Waterways
Your Guide to Winter Fishing in the Ozarks
Don’t hang up your rod and reel for the winter. Two fishermen break out their tips for exceptional fishing during our coldest months.
by Katie Pollock Estes
Feb 2025
Photo courtesy ShutterstockEven in cold weather, you can catch plenty of fish around the Ozarks.
Although you might think of southwest Missouri waterways as strictly summertime destinations, some of our local rivers can be ideal places for anglers to spend a brisk and chilly winter’s day outside. That’s because fishing is an all-year activity, and there are some good reasons to make sure you give wintertime fishing a try.
First, many of our rivers are spring-fed, which means water levels are going to be good year-round. Near the springs and below dams are both great places to try your luck.
Hot tips: Be sure to check the fishing season guidelines before you go out (for example, until next month, trout fishing is catch-and-release, so you can’t take the fish home to cook). And make sure you get a fishing license too, which you can get at places that sell fishing equipment, like Bass Pro Shops. Also, make sure you have all your gear in order, including waterproof shoes, waders and anything else you need to ensure you stay warm and dry.
If you are longing to catch a fish but aren’t already a fishing hobbyist, you might want to spend a day with a fishing guide who can show you the ropes and take you to locations where you’re sure to snag something. Big Cedar Lodge offers professional fishing guide outings to search for bass on Table Rock Lake or trout on Lake Taneycomo. They provide the guide, boat, bait and equipment, so all you have to do is show up. Guided trips leave from both Bent Hook Marina and Long Creek Marina.
Big Cedar Lodge isn’t the only nearby resort where fishing is king, though. Rockbridge Rainbow Trout and Game Ranch has a hatchery that’s known for keeping Spring Creek stocked with trout for fly fishing—and the option to hire a guide means you can learn about casting, knot tying and more while you’re there. You can easily spend the whole weekend there, eating at the on-site restaurant (which serves trout in myriad ways) and grabbing drinks at the Grist Mill bar.
Farther south and just over the Missouri-Arkansas border, Gaston’s White River Resort is another option. It offers half- and full-day guided fishing trips, as well as a one-day Fly Fishing School that includes both classroom time and on-the-water experiences. For a little extra, you can add a shore lunch to your guided fishing trip, and your guide will cook you a meal on the gravel bar. There’s a restaurant on-site here too, and this unique spot even has an airstrip where private jets can zoom in carrying anglers for a weekend of fishing.
The Best Local Fishing Spots in the Ozarks
We rounded up a few suggestions for places to go when you get the itch to drop a line (or fly fish!) this winter.
Table Rock Lake
For: Smallmouth Bass
Roaring River State Park
For: Brown Trout and Rainbow Trout
North Fork of the White River
For: Brown Trout
Eleven Point River
For: Rainbow Trout
Bennett Spring State Park
For: Rainbow Trout
Lake Taneycomo
For: Brown trout and Rainbow Trout
Rockbridge Trout and Game Ranch
For: Rainbow Trout and Guided Fishing Trips
Gaston’s White River Resort
For: Brown Trout, Rainbow Rout and Guided Fishing Trips
Big Cedar Lodge
For: Rainbow Trout, Bass and Guided Fishing Trips
By Ren Bishop, originally published February 2019
More than 20 years ago, Eric Prey moved to the Ozarks to work for Bass Pro Shops, making his lifelong passion into his profession as a fishing guide. Quickly, he fell in love with fishing in the Branson area and began learning the secrets of wintertime fishing on Table Rock Lake.
“Most people don’t realize how good the fishing actually is during the wintertime,” says Prey, owner of Focused Fishing Guide Service. “Most bass fishermen, if they go out and catch four or five fish, that’s a great day. In the wintertime, it’s not uncommon to catch 45, 50 fish in four hours.”
Gearing Up for a Great Catch
The biggest challenge to successful wintertime fishing comes down to having the right gear. You have to be dressed for the weather and potential changes, says Tory Mason, fisheries management biologist and ice fishing expert at the Missouri Department of Conservation. “You definitely need to dress warm and have good waterproof boots on; tennis shoes don’t cut it,” Mason says. “Warm gloves are also a must.”
But you also need to have the right equipment in your boat, like an excellent sonar depth finder that has a large screen on it with a color display, Prey says. “If you know how to use the electronics in the boat, the fish are actually easier to catch in the winter months,” he says. “Without a quality depth finder right now, you’re lost. You can’t find the fish.”
“In the wintertime, it’s not uncommon to catch 45, 50 fish in four hours.”— Eric Prey, Owner of Focused Fishing Guide Service
Schooled in the Art of Fishing
During the winter, fish like to school up. Bass in particular will cluster somewhere between 40 and 60 feet below the water’s surface. They’re not always eating, but once you get them biting, the entire school will quickly follow, Prey says. “If you imitate injured forage for the fish, they can’t help themselves; they’ll just start biting,” Prey says. “So get a bait that will keep them biting that they would naturally prey on and wait. It doesn’t take long.”
Break the Ice
Ice fishing is hard to come by in the Ozarks, but small farm ponds are the best spot to try out ice fishing, Mason says. “It is impossible to determine if ice will hold you just by looking at the appearance from the bank,” Mason says. “With your fishing buddy, go out three or four feet from the bank and make a hole. If there is at least a good four inches of ice, continue another 10 or 15 feet and make another hole. If everything is safe, keep going… The best ice is hard, clear ice you can see through.”
