Fishing Patterns

LAKE OF THE OZARKS, Mo. — Morning and afternoon fishing are both good at the Lake right now, but methods of angling shift with the hands on the clock, says local fishing guide Jim Dill.

Fish are moving to shallow areas overnight; from about 4 p.m. – 11 a.m. Dill says they will likely be in water eight feet deep or even shallower.

For a morning/evening fishing lure, Dill prescribes a 5/16-inch shaky head with a Zoom Magnum Trick Worm.

For afternoon fishing, between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., anglers need to move to deeper water—fish will likely be hanging where they have been for several weeks, around main Lake points and underwater ledges where the old river channel cut through the ground. Bigger jigs are called for during afternoon fishing.

Dill also notes that bass and crappie conditions tend to be the same on the Lake. If the bass are not biting, the crappie likely will not be either, and vice versa. Within a week, Dill projects, fish will begin spreading out as the Lake current slows. At that point, angling tactics will have to change again.

Water temperature at the Lake of the Ozarks is between 80–82 degrees; the water is mostly clear near the dam, but from the middle to upper areas of the Lake, it becomes a bit stained.