February before the rush

 I'm one of those weird people that like February. The lake isn't busy, water temp is cold, the fish are unpredictable just like the weather is but with technology like FFS or Garmin Live Scope has made a big improvement to figuring out these fish in the winter. The banks are dead or at least it seems that way and if you're a bank beater you can struggle this time of year. With all the offshore brush on this lake, the big schools of shad and under water points, drop off and old creek channels have the fish doing their thing. When spring gets here in the next couple months that's fun too, but the boat ramps are going to be packed every weekend, fish will more spread out.  I like to use my fancy electronics and hunt for groups of them. My latest boat from White's Marine Center is kick butt. Garmin 8612, 8616 have me seeing under the water like never before. The boat is really unique because it a combination of a bass boat and a big water boat. Your traditional bass boats are like race cars. They're beautiful to look at with all the red glitter gel flake and they're super-fast. But they are lacking when it comes to fishing around docks and bringing several people with you. This Lund 2075 Pro V Bass is a lot more like a larger SUV. It's way more comfortable for people room. It has 4 good seats compared to 2 in bass boats. It's way more durable around the docks. But the biggest reason I bought the boat is it takes the waves better. That deep V cuts the waves better than bass boats. It's only 60mph but that's fast enough. 80% of the time I'm going 40mph anyways. My customers are loving this boat also. Last night I had a guide trip with a dad and his 18-year-old son. We were lighting the crappie up over in the state park. I had them both up there on the front deck casting away at schools of open water crappie and I had the remote-controlled trolling motor at the console unhooking fish. That was awesome! Last weekend I fished a bass tournament with my buddy Steve. We had a great day catching them on Damiki rigs, a rigs and a couple on the jerkbait. Dozen keepers and got 2nd place. Fun day, overcast skies, light wind temp in the 40s. Perfect. I'm going to stop writing and get ready for my next trip this afternoon. Hope they're biting like they were last night! Feel free to call or text me 573 434 2570

Summer 2023

The story of this summer has been low current flow which has made it difficult for a lot of fishermen. The drought has helped some river areas around the lake. Below Bagnel dam has been good as the water is about 60 degrees. It's so much cooler because the water comes out of such deep water from Lake of the Ozarks. 

The main lake isn't doing bad for catfish either as this is one of the best years for blue cats that we have seen in several years. We catch bluegills as bait and catch a lot of 2-8 pound catfish with some good ones up around 20-25 pounds. The big ones we turn back as they are protected by law. The 2-8 pound ones are great to eat. Blue cats eat fresh bluegills, not your typical bottom feeders. Right now we are catching them 20 feet down over 60 feet of water. 

Bass are kind of similar Tackle Hd stealth football jigs are my confidence bait right now as I can do just about everything with a jig. Swim it, stroke it, fish suspended cables 20 feet down over much deeper water. Drop shot have been good also. 

If you don't fish very often trolling crankbaits is a good way to fish also. It's easy, relaxing style of fishing. A lot of the trips I've been doing lately are short 4 hr trips 7-11am and then also a lot of evening trips 4-8pm. But everyday is custom and if you want something specific I might be able to accommodate your request. Things have been busy as july/august is probably the busiest time at the lake. I look forward to mid august when the kids go back to school. In the meantime take advantage of the big blue catfish or river trips. both are great ways to beat the heat and the drought conditions. 

March 2023

 I am helping BassingBob.com with daily fishing reports. I do a fishing report for Tackle HD. It is probably the best report on You Tube every other week. KRMS Radio fishing report every thursday morning at 640am plus John Neporandy has me report for the local news paper. I don't add fishing reports here as often as I should but I do 7 reports a week so I'm constantly giving reports everwhere else. 

The latest for Lake of the Ozarks is good. The lake is slowly warming up into the mid to upper 40's. A huge variety of lures are working for bass. There has not been a big push of bass up on the banks yet but it is happening in certain spot. Most of the bass are still offshore roaming and occasionally feeding. The Alabama rig is still my confidence bait right now. Tackle HD Swimmers in the 3.5 and the 4 inch size are great. They don't tear up as easily as most of the other swimbaits on the market. Blue back herring and smoke shad are my 2 favorite colors. The tournament pressure has been intense the last few weeks. 200 boat tournament have been the norm and it is a lot to deal with if you are a bass. Look for that to continue until things warm up in late april. After the Big Bass Bash is over things will settle down and there will be a big push towards the banks. Bluegills, spawning crappie and bass will return to the shallows and the average fishermen will catch fish. Right now experienced bass fishermen can struggle, but it all depends on the day and there are plenty of big bass being caught right now, make no doubt about it. We had an exceptional day last thursday throwing a rigs to off shore brush with forward facing sonar. Numerous 2-4 pound bass were caught and if you are interested in the lastest information go the other venues I listed above. 

