John Neporadny Jr.

A man-made object protruding from the water ruins the aesthetic value of a shoreline but to Lake of the Ozarks bass it’s a thing of beauty. Lake of the Ozarks has some form of a concrete slab sitting in its waters and throughout the year these man-made structures provide excellent habitat for fish. While this type of cover is sparse on some waterways, concrete structures on Lake of the Ozarks are abundant enough for anglers to incorporate into their patterns. During his formative years of guiding and competing in tournaments at the Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri angler Chad Brauer, learned how to catch bass from a myriad of concrete cover. Since it’s one of the most developed reservoirs in the country, Lake of the Ozarks contains plenty of man-made structures to harbor bass. “Typically concrete seems to have a good bit of algae growing on it which attracts the whole food chain--plankton, baitfish and then bass,” Brauer advised. The following is a look at three types of concrete cover Brauer keys on for Lake of the Ozarks bass. Sea Walls “A sea wall provides a unique access to real shallow water yet it’s a vertical drop where bass have some vertical structure to get up against,” Brauer said of a bass’ attraction to this concrete cover. Constructed along the banks to control erosion, these concrete walls attract bass mainly in the spring and fall when the fish migrate to the shallows. In the fall, bass use these concrete walls to trap baitfish while in the spring the fish spawn up against the solid structure. Key holding areas for bass along sea walls include any corners, juts, ends and wash-outs. “A lot of times you can tell where a washout will be because you can see a pipe or drain coming down from a home,” suggested Brauer. “All that rain water coming down through that pipe is going to wash the gravel out of that area.” The holes are prime spots for locating bedding bass in the spring. Dock Pilings “Dock pilings rule,” said Brauer of these concrete walkway supports. “For some reason, they seem to be magnets for spawning fish and also seem to hold fish in the fall again. It’s another good vertical structure that has shallow water around it.” Dock pilings in deeper water also hold bass in the summer and winter. Located behind docks, concrete walkway pillars become a challenge to fish because of all the obstacles surrounding them. “You have to be pretty much geared up like you would for heavy cover because you’re around dock cables, pieces of metal and a lot brush people put in next to those concrete pillars,” said Brauer. Boat Ramps “A lot of people just pass by boat ramps and won’t fish them,” said Brauer. “There are some places where you can almost pull up to boat ramps and run as a pattern if you can find enough of them. It’s something to try in an area that’s getting a lot of fishing pressure because a lot of people will ignore those kind of subtle pieces of cover.” His home lake contains numerous personal boat ramps, which become ideal spawning sites in the spring. Bass usually nest at the end of the ramps, which extend into depths of 5 to 6 feet. Wash-out areas created by current draw bass on some ramps. Brauer usually fishes the whole ramp, but he spends most of his time targeting the ends and sides, which attract more bass. “Once you fish several boat ramps you’ll figure out where bass are positioned on that type of structure and you can make it an efficient pattern,” said Brauer. Concrete structures look unnatural, but this type of bass cover proves that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. For information on lodging and other facilities at the Lake of the Ozarks or to receive a free vacation guide, call the Lake of the Ozarks Convention & Visitors Bureau at 1-800-FUN-LAKE or visit the Lake of the Ozarks Convention and Visitors Bureau web site at funlake.com.

