Ozark Non-Believers

Yes, I was one of them. I used to think fishing Lake of the Ozarks was a lost cause. I figured that being the hot-spot that it is that there was no way this lake could produce decent fish. I was wrong. This past weekend was proof that there is excellent fishing to be had at “The Lake”. Party Cove aside (which serves its own special purpose), much of the development on the lake has helped the fishing. With each new development, up comes a dock or two. In fact, there is a plethora of boat slips, docks, and other structure within each and every one of the lake’s fingers and inlets.

Minnows gave us the most success by fishing docks without bobbers just a few inches off the bottom, but by far the most fun was had with a Smithwick Rogue crankbait. When they were biting, it was on like, well you know. We caught quite a few bass over 14 inches and surprisingly enough a few crappie that pushed the one pound mark. Truth be told however, my fiancé skooled us all with a smaller sized (1/16oz maybe?) crank that mimicked a minnow. The only thing that did not work was the frozen shrimp for cat idea. Only one cat was caught on a minnow.

On Saturday before heading to the local establishments we fried up the catch. We used a live-well to keep them for the day instead of keeping them on ice. I’m absolutely convinced that ice makes the meat more al dente when it’s cooked. That’s right, I said al dente.

Side note, I need to find a better fish batter. The products sold at the Schnucks and BPS are awful.