The key to success in the winter is fishing the lure slowly along the bottom near large boulders or sunken timber without getting hung up with each cast.

In Ozark streams, this means anglers need to fish near the bottom, near boulders or downed timber, using lures that imitate small crayfish, minnows or worms. My experience suggests that live bait, minnows, crayfish or large worms will pay dividends.

I keep my fishing equipment simple. I recommend using an open-face spinning reel on a 6-foot light-action spinning rod spooled with 6- or 8-pound monofilament or the newer fluorocarbon line. This setup allows me to make precision casts and feel the lure as it walks along the bottom.

In wintertime, I use 1/8-, 1/16-, or sometimes 1/32-ounce jigs tipped with Chompers, crayfish, Tubes or 3- or 4-inch worms with twisty tails. Rig the lures to be weedless, thread the lure on the jig hook, and then pass the hook tip back through the body of the lure just enough to allow it to penetrate when you set the hook.

The key to success in the winter is fishing the lure slowly along the bottom near large boulders or sunken timber without getting hung up with each cast. Executed correctly, this technique will allow an angler to feel a bass pick up the lure. When this happens, set the hook -- and hang on!

WHERE TO FISH
During the winter, pick ice-free streams and areas of streams having a warmwater source. The most common warmwater sources in the Ozarks are the many springs that keep Missouri’s Ozark streams flowing clear and warm all winter. But don’t discount some northeastern Missouri streams, especially if they have a regularly discharging dam or a great enough flow to stay ice-free even during the coldest periods.

Provided herein are a few suggestions on where to find winter bass in Missouri’s skinny water. But don’t let these pointers limit your fishing horizon. Do your own exploring using the wealth of information available on Missouri springs, their locations and the locations of nearby access points.

Northeast Missouri
The best stream in northeast Missouri for winter bass fishing, hands down, is the Lower Salt River downstream from the Clarence Cannon Re-Regulation dam. When the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers constructed Clarence Cannon Dam and Mark Twain Lake, they also constructed a reregulation dam approximately nine miles downstream to allow engineers to pump water back when Mark Twain Lake needed additional water. This structure has been responsible for the creation of a great winter fishery downstream in the Salt River. Before its completion, the river froze over periodically, but it now remains ice-free for several miles downstream. Access the reregulation dam area and tailwater from state Route A, just northwest of Center. This area provides anglers with a boat ramp just downstream from the dam.

Ozarks
Nearly all of Missouri’s Ozark streams are influenced by spring flows. Some, such as Alley Spring, are large; others are small, influencing fish in only a pool or two. Some streams drain hundreds of acres; others are small, intimate streams only available to wading anglers. All can provide great winter fishing.

Missouri’s longest -- and, in my opinion, richest -- stream is the Gasconade River, flowing more than 300 Missouri miles and draining some of western Missouri’s richest, most productive lands. This combination of size and productivity offers Missouri bass anglers a wealth of winter fishing opportunities.

I’ve fished, floated and researched this great river for most of my MDC career. My favorite stretch is the 20 miles from MDC’s Riddle Bridge Access north of St. Roberts on state Route Y, downstream to the MDC access at Jerome.

This section also hosts one of MDC’s special smallmouth management areas, where anglers must release all smallmouth bass smaller than 18 inches. This bass management approach has spawned one of the state’s -- and the region’s -- best smallmouth fisheries. It also supports some great largemouth and spotted bass angling on the river.

Some pools freeze briefly during very cold winters, but most years you can put in at Riddle Bridge and float the entire section. I recommend a johnboat that is equipped with both a small outboard motor and a trolling motor.