MstStudent10

ps...no disrespect to people on this forum who do rely on it for some good information. I am too one of those people. I do not however totally rely and count on everything that is said here. As we all know, if you use the info and patterns from yesterday your a day late and a dollar short. Not too mention I know most of the good people that are members of OA do not go around blaming everyone else for bad days on the water. It's just fishin.

Hey Bill, It's called Fishing! Get used to it. I suppose you are one of the people with the high dollar internet phones, the car gps's that give voice directions, and think a weekend of camping is taking the $150,000 camper with the satellite tv down to the lake. There used to be a time when people didn't rely on internet forums to get up to date information on fishing. They just went out and tested their "true" skill with a rod and reel. It's not the fault of the members of this forum if you just plain suck at fishing... I do suppose next time you decide to make a 4 hour drive down here I could come out in your boat with you and hold your hand while you fish?

I too am getting fed up with the lack of respect for other fisherman. I have had it happen to me 4 times already this year a guy motors up about 50 yds ahead of me and starts fishing. I'm in a 14 flatbottom with a small trolling motor, and a 10 hp outboard. I don't have a choice but to go down the bank with the wind when bass fishing. And my boat doesn't have the horsepower to just run across the lake to a different spot, when I start fishing a spot I'm committed to it. I'm getting so fed up with it I swear the next time it happens I'm am just going to power up my outboard and just skip right on past them by about 10 yards and start fishing again. I'm tired of being the one that has to get ticked off and bite his tongue. Maybe they'll get the point when I hop right on past them.

Hey do you still have it? And where are you located at? Thanks.

Ps... I for one know I would like to take part in it, even though I know I would have a good chance at getting smoked by you guys... Me and my 9.9 hp.. I'd still have a good time coming out and being part of an informal "formal" event with you all... Another option, if nobody would want to throw in $25, maybe have just a big bass competition, then even the smaller boats could have a real chance. Just throw in the $10 and everyone brings in their biggest fish of the day and pay out for 2 spots for the big bass...

Maybe someone's already had this idea, how would everybody like to have an OzarkAnglers tourney sometime? Only publicize it on Ozark Anglers, for example in the Bull Shoals or Tablerock or Stockton section. Or maybe have 3 of them for all 3 lakes... Have some of the more well known guys decide on a date and ramp location, and keep it simple and friendly. We can let each other know here on the forum if you are coming out for it. Just everybody show up, keep it small and affordable, not something to make money on...Possibly $25 if you want in, with an optional $10 big bass. And just pay out to approximately 20% of the people show up..... The important thing to remember, it doesn't have to be a big stressful ordeal...Just a fun way of everyone coming out and meeting everybody, and like I said, only publicize it here on OA so that all participants are members...Who knows, maybe 7 or 8 guys come out, maybe it'd be closer to 50 I don't know. And have one of the well known, well respected guys hold onto the cash for the weigh in. It'd be fun and simple, while still offering some fun competition!

So who do I contact to get one of the magnetic bumper stickers? What is the price on them? Do u ship em or could I stop by Fin and Feather or something to pick it up? On another note, I'm in on whatever you guys decide, whether its ribbon, polyester material, whatever. Just somebody take the lead and make a solid decision and lets do it! Not that I'm that hard to mistake, the young guy puttsin around in his green 14 foot flatbottom, while standin up bass fishing with the trolling motor on the back!!! Gotta start somewhere right?!! Thanks guys! -Ben Bruemmer Missouri S&T

That thing just looks like a grass carp. If it isn't, I'd venture to say it's some type of carp for sure.

The packing peanuts thing was a joke, lol. Maybe the strike indicator thing would work I dont know. Possibly drill a little hole in it and inject it with a little bit of that foam stuff that expands, then glue up the hole. Or for the trouble, just by some more rogues.

Glue Styrafoam Packing Peanuts to them!!

If you are looking at catching some Smallmouth Bass, (the crazy fiesty ones) Lake of the Ozarks is probably not your best bet. I for one have had great success fishing for Bronzebacks, aka Smallmouth at Stockton Lake. Stockton Lake is about 75 miles to the Southwest of Lake of the Ozarks. For a great Smallmouth trip I would go to Stockton and put in at Stockton State Park. Take a boat to the opposite shoreline of state park, and fish all of the steep bluff banks as you head to the north. Throw a brown jig or a crawdad colored Wigglewart Crankbait along these steep rocky banks for a great chance to hook up with some Smallmouth.

