Lake Of The Ozarks 2024
gardnerjigman reply :
Hey guys, just wanted some fun conversation. I will be fishing the big bass bash again in October.
If you had to pick 1 rig and one structure and a certain depth range to put that 7+ pounder in the boat.... What would it be?
I am a jig man so I would flip and pitch docks with 12' and shallower. Start at the face of the dock and work my way to the bank.
How about you?
gardnerjigman reply :
Nothing?
Brian6428 reply :
I hardly feel qualified to answer this, but I took a 2 day trip there june 1-2 so i'll give it a go. If I were there in october for the Bash I would be throwing a Spook or senko on a spot remover. Hopefully I could jump between coves fishing the dock that protrudes most, which i have heard is supposed to hold the most bass in the fall.
If I were to go now it would be a 12" worm in 25' deep brush piles or a big flutter spoon in the same spot.
Brian
Siebert Outdoors reply :
I'd throw a jig around the docks. Works year round.
gardnerjigman reply :
Thinking black buzz bait in between docks, along cables, walk ways and over chunk rock flats. Will probably be throwing a jig 90% of the time.
Any thoughts of a nail weighted super fluke skipped under docks?
Basically with 2200-2500 people fishing this thing it's basically a crap shoot, but I love fishing the lake, try to take a long weekend there every fall anyways... So why not pay the extra $175 and try to get lucky?
Brian6428 reply :
On 6/27/2014 at 6:13 AM, gardnerjigman said:Thinking black buzz bait in between docks, along cables, walk ways and over chunk rock flats. Will probably be throwing a jig 90% of the time.
Any thoughts of a nail weighted super fluke skipped under docks?
Basically with 2200-2500 people fishing this thing it's basically a crap shoot, but I love fishing the lake, try to take a long weekend there every fall anyways... So why not pay the extra $175 and try to get lucky?
Do you catch many big fish on the buzzbait? I mainly get dinks on them. Also, how heavy a jig are you guys using to fish the docks?
gardnerjigman reply :
The black omega buzz bait is killer on LOZ. A buddy and I fished a union tournament and had a 28# bag and took 1st with that buzz bait.
Fish in the usual spots I mentioned above. If you throw at the bank out it as close to the bank as possible. Had a 6.43 kicker inhale the buzz 6" off the bank.
Depends what depth the fish are. 2 years ago at the fall bash we had a stupid cold front come through, reels were freezing up running across the lake... Then we were fishing 25-30 ft of water with 1oz omega jigs and havoc trailers.
My favorite jig in the world is a 3/8 oz finesse flipping jig by jewel with a jewel Eakins craw. A lot of bass, especially at LOZ have had a case of sore mouth over that jig 
Fishes in trees reply :
Last year, didn't someone throwing a big swim bait win that tournament? Refresh my memory.
Brian6428 reply :
On 6/27/2014 at 9:04 AM, gardnerjigman said:The black omega buzz bait is killer on LOZ. A buddy and I fished a union tournament and had a 28# bag and took 1st with that buzz bait.
Fish in the usual spots I mentioned above. If you throw at the bank out it as close to the bank as possible. Had a 6.43 kicker inhale the buzz 6" off the bank.
Depends what depth the fish are. 2 years ago at the fall bash we had a stupid cold front come through, reels were freezing up running across the lake... Then we were fishing 25-30 ft of water with 1oz omega jigs and havoc trailers.
My favorite jig in the world is a 3/8 oz finesse flipping jig by jewel with a jewel Eakins craw. A lot of bass, especially at LOZ have had a case of sore mouth over that jig
What color jigs do you like for LOZ? I tried out a green pumpkin jig when i was there with no luck.
gardnerjigman reply :
Peanut butter jelly, black blue.
Not sure what won it last year, but a swim bait wouldn't surprise me. 2 years ago a 13 year old kid had first for all but the last 2 hours of the 2 day tourney. He caught a 7 something on a perch swim bait.
What ended up winning it was on a black blue jig under a dock walk way in less that 2 feet of water.
