Ozark Park 3rd Time

[smallmouthjoe]

Fished the park today and it was a tough one. I arrived there early, around 7:00, and caught my only fish of the day on my third cast. I was throwing a homemade spinnerbait, white with a gold willow. After going about an hour without another bite on the spinner I switched to my go to bait, a green and brown bitsy bug jig. I dragged that thing around everywhere, but couldn't get anything going. It was a bad day for catching fish but it was a good day in general. Got some exercise, some clean air and got out of Springfield for a little while.

[RSBreth]

Canoe? Kayak? Bank?

[smallmouthjoe]

I was fishing out of my kayak.

[RSBreth]

Cool.

You should try to portage up above Riverside Inn. It's kind of a pain, but the couple of holes just up from Ozark can be nice sometimes, especially when the park gets crowded.

[smallmouthjoe]

RS, what up with the main channel of the park? Do you ever catch fish out in the middle? This last time I saw a fairly big school of fish chasing bait fish right in the middle of the channel. I was too far away to see what they were, but I would have to guess that they where bass. Thanks for the tip on the holes up from riverside, I'll try it sometime this week if the rain doesn't put the river too high.

[RSBreth]

You never know, could have been Bass. There's lot's of different fish in there. In mid-summer you can catch some Bass by using jigs or soft plastics on any cover by the bluff banks, but it's slow fishing. More action up in the current away from the park itself.

[mmirg]

My favorite for that spot (as with most spots on the river) is a 5" senko rigged with a split shot about 12" up from the hook. Work it real slow around the docks and next to the bluff on the left at any variation in the rock that looks like it might be holding fish. Across from the bluffs you can throw it at the bank where there is structure in the water. Let it set, move it about a foot and let it set again, thats usually when you will feel the bump. I have never caught anything spectacular there but the goggle eye and the LMBs are still fun to catch.