
Master Captain, Jack Vanderpool, who operates Wiper Sniper Guide Service on Truman, is ready for some hard-fighting hybrids in the coming weeks.
“I look for stable weather over the course of several days,” Vanderpool said. “If it stays consistent, the hybrids will be more inclined to get up shallow.” While he has all the electronics to find the fish, Vanderpool likes to let nature tell him where to go.
“When I’m out on the water, I’m watching for the gulls all the time,” he said. “They’ll point you right to where all the shad are hanging out.”
Crappie fishing on Truman is exceptional, and the fall months are a great time to target them.
Captain Jeff Faulkenberry looks forward to when the water temperature gets close to 50 degrees.
“I’m going to target most of my fish shallow when they start getting that 50-degree feed bag on,” Faulkenberry said. “I’ll look for those dark black stumps because they hold the warmth a little better, it keeps the algae a bit more active, and the crappie just congregate to them.”
Faulkenberry also likes to target catfish up shallow as well as we get further into the fall.
“Those shad are going to move back into those warmer waters in the backs of creeks and you’ll be able to catch catfish in 2 to 5 feet of water,” he stated.
“You’re basically looking at patterns that will be very similar to the spring, pre-spawn pattern, but instead of waiting for the water to get up to 50 degrees, you’re waiting for it to get down to 50 degrees here in the next couple of months,” Faulkenberry explained.
Regardless of what species you’re looking for, Truman Lake fishing is going to be good this fall. The bass population is in good shape, catfish are plentiful, white bass and hybrids are already being caught in numbers, and the crappie fishing continues to prove why Truman is one of the best crappie lakes in the country.
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