SOLD

1) Chrome spook and Chug Bug 2) With everyone throwing all the new sticks, I still catch the most on Smithwick Rogue! Also McStick. 3) 5/16 Chompers Brown & Purple with matching Zoom Critter Craw or Chompers Twin Tail trailer.

Hey there! I am a senior student at Rolla actually. I will be fishing a tournament out of Lake of the Ozarks March 27.. Here's some answers to your questions.. 1- You can probably get by using jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, and jigs. For jerkbaits, try Smithwick Rogues they are affordable for someone just trying out bass fishing. Good colors are clown and black back/silver side, or sexy shad or firetiger if the water is dirty. Pick up any chartreuse/white spinnerbaits for starters, War Eagle is a good brand spinnerbait. And Chompers jigs and Eakins jigs are good with either Chompers twin tail trailers or Zoom Critter Craw Trailers. 2- Hopefully we will have some nice weather and the water temp will warm up a bit, but here in Missouri there's no telling what depth you will find fish until you actually get there. A good place to start is to fish the 5-20 foot range. 3- With spinning gear it would probably be good to use 8-10 lb test line. Fluorocarbon is good for getting bites. I am not super familiar with areas to fish from the shoreline?? If you have an opportunity to get a boat you would be much better off, perhaps even renting one. In the spring, the areas closer to the dam usually are a good place to start, or if we have nice weather, find places way up the rivers and creeks in order to locate warmer water and more active bass. Thats about all the info I can give you for LOZ. On another note, if you are really serious about catching largemouth bass for the first time, I would seriously consider going a little further south to such lakes as Stockton, Table Rock Lake, or Bull Shoals... We had a very harsh winter and the cold weather has been hard on Lake of the Ozarks. The other 3 lakes I mentioned are weeks ahead of LOZ in terms of active fish, and you will most likely have a better fishing experience somewhere more south.

Put in at Tucker Hollow on both days... Here's how it turned out.. WED- Fished from 9:30-3:00. Water temp I found was 52 when I started, and 56 when I stopped fishing. Mostly sunny on the day. Caught 12 bass with 5 of them keepers. Not anything huge, but consistent. I think all 12 fish were in the 13-16 inch range. Best was a 3 lber. They would bite about anything. Caught 1 on a spinnerbait, 1 on a jerkbait, and 1 on the wigglewart. Once the sun started shining I switched to the jig and the rest came on it. The bite was extremely light and if they felt you at all would drop it. I missed about 10 more on occasions thinking it was the bottom and waiting a split second too long. They preferred a smaller profile jig and trailer. Fished steep rocky channel banks, and the water was pretty dirty about 1.5 foot visibility. If you didn't get a bite within 5 feet off the bank you could reel in as they were sitting right on the shoreline. THURS- The size definitely came on thursday. Fished from 7:30 to 1:30. Fished the same spots as on Wed but after the rain wed night, the temp read 50.5 on the same bank it had been 56 the day before. Thought that drop would halt the fish but was wrong. Caught 10 fish with 6 of them keepers. With the clouds and wind they absolutely nailed the spinnerbait. Caught all except 1 keeper on the blade, the other one coming on a jig. Best five went for 14.5 lbs, including a 14 inch kentuck, and anchored by a 4.5 and a 3.5... Most all the fish came before 10 o'clock then it slowed way down. Water temp climbed back up to 52.5 by the time I left. The lakes are about to bust loose, good luck out there guys!! ps, trying to upload pictures of the big ones but says error? oh well.

I fished it as a Co angler and let me tell you it was HARD!!! I and my 2 roommates who were both co anglers caught ZERO fish all day as well as all 3 of our pros. From what I saw, about 1/3 of the field ZEROed. And another 1/3 brought in bags with just 1 fish. Even the guys that DID catch em said the bite was few and far between. I know on the co angler side the top 3 bags were 12lbs (Yes that is an amazing bag and a different story), and then 8lbs and 8lbs. It went downhill from there... The lake is very stained, with the clearest water I saw was about 2 to 2 and a half visibility with the lake temp ranging from 36-40 in the areas I was at. NOTE-I did hear some hearsay about parts of the lake that were holding 49-50 degree water temperature, but wouldn't know anything about it.

