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Truman Lake Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Sep 4, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Missouri's flooded-timber crappie factory, with hybrids and blue cats to keep it honest.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Flow
614 cfs
Air / High
101 / 102 F
Wind
S 7 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 06919900, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
4
September 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Truman Lake locks in another hot, bright day: the fish know the drill and so should you. The river is running 614 cfs, dropping and clearing. Today brings clear skies, wind S around 7 mph, steady pressure near 1011 hPa and a high of 102. Water sits around 84 F for the season (estimated). With the last quarter, the solunar majors run 5:39 AM-7:39 AM and 5:39 PM-7:39 PM: plan around them and beat the heat.

The plan, species by species

Hybrid striped bassGood

Schooling at first light over main-lake humps and channel edges. Slabs, tail spinners and live shad once you mark bait. It is usually over by mid-morning.

Catfish (blue, channel)Good

Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

Largemouth bassFair

Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

CrappieSlow

Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

Tomorrow: Similar at 104 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Sep 5, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings from Sac River near Caplinger Mills, MO.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 06919900.

1,3942,8424,290614 cfs08/0508/1508/2509/04

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp101 F
High / Low102 / 75 F
WindS 7-9 mph
Pressure1011.2 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain5% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset06:47 / 19:39
MoonLast Quarter, 50%
Water temp (seasonal)~84 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Fri Sep 4 · Partly cloudy, 102/75 F, wind 9 mph, rain 0%

Slow. 102 F: be on the water at dawn and off by mid-morning, or fish after dark.

Species guide

The species that matter on Truman Lake: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: spring and fall

The headline act on most American reservoirs. Relates to cover: docks, brush, grass edges and points. Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

Hybrid striped bass illustration

Hybrid striped bass

Best: Jun-Sep

Stocked white bass x striper cross. Open-water shad chasers; birds and busting bait give them away. Schooling at first light over main-lake humps and channel edges. Slabs, tail spinners and live shad once you mark bait. It is usually over by mid-morning.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Good year-round

The most reliable bite on most southern waters. Blues run big; channels fill the cooler. Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: Nov-Mar

Brush piles, bridge pilings and standing timber. The fish fry favorite. Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

When to come: the Truman Lake calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Largemouth bass
Hybrid striped bass
Catfish (blue, channel)
Crappie
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 84 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~84 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Truman Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Sep 3

3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Hybrid striped bass led the card at good. High of 102 F, wind to 11 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Hybrid striped bass led the card at good. High of 101 F, wind to 11 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Hybrid striped bass led the card at good. High of 101 F, wind to 10 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used to send you this water's report each week. No spam, ever.

Before you go

License

Missouri requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Crappie: 9-inch minimum, 15/day. Hybrids 15 combined with whites. Confirm with MDC.

Access

Bucksaw, Long Shoal, Thibaut Point, Sparrowfoot and state park ramps; marinas at Bucksaw and Osage Bluff.

About this water

55,600 acres at the Osage-South Grand junction, Benton/Henry/St. Clair counties, MO. Corps, impounded 1979.

Fishing Truman Lake: the full guide

The timber lake

Truman flooded 55,000 acres of standing timber and never looked back: it is arguably Missouri's best crappie lake (endless wood at every depth), a serious hybrid fishery over the old river channels, and blue catfish water of real consequence. Muddy, snaggy and generous: bring jigs by the hundred and watch the wind forecasts on the open flats.

Flipping the forest

Truman's standing timber runs for miles: the bass program is pitching jigs to wood in 3-12 ft of stained water, learning which trees stand on channel edges (those hold the fish). No-trolling zones cover much of the timber for good reason: this is close-quarters fishing, one tree at a time.

Crappie logistics

With cover everywhere, position beats presence: fish the timber ON creek channels and ledges, not the endless flats of it. Spring finds crappie shallow behind Bucksaw and Long Shoal; winter stacks them 20-25 ft in the same channels. Minnows rule when rain muddies the water: which is often.

Common questions

Why is trolling banned across much of Truman?

Standing timber makes open-throttle travel dangerous: idle and no-trolling zones protect props and people, and their buoy lines double as a map of the best cover.

When do Truman's hybrids bite?

May-June and September-October over the river channels under birds; summer sends them deep toward the dam where live shad on downlines produces.

The flooded forest engine

Truman kept more standing timber than any Corps lake in the region, and everything about its fishery flows from that: crappie stacked in tree-top lanes, blue cats under the wood, and a bass program of jig presentations into cover other lakes lost decades ago. Navigation demands respect (marked lanes exist for reasons), but the wood is the reason the fish stay biting.

Is fishing good at Truman Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

Pomme de Terre Lake23 miStockton Lake36 miLake of the Ozarks39 miNiangua River41 miBennett Spring51 miHillsdale Lake78 mi
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