Lake Master or Nav chip for HB

[Scott K]

I plan on making a spring fishing trip to Lake of the Ozarks, and Truman Lake in the spring, and I want to know if I should go with a Lake Master, or Navionics for a HumminBird? Which one is better?

[Barbelboy]

I have the lakemaster App for my phone for LOZ. Tons of detail. I would assume the chip is the same.

When are you heading to LOZ? I'll be there the first week in April for the paddlefish season and some blue cat action.

Just can't get these in MN!

[Scott K]

I will be there April 20th.

[Finns]

Sweet!

[Barbelboy]

Sorry, Sorry, I had a brain fart. I have the Navionics App and love it. I also have the Lake Master chip (MN) and love it. The navionics app includes the entire country and coastal waters for cheap!

So what are you doing down on Truman and LOZ at the end of April? Cats? Spoonbills? Crappies? Whitebass?

Have you ever been down there before? This is my third trip and I LOVE IT! This year I've built 30 jugs and I'm planning on chasing blues and channel cats at night. Heck, you're allowed 33 lines apiece in MO. Might as well take advantage of it!

[Scott K]

Mostly for the Blue cats, and this is my 1st trip there. You have any tips for a rookie blue cat fisherman? Bait, area, rigs, depth, structure, or any helpful information?

[Barbelboy]

Yikes! Where does a guy start! A lot depends on where you are going to be fishing. I'm usually on upper LOZ by the truman dam (osage arm) and 10 miles or so downstream because i'm combining catfishing with paddlefish snagging. The number of guys snagging kind of cuts down on daytime catfishing, but in the evening and at night I work on 'em. Channel ledges and flats are what I concentrate on. The same thing applies with MN fishing, after 15-25 minutes with nothing, move on. Also with the number of lines a guy can have you can cover some water (33 hooks per guy). I'll often fish 6-10 rods out of my boat. I'll set up on a ledge or flat and cast lines shallow and lines deep in a fan pattern around me. Somedays everything works. Somedays they'll be shallow or deep. Primarily I use cut bait(3/0-5/0 circle hook) or chicken liver (treble hook). As for rods I believe any heavy duty channel cat rig or flathead rig will work nicely. I have 7' medium action wildcat rods with 40 lb braid. The only reason I lean towards the heavy side is that occasionally you run across a big blue. Our biggest is 27lbs. But, it's different than MN. Most likely you won't be anywhere near log jams or timber. So you are fighting fish in open water and can get away with lighter line/rigs that you would if you were fishing flatheads in the MN river. I've used everything from slip bobbers, 3 way rigs to the typical slip rig. Also, like I said. This year I made 30 jugs out of pool noodles and PVC. I'll be in the Cole Camp Creek arm in the evening floating them around from 5'-12' of water with cut bait chasing them around. Also, the marinas with fillet tables are fun to set up by. In MO they just dump fish guts in the river/lake. Marinas with fillet tables are natural chum sites. It sure is easy after a hard day of snagging to wander down the the dock with a six pack and catch cats off the dock.Especially with glow bobbers!

As for the big lakes I haven't spent much time on them. But drifting ledges, sunken roads or all sorts of other structure can be very good.

I suggest also looking on the web for other "catfish" forums. There is some excellent info out there, as you likely already know! You might even find barbelboy on some of them.

[Scott K]

Thanks man, I will be staying in Warsaw at Truman Lodge. I fish the MN all the time for flats, and have big gear. Is there a better time to be out fishing, morning, daytime, evening, nights?

What should we be expecting for average temps this time of year there?

[vermilionfox]

Tough to say what the weather is going to be like this year! It's been pretty warm here in the St. Louis area. The best sight I've found for checking past data is weather underground. Under their Travel and Activities tab go to Travel Planner. Put in the city you want to go to, and a date range it will give you 10+ years of past data!

[Barbelboy]

I agree, it will be tough to predict the weather this year. But I believe MO has been experiencing a warm winter like we have. Should be an average daytime high in the 60's by the time you get there. So water temps "might" be higher than average. They catch cats down there all year long though, so water temp shouldn't be a problem. But you know how weather can be.

As for time of day. I don't think that matters too much. I've caught 'em 24 hours a day down there. But primarily I fish evenings and nights because the osage arm can be a zoo because of the paddlefish snagging season. I plan on spending more time catfishing during the day this year because I planned a longer trip. I'll give you a report about the daytime fishing when I get back.

As for where I stay, I like staying on the lake. I've been at the white horse marina, old oar inn and this year I'll be staying at the lake side resort. All are on LOZ and offer covered boat slips. It's awefully nice to just walk down to the boat and jump in. But if you are planning on hitting both lakes staying in Warsaw is a great idea. That area of the country is so cool. Soooooo many catfish, so little time!