Now crappie fishing has been a different story. Lots of average fishermen are having great success. Forward facing sonar has taken the fishing industry by storm the last 4 years and I use that technolgy everyday. Lots of limits and lots of quality fish are being caught right now and there is just something to the the cool water that crappie like. The best crappie fishing is right now and until things get really warm around Memorial day weekend. I'll still crappie fish in the summer but I much prefer the cooler months. 

I make up for the lack of crappie in the summer by fishing for blue catfish. Blue cats are wide spread and more aggressive than traditional catfish. They feed primarily on shad and it's rare to put our baits on the bottom of the lake like other catfish. I fish for those fish primarily during the summer months. They are great to eat and are perfect for fish fries. Fish 2-5 pounds are common and giant catfish in the 30 pound range are caught every year. They love the hot weather. 

New Post for 2022!

 Another new season here on Lake of the Ozarks. I started working in the fishing business in 97, that's been a while ago now. Crazy how things have changed and how expensive things are now. Used to be just a simple jon boat and I was happy. It's cool though, these new baits and electronics are really helpful. Covid has brought a lot more people into the sport. A lot of people are looking to get out of town and get outdoors. I've spent a bunch of time on the water already this year (and a good chunk of time up a tree stand this past fall!). My busy season starts here in about a month and goes through November.  Crappie fishing is usually good this time of year but this year is going to be a whole new level. We must have had a really good spawn a couple years ago and the lake's population of crappie has just blown up. Bass numbers seem up also but that same year class needs another year before they qualify to be considered a keeper (15 inches). Lots of changes aroung the lake too. Lot more new homes and condos being built because you know, we don't have enough already. I really am concerned in 20 years we won't have any shore line to fish anymore with out docks. I fish a lot more off shore than I used to. With the forward facing sonar like Livescope it really makes it easier. More quality bass and more schools of crappie. We have always had a lot of off shore rock piles, drop offs, and man made brushpiles. Now we can see them easier. Not sure what's going to happen with Margaritaville (TanTarA). The boat ramp sold to a private group and it's being turned into a RV park. So what that means for my guide customers is I might be using the boat ramp at the State Park (pb2) or by Bagnel dam even more often. I will start using the boat ramp in Linn Creek more often too. I really stopped taking 3 person trips a couple years ago mostly because of Covid but also because so many of my customers are not experienced in fishing Lake of the Ozarks. The docks and rocks here get a lot of snags and people just aren't used to fishing those. Bass boats are really set up for fishing for 2 people so I usually just take 2 people. I fish some of the time, some times I don't. I've thought about buying a walleye boat or something but you just can't get behind the docks like you can with a bass boat. I'm really bad about updating this website for fishing reports, most of my reports are eaten up by Bob, with BassingBob.com. I've known Bob for probably 10 years now and if you are not a member of BassingBob.com you're really missing out on a lot of good fishing information. March 1,2, and 3 will be the Toyota Series tournament again. That's the biggest tournament of the year and last year I was fortunate a to win over $11,000 at that event! I'd love to have another good event to start off the year again. Anyways my contact info is jack@fishinglakeoftheozarks.com or 573 434 2570. Email me or text me with some dates you are looking to get on the water and I'll get back to you. March, April are busy, June, July, August are busy. I run a lot of trips and most of my trips are short 4 hour trips so a lot of times I can work you in after my first trip of later that day. Just call and find out, I'm flexible. Main thing is you'll need is a fishing permit and appropriate clothing. I have everything else. 

Lake of the Ozarks Fishing Reports from Jack's Guide Service:

