OSAGE BEACH, Mo. – It’s time to put away the shorts and break out the thermals and Gore-Tex outerwear. After a summer break, Wal-Mart FLW Series anglers are ready to resume play on Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks, just in time for the first cold blast of fall.
This event, the fourth of the five-tourney 2006 FLW Series season, should prove to be a classic case of fall impoundment fishing.
Water conditions are low (about 3 feet below pool) and clear. As of Wednesday morning, water temperatures ranged from the low 70s to high 60s. For the last few weeks, weather in the Ozarks has been relatively warm and stable. But if the National Weather Service’s forecast holds true, that’s all about to change.
The largest cold front of the season should march across the Midwest over the next few days, making this tournament a game of high-speed adjustments. Thursday and Friday’s forecasts call for lows in the 30s with significant winds.
“That kind of nasty weather generally turns fish on here,” said pro Dan Morehead of Paducah, Ky. “When it gets overcast and windy, it fractures the water clarity and gives these fish chance to feed.”
Morehead has won two national events on Lake of the Ozarks. In November 1998
he won a BASS event here, and in April 2004 he won a Stren Series event. On both occasions, harsh weather was a factor.
“This is a lake that requires you to fish the weather,” Morehead explained. “The two times I’ve won here I ended up doing something completely different on the last day to win because of the conditions. When weather like this blows into the Ozarks, you can’t fish on memories; you have to trust your instincts to keep moving and adjusting.”
The FLW Series features a full field of 200 boats, but given Lake of the Ozarks’ 1,300 miles of shoreline and diverse fishing options, the lake spreads anglers out nicely.
Patterns for this tournament will run the gamut from spinnerbaits and jigs in a foot of water to Shaky Heads and drop-shots in 40 feet of water.
“If the weather had remained stable, this tournament might have been won with one technique or in one general area,” Morehead added. “But I think this weather change is going to give way to some identifiable patterns that can be run all over the lake.”
Logistics
Anglers will take off at 7 each morning from PB II-Grand Glaize Beach. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will be held at the marina located at the Recreation Area of The Lake of the Ozarks in Osage Beach, Mo., beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday’s weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 4252 Highway 54 in Osage Beach beginning at 4 p.m. Children will be treated to the Fujifilm trout pond and rides in the Kellogg’s Ranger boat simulator beginning at noon Saturday prior to the final weigh-in at Wal-Mart. All events are free and open to the public.
The entire field competes for the first three days of FLW Series events. Co-angler winners are determined on day three by the heaviest accumulated three-day weight. The top 10 professionals continue competition on day four, and the winner is determined by the heaviest accumulated weight from all four days.
In FLW Series competition, pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day, with pros supplying the boat, controlling boat movement and competing against other pros. Co-anglers fish from the back deck against other co-anglers. The total purse for the Lake of the Ozarks tournament is $900,000 with $100,000 going to the winner and $10,000 through 50th place in the Pro Division.
Wednesday’s conditions
Sunrise: 7:16 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 50 degrees
Water temperature: 67 to 72 degrees
Expected high temperature: 64 degrees
Wind: WNW at 20 to 30 mph
Day’s outlook: cloudy, windy and cool