Brian6428 reply :
Is it really $175 to enter? It sounds fun but that seems pretty steep.
gardnerjigman reply :
That's for both days. There is A LOT of money in this tournament. Like I said... It's a crap shoot. If you catch a 4 pounder, you probably win your money back. If you catch a 5-6 pounder probably $500-1000. If you catch a 7+... Thousands....
Here is the link http://www.midwestfishtournaments.com/lozfall_bbb.html , I definitely recommend this event. If you decide to go, get in touch with me. I've got a connection for stupid cheap condos.
EmersonFish reply :
I hope to fish that tournament if I'm not down in Texas fishing the Gulf. I'm not trying to be cryptic, but I have no idea what I'm going to do. I'm hoping as the event approaches, I'll get it dialed in. Depending on what the weather does leading up to that, I'll start shallow and work out, but I wouldn't be surprised if I end up working a Swivel Head Football Jig or a Shakey Head with a variety of somewhat smaller profile baits around the ends of a docks that are in favorable areas, and have brush beneath them.
gardnerjigman reply :
Probably a safe bet. I'm getting more and more excited the closer it gets!
EmersonFish reply :
On 7/29/2014 at 2:01 AM, gardnerjigman said:Probably a safe bet. I'm getting more and more excited the closer it gets!
I'm pretty stoked about it as well. I plan to start making a few trips down to LOZ to fish, and although what I do in the Summer will not translate to October, I'm going to be looking for certain areas to mark on my Lowrance and come back to in the Fall.
gardnerjigman reply :
That's awesome man. Let me know how you do. What parts of the lake do you fish?
EmersonFish reply :
On 7/29/2014 at 9:12 AM, gardnerjigman said:That's awesome man. Let me know how you do. What parts of the lake do you fish?
To be honest, I haven't fished for bass at LOZ much. When I have bass fished there it's been way out west in the river. I co-own a bass boat with my dad and he lives down at Table Rock, so the boat stays with him and that's where I fish most often. Anyway, it doesn't make sense to go down there, get the boat, and go somewhere else. This year I bought a boat to use for multi-species fishing. I just built a casting deck on the front so I could bass fish around here, and I planned on that tournament being my first.
Bluebasser86 reply :
Last time I fished LOZ in October I did really well around PB2. Had several really solid keeper fished and culled a few times. I shot myself in foot twice when I had a 5lb class fish pull off a jig and I busted off a monster at the boat on a football jig that my buddy ended up catching the next week off the same spot on a really similar football jig (she weighed 8lbs 2ozs and still had my jig in her mouth 
). Most of my keepers were caught on a shakyhead or a jig, with the bigger fish coming off the jig in 5-20 feet of water, I was nowhere near any docks either.
gardnerjigman reply :
On 7/30/2014 at 1:21 PM, Bluebasser86 said:Last time I fished LOZ in October I did really well around PB2. Had several really solid keeper fished and culled a few times. I shot myself in foot twice when I had a 5lb class fish pull off a jig and I busted off a monster at the boat on a football jig that my buddy ended up catching the next week off the same spot on a really similar football jig (she weighed 8lbs 2ozs and still had my jig in her mouth
). Most of my keepers were caught on a shakyhead or a jig, with the bigger fish coming off the jig in 5-20 feet of water, I was nowhere near any docks either.
Wow... how long did that fish haunt you? I'm a big fan of shaky-head and obviously jigs. Where you on chunk rock and brush? Or just bottom irregularities?
PB2 would be a long boat ride from where I stay up by the dam, but I've done it before.
I love that freaking lake.. March/April and September/October are my favorite times to be there.
EmersonFish reply :
On 7/30/2014 at 10:45 PM, gardnerjigman said:Wow... how long did that fish haunt you? I'm a big fan of shaky-head and obviously jigs. Where you on chunk rock and brush? Or just bottom irregularities?
PB2 would be a long boat ride from where I stay up by the dam, but I've done it before.
I love that freaking lake.. March/April and September/October are my favorite times to be there.
