With the water at Wappapello Lake mostly stable for a while now, fishing has been pretty good, if not a bit uncomfortable in the oppressive heat.
"The crappie fishing has slowed down," said Nathan at Sundowner Marina, "but the bass, bluegill and catfish are good."
The biggest deterrent to good fishing right now is the temperature, with guys calling it quits early.
"There's a bass tournament Saturday, and those guys are fishing until 2," he quipped. "I can't see how they do it."
Another issue anglers need to be aware of at the lake, at least until it cools down some, Nathan said, is a bit of a thermocline brought on by the high water temperature.
"There's no dissolved oxygen in the deeper water, so you won't find any fish below 6 or 7 feet deep. You can't even keep your bait alive," Nathan said. "You have to fish no deeper than that."
I can tell you from my experience recently fishing in the Wappapello spillway is really good right now.
The water isn't as low as it had been, and it's just right for chucking some hardware to the fish.
Anglers there are catching pretty much everything from bluegills to catfish and crappies to white bass.
The crappies are numerous, and there are some real dandies there pushing 16 inches. Granted, you'll have to catch a lot of smaller ones as well, but the chance to catch a slab crappie is there, at least for now.
Nice largemouth and spotted bass also are being caught in the spillway. One angler was using a spinnerbait and catching some good ones, and he said the day before he'd caught two 4-pounders and one he estimated around 6 pounds farther downstream.
Currently, there are a lot of white bass in the spillway, and honestly, they're the biggest I've ever seen there. Conservation Agent Frank Campa saw the ones I had and also thought they were well above average size.
In the past, I've caught lots of white bass in the 12-inch range from the spillway, but these were all 15- to 17-plus inches and extra fat. On my 7-foot Lew's ultralight rod and 4-pound line, they were a ton of fun.
Basically, right now, if you toss a small jig or spinner into the water and keep it from snagging in the rocks, you could catch just about anything.
Angler's
Choice
Thirty-three teams fished the Angler's Choice tournament at Wappapello July 16, with all but a few bringing a five-fish limit to the weigh-in.
Ron Niswonger and Dan Niswonger were the top anglers on the day, netting 18.1 pounds and $1,810. Second place was earned by Troy Fowler and James Lee, who's 15.14 pounds earned was good for $1,015.
Third place and $545 in winnings went to Bruce Hutson and Adam Hutson with 14.77 pounds, while finishing in fourth place with 14.55 pounds was Terry Young and Terry Holmes. They also had the day's big bass, weighing 5.76 pounds, and in all, they won $695.
The top five was rounded out by the team of Steve Seiter and Steve Hardin with 14.23 pounds, good for $255.
The Angler's Choice/Bass Quest group will fish again on Aug. 6.
Bass
Circuit
For competitive bass anglers, the Wappapello Bass Circuit will again be on the water Saturday, fishing from the Redman Creek ramp.
Launch time has been set for 6 a.m., with a weigh-in at 2 p.m.
If you're not familiar with the circuit, they have a pre-event meeting at 6 p.m. on Friday before every tournament. The meetings are held at the Wappapello VFW off Highway D, north of the dam.
If you need more information or would like to pre-register, give Matt Allison (573-778-6969) or Justun Buchanan (573-429-6312) a call.
Fishing
Lessons
Speaking of fishing, if you have a youngster who has never done it and would like to learn, the Missouri Department of Conservation will be partnering with the Poplar Bluff Municipal Library to offer free fishing lessons.
The classes are for those ages 7-15 and accompanied by a parent or guardian, and they must go to the library at 318 N. Main St. or call 573-686-8639 to pre-register.
The classes will be held from 1-3 p.m. on July 21, July 28, Aug. 4 and Aug. 11, and if children complete all four classes they will earn a $25 gift card from Bass Pro Shops.
All fishing gear will be provided, so all you have to do is show up.
Cash
Honored
Finally, a big congratulations go out to Poplar Bluff High School trap team member Hannah Cash for being named to the Missouri All-State team at last weekend's Scholastic Clay Target Program Nationals in Ohio, where shooters competed individually.
"I was surprised," said Cash, who admitted the event wasn't her best. "We were already on our way home and dad was looking at the scores. If I'd known what had happened, we would have stayed."
Cash previously has earned first and second-place honors in the ladies division at SCTP Nationals events.
"I'm glad a lot of my friends (including six other teammates), my mom, dad and sister were all there to support me," she said.
She, along with the rest of her teammates, will compete again at the AIM Nationals in Sparta, Ill., in a couple weeks.