Wow, good thought on the Post about what didn't work. Usually the only time I post info is if I actually did anything worth while. Most of the times I go out (which is usually every weekend at least) I don't have much to brag about, so I keep it to myself. From now on I'll fill ya guys in on what "didn't" catch em too! I will tell you what DIDN"T catch them at Lake of the Ozarks this past weekend in the CPA, my jerkbait and jig which caught me Zero fish all day, lol!!! And unfortunately I wasn't the only one either... PS..Going to Bull Shoals this Wed and Thurs I believe and I'll be sure to fill ya guys in whether i catch em or not

With all the talk about line, I came across something I just never thought of. When you guys talk about reel backing and filler line, do you mean you fill up your reel spool like half way with a cheaper line, and then tie on your good line for the last half??? THAT IS A GREAT IDEA!! To this day I've always just filled up my spool with whatever line i'm gonna be using, which has me struggling to decide what type and lb test will best suit me for the upcoming months on my 4 baitcasters. It also gets expensive as the fishing changes and I have to re spool with new line to suit the conditions. So how do you guys do this? I pretty much throw fluoro on everything except topwater, ranging from 8-17. What type of "filler line" works the best? And at what lb? Do you have to use roughly the same lb as what you will be throwing? And how much of the spool do you fill up? Will 1/2 work? Also, what is the best way to tie two separate lines together? The best knot for the job? Thanks guys!

Don't know much about the muskie, but if you're going for Crappie, once we get some consistent nice weather, the northern shore of the north leg is full of underwater moss. The crappie congregate around that stuff like a party in the spring. Get a pair of polarized sunglasses and most of the time you can see where the patches of moss are. Toss a minnow on bobber around the edges of this stuff and you're sure to get bit. There's tons of moss thou so its hard to pinpoint exactly where they may be. If u dont get a bite in 5-10 min, move along till you find some active ones. Another good thing to do is get one of them little lake maps at the fellows lake marina. They have spots marked where there are some underwater brush piles. These are good spots too, i think at some pt or another I have caught crappie out of most of them. Good luck out there!

Another issue I was contemplating was the distance from the shoreline to fish? Is Fork one of those lakes you want to be 2-3 casts from the bank because its so shallow? Or do I wanna go with everyone else and be a bank beater? I'm out to catch that fish of a lifetime (for me would be happy with something 8+) and I don't want my boat to be sitting on top of them. Or with the middle of march will it not matter where you fish cuz they will be everywhere? Thanks guys!!

Wow, thanks everyone so much for the info. As always you've helped greatly. Good to know about the wind ordeal. That is something I really never woulda took into account, and from what it sounds like, could have ended up pretty bad. It stinks now, I have a big exam tomorrow and I literally can't stop thinking about fishing!! What's a guy to do?

p.s.s.... If anyone knows if theres a forum like OzarkAnglers, only for Texas, that would be extremely helpful too. Thanks!

Sorry to post this here I know its not TRL, but I know this forum gets a lot of traffic. Some other plans fell through, so I have some time off March 16th-21st. I want to make a trip down to Lake Fork. I know people will say hire a guide, but i just can't afford that. My plan right now is to haul my 14' flatbottom down there and stay at a campsite that provides electric and shower facilities. So my question is this?... Does anyone on this forum have any experience fishing Fork? Particularly in March? I have absolutely no clue other than stuff I'm reading. All I have is the stories I've heard and the dream of going down there and fishing a week just to have a good chance to hook onto 1 8+ lber!! If anyone has any info on some "good" ramps to put in at, and maybe some key areas or spots on that lake, it would be greatly appreciated. Other than that, I'm just gonna go down there and shoot around with my 9.9hp and wing it! Thanks guys. ps... If anyone has a bigger boat and is by any chance going down there and needs a tag along to split expenses with, shoot me a pm.

Me and my buddy put in by Forsyth in the green 14 ft flatbottom. Fished from 7:00 to 1:00 threw stickbaits the whole time. Caught 9 largemouth with 3 of them keepers. Took out for lunch and then put in at K dock around 3:00 to try for some crappie or walleye for dinner. It didn't disappoint. Took home 10 crappie for the skillet after only fishing for 2 hours. Yum. Didn't catch a walleye all day. Between the bass, the crappie, and the AMAZING weather, I'd say it was a blessed day!

I've been picking up the magazine "BASSIN" lately. I find it at walmart in the magazine rack and its only $3.50. Filled with tons of good info and articles specifically towards bass fishing. I've found I most enjoy reading that one lately, not that it's good that I spend more time in class reading it than paying attention!!