Nick

So far this winter on L:ake of the Ozarks, of 19 days logged fishing, I've not had the most productive bass bite. One day my partner and I did catch 42 largemouth, but in the main single digit results were more typical. I love to jerkbait, but he darn baitfish just refuse to show up shallow in the lower lake, so this bite has no been good for me. Guess I'll have to throw the jig more and maybe fish the big balls of shad deep with a spoon. Not my idea of fun... Luckily, the crappie fishing has been quite good until now and with the water temps still in the mid 40's, looks like ice won't be a problem this year. I'll get in a couple of trips this month to check out my newly planted brush piles also.

Your findings reflect what mine have been over the past 30 years of chasing smallies in Ozark streams in winter. Deep holes with slack current are best. I usually prefer rock but occasionally sandy areas can be good. Locastion also depends on where the beast food is awaiting the bass. I prefer water temps above 40 for sustained activity, and 90% of my smallies are caught on small homemade hair jigs and trailers. Even though I like to fish holes from 19-20 feet deep, nearly all smallies come from the 3-10 foot depths esp. on the deeper dropping banks. It's a blessing to find these fish stacked up, and I been blessed with some truly spectacular days when most folks laugh at me for dragging my boat out in the cold.

Nearly everything that Luck "E" Strike produces is substandard IMHO. Their Jogger worm should have been marketed as a shoe sole repair item. I would like to have a candid closed door conversation with Rick Clunn comparing the R.C. originals with the L. Strike brand crank as well. I'm not defending the 15-$30 price of LC and Megabass, but I'd like to get the skinny on the quality of LS, and the move away from LC to LS. I would hazard a bet that Clunn could tell blindfolded which lure he is retrieving.

No, there's not that much traffic at night after 11 on weeknights. I plan to do some night fishing. I'll have plenty of private brush piles to fish.

Very risky proposition holding this event in mid Feb. Check the records of Feb. tourneys held there and you won't find many, and the ones that you do find can be way too stingy even for the best anglers. If the lake is off colored and cold, look for lots of empty bags. Tere's a 50/50 chance of half the field blanking if next winter is a wet one..

Yes, but don't expect much. Electric only. OK to have a tilted up gas motor, but don't use it.

Lots of larger boats, depending on the angle of the ramp, necessitate "power loading" to some extent. My Gambler will nose up under the bow tie if I back it too deeply in the water. FInding the sweet spot to nose it up corectly requires a bit of throttle, not much, but enough to get a ticket in Michigan. I doubt that 5% of the bass boat owners in the lower Midwest or Southeast even know what "power loading" is unless they have ventured north.

Thanks, Marty, for the kind words, but I may need to tell members who want to come down to fish the Lake that I am not guiding anyone for a fee. Just fishing out of my boat for fun.

Many think that in clear water lakes, the bite is tougher during the day in the warm water period during the full moon. The bass seem to prefer night feeding then.

You won't regret it. Last year was very good, and the population of bass at Lake O. is quite healthy. Between Thanksgiving and CDhristmas was indeed spectacular. Shoot me a pm and we can get trip planned.

Mike, You appear to have no ego as you fish on your show, and I like your pertinent questions. If you want to do some stream smallie fishing in th Ozarks in winter, holler at me.

I'll be located at the six MM, due south of the Gravois. Probably the best location for winter angling.

St. Louis area members: Finally close on my house at Lake of the Ozarks next week, and any member who can get away to fish this late fall and winter is welcome to go bass and crappie fishing with me! I fish pretty hard and prefer that you have some fishing acumen. Just prefer to fish with one other person. I have the boat, and I've been fishing the lake for many years. Carpooling might work or you can arrange to drive down. I will probably stay down at least 3-5 days at a time weather permitting. Have a spare bed. Let me know if you're interested. We'll split expenses.

Now, if I divulged it, it wouldn't be a secret weapon.

You saw fish activity, but it might not have been bass activity. Lot's of other species frolic about. First, do other anglers consistently catch fish from this lake? If so, try to get them to talk to you. I'm thinking it's just not that much of a fish factory. On some places that I fish, I feel great with 3 bass over the course of 6 hours, while at others, it's a good day to catch 30-40 in the same amount of time. I've also fished in tributaries and even ponds where the catch will vary drastically from year to year.

I've noticed a fairly consistent drop off in catching bass when the water temps drop into the high 30's. Not impossible then, but not optimum either. In the mid 40's, it's often the best time of the year for big fish.

If the water is discolored from the recent rains that can have a generally adverse effect on behavior esp. feeding habits. Often, even in good ponds, I've had to wait until the water color returns to noremal or near it, to get the bass on a dependable feed. I doubt its the water temps that's caused your problems, and I hope you didn't lose some big ones down a spillway!

If you drive a Gambler like me, you'll probably bilge 5 times a day! Have to be real careful coming off pad.

My understanding and reading from the Missouri Dept. of Conservation website (if those are the ones yuou are trying to load into a Humminbird) is that it can't be done currently. Using the MDC site, a helper program will pop up on the screen to assist you in downloading all the statewide sunken brushpiles in lakes provided you have a Lowrance, Garmin or anything but a Humminbird. It's tedious to individually load them. I know because I've been doing it myself.

Hard to tell exactly, but I think I detect a bit of a Kentucky's lateral line so you could have a meanmouth there. Any spotted bass in this lake?

I think they are legit. That bait with the turned down tail, I've never seen anywhere else but in a Mann's design.

This is a really fun time to fish the lake esp. on weekdays. No crowds! Fish the windy side of the main lake or the deeper coves. The 21 MM is a great place to fish docks where the wind blows across them. The outside corners will nearly all have suspended bass on them to be had with a super fluke or a shaky head. Perfect for the sunny days!Even if yuo are over 30+ feet of water the bass will still be on windy dock corners from 1-10 feet down. If you can do it try skipping under the docks and behind them for larger fish in the backs of any of the coves. Real early do the buzzbait deal along side any docks, and there's 1000's to pick from.

On streams particularly, one catches a pretty good sample of what's living it it. Streams are shallower and most of the water column can be pretty thoroughly covered in a good day's casting. I imagine you are catching smaller bass because that's what lives there. If your waters have a great population of big smallies you'll catch them best when the water temps drop around the 50-45 degrre mark. Slow down and fish the deeper holes and you find out pretty quickly how many quality fish you have there. I go north about every summer and catch 20x more big smallies than I can in streams here in Missouri. I doubt that I'm a 20 times better angler when I go there. We have a lot more fishing pressure here in Missouri, just a 12 in. limit, and the giggers spear bass illegally which really hurts our numbers of larger bass.

In some reservoirs one might have to fish deeper than I do in streams so a heavier hair jig may be in order. I fish 1/8 oz. weedless wire custom pours with a dandy 2/0 Gammy hook. Preferred color is brown and I use deer, fox, and maribou somewhat sparsely tied with a Zoom Skinny Chunk trailer in green pumpkin which is the perfect match for this jig. Tough to get these trailers any more so get 'em if you can! My equipment is Shimano E7 a 6'6" medium rod with 8 lb. flouro. Presentation is quite slow and crawling along the bottom with several pauses. I have cought 100's of big stream smallies on these.