08/27/2026
Hey folks,
A fair-weather high owns the whole weekend — dry, sunny skies from the lake down to the river, and a warming trend that runs mid-80s on Friday up into the low-to-mid 90s by Sunday. The trade-off: the barometer is high and only slowly easing as that heat builds, and steady high pressure makes for a classic bluebird bite. Fish pull tight to cover and feed hardest in the low light. Your full one-page report is attached — print it, tack it up, hand it to a buddy. Here's the short version.
Read the barometer. This is a fish-early, fish-late weekend. Under the high, the bright, hot middle of the day — especially Sunday when it touches the mid-90s — will be slow. Your money windows are the first hour of daylight and the last hour of light. The needle softens a touch as the heat builds toward Sunday, but no front is coming behind it, so don't sit around waiting on a weather change — get out early. Friday night dips into the low 60s, so the early-morning topwater window is a good one. And with warm, comfortable nights, the after-dark catfish trips are back on.
Weekend Forecast & Barometer
Mark Twain Lake — Fri: sunny, 84°, calm wind (baro ~30.02, high ▲); Sat: mostly sunny, 86° (~29.95, steady ▬); Sun: sunny & hot, 93° (~29.85, easing ▼).
Elsberry / Mississippi River — Fri: sunny with patchy morning fog, 86°, light NE wind (baro ~30.00, high ▲); Sat: mostly sunny, 88° (~29.92, steady ▬); Sun: sunny & hot, 94° (~29.82, easing ▼).
River & Lake Levels
Mark Twain Lake is sitting at 603.9 ft — about 2.0 ft below normal pool (606 ft), roughly 92% full — and drifting slowly lower, with surface water warming back into the low-80s under all this sun. With the lake a touch low, lean on secondary points, creek-arm channels and standing timber instead of the shallowest bank. The Mississippi at Winfield Lock & Dam 25 (Pool 25) is down to about 14.0 ft and still slowly falling — well under the 26-ft flood stage and about as low as it's been. That low, clear water pulls the fish onto structure — wing dams, scour holes, the deeper channel and the L&D 25 tailwater — and that's where the bait and fish stack up.
