Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in from Lake of the Ozarks with your on-the-water report.
We don’t worry about tides here in mid-Missouri, but the *lake level and weather* matter. According to the National Weather Service, we’re looking at a classic January pattern: cold morning in the upper 20s to low 30s, afternoon highs pushing into the low 40s with a light north to northwest breeze. Skies are mostly clear, which means chilly but stable conditions and a slow, midday bite. Weather Underground and other local weather outlets line up on that forecast.
Sunrise is right around 7:30 a.m. with sunset just before 5:00 p.m., based on the U.S. Naval Observatory tables for this latitude. The best window is late morning through mid‑afternoon as that sun gets on the rocks and docks and bumps the water temp a degree or two.
FishingReminder reports today as a **poor solunar day** for Lake Ozark, with weaker major and minor feeding times, so you’ll want to grind slow and tight to structure instead of chasing a fast reaction bite. That lines up with what local winter patterns usually do on this lake.
Water temps on the main lake are running in the upper 40s to around 50 in spots, according to recent angler posts and marina chatter, with a little stain in the rivers and clearer water on the main channel. That’s prime time for slow winter bass tactics.
Recent catches around the lake, from local Facebook groups and tackle shop talk, have been:
- **Largemouth and spots** in the 2–4 pound class, with a few 5‑plus mixed in, mostly off deeper docks, secondary points, and bluff ends.
- **Crappie** limits coming from brush in 15–25 feet, fish often 8–12 feet down.
- A few **blue cats** and **channels** on cut bait in the river arms.
Best **bass baits** right now:
- **Alabama rigs** with 3.3–3.8 swimbaits over channel swings and deep dock fronts.
- **Jerkbaits** in shad or translucent colors over 10–20 feet, long pauses – think count-to-10, sometimes 15.
- **Finesse jigs** and **football jigs** in green pumpkin or PB&J on rocky points and dock corners.
Tournament coverage from Major League Fishing and winter Ozark reports consistently highlight jerkbaits, A‑rigs, and jigs as top cold‑water players in our clear highland reservoirs.
For **crappie**, minnows and small tube or baby shad jigs in natural shad or chartreuse/white over brush are producing best, according to local marina reports and the kind of patterns the Missouri Department of Conservation sees in winter sampling: crappie stacking deep and tight to cover.
Catfish folks are doing better on:
- Cut shad or skipjack on the main‑channel edges.
- Nightcrawlers and stink bait in the upper river arms when we get a little color to the water.
Couple of **hot spots** to check:
- **Gravois Arm**: Work secondary points and big condo docks with jerkbaits and A‑rigs; crappie on brush off the main creek channel.
- **Niangua Arm**: More stain and a degree or two warmer at times; drag a jig or small creature bait on chunk rock banks, and target brush piles for crappie in that 18–22 foot zone.
Slow down, fish vertical when you can, and let that sun do some work for you midday. That’s when most of the better reports have been coming in the last few days.
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