Eliminating Water
Monday, March 1, 2010 at 6:57PM Sunday was our third straight day of 40 degree weather…that may not sound like a huge deal to some but for an angler in the Midwest it was one of our first good chances in a long time to try and shake that cabin fever. The sun was going to come out and warm up the water. The farm animals were running around their pastures when we drove down. We were confident in what we had rigged up the night before. All signs pointed towards having a good day, but that didn’t happen.
I backed Ardent Pro Kris Anderson's Ranger into the water, parked his truck, and walked to the courtesy dock as fast as I could. We got to the ramp about 15 minutes after the sun had come up so we were running a little bit behind. When I jumped in the boat and started to get buttoned up for an undoubtedly cold run, I looked over and saw his hand covering the screen of his Hummingbird. “Whadya think we’ve got for a water temp” he asks me. The water at the top of the Gravois looked like a shook up bottle of chocolate milk so I ventured a guess…”38 degrees,” I said, but I was a little off. The water was a balmy 34! Sweet.
I had 5 rods rigged with the usual winter-time producers and a wild-card (the swimbait) that I’m trying to become more familiar with. Water clarity, depth, wind, and a flat out lack of signs from the fish caused me to make a few changes during the day. Kris mixed in a few different colors, but my arsenal for the day is pretty much as you see it below. 
I’ve caught fish on all of these lures in cold, cold water, but I can't remember fishing water colder than 38 degrees. From left to right, 1/2oz Brush-Head Jig from BassTeamTackle.com, football Shaky Head from BassTeamTackle.com, Lucky Craft Pointer 100DD custom painted by BB-Lures, Lucky Craft Pointer 95SP, Smithwick Rogue and # 7 Shad Rap painted by Dwain Batey at Baitwerks, 4” chartreuse shad-colored soft swimbait paired with a 4/0 Gamakatsu weighted swimbait hook.
We idled through a couple hundred yards of ice that was about an inch thick before we peeled off the channel and started fishing. With the muddy and cold water we knew we probably wouldn’t get bit that far up the Gravois but the best way to find productive water is to eliminate non-productive water. 10-12 casts on a point was enough for cross the upper section off the list. Sub-40 degrees and muddy is about the worst water you can possibly fish. Not only is it too cold for them to want to move, they can’t see anything. Because the sediment in muddy water retains heat, it can sometimes be as much as 5 degrees warmer than the clear sections of the lake, but when all the water is under 40 it doesn’t really matter…cold is cold so you’re better off looking for the clear stuff.
The frozen water in the outboard’s cooling lines had thawed out and the ice stretching across the main channel had dissipated a little so we motored to our next spot. It was still considered in the back 1/3rd of the Gravois, but I had heard awesome things about it from a customer of mine who told me to check it out. The sun was beating down on the chunk rock that lined the bank, the water had some clarity to it, and I saw some awesome rocks and structure on Kris’ Hummingbird (the technology on today's fish-finders is incredible!). I also saw schools of shad on the graph and with my shaky head rod I could feel every nook and cranny of the bottom…this was a fish-holding spot for sure. Multiple jerkbaits, crankbaits, jigs, and shaky heads couldn’t produce a bite for us, and as we motored away I couldn’t help but think about how many fish had probably seen our lures but were too lethargic to chase them down.
We kept pushing further and further towards the main channel. We stopped and fished a spot that we both knew pretty well. Again it had all the key ingredients…water clarity, sunshine, brush and rocks on the bottom, chunk rock on the bank, a spawning pocket on one side, a bluff wall on the other side, but it didn’t have hungry fish. We made multiple passes through this area later in the day and still didn’t get a bite. At this point it was time to forget about establishing a pattern and time to focus on putting a fish in the boat.
We did end up establishing a pattern…use past experiences and knowledge to find a productive looking
spot, fish it with everything but the kitchen sink, don’t catch any of the fish on it, jump to the next spot, repeat! When you see past tournament winners and big-time Ozark-area professionals fishing all around you doing the same thing you’re doing, you may not have it dialed in, but it tells you that you’re at least in the ballpark. I'm kind of surprised I didn't snag a keeper or two with those jerkbait hooks. Most of the boats we saw didn’t stay in one area long, and I’m guessing that everyone else had a pretty tough day (or at least I'm hoping they did!). After jumping to somewhere around 20 spots and being unable to buy a bite, I'm sure hopin' those water temps creep up into the 40s before the BFL Event on the 13th! Even at the end of the day some of the coves were still choked with ice.
Anybody do any good on Lake of the O Sunday or was I the only one who swung and missed? Feel free to leave a comment if you were out there with me...
Lake of the Ozarks, Winter Fishing in Journals
Reader Comments (5)
You need to get out of the muddy stuff, my partner and I were down there sunday and had a limit within about an hour and a half. We were able to catch 9 keepers in 4 hours so we felt pretty confident on leaving.
We left the muddy stuff pretty quickly and for the majority of the day we fished water that had 2-4ft of clarity, but we still struggled like crazy. We paused that jerkbait from 2 seconds to 2 minutes and everywhere in between and nothing tried to swim off with it. Hopefully I'll get paired up with you Bill!
Thanks for your comment,
Pete
In the past I had done pretty well in the North Shore area and this past sunday was the result as a disappointing trip. 8000 +/- cast without even a bite kinda hurt my pride. So dont feel bad my result was equal. Hopefully the water will warm to at least low 40's before the BFL and American Fishing.
I know you can fish Jay so that does make me feel a little better...I think that either ol' boy who commented above us is either full of BS or he was fishing for crappies!
Thanks for your comment,
Pete
Nine keepers in four hours in 36 degree water. In all my years of winter fishing Lake Ozarks, I have never caught that many keepers in 36 degree water in just four hours. Were talking 15 inch bass and not 9 inch crappie. I fished this past Sunday and we had one keeper. It was tough on Sunday but it felt great to get out on the water.