Since you are staying near the dam, are you planning on using the weigh-in site at Alhonna Resort?
gardnerjigman reply :
Ya. Where are you planning on staying?
EmersonFish reply :
I might commute. I live in Jefferson City. I may decide between now and then that I would rather find a place where I can get a slip. There will be a lot of boats loading and unloading, and potentially some full parking lots at ramps near the weigh-in sites. Plus, it's still takes me about an hour to get to the ramp I'll likely put in at, and gas is crazy. We'll see. If I have to take the boat out of the water anyway, I'll probably just drive home and sleep in my own bed. I will say this: If I catch an 8 lber. the first day, I'm not leaving town.
I most likely will concentrate my fishing in the Gravois Arm because that is closest to home and where it's easiest for me to fish in the weeks leading up to the event, so I'll weigh in at Alhonna... assuming I have anything to weigh in.
gardnerjigman reply :
Pm sent Emerson
Bluebasser86 reply :
On 7/30/2014 at 10:45 PM, gardnerjigman said:Wow... how long did that fish haunt you? I'm a big fan of shaky-head and obviously jigs. Where you on chunk rock and brush? Or just bottom irregularities?
PB2 would be a long boat ride from where I stay up by the dam, but I've done it before.
I love that freaking lake.. March/April and September/October are my favorite times to be there.
I wish I could say I'm over that fish since it was almost 10 years ago, but I still think about what I should/could have done differently. Would have sent me to Mexico and Lake El Salto for the end of the year big bass challenge too.
I was fishing a bank that was a mix of gravel and chunk rock where the channel swings in close to the shoreline. There was some brush or something on the edge of the channel and as soon as my jig came over a limb she knocked slack in my line. I was sure it was a catfish and put more pressure on her than I should have and never asked my boater to get the net. As soon as I saw the fish she was on the surface thrashing around and I was sure she was going to toss my jig so I tried to horse her too much and the line broke when she surged back under the boat.
gardnerjigman reply :
Wow man. That hurts. Crazy how things like that haunt you. I don't remember every big fish I've caught, but I do remember every one I've lost.
Brian6428 reply :
On 8/1/2014 at 2:35 AM, gardnerjigman said:Wow man. That hurts. Crazy how things like that haunt you. I don't remember every big fish I've caught, but I do remember every one I've lost.
Are you getting excited for the big bass bash?
gardnerjigman reply :
On 9/19/2014 at 7:05 AM, Brian6428 said:Are you getting excited for the big bass bash?
My wife told me she isn't even going to talk to me until after I get back. Just about all that is running thru my mind at this point
Brian6428 reply :
On 9/19/2014 at 9:27 AM, gardnerjigman said:My wife told me she isn't even going to talk to me until after I get back. Just about all that is running thru my mind at this point
What's your gameplan? Where are you launching from? I can't fish it this year but I am quite interested in the whole idea.
gardnerjigman reply :
I stay around the alohana resort area. Targeting docks with brush, rock transitions. Back up plan is, as always, chase the shad up river.
Brian6428 reply :
On 9/19/2014 at 11:33 PM, gardnerjigman said:I stay around the alohana resort area. Targeting docks with brush, rock transitions. Back up plan is, as always, chase the shad up river.
How'd day one go?
gardnerjigman reply :
Had a great morning and weighed in 2 fish today. 4.09 (.09 cost me a $500 exact weight check) and a 4.24. Both fish were beat. Afternoon was rough. Had 4.5 foot whitecaps on the main lake making runs very hard (kidneys still hurt). Big fish is 6.7 so far. I went out and idled the backs of coves with feeder creeks and found big schools of gizzard shad. Will be starting there tomorrow morning.
Brian6428 reply :
On 10/5/2014 at 11:20 AM, gardnerjigman said:Had a great morning and weighed in 2 fish today. 4.09 (.09 cost me a $500 exact weight check) and a 4.24. Both fish were beat. Afternoon was rough. Had 4.5 foot whitecaps on the main lake making runs very hard (kidneys still hurt). Big fish is 6.7 so far. I went out and idled the backs of coves with feeder creeks and found big schools of gizzard shad. Will be starting there tomorrow morning.
