BoroBuckeye

Our annual trip is coming up next and we just heard from the place where we are renting boats (Iguana) that one of the boats is out of commission. Does anyone know other facilities that rent bass boats? Awe! PS: How's the bass fishing recently? Still seeing lots of fish on beds?

You guys are making me feel better!

We're going back this year... 5/22-5/24! What's the spawn status right now? Thoughts for about a month from now? I am virtually incapably of catching fish during the spawn so I am kind of nervous about that!

And btw, all the fish we caught appeared to be post spawn.

Well guys, we had a blast! Out of the 4 of us, big fish was 4lb 7oz. We also had a 4lb 2oz, and a 4lb. I honestly was hoping for a little better with respect to big fish, but overall, I cannot complain. From there, we probably had 5-10 in the 3lb range and 25-40 in the 2lb range with many many more smaller fish. Depth ranged from 2'-20' with lots of fish in 3-6'. Lures were mainly crank baits and soft plastics although it seemed like almost everything caught fish decently. I will also tell you, it seems like Ozark bass fight way harder than Ohio bass! There were numerous times I thought a fish would be over 3lbs and it would be 2 lbs and change once it was actually landed. I now know why when MLF was at Lake of the Ozarks last year, they kept saying "big one" and then it would turn out not so big. All fished were released safe and sound back in the lake. We did get stopped by conversation officers and they checked our fishing license (which we obviously had)... I'm glad to see they were out. Overall, great time, awesome lake, and pretty good weather. Thanks for all the advice!

You guys are getting me pumped! Thanks for the responses; I appreciate the advice. I'll post updates throughout the trip and check in a few days before we arrive.

We will have two boats so that should help. Interesting that schools fry aren't showing up yet. What water temperature are people seeing right now?

Hi All, Three other guys and I will be heading to Lake of the Ozarks in a couple of weeks and staying at Point Randall Resort. We are all from southern Ohio and used to fishing fairly shallow lakes (<15'). The last two years we went to Guntersville and did great with numbers (but nothing huge, most fishing were 1.5-2.5 lbs). This year we wanted to try something new and decided on Lake of the Ozarks. I've been doing research on my own but was curious to get some of your thoughts: 1. What's the status of the spawn? Will it mostly be post spawn in another week or two? 2. I've seen all the national news on the flooding around Missouri... how bad has this impacted Lake of the Ozarks and how fast will the lake "normalize"? 3. Based on where we are staying, any thoughts on good areas (obviously not looking for any secret spots--just general information)? 4. General advice on lures and tactics? Is there much timber to hit or is your best bet hitting docks? Would generally fishing shallow water (<10') be a good strategy? I don't really know how to fish deep water effectively. Thanks!