A bad day of fishing is still better than a good day at the office!

The largemouth bass thrives in warm, moderately clear waters with little or no current. This species is most active at dawn and dusk. 

It is abundant in most large Ozark reservoirs, where it generally is found at depths greater than those occupied by other black basses.

Near vegetation and submerged woody structure in shallow water during spawning period. Most active in evening and nighttime but can be seen during all times of the day.

The blue catfish is a big-river fish, preferring swift chutes, pools with noticeable current, and silt-free substrates of sand, gravel, and rubble.

During the day, adult channel catfish retire to deep water or lie about drift piles, submerged logs, or other cover. At night, they move onto riffles or into the shallows of pools to feed.

Adults move at night from deeper water or cover to riffles and the shallows of pools to feed. The young remain continuously on the riffles but are active only at night.

The white bass inhabits the deeper pools of streams and the open waters of lakes and reservoirs. It tends to avoid waters that are continuously turbid and is most often found over a firm sandy or rocky bottom. This species is most active at dawn and dusk.

Hybrids appear to be attracted to flowing water, as in the tailwaters below dams while water is exiting the dam, and near natural springs and the mouths of feeder creeks after heavy rains. Hybrids tend to frequent areas that are beside the fastest water.

Paddlefish live mostly in open waters of big rivers, swimming continuously near the surface, and likely don’t have a specific home range. As waters rise in spring, paddlefish move upstream to gravel bars to spawn. 

In the Current River, most are found in pools 12 feet or deeper where the bottom is broken up by boulders or submerged logs. By day they stay in these depths. At night they move to shallower water.

They prefer deeper pools and backwaters of low-gradient streams, particularly in overflow pools along river floodplains. They do not tolerate high turbidity and thrive best in warm, clear waters with aquatic plants or other cover.