Spring Patterns/lures

[BassMaster2]

I'm a fairly new fisherman so you guys will probably have to bear with me and the 6,000 questions i ask. But any advice is greatly apprecieated. I'm fishing Indian Creek in the Lake of the Ozarks if that helps...

-During this prespawn phase coming up, should i be angling secondary points or working my way into coves more?

-Im also having trouble finding a good crawdad color that works.

-I understand that fishing is slow right now, but it seems as if im doing lots of things right and still not catching anything.

-Lure Colors? Presentation? Im hurtin fellas!!!

Any suggestions at all?

-Ive mainly been fishing suspending jerkbaits and every color wigglewort, and lipless crankbaits.

-I try different approaches like slowrolling a spinnerbait. just cant seem to get em to bite

[Kramr]

1. Get a hotspots map if you don't have one. Study it. It will give you an idea about where to fish.

2. Get a decent color fish finder, one that not only shows depth but able to locate bait fish. You need to locate the bait before you can locate the fish. If you have one, turn off fish ID. It is pretty much useless. Learn how to adjust it yourself. If you mess it up, just reset the default and start over.

3. Once you locate the bait fish then start looking for the fish under the bait. If you see a ball of bait and there are streaks going through it, get a lure down there stat.

4. You didn't mention any soft plastics. Get some plastic worms and such, watermelon, junebug colors. You can fish these slower and get into places other lures can't go. Lots of different lures for different situations.

5. Seems most of the fishing at LOTO is done around boat docks. Learn how to fish docks and how to skip a lure under them.

Good Luck!

[ozarkgunner]

1. Get a hotspots map if you don't have one. Study it. It will give you an idea about where to fish.

2. Get a decent color fish finder, one that not only shows depth but able to locate bait fish. You need to locate the bait before you can locate the fish. If you have one, turn off fish ID. It is pretty much useless. Learn how to adjust it yourself. If you mess it up, just reset the default and start over.

3. Once you locate the bait fish then start looking for the fish under the bait. If you see a ball of bait and there are streaks going through it, get a lure down there stat.

4. You didn't mention any soft plastics. Get some plastic worms and such, watermelon, junebug colors. You can fish these slower and get into places other lures can't go. Lots of different lures for different situations.

5. Seems most of the fishing at LOTO is done around boat docks. Learn how to fish docks and how to skip a lure under them.

Good Luck!

1. If you are truely not getting ANYTHING then most likely you are fishing too fast. This is the number one problem for many novice anglers.

2. The second fatal thing is using the wrong line. Use clear (not red, green, blue, smoke, etc,) quality line between 8-10 lbs. The number of fish you catch is worth much more than the baits you use.

3. When selecting baits think about what color of bait the fish are actually eating. This said, use a DARK (i.e. black or blue) at night. It seems funny, but you can see dark objects very well at night. I use purple baits at night also.

4. Hire a guide to show you what to do. You didn't learn to drive alone, so why learn to fish alone. It is the best money you will ever spend.

5. Buy good (they don't have to be great) gear. I out fished my friend with minnows (15 fish to zero) last weekend because I had a long St. Croix rod with a soft tip spooled with Florocarbon. You don't have to spend $300 on a rod and reel but a $100 rod makes a BIG difference.

6. Stay on the Ozark Anglers Forum. I love to help anyone fish.....someone had to show me at one point in time.

7. Relax... it's fishing not catching.

Buy large minnows if everything else fails!

Good night!

[ozarkgunner]

I'm a fairly new fisherman so you guys will probably have to bear with me and the 6,000 questions i ask. But any advice is greatly apprecieated. I'm fishing Indian Creek in the Lake of the Ozarks if that helps...

-During this prespawn phase coming up, should i be angling secondary points or working my way into coves more?

-Im also having trouble finding a good crawdad color that works.

-I understand that fishing is slow right now, but it seems as if im doing lots of things right and still not catching anything.

-Lure Colors? Presentation? Im hurtin fellas!!!

Any suggestions at all?

-Ive mainly been fishing suspending jerkbaits and every color wigglewort, and lipless crankbaits.

-I try different approaches like slowrolling a spinnerbait. just cant seem to get em to bite

Do you have a boat?