Spooky Halloween Fishing at Lake of the Ozarks - Late Fall Transition Bite, Chasing Fatties in the Ozarks

Artificial Lure here, bringing you your Lake of the Ozarks fishing report for Friday, October 31, 2025.

A chilly Halloween morning finds the back bays steaming under a patchwork sky, temps hovering in the upper 40s at dawn and expected to climb just shy of 60 before another cold front sets in. According to local marina reports, the sunrise came at 7:33 AM and you’ll have until sunset at 6:12 PM to chase those fall fatties. Winds are light, steady from the northwest, and the lake is running clear with only a slight tint in feeder creeks after a couple of drizzly days earlier this week.

And while there’s no real tide to speak of in these Ozark hills, water levels are holding near normal fall pool—so access to brush piles, docks, and secondary points is wide open. Foliage is right at peak, with hickories and maples blazing yellow and orange along the tall bluffs according to the latest from the Missouri Department of Conservation, making for one of the prettiest backdrops of the year.

The bite, folks, is classic late fall: transition fish are sliding out deeper by midday, but there’s still a reliable morning window in the shallow brush and dock edges. In the Gravois arm, anglers like Steve and Austin have been stacking nice limits by keying on brush in 10 to 12 feet—plenty of chunky largemouth, and crappie mixed in if you downsize your offerings. Big spotted bass have been schooling up around main lake points, chasing balls of shad that are moving tight to structure as the chill sets in.

For this weekend, leave the topwaters at home and load up on proven fall staples:
- Football jigs, especially a 1/2-ounce Omega or Strike King Tour Grade. Toss these into deep brush piles and drag slow—most bites are coming on the pause.
- Umbrella rigs and jerkbaits, especially on windy points. Brad Jelinek and others in last week’s derby leaned heavy on A-rigs to get reaction strikes from suspended bass—the Megabass Vision 110 and Alabama rigs rigged with 3-inch swimbaits are seeing some of the best results.
- For crappie, it’s hard to beat a small hair jig or a Bobby Garland Baby Shad, though some are still taking minnows dropped vertically in brush at 10-15 feet.
- Don't forget your drop shot with a 6-inch Roboworm in morning dawn, or try a shaky head with a green pumpkin trick worm—both have been money on the secondary ledges and bluff ends.

Recent catches have included multiple limits of 14-16 inch bass, with a few kicker largemouth breaking the 5-pound mark around mid-lake boat docks and the mouths of major creeks. Crappie have been solid, most slabs running 10-12 inches, and a few reports of bonus white bass busting shad in the afternoons.

Hot spots to check today:
- The Gravois Arm, focusing on 12-foot brush and deeper dock stalls.
- Main Lake points between the 18 and 24 mile markers—umbrella rigs on the wind-blown sides here have been producing numbers and size.
- The Niangua arm, where big spotted bass are chasing bait near the old channel swings, especially mid-morning.

Quick tip: With the water cooling and fish feeding up for winter, don’t be afraid to size up your bait and slow down your presentation. Fish are packing on weight and seem to want a slower-moving, bigger profile right now.

That’s your Lake of the Ozarks fishing update for Halloween. Thanks for tuning in—be sure to subscribe for all the latest Ozark angling news. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Artificial war here bring in New York. Lake of the
Ozarks Fishing report for Friday, October thirty, first, twenty twenty five,
a chilly Halloween morning, finds the back bay steaming under
a patchwork sky, temps hovering in the upper forties at
dawn and expected to climb just shy of sixty before
another cold front sets in. According to local marina reports,

(00:23):
the sunrise came at seven thirty three am, and you'll
have until sunset at six twelve pm to chase those
fall fatties. Winds are light, steady from the northwest, and
the lake is running clear with only a slight tint
in feeder creeks after a couple of drizzly days earlier
this week, and while there's no real tide to speak
of and these Osar Kills, water levels are holding near

(00:46):
normal fall pool so access to brush piles, docks and
secondary points is wide open. Foliage is right at peak,
with hickories and maples blazing yellow and orange along the
tall bluffs, according to the latest from the Missouri Department
of Conservation, making for one of the prettiest backdrops of
the year. The bite Folks is classic late fall transition

(01:10):
fish are sliding out deeper by midday, but there's still
a reliable morning window in the shallow brush and dock
edges in the gravoy arm Anglers like Steve and Austin
have been stacking nice limits by keying on brush in
ten to twelve feet. Plenty of chunky, largemouth and crappy
nixed in if you downsize your offerings. Big spotted bass

(01:31):
have been schooling up around main lake points, chasing balls
of shad that are moving tight to structure. As the
chill sets in for this weekend, leave the top waters
at home and load up on proven fall staples. National jigs,
especially a one half ounce Omega or strike King tour grade,
toss these into deep brush piles and drags slow. Most

(01:55):
dikes are coming on the pause. Umbrella rigs and jerk
baits a special on windy points. Brad Jelinek and others
in last week's derby lean heavy on A rigs to
get reaction strikes from suspended bass. The Mega Bass Vision
one hundred ten and Alabama rigs rigged with three inch
swim baits are seeing some of the best results for crappy.

(02:18):
It's hard to beat a small hair jig or a
Bobby Garland baby shad, though some are still taking minnows
dropped vertically in brush at ten fifteen feet. Don't forget
your drop shot with a six inch roboworm in morning dawn,
or try a shaky head with a green pumpkin trickworm.
Both have been money on a secondary ledges and bluff ends.

(02:42):
Recent catches have included multiple limits of fourteen to sixteen
inch bass, with a few kicker large mouth breaking the
five pound mark around mid lake boat docks and the
mouths of major creeks. Crappy have been solid, most slabs
running ten to twelve inches, and a few reports of
bonus white bass busting shad in the afternoons. Hotspots to

(03:04):
scheck today the gravel eyse Arm, focusing on twelve foot
brush and deeper dock stalls main like points between the
eighteen and twenty four mile markers. Umbrella rigs on the
wind blown sides here have been producing numbers and size
the Nyangla Arm, where big spotted bass are chasing bait
near the old channel swings, especially mid morning quick tip.

(03:29):
With the water cooling and fish feeding up for winter,
don't be afraid to size up your bait and slow
down your presentation. Fish are packing on weight and seem
to want a slower moving, bigger profile. Right now. That's
your Lake of the Ozarks fishing update for Halloween. Thanks
for tuning in. Be sure to subscribe for all the
latest ozark angling news. This has been a Quiet Place production.

(03:54):
For more check out Quiet Please dot ai