Lake of the Ozarks Midday Update Day 1
Overcast start puts a damper on the dock bite
Day one of the Costa FLW Series Central Division event presented by Evinrude at Lake of the Ozarks got off to a beautiful start at takeoff, with a gorgeous sunrise and comfortable conditions. That soon changes as a passing front scraped across the lake, socking the upper end of the lake in rain until about 10:30 a.m. and bringing lots of clouds and some intermittent wind and showers to the lower section.
According to the anglers, all the weather should have gotten a moving bait bite going, but the results speak to the contrary. While some pros put fish in the boat on topwaters or spinnerbaits, the majority of the anglers that we ran into on the water had little success on that front. Indeed, instead of burning along the bank with topwaters, most of the field seems to be concentrating on docks close to the main lake. Around the docks, the most popular baits have been jigs and Texas-rigged worms.
With the very overcast morning, many pros say that the dock bite is a bit off, and that some sun would do a lot of good. At about 1:30 p.m., it seems they may get their wish in the afternoon, as blue sky is finally starting to appear near takeoff.
Around the field, many pros are sitting on a partial limit, and a few have very good days going. When we ran into him, Greg Voss had four for about 10 pounds. Jim Dillard had managed one keeper early in the morning. David Taylor had one for about 2 pounds. Shawn Kowal started his day with three keepers in the first hour. TJ Todd had a 3-pounder in the boat early. Nickholis Hammond had two keepers. Joey Cifuentes was two shy of a limit and had a pair of “decent” largemouths with a spotted bass. Drew Sanford was also having a good morning, though he lost a 5-pounder, he had four in the box and three that he wasn’t looking to cull. Perhaps best of all, Jim Young was culling and had three very nice fish in the box already.
Tournament details
Format: All boaters and co-anglers will compete for two days. The top 10 boaters and co-anglers based on cumulative weight after two days of competition will advance to the third and final round, with the winner determined by the heaviest cumulative three-day weight.
Takeoff Time: 7:00 a.m. CT
Takeoff Location: Public Beach #2, 711 Public Beach Road, Osage Beach, Mo. 65065
Weigh-In Time: 3:00 p.m. CT days one and two, 4:00 p.m. CT on day three
Weigh-In Location: Public Beach #2 on days one and two, day three at Walmart, 4252 Highway 54, Osage Beach, Mo. 65065