What kind of boat are you in? Sounds nasty.
Nice fish, though. Bummer to not get paid.
gardnerjigman reply :
A triton 186 with a 150 merc. No dice today boys. Tried to hit a exact weight fish and it came in at 2.15. Caught all my fish today on main lake points dragging a wobble jig head with a green pumpkin berkley power hawg with the last inch dipped in blue garlic spike it. Getting loaded up and heading to the award ceremony. Heard there was a toad weighed in at just under 8#s!!
EmersonFish reply :
7.89 won it. Weighed in the first time period this morning. A lot of nice fish were weighed in.
I was going to fish this but opted not to because I have not got to fish the lake at all recently due to my broken foot, and I still am not comfortable spending all day alone on the big lake in my old boat. Not that there wouldn't have been plenty of help out there if I needed it. There were probably close to 2000 entries. Not sure what the actual number is. I'll have to check that out.
gardnerjigman reply :
On 10/6/2014 at 9:31 AM, EmersonFish said:7.89 won it. Weighed in the first time period this morning. A lot of nice fish were weighed in.
I was going to fish this but opted not to because I have not got to fish the lake at all recently due to my broken foot, and I still am not comfortable spending all day alone on the big lake in my old boat. Not that there wouldn't have been plenty of help out there if I needed it. There were probably close to 2000 entries. Not sure what the actual number is. I'll have to check that out.
Sure did, came from the 2 mile marker on an Omega jig. Stud of a fish!
It would have been rough for you with a broken foot to control everything. We were in a 2006 Triton 18'6 and we had the holy hell beat out of us on Saturday from waves from that 20-25mph gusts. Sunday the weather was much more tolerable, but that also made pleasure boaters come out. Had a 45' monster of a boat come around a main lake point close enough for me to cast and hit at full speed. Put the nose of the boat at a 45 degree angle in the air and when it slammed back down we took a wave straight on the nose and it just flooded the boat and almost took us both off of it.
Was a fun tournament and atleast i didn't go completely empty handed. Won a lews speed spool and an omega tackle assortment.
Can't decide if I want to fish the April one or not.
conorsixtakc reply :
On 10/6/2014 at 3:58 AM, gardnerjigman said:A triton 186 with a 150 merc. No dice today boys. Tried to hit a exact weight fish and it came in at 2.15. Caught all my fish today on main lake points dragging a wobble jig head with a green pumpkin berkley power hawg with the last inch dipped in blue garlic spike it. Getting loaded up and heading to the award ceremony. Heard there was a toad weighed in at just under 8#s!!
Sounds like you ran the main channel, how far from the Gravois did you run?
conorsixtakc reply :
On 10/6/2014 at 10:20 PM, gardnerjigman said:Sure did, came from the 2 mile marker on an Omega jig. Stud of a fish!
It would have been rough for you with a broken foot to control everything. We were in a 2006 Triton 18'6 and we had the holy hell beat out of us on Saturday from waves from that 20-25mph gusts. Sunday the weather was much more tolerable, but that also made pleasure boaters come out. Had a 45' monster of a boat come around a main lake point close enough for me to cast and hit at full speed. Put the nose of the boat at a 45 degree angle in the air and when it slammed back down we took a wave straight on the nose and it just flooded the boat and almost took us both off of it.
Was a fun tournament and atleast i didn't go completely empty handed. Won a lews speed spool and an omega tackle assortment.
Can't decide if I want to fish the April one or not.
I'd fish it if I were you. April's my favorite month to fish LOZ. Most of the big boats are still winterized and on the lower end there's a good chance you'll be able to sight fish a toad. See attached.
gardnerjigman reply :
The condos we stay at are on the main channel around the 1.5 mm. Saturday we ran up the gravious to Mill Creek Cove and Soap Creek Cove. Main lake of Saturday was very difficult to fish because the wind made it nearly impossible to skip docks or stay on a brush pile. Sunday we focused on docks until the pleasure boaters got to running and we then focused on main lake points and just let the wind drift us over them.
gardnerjigman reply :
On 10/6/2014 at 10:28 PM, conorsixtakc said:I'd fish it if I were you. April's my favorite month to fish LOZ. Most of the big boats are still winterized and on the lower end there's a good chance you'll be able to sight fish a toad. See attached.
