Fishing at Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri during March can be one of the
most productive times to enjoy and catch fish. During March the days are
getting longer, the water temperatures will be warming up and the fish will be starting
to move from their winter time holding areas and their metabolism will start
get faster, therefore they will be on the hunt for food.
This winter however, has been one of the coldest in many
years, the lake has been frozen for most of February and early March water
temperatures are in the mid to upper 30’s, therefore the fishing in early March
has been quite difficult to get the bass and crappie to bite. For the most part the bass are mostly on the
bottom from 20’-30’ of water, holding inside of deep brush piles or suspended
over very deep water, without much indication that they want to eat or move to
chase a meal. The crappie have also been more lethargic than
usual for this time of the year, however they seem to be more catchable than
the bass in deep brush piles and around dock brush piles.
In fact, many of the bass being caught are being caught on
crappie jigs by fisherman fishing for crappie in brush piles. This is certainly an indication that brush
piles are holding bass and the bass want their meal to be small and brought to
them worked very slowly.
Bass tournaments the early part of March have seen weights
being way down. While it is not unusual
to see 5 fish limit weights from 18-22 pounds this time of the year, winning
weights have been in the 10-12 pound range, with many tournament anglers being
shut out from catching a single fish, including me.
The cold water temperature bite that has been successful has
been slow rolling a multi rig bait (ala the Alabama Rig), a rig that has
multiple swim baits (3-5 baits) that imitate a small school of shad or bait
fish. The successful fisherman have
been working this style of rig slowly along the bottom in 15 to 30 feet of
water or over the top of brush piles. It
should be noted that the State of Missouri regulation for multi-rig baits is a
total of 3 hooks, therefore for rigs that have capacity for more than three
swim baits, you will need to either attach a spinner to the other wires of the
rig or use what is referred to as dummy baits, swim baits with no hooks. These can be attached to the rig with a
hitch hiker, a hitch hiker is a small screw like wire that the bait without a
hook can be added to the rig.
As the water begins to warm, which it will in March, the
bass fishing should really turn on. As
the water temperature starts to reach into the low, to mid and high 40’s which
is likely through March, the fish will start to move and want to feed. They will start to feel that spring
fever, just as we do. However, they also are going to start feeling
the urge to spawn and/or get into the spawning areas to pre-stage for the
spawn. While the spawn on Lake of the
Ozarks does not really start to happen until about mid-late April and into May,
the end of March as the water temperatures rise, the fish will start to migrate
into the areas in preparation for the spawn.
Lake of the Ozarks Bass Fishing pro’s and experts recently
met with BassingBob to discuss March bass fishing on the Lake of the Ozarks,
this monthly meeting of experts is video taped each month and can be watched in
it’s entirety on www.bassingbob.com. A monthly publication for March can also be
found on the same web site.
In summary of the experts meeting, there is a lot of similarity
amongst the experts regarding what baits to fish, locations and structure. The experts agree that during March the fish
will begin to become more active as the water warms into the 40’s. They suggest fishing in and around secondary
points that lead to spawning areas. As
the fish are still a bit lethargic, it is key to fish slowly. Brush piles and docks around these areas
will also hold catchable fish. The
experts pretty much agree on three primary baits to catch bass, a jerkbait, an
Alabama Rig and a bottom bait, like a jig or creature bait. As the water begins to warm, fish should
become catchable at the more common strike zone depths of 8’ – 15’ of
water.
The bass will also be found close to bait fish and they will
likely be close to deep water but up on the flats and secondary points to
feed. It is often overlook at Lake of
the Ozarks, that many fish also spawn on bluff ledges. These are often some of your biggest
fish. These are often referred to as river
fish, as these fish live full time along the river channels of Lake of the
Ozarks. These fish will also start to
feed and move more as the water temperatures warm. They will come up along the ledges of bluffs
and on main lake points to feed. The
baits to catch these fish are the same, a suspending jerk bait, Alabama Rig and
bottom bait like a jig or creature bait. The jig/creature baits are very successful on bluff ledges by pulling
the bait from ledge to ledge, often the fish will be relating to a drop off of
a ledge and the bait will be eaten either as it is falling in front of them or
being dragged in the bottom of a ledge. The very best jig and/or creature bait on Lake of the Ozarks is made my
Crock-o-Gator Bait Company.
I would also encourage fisherman coming to the lake in
March, whether you are an occasional angler or tournament angler, to hire a
guide for a half a day or full day. March is a very tricky time of year, especially this year as we have had
such severe cold water temperatures. My
suggestion is to contact Jack Uxa of Jack’s Guide Service. Jack is a
full time guide on the lake, he is the only multi species guide (crappie, bass,
catfish, etc.). The Lake of the Ozarks bait and tackle stores are also another
great place to find out what the fish are biting on, where to fish for the
active fish, ect. My suggestions for
bait stores on Lake of the Ozarks are Fitz Fishing, Tackle and Supplies, and Osage Bait and
Tackle. Wayne, the owner of Fitz Fishing, is a
veteran active tournament fisherman on Lake of the Ozarks and Bill at Osage
Bait and Tackle has a great selection of fishing goods and always has an
entourage of fishing guides and expert fisherman working at his store.
Finally, for videos, pictures, daily, weekly and monthly
fishing reports, check out www.bassingbob.com.
Good fishing everyone.
Please feel free to contact me with questions or send me pics with your
fishing report to bob@bassingbob.com.
