Thomas Hill Reservoir

Thomas Hill Reservoir (4,950 acres) is in Macon and Randolph counties and provides water for cooling Associated Electric Cooperative, Incorporated’s coal-fired generators. The warm water discharge results in a unique, year-round fishery. White crappie are one of the most sought-after species at Thomas Hill Reservoir, and it is predicted that fishing will be very good in 2024. The results of a fall 2023 survey indicated a high abundance of adult fish with nearly 60 percent of the white crappies captured measuring nine inches or longer. Hybrid striped bass are popular with wintertime anglers due to the hybrids' attraction to the warm water discharge and their fierce fight. Fish exceeding the minimum length limit of 20 inches can be caught on rattling lures, soft plastics, and jigs, as well as chicken livers and minnows. Both crappie and hybrid striped bass are vulnerable through the winter months in and below the warm-water discharge channel on the southeast side of the lake. The largemouth bass population continues to recover after numerous years of poor spawning success. Although bass numbers will continue to be low, a high proportion of those caught by anglers in 2024 will be 12 to 15 inches long, and four in ten could be 15 inches or longer.

Flathead catfish and channel catfish round out the angling choices at this reservoir. Most channel catfish caught are small due to overpopulation, so anglers are encouraged to take home their daily limit of 10. There is the potential to catch a large flathead catfish (greater than 36 inches) using trotlines, bank lines, and jugs using live bait near old river channels. In early 2009, a barrier-free fishing dock was placed in the warm-water arm (Brush Creek), just northeast of the boat ramp. This dock is especially attractive to anglers who enjoy fishing for crappie and hybrid striped bass during the winter months because it is located just southeast of the warm-water discharge plume. To enhance shoreline angling, an ADA accessible paved fishing jetty and fish cleaning station was completed in 2012 at the north end of the lake near the Highway T boat ramp. Brush piles were placed in the lake as fish-attracting cover from 1991 through 1994. In the spring of 2021, fifteen of these historic brush piles had cedar and hardwood trees added to them. The locations of these fish attractors can be found at https://short.mdc.mo.gov/Zpx.