Yah, i've had very good luck in April on LOZ. Very first tournament we fished there was the carpenters union tourney from st louis. We placed 4th in it with 18lbs. This is definetly a lake that can keep you in check though. Can walk into it with all the confidence in the world and walk out at an all time low. I'm happy with our performance, but it's haunting me a little that the almost 8# winning fish came practically in the back yard of where we were staying!
EmersonFish reply :
It would have been very rough on me with the boat I have up here. It's a fairly light weight, aluminum boat. It's a v-bottom with the front deck raised up (probably raised too high, if I'm honest). But my biggest concern would have been the runs across the main lake to the weigh in site. If I fish it in the Spring, I'll go down and get my boat that lives at Table Rock. Not that it's ideal. But it's a reliable boat that would be much better for the job.On 10/6/2014 at 10:20 PM, gardnerjigman said:Sure did, came from the 2 mile marker on an Omega jig. Stud of a fish!
It would have been rough for you with a broken foot to control everything. We were in a 2006 Triton 18'6 and we had the holy hell beat out of us on Saturday from waves from that 20-25mph gusts. Sunday the weather was much more tolerable, but that also made pleasure boaters come out. Had a 45' monster of a boat come around a main lake point close enough for me to cast and hit at full speed. Put the nose of the boat at a 45 degree angle in the air and when it slammed back down we took a wave straight on the nose and it just flooded the boat and almost took us both off of it.
Was a fun tournament and atleast i didn't go completely empty handed. Won a lews speed spool and an omega tackle assortment.
Can't decide if I want to fish the April one or not.
If I don't fish in April, I'll definitely do the Oakley Big Bass Tour event at Table Rock, assuming it happens around May as it usually does. Not as much money at stake, but good hourly prize money, and this year the grand prize was a Nitro Z8.
awmcdonald reply :
On 10/5/2014 at 11:20 AM, gardnerjigman said:Had a great morning and weighed in 2 fish today. 4.09 (.09 cost me a $500 exact weight check) and a 4.24. Both fish were beat. Afternoon was rough. Had 4.5 foot whitecaps on the main lake making runs very hard (kidneys still hurt). Big fish is 6.7 so far. I went out and idled the backs of coves with feeder creeks and found big schools of gizzard shad. Will be starting there tomorrow morning.
gardnerjigman, had to reply to your comment on the 4.5 footers. I have a 17' boat with 50 hp motor. A buddy and I were out Friday as well... made runs to Gravious Arm all the way from Alhonna all 3 days. We were so sore, we couldn't move by Sunday night. 
It was our first BBB, and first time on LOZ as well. He ended up cashing a check in the 9-11 slot sunday with a 4.73. We caught probably 25 fish between both tournament days with only 1 keeper.
gardnerjigman reply :
On 10/7/2014 at 11:09 AM, awmcdonald said:gardnerjigman, had to reply to your comment on the 4.5 footers. I have a 17' boat with 50 hp motor. A buddy and I were out Friday as well... made runs to Gravious Arm all the way from Alhonna all 3 days. We were so sore, we couldn't move by Sunday night.
It was our first BBB, and first time on LOZ as well. He ended up cashing a check in the 9-11 slot sunday with a 4.73. We caught probably 25 fish between both tournament days with only 1 keeper.
Congrats on the check! We ran from the dam to alohanna and the gravious. Actually going to the weigh in or to the gravious from the dam wasn't bad at all, but coming back from either one going with the waves sucked! Nothing you could do to keep the boat from jumping and the slower you went the worse it was so it was 50mph all the way. Our condo had a big Jacuzzi tub in it and it was used both Friday and Saturday nights just to keep the ache out!
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