Mike's Guide ServiceLake of the Ozarks

January 2026 report

Cold water, short windows

Cold and clear. The bite lasted a few hours in the middle of the day, but the fish that ate were good ones.

Water temp
Upper 30s
Lake level
Winter pool
Clarity
Very clear
Best window
11am to 3pm
The pattern
No reason to be out at daylight in January. Things turned on once the sun put a little warmth in the water, usually late morning, and held into the middle of the afternoon.
Crappie
Deep and stacked — twenty five to thirty five feet on the standing timber and the deeper brush. Straight down and slow. Move the bait much and they would not touch it.
Bass
Bluff ends and the steepest banks on the lake. A jig dragged slowly, or a jerkbait left sitting still longer than feels reasonable. Not many bites, but the right ones.
Two anglers in hoodies holding crappie on a cold January morning at Lake of the Ozarks
An angler in a hooded sweatshirt holding a crappie caught in January
An angler holding out a crappie taken off deep winter brush
A landing net full of crappie after a January morning on the lake
A crappie laid on the measuring board before release
An angler in a beanie and winter jacket with a crappie caught in January
A landing net of crappie on the deck after a winter morning
An angler in a hoodie with a crappie caught beside the boat
A largemouth bass on the measuring board on the deck of the boat
An angler in a heavy coat and beanie holding a largemouth bass on a bare-tree January day
An angler with his hood up holding a largemouth bass from the deck in the cold
An angler in a red winter coat holding a heavy largemouth bass against a bare shoreline

Want a month like that?

Four, six or eight hours at a flat $100 an hour. Call or text and Mike will tell you what they are doing this week.

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