The older I get the colder I get. So in recent years I have become more of a fair-weather fisherman and my winter fishing trips on Lake of the Ozarks have been cut drastically. However when the weather is tolerable for my old bones I will get out on the water and throw my favorite wintertime lure—a suspending stickbait. The suspending stickbait has always been special to me ever since the first time I tried it with Bruce Gier, a renowned stickbait specialist at Lake of the Ozarks. Gier introduced me to the suspending stickbait on March 9, 1989 when the water temperature at Lake of the Ozarks ranged from 37 to 43 degrees that day. We caught 14 keepers that day sweeping a Spoonbill Rattlin’ Rogue weighted down with lead wire. The bass were suspended 4 to 6 feet deep along docks and edges of milfoil beds on secondary points. That memorable day and the cold-water tactic Gier showed me was recorded in my first article ever published in Bassmaster Magazine. Lure manufacturers have eliminated the need to wrap wire or glue lead tape on stickbaits by making suspending versions of the original floating models. Most of today’s suspending stickbaits are neutrally buoyant when they hit the water, but there are times when I still have to add a SuspenDot or SuspenStrip to make the lure suspend properly. Before we moved to our house on the lake, I used to test the neutral buoyancy of my lure by dropping it into a bucket of water chilled down to the same temperature as the lake water. However now I just walk down to the dock and drop my stickbait into the water to see if it suspends. Lure sizes, colors and styles have changed dramatically since those early days of suspending stickbait fishing, but the logic behind this tactic has remained the same throughout the years. Get the lure down to a certain depth (usually 4 to 8 feet deep) and let it linger in that strike zone with an occasional series of soft twitches or a short sweep of the rod. The technique works best in clear water, although I have had some success with bone- or purple-and-chartreuse stickbaits in stained water. The style and size of stickbait I use in the wintertime depends on the water temperature. Most of the time I use a 4- or 5-inch medium-diver stickbait, but when the water temperature drops below 40 degrees I will also throw a stickbait with a spoonbill to probe deeper water. In the late winter and early spring as the water temperature climbs above 45 degrees I will switch to a 5 1/2-inch Rattlin’ Rogue to tempt the larger prespawn females looking for a magnum-sized meal. Color choices on my home waters of Lake of the Ozarks seem to vary from year to year. One year a brown-and-white Rapala Husky Jerk worked best for us, but the next year a ghost shad Bass Pro Shops XPS Suspending Minnow seemed to be the hot lure. The last couple of years I’ve had success on a brown-gold Ima Flit and purple/chartreuse Spro Lures McStick. Following a basic formula usually helps me decide which color to start with on any given day. If the water is clear and it’s a sunny day, I opt for chrome, clown or translucent hues, but if the weather is cloudy or if the water is off-color I prefer stickbaits in bone, purple-and-chartreuse, brown-and-white or fire tiger. The weather also dictates the gear I use for my stickbait tactics. On extremely windy days or if the air temperature is below freezing I opt for spinning tackle because I can throw the lightweight stickbait into the wind without backlashing and the larger guides on the spinning rod and the open spool of the spinning reel prevents the guides and reel from icing up—a common occurrence with baitcasting equipment. In most situations, I work the stickbait with a 5 1/2-foot medium-action Berkley Lightning Rod (with pistol grip) and a Shimano Curado baitcast reel. I like the shorter rod because it allows me to point the rod downward and twitch the lure without the rod tip hitting the water. I also prefer this rod because its light weight reduces fatigue in my wrists after hours of jerking the stickbait. Since I normally fish stickbaits in clear water, I scale down to 8-pound test monofilament, but I also try 10-pound test if I want my stickbait to stay higher in the water column. If I want the stickbait to dive deeper I tie it on fluorocarbon since this line absorbs water better and tends to sink. I have occasionally caught bass on a stickbait that slowly sinks, but most of the bites I trigger with a stickbait come when the lure has neutral buoyancy or barely rises. I also like to make sure my stickbait sits level horizontally or with its nose slightly pointed downward, which I achieve by placing weight near the bill of the lure or putting a larger hook on the front hook hanger. I usually vary my retrieve depending on the weather and water temperature. When I use the deep-diving stickbait in extremely cold water and bright sunshine, I crank the lure down with about five or six turns of the reel handle and then employ a series of rod sweeps (moving the rod about 1 foot at a time) and pauses of about 10 to 15 seconds. Anytime there is a chop on the water, I opt for the medium-diver, which I also crank down to where it reaches its maximum depth and then I give the lure two to three slight twitches of the rod tip before letting it sit for five to 10 seconds. A trick I have learned from stickbait specialists at Table Rock Lake is to pull the lure a couple of inches after a long pause to imitate the struggles of a dying shad. The biggest bass I ever caught on the Lake of the Ozarks was an 8-pound, 1-ounce largemouth that fell for a suspending stickbait. That’s probably why the suspense of watching my line as I pause my stickbait warms me up on a cold winter day because I know that next bite could be from a trophy fish. For information on lodging at the Lake of the Ozarks or to receive a free vacation guide, call the Lake of the Ozarks Convention & Visitors Bureau at 1-800-FUN-LAKE or visit the Lake of the Ozarks Convention and Visitors Bureau web site at funlake.com.

