GrandFishingReport.com is back
The Grand Fishing Report website is back up at GrandFishingReport.com after a lapse. It's rebuilt to make it easy for local businesses to sponsor the report. For years a lot of folks used the website instead of Facebook or couldn't catch the show on KGVE, and Jeff expects it to climb back up in the search listings. The audio report is also going up on the Jeff Williams Outdoors YouTube channel (the old Pops Fishing channel, full of Grand Lake fishing videos), on the Grand Fishing Report Facebook group, and of course on KGVE 99.3 Grand Lake Radio, home of a fishing report for many, many years.
Weather / fog
Parts of the lake are still frozen. Yesterday and today brought some of the craziest fog Jeff has seen around the lake. Some of the time he couldn't see from his front porch to the end of his dock. Warm humid air over very cold water made traveling on or around the lake really difficult. Hopefully drier air moves back in.
Inflows / watershed
Southeast Kansas and southwest Missouri were dry all fall, but ground moisture is getting saturated now. A 1–2 inch rain could push a substantial flow down Spring River or Elk River. Driving south to Greenwood, the creeks got higher the farther south he went. The Elk River, crossed twice in Missouri on the new I-49, was running a little above normal but still clear. Driving to Miami yesterday, Jeff found the Neosho River locked up tight with hard white ice. There hasn't been enough inflow to break it up, but a little runoff should start to. A little wind would help break up the ice too.
Catfish
Not many reports this week, but friends Matt and Christie went out and caught some really nice Catfish, likely pre-fishing for the Twisted Cats tournament coming to the lake in a couple of weeks. Search Twisted Cats on Facebook or the web. Jeff did a long interview with Alex from Twisted Cats about the Grand Lake event and the tackle and sporting-goods business.
Paddlefish / Williams Guide Service
Jeff's son Haydn (Williams Guide Service) has a new website, FishGrand.com, a handy tool for his clients. Haydn had friends out over the weekend and they caught 21 Paddlefish in one afternoon. Then a hydraulic hose blew on his boat, and they had to steer the big 225 Suzuki with their feet, one guy on each side, to get back to the ramp.
Cold-weather boat care
Deep freezes are really hard on hydraulics, steering cables, pumps and batteries. When boats come out of a hard freeze, check all of it before you head out.
Coming up
Once the ice clears around Twin Bridges, expect to catch a lot of White Bass and Crappie up there.