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Milford Reservoir
Hi All-
Missouri guy here who got invited to go on a public land turkey hunt the weekend of 4/13 near Milford and looking for some advice. I've not been to the area before and searching the forum here it looks like Milford is hit or miss when it comes to crappie fishing. I am used to fishing Truman/LOZ here in MO and was curious if you all thought it would be worth pulling the boat out there a couple of hours or should we just concentrate on the Turkey hunt? I am not a experienced walleye fisherman but it looks like from the KDWP site there could be some good fishing on the dam? I've got the chance to head out early as well and spend Wed-Sun there so might get some good time on the water or in the woods. Hoping for warm weather!
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Still working on getting my bearings on the lake, but from KDWP does this sound about right-
The state park is a popular destination for anglers eager to experience the excellent fishing available in Milford Reservoir. Walleye concentrate along the face of the dam in early April to spawn, then move to the flats at Farnum Creek and mud points near School Creek. Nearly all of the brushy and rocky coves contain crappie and largemouth bass, but coves in the Rolling Hills and Curtis Creek areas are traditional hot spots for crappie. White bass and catfish are plentiful in a variety of locations, and smallmouth bass frequent the face of the dam, as well as rocky points in the lower half of the lake.
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If the weather cooperates and you know what you are doing on the turkeys it shouldn't take more than a day to fill your tags. So that being said I would bring the boat. I'm not real experienced on Milford for crappie but others on here are and could probalby give you some advice.
Milford in general is a great fishing lake. It seems to be one of the lakes that I rarely if ever get skunked on. I would check the dam in the evenings to see if there are still some walleye haning around throw a rapala stick bait (F11 fire tiger would be my choice). You can also throw a SR5 rapala (fire tiger or shad with orange belly) or a roadrunner for some whites and wipers on the dam this time of year (I think they come to feed on walleye fry so keep all the whites you catch, not all the wipers though that will get you in trouble). Crappie will probably be in brush piles or on ledges 10-20ft deep beings I would guess the water temperature will be getting close to 50 by then.
If Droptine Joe or KAG reply differently take their advice over mine....can't beat that experience :notworthy
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Crappie hunter that is what I am talking about man! Advice down to the lure choice level. This is why CDC is so great. Also good to hear on the turkey situation, I'm coming into this trip late so don't have all my research done. Thanks again!
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c_h15 is spot on with the advice, both fishing and turkey. They are all over the place but several areas are better than others for a big bearded tom. I live on the west side of the lake and routinely pass them on my morning ride to work and then on the way home. When I was running my feeder in the fall they were hitting it hard in my lower field.
Its been tough going for crappie for me the past several weeks on the lake. Transition time they say...........I think they transitioned to another time zone......
I did here a rumor today about some action that I am going to flesh out this weekend....if its even tiny bit true I will be thrilled.
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KAG thanks for the reply. Man this is sounding like it might wind up being a good trip :). From my Google Earth scouting it does seem the West and North side of the lake look like the places to be. Hopefully we can get a few guys introduced to the turkey woods and get them their first birds. Any plans on fishing next week? Might see you out on the water. Thanks again
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Hands down, No question, Bring the boat. As stated before almost never skunked on Milford. Great multi-species lake. Trolling a 3=way rig with a Rapala and a roadrunner has been a consistant producer for me. Enjoy and good luck!
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They caught a 82.05lb blue there this weekend.
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