The older I get the colder I get. So in recent years I have become more of a fair-weather fisherman and my winter fishing trips on Lake of the Ozarks have been cut drastically. However when the weather is tolerable for my old bones I will get out on the water and throw my favorite wintertime lure—a suspending stickbait. The suspending stickbait has always been special to me ever since the first time I tried it with Bruce Gier, a renowned stickbait specialist at Lake of the Ozarks. Gier introduced me to the suspending stickbait on March 9, 1989 when the water temperature at Lake of the Ozarks ranged from 37 to 43 degrees that day. We caught 14 keepers that day sweeping a Spoonbill Rattlin’ Rogue weighted down with lead wire. The bass were suspended 4 to 6 feet deep along docks and edges of milfoil beds on secondary points. That memorable day and the cold-water tactic Gier showed me was recorded in my first article ever published in Bassmaster Magazine. Lure manufacturers have eliminated the need to wrap wire or glue lead tape on stickbaits by making suspending versions of the original floating models. Most of today’s suspending stickbaits are neutrally buoyant when they hit the water, but there are times when I still have to add a SuspenDot or SuspenStrip to make the lure suspend properly. Before we moved to our house on the lake, I used to test the neutral buoyancy of my lure by dropping it into a bucket of water chilled down to the same temperature as the lake water. However now I just walk down to the dock and drop my stickbait into the water to see if it suspends. Lure sizes, colors and styles have changed dramatically since those early days of suspending stickbait fishing, but the logic behind this tactic has remained the same throughout the years. Get the lure down to a certain depth (usually 4 to 8 feet deep) and let it linger in that strike zone with an occasional series of soft twitches or a short sweep of the rod. The technique works best in clear water, although I have had some success with bone- or purple-and-chartreuse stickbaits in stained water. The style and size of stickbait I use in the wintertime depends on the water temperature. Most of the time I use a 4- or 5-inch medium-diver stickbait, but when the water temperature drops below 40 degrees I will also throw a stickbait with a spoonbill to probe deeper water. In the late winter and early spring as the water temperature climbs above 45 degrees I will switch to a 5 1/2-inch Rattlin’ Rogue to tempt the larger prespawn females looking for a magnum-sized meal. Color choices on my home waters of Lake of the Ozarks seem to vary from year to year. One year a brown-and-white Rapala Husky Jerk worked best for us, but the next year a ghost shad Bass Pro Shops XPS Suspending Minnow seemed to be the hot lure. The last couple of years I’ve had success on a brown-gold Ima Flit and purple/chartreuse Spro Lures McStick. Following a basic formula usually helps me decide which color to start with on any given day. If the water is clear and it’s a sunny day, I opt for chrome, clown or translucent hues, but if the weather is cloudy or if the water is off-color I prefer stickbaits in bone, purple-and-chartreuse, brown-and-white or fire tiger. The weather also dictates the gear I use for my stickbait tactics. On extremely windy days or if the air temperature is below freezing I opt for spinning tackle because I can throw the lightweight stickbait into the wind without backlashing and the larger guides on the spinning rod and the open spool of the spinning reel prevents the guides and reel from icing up—a common occurrence with baitcasting equipment. In most situations, I work the stickbait with a 5 1/2-foot medium-action Berkley Lightning Rod (with pistol grip) and a Shimano Curado baitcast reel. I like the shorter rod because it allows me to point the rod downward and twitch the lure without the rod tip hitting the water. I also prefer this rod because its light weight reduces fatigue in my wrists after hours of jerking the stickbait. Since I normally fish stickbaits in clear water, I scale down to 8-pound test monofilament, but I also try 10-pound test if I want my stickbait to stay higher in the water column. If I want the stickbait to dive deeper I tie it on fluorocarbon since this line absorbs water better and tends to sink. I have occasionally caught bass on a stickbait that slowly sinks, but most of the bites I trigger with a stickbait come when the lure has neutral buoyancy or barely rises. I also like to make sure my stickbait