Lake of the Ozarks Fishing Reports from Jack's Guide Service:  Winter 2021 It's Cold out there and I can't fish so I guess I'll talk about fishing! I'll start with the most current information water temp is in the upper 30's and some ice is forming in the shallow water areas. This is going to be the time of year where we bottom out for our water temperatures. This lake can freeze but it usually does not freeze solid. It's a very, very large lake compared to many of the lakes around Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska. I stay on top of the fish year round. Even in January I had several guide trips that were very successful. In fact I was recently saying how this time of the year many of the bass are somewhat predictable because they are all doing the same thing. In the Spring and fall you have some fish shallow, some deep, many in between on top of that you have lots of competition from the fishing tournaments. Right now when I find a group of bass they stay there for a few weeks usually. A Bomb (Alabama rigs, a rigs) have been awesome this year. I throw them every year but I'm really using them a lot lately. They get hung up a ton which is frustrating but they catch 4 pounders easier than anything else in the winter. I just got a new a rig rod from Fenwick which is awesome, it's a 7'9'' heavy action Techna. I run 20 pound Berkley 100% Fluorocarbon (not a big Braid fan for this technique). Tackle HD swimmers are the most common swimbaits I put on them. Chuck this whole thing out there in deep water and slow roll it back. Easy as that, a lot of guys over think it. Finesse jigs are working too in fact I imagine water temps with get a touch colder but then we are going to have a warming trend mid to late February. That's really going to help the jig/ned bite. The lake level hasn't fallen much yet. That will be happening soon too. The Jerkbait bite has been ok. I have had certain days here lately where it's been the dominate lure but it hasn't been nearly as consistent as it usually is a big player this time of year. I think I'm just in love with the a rig/Livescope to throw other baits. 

Speaking of Livescope the best crappie bite of the whole year is coming up later in February. The term "Corking" is a technique to suspend a crappie jig a few feet below a small bobber and slowly twitch it without reeling it so it stays in there strike zone longer. No doubt it's my favorite way to catch them, way cooler than the spawn or shooting docks, spider rigging, trolling or anything. I use a spinning rod like you would for bass to throw the jig/bobber with my Livescope to show us where the big black crappie are. Sometimes it's near the edge of the ice, most of the time it's near a shallow point. Technology like these forward looking transducers has changed my game a lot. I started guiding in 2003, and I started working in the fishing business in 97, okay I fished tournaments the whole time and have stayed on the cusp of all the new techniques over the last 25 years, this stuff changed the game 2 years ago. We use it differently than some guys do in shallower lakes but the idea is the same. Look a direction under the water for fish, structure, bait whatever and then cast. 

Covid has also changed things. I have never liked taking 3 person trips but have always done it to appease my customers. and the reason is somebody is always hung up. Imagine 3-4 people casting as a dock corner or brushpile. Okay we don't fish open water all the time, well the first of second cast is probably going to catch that fish. The third or fourth cast is going to get hung. Plus having that many people in a bass boat is a mess. Customers have snagged me, that's not cool. Well with Covid taking over the last year I just haven't been taking hardly any three person trips. My father in law just passed away due to Covid. 6feet separation is close to possible if I take 2 people. Impossible if I take 3. 

We're looking to have another busy year here at the lake. Everything is open. real estate is booming, plus many people are working from their lake home. Try to book your trips during the week as this makes a big difference. Follow me on Facebook as I do not update this website very often. Facebook has fresh pictures every few weeks. 

Summer 2019

We're half way though the summer and this one will be remembered with great photos of customers catching nice fish. The flooding up stream and down stream of us has created a great situation for the fish to strive. Bass in particular have been rebounding from the spawn and eating the little baby shad born a month ago. I haven't done as many catfish, gar or other fish this year because I haven't had too. Bass are doing just fine as of now and hopefully the rest of the summer holds the same. We'll see as I have many customers that come just for the big fish that usually show up this time of the year. the lake has been dirtier than normal but it hasn't messed up too many things. Looks like it's starting to come back to normal yesterday.

January 29, 2019
We are about to experience some record low temperatures here with wind chills down around negative 14 degrees! Needless to say I'm not going fishing until it warms up Thursday where the high is 39 degrees again. I have fished several times lately with below freezing temperatures. Ice on the guides, cold runs, and wind chills have made it difficult but luckily the fishing hasn't been bad at all. Yesterday was awesome as the big bass were biting jerkbaits on the north shore area. We had a front coming in which always helps the bite with clouds, wind and the bass in their fairly predictable winter locations, it was fun. Plus the bass are in groups right now so while I'm fishing pretty slowly I'm only doing so in spots where you know there are fish. Crappie are doing well also. Part of that has to do with the new fish finder I just bought from Garmin. It's got this thing called Live Scope and it's a game changer. Basically it is forward looking sonar on steroids. I've never had anything like this before where a piece of technology is making such a big difference so quickly. You see fish in a whole different world. And it's helping me catch fish that I simply would not have without this new tool. It's the hottest new toy in the fishing world. Luckily the warmer days are just around the corner and I'll be back out there honing my skill. Good Luck Everybody!