Will Burns hold up?

Local pro enters final day of EverStart Series Central Division event with 4-pound lead

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. – Danny Burns, a roofing contractor from Ozark, Mo., can almost smell his first EverStart Series Central Division win on Lake of the Ozarks.

With one eight-hour fishing day left to go, Burns entered Saturday’s final round with nearly a 4-pound lead.

“Four pounds is not safe out here,” Burns commented before take-off this morning.

“No lead is safe on this lake with that guy out here,” Burns said, nodding his head toward Troy Eakins of Nixon, Mo., the pro closest to catching him. “He fishes this lake differently than most people, and he’ll bring in a big bag when you least expect it.”

But Burns is no Ozarks rookie, either. Though he considers Truman Reservoir his home turf, he has 20 years of fishing experience on Lake of the Ozarks.

For this tournament, Burns chose to fish way up one of the lake’s main-river feeder arms. This morning he was preparing for his 56-mile run to his best spot and was worried about the gusty northwest winds, which are forecasted to push 25 mph today.

“It’s going to take another hour or so away from my fishing time,” he said. “But I’ve got to go up there and give it a try.”

Burns chose to make the long run in this tournament because of the fishing pressure Lake of the Ozarks has received recently.

“There have been 500 to 700 tournament boats out here over the last few weekends fishing local and regional events,” he reported. “A lot of those guys will stay within a 20-mile radius of this end of the lake, so I chose to get away from it with a long run.”

Burns is fishing three small pockets up the river and has played a dicey game of mathematics over the last few days to get into the lead.

“They are pretty fragile areas, and I’ve tried to catch just enough each day to make the cut,” he said.

So far, Burns’ conservation plan has worked out. He caught just enough bass to barely make the top-10 cut during the first round and then took the lead yesterday.

“I don’t know how much longer my areas will hold up, but I’m ready to get up there and find out,” he added.

Meanwhile, Lake of the Ozarks has gone from summer back to winter in a span of 24 hours.

During the first two days, morning lows started out in the 60s and soared to about the 80-degree mark. This morning the low was 42 degrees, and high winds, heavy clouds and occasional drizzle will keep the mercury in the mid-50s today.

Saturday’s weigh-in begins at 4 p.m. at the Osage Beach Wal-Mart.

Sunrise: 6:22 a.m.

Water temperature: 60 degrees

Air temperature: 42 degrees

Expected high: 54 degrees

Wind: forecasted from the NNW at 15 to 25 mph

Day’s outlook: Windy, cloudy, occasional drizzle