sits level horizontally or with its nose slightly pointed downward, which I achieve by placing weight near the bill of the lure or putting a larger hook on the front hook hanger. I usually vary my retrieve depending on the weather and water temperature. When I use the deep-diving stickbait in extremely cold water and bright sunshine, I crank the lure down with about five or six turns of the reel handle and then employ a series of rod sweeps (moving the rod about 1 foot at a time) and pauses of about 10 to 15 seconds. Anytime there is a chop on the water, I opt for the medium-diver, which I also crank down to where it reaches its maximum depth and then I give the lure two to three slight twitches of the rod tip before letting it sit for five to 10 seconds. A trick I have learned from stickbait specialists at Table Rock Lake is to pull the lure a couple of inches after a long pause to imitate the struggles of a dying shad. The biggest bass I ever caught on the Lake of the Ozarks was an 8-pound, 1-ounce largemouth that fell for a suspending stickbait. That’s probably why the suspense of watching my line as I pause my stickbait warms me up on a cold winter day because I know that next bite could be from a trophy fish. For information on lodging at the Lake of the Ozarks or to receive a free vacation guide, call the Lake of the Ozarks Convention & Visitors Bureau at 1-800-FUN-LAKE or visit the Lake of the Ozarks Convention and Visitors Bureau web site at funlake.com.

When the holiday season arrives at Lake of the Ozarks, even the fish get in on the holiday feasting. Some of the best fishing of the year occurs on this Missouri reservoir during November and December as largemouth and spotted bass, crappie and white bass feast on forage in preparation for winter. As the water cools down, the fish become more active and move shallower. Recreational boat traffic has diminished and fishing pressure is minimal since many anglers have turned to hunting during the late fall/early winter period. The crappie are schooled a lot during those months so I have a tendency when it gets cooler to keep fishing shallower and shallower,î says Coast-Guard licensed guide Terry Blankenship. ìNormally the crappie during this time are very aggressive and it seems to be an excellent time to catch big numbers of fish. Typically you can catch more fish out of a spot more than any other time of the year. During November Blankenship relies on a 1/16-ounce jig for a faster descent rate when he is shooting the lure to docks or casting to brush piles. When the water temperature drops into the low 40s in December he switches to a 1/32-ounce jig for a slower fall and tries more vertical jigging then. Blankenship matches his jighead with a Bobby Garland Baby Shad or a 3-inch Slab Slayer in blue ice, electric chicken or bayou booger hues. A spinnerbait and buzz bait are Blankenshipís top lure choices for bass in November when the fish are feasting on shad in the coves. He runs the buzz bait or wakes the spinnerbait over big rocks along the flats of the larger creek coves. As the water temperature continues to cool down during November, Blankenship starts to target brush piles at depths of 10 to 18 feet and slow rolls a 3/8-ounce spinnerbait (double willowleaf blades with white-and-chartreuse skirt) through the cover. When the water temperature drops below 45 degrees in December, Blankenship keys on steeper banks and cuts in the coves close to the main channel. He catches both bass and crappie on this structure by slowly twitching a suspending stickbait that has a tint of blue, purple or chartreuse on the lure. It seems like blue is an excellent color to have available for both bass and crappie on this lake, Blankenship says. White bass gang up on wind-blown points along the main lake throughout November. One of my favorite tactics for catching whites in the shallows then is to continually jerk a 4-inch Rebel Minnow (black back/chrome sides). The stickbait also triggers vicious strikes from heavyweight hybrid stripers lurking in the shallows. Popping a topwater chugger and jig combination usually produces better numbers of white bass for me along the gravel points. I remove the front hook of the chugger to prevent line fouling and then tie about a 2-foot trailer line on the rear hook. I complete the rig by tying a white 1/16-ounce marabou jig on the trailer line. The white bass action usually ends by the beginning of December when the water cools into the low 50s and the fish move out to school in deeper water. View full article