Column: Anglers prepare for a new year of fishing

As the old year runs out, many hunting seasons are still going, but lots of outdoorsmen are looking forward to some good fishing and many have been fishing all year with good results.

Some anglers hit the warm waters of the power plant at Thomas Hill where the crappie and bass fishing can be very good this month. Others find comfortable fishing in the heated docks at the Lake of the Ozarks and trout anglers like to fish the catch-and-release fishing at the state trout parks as well as searching for lunker browns and rainbows on Taneycomo.

For more than 10 years, several Iowa anglers, who work the Kansas City Sportshow, which opens on Jan. 9 this year, come to Missouri early to bass fish on Truman and Table Rock, crappie fish on Stockton and go after the trout at Taneycomo.

Paul Kitchen, Des Moines, came to Table Rock earlier last year and caught the largest bass of his 40 plus years of fishing. "I hooked a nine pound bass which was by far the largest bass I had ever caught," he said. "This year I couldn't wait for the holidays so I could try to hook an even larger fish. Winter fishing can be tough, but when you do hook a fish, it is usually a good one. The day I caught the lunker bass, I only had three strikes, but I had a five pounder to go along with the bigger bass. I know there are muskie anglers who fish for days without getting a hit. Last year I only fished two days, but caught six big bass so I'm sold on winter fishing in Missouri."

Les Jarman, Stockton, is another winter fisherman who starts using jerk baits in December and has already caught some nice fish. "I use a jerk bait about this time of the year and catch bass and walleye when there are few other anglers on the lake," he said.

Several years ago, two Kansas City anglers, Jerry Fisher and Bob Adams fished in a heavy snowstorm on Taneycomo and hooked a trout on nearly every cast. The next day, on the advice of Charlie Campbell, fished for white bass on Bull Shoals where the whites were schooled up and attracted lots of fishermen.

As their boat rounded a curve in the lake it wasn't hard to see where the fish were. There were more than 10 boats in a big circle and everyone was pulling in white bass. In less than an hour both anglers had their limits of 15 whites each and headed for home. Fisher said, "I never saw so many fish caught in such a short time by so many fishermen. There must have been more than 100 whites caught in the time we were there."

There are also a group of anglers who spend time in the winter fishing in heated docks catching crappie, bass and even an occasional white bass or walleye, There aren't a lot of heated docks in the state, but on most of the big impoundments crappie may be caught by fishing off docks where cedar trees have been placed to make a crappie shelter. Jim Davis, Camdenton, is a winter crappie angler who starts fishing hard as the new year approaches. "I have a job that is seasonal so I have more time to fish in the winter than any other season. For years I have put the family Christmas tree in the lake near my dock and it has worked out very good with some excellent crappie fishing in the winter. I never fail to catch enough fish for a great dinner at least once a week. Its great," he said.

Smaller lakes can be good crappie fishing in the winter. Last December, a favorite pond that has crappie, found two brothers, Larry and Ben Wilson drilling a hole through the ice to catch fish for dinner. Ben said, "It isn't very often that we can safely fish through the ice, but when we can it is usually good."

Fishing never stops in Missouri even when the snow is on the ground and the temperature hovers near the single digits.