Lake of the Ozarks

There are many positive aspects of Lake of the Ozarks in regards to its fishing, to counter its negative reputation of being covered up in the summer by boaters. The lake sprawls over mid-Missouri, covering 54,000 acres with two major river arms, the Osage and Niangua. The deepest part of the lake is only 100-feet deep, and fish have plenty of cover since new structure has been added over the past few years by anglers and dock owners alike. Lake of the Ozarks sports crappie by the millions, it seems; fishing in and around docks has become an Olympic sport there. Some of the best bass fishing can be found on the lake, according to most of the professional bass circuits that all make an annual stop here.

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Flip Docks in May for Lake of the Ozarks Bass

Even though bass will be in different stages of spawning during May on the Lake of the Ozarks, one pattern remains consistent throughout the month. read more…

Go With The Flow For Spawning Lake of the Ozarks White Bass

Silvery masses of white bass swarmed everywhere in the gin clear waters of the creek. The stream contained so many whites that the fish darted between my legs as I waded through the riffles.

Casting into a pool full of whites, I immediately hooked a fish and as it fought, at least 10 other white bass ran with the hooked fish. Nearly every cast produced a fish as I caught of limit of hefty white bass in less than 20 minutes. I’ve caught spawning white bass in the dirty waters of the Mississippi River and its tributaries before, but I’ll never forget my first white bass encounter in the clear waters of a Lake of the Ozarks creek.

When white bass get that spawning urge, they seek the right mixture of water flow and rocks throughout waterways in this region. Although white bass can successfully spawn on various types of bottoms, they seem to congregate more around any rocky areas, such as gravel shoals and riprap.

During a typical spring with normal rainfall, white bass run in several feeder creeks or rivers on the Lake of the Ozarks. On the northern side of the lake, the prime white bass runs occur in Cole Camp, Indian, Gravois and Little Gravois creeks. The southern region offers some of the best spawning runs however. An annual prime spot for spawning whites is the swinging bridges area in the Lake of the Ozarks State Park on the Grand Glaize arm. Other good spawning areas are the Big and Little Niangua rivers. The area around the Highway J bridge on the Little Niangua arm can be especially good at times. read more…

Prime Time Crappie Fishing at the Lake of the Ozarks

When spring arrives, it’s prime time for catching crappie at the Lake of the Ozarks.

By following crappie through their spawning cycle in the spring, you can consistently catch these tasty fish at the Lake of the Ozarks from March through May. One of the premier crappie anglers on the Lake of the Ozarks, Guy Winters, Camdenton, MO, knows where to find and how to catch crappie during the two main stages of the spawning cycle–the pre-spawn and the actual spawn). read more…

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