White: Winter fishing beginning to heat up as more Missourians catch on

Ken White serves up a platter of winter crappie, snagged from Truman Lake.

Donna White | Special to the Daily Mail

As 2017 is winding down, most anglers’ thoughts are looking toward the good spring fishing they will find. However, there are many anglers who never quit, including a growing number of crappie fishermen like Jim Simms of Marshfield.

Instead of shopping for Christmas presents like he said “I should have been doing,” Simms was on Stockton Lake pulling in slab crappie. He found out several years ago how good the winter crappie fishing can be while fishing off a dock and catching several big crappie in a short time.

Jack Price, a Springfield friend came by and asked Simms if he wanted to go out on the lake with him. Price had been catching some big crappie from his boat in a crappie bed which was in a nearby cove.

The two anglers started catching crappie using smoke colored jigs, and in less than two hours they each had a limit of 15 crappie. Since that trip, Simms has been crappie fishing in the winter anytime he can get away and the weather is good. He said, if I can get the boat on the lake, I will be out there. You don’t notice the cold when the fishing is hot. If and when the fishing slows down, or the wind gets up, then you start to notice the cold creeping in and it sends you home.”

Just a few short years ago, you wouldn’t see a boat on the lake all day — but now that more anglers have found that the fishing can be good in the winter months, there is more activity, even when the temperature hovers around the freezing mark. It can be a cold boat ride if you aren’t dressed properly, however, it can be worthwhile to suffer a little discomfort to bring home a good mess of crappie.

Recently, I fished Stockton and managed to catch seven big crappie. After cooking, though crappie is always good, there is something special about fresh winter crappie. Coming out of the cold water, while adding something to the fact that it has been awhile since the last time we had fresh-caught crappie, which makes them taste even better. I will be back for more soon.

Another winter crappie angler and his wife, Dennis and Tina Hymer of Strafford, have a houseboat where they can winter fish in comfort when the weather gets bad. Dennis has cut out a hole in the middle of his boat where he can sit in an easy chair, watch TV and catch crappie — although he catches fish out of the brush around the dock most of the time. Hymer is known as a winter crappie catcher and rarely has a bad day.

A crappie caught on a small silver spoon, while fishing through the ice.

Ken White | Daily Mail

Impoundments in both Missouri and Kansas can be great for crappie fishing in the winter. Fishing with Brent Frazee on Perry Lake in Kansas, we caught more than 50 slab crappie by using smoke-colored 1/16 ounce jigs. Many of those fish would weigh almost 3 pounds, with most of them in the 1-2 pound range. We used a fish-finder to stay on an underwater ridge in 18 feet of water. You could even see a big crappie heading for your lure before it hit.

On another trip, we broke ice to get to a brushy crappie hole, where we caught several dozen slabs by using small white jigs. The word had gotten out that the crappie were hitting and, before we quit, there were six other boats surrounding us and most everyone was catching fish.

Tina and Dennis Hymer, Strafford, with some of the many December crappie they caught.

Ken White | Daily Mail

Other crappie hot spots during the winter include below the dam at Truman Lake, where at times, the catching can be very good for crappie and white bass. The warm water lake at Thomas Hill can also be good and some Ozark streams may also be productive.

In the winter the crappie establish a pattern, so when you find them, you should have good fishing for a while. It’s no wonder more anglers aren’t putting their fishing gear away in the winter, because there is still some good fishing out there in spite of the cold.”