Hawk flying high at Lake of the Ozarks

McGar cranks his way into co-angler lead

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. – Fewer layers and fewer bites, that was the day two story for anglers fishing the EverStart Series Central Division anglers competing on Lake of the Ozarks.

With a full day of sunshine raising air temperatures a good 20 degrees higher than a chilly day one that topped out around 45, anglers were certainly more comfortable, but productivity slid. The general thought was that the sunshine pushed a lot of fish from their shallow range of day one to deeper spots where brush piles and other structure provided shady solace. Reports of good dock catches would seem to support that premise.

Nevertheless, Lake of the Ozarks again yielded several quality fish, with a handful of 5- and 6-plus-pounders reaching the scales. Limit catches were down from day one, but some persevered and put together solid performances.

Among them, Utah pro Roy Hawk held on to his day one lead by sacking up a limit catch of 16-4. Pairing that with his day one score of 22-6 gave him a total of 38-10 and a lead of 1-11.

Hawk said he tried several different baits to see if he could make something big happen, but he caught all of his fish on the same reaction bait tactics he used on day one.

“Every time I picked up something else, I wouldn’t get bit, but I’d pick up (my main) bait and catch a fish,” he said. “I fished the same general area again, but I am trying new water. I’m experimenting and trying to find other groups of fish and other areas that are productive.”

Hawk said he was surprised that a warm day with a good afternoon wind did not produce more action for him. His day’s slow start was unnerving, but the second half was more rewarding.

“I thought they would bite good today,” Hawk said. “The morning was really tough for me. Yesterday, I had 17 pounds by 8:30. Today I didn’t have a bass until about nine. That burns a lot of time with no fish, but the afternoon picked up for me.

“It was a grind today, not nearly as many bites and not nearly as many keepers (as day one). I think I only culled one time today so I was really fortunate to stay in the lead.”

Jig bite turns on for Brueggemann

With Lake of the Ozarks seeing a plethora of dangling treble hooks this week, Illinois pro Dan Brueggeman has held firm to his jigging plan. With his strategy delivering a 19-pound, 3-ounce limit on day one and another limit of 17-12 today, Brueggemann gained a notch to second place with 36-15.

Brueggemann targeted transitional banks with chunk rock and pea gravel and caught his fish on a 3/8-ounce Chompers Standup jig with a scented, brown trailer made by Hold On Hand Poured Plastics. When his bites came relatively early, Brueggemann committed the rest of his day to preparing for Saturday’s finale.

“I had my fish by 10 o’clock and then went practice fishing the rest of the day and found some more spots,” he said. “I found a couple of banks that are pretty well stacked.”

Ryan’s custom baits deliver third

David Ryan, of Levasy, Mo. caught a limit of 16-15 on day two and improved his position five spots to third place with 34-13. Ryan, who owns Dave’s Custom Baits, used his Black Market 110 jerkbait in Missouri Shad and Threadfin Shad colors.

Ryan targeted steeper banks – areas where he knew the fish were staging in preparation for their forthcoming spawn migration. He kept his boat in 15-20 feet and fished the ledges where he thought the fish would stage.

Fishing his baits on 10-pound line, Ryan used a slow and steady cadence to tempt his fish.

“I went through 15 keepers yesterday, I went through 20 today and they’re all running about the same size,” Ryan said. “That big bite has been elusive, but maybe (on day three) the stars will line up.”

Wenners holding at fourth

During practice Peter Wenners, of Galena, Mo. realized that putting all of his eggs in the jerkbait basket may not be a wise choice, so he worked on finding alternatives. These backup plans served him well today, as he held on to his fourth place spot with 34-6.

“I saw in practice that if I stuck with a jerkbait it might burn me,” Wenners said. “My better fish came on a jig yesterday. I threw the jerkbait on and off and caught some Wiggle Wart fish, but I caught most of my fish on a jig.”

Wenners said he’s fishing a 3/8-ounce jig with a Zoom Critter Craw trailer around heavy cover and extracting the fish has been a tedious chore. “The places I’m putting the bait, it’s amazing I’m getting the fish out of it.

James Stamper, of Montreal, Mo. slipped two spots to fifth with 34-3. He caught his fish on a Wiggle Wart.

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top-10 pro leaders at the EverStart Series Lake of the Ozarks event:

6th: Dennis Berhorst, of Holts Summit, Mo., 33-6

7th: Earl K. Garrison, IV, of Bull Shoals, Ark., 32-13

8th: Matthew Jones, of Spokane, Mo., 31-6

9th: Greg Bohannan, of Rogers, Ark., 31-1

10th: Randall Hutson, of Washburn, Mo., 30-2

John Holmes, or Rhinelander, Wis. won the Snickers Big Bass award for his 6-13.

Teen McGar leads co-angler division

He’s the youngest competitor in the top-10 but that’s obviously no limitation for 17-year-old Kenny McGar who leads the co-angler division with 27 pounds, 15 ounces. In his first trip to Lake of the Ozarks, McGar bagged a limit of 14-2 and pushed his two day total to 27-15, with a margin of 2-8 over second place co-angler Dave Epema (25-7).

McGar threw a jerkbait on day one but when that failed to produce today, he switched to a Spro Little John shallow running crankbait. He caught all of his fish on a chartreuse bait.

“I went to the crankbait because the jerkbait wasn’t catching anything of any size,” McGar said. “I wanted to mix it up and I’m a big fan of shallow cranking, so I went to that crankbait to see if it would do anything and sure enough, it did.”

Rick Carden, of Cuba, Mo. took third place with 24-13; Marty Bohlke, Jr., of Nixa, Mo. took fourth with 24-11; and Sunny Hawk placed fifth with 23-2.

Best of the rest

Rounding out the top-10 co-angler leaders at the EverStart Series Lake of the Ozarks event:

6th: Ricky Watkins, of Springdale, Ark., 21-11

7th: Chris Gable, of Eddyville, Ky., 20-3

8th: Jim Banks, of Lamar, Mo., 20-0

9th: Gary Smith, of Southwest City, Mo., 18-10

10th: John Kite, of Festus, Mo., 17-13

Epema earned the Snickers Big Bass prize for his 6-2.

Day three of EverStart Series Central Division action on Lake of the Ozarks continues at Saturday’s takeoff, scheduled to take place at 6:45 a.m. (Central) at the Grand Glaize Recreation Area – P.B. #2, located at 711 Public Beach Road in Osage Beach, Mo.