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The same scenario is played out every fall on Lake of the Ozarks.
Black pods of shad are everywhere. The constant flicking of baitfish on the
surface is a pleasing sound to both anglers and bass on a peaceful sunny
afternoon. Then all of a sudden the water explodes and boils as bass bust
through the schools of shad.
Occasionally the wake of a bass can be seen in
the shallows as it hotly pursues a baitfish.
After spending the hot summer slumbering in deep-water haunts, bass follow
baitfish in the fall to the shallows, where the cooler water triggers a
feeding frenzy. The recurring fall scenes of bass busting schools of shad
make this season one of the most exciting and frustrating times to pursue
bass.
The thrill of watching these fish churn the surface climaxes when your
topwater lure disappears in a frothy explosion.
That excitement can quickly
turn into frustration, however, when you make countless casts to these
marauders and the fish continue to ignore your offerings. The frustration
also continues to mount when you continue to switch lures with the same
results.
The surface commotion makes it easier to locate bass in this situation, but
anglers still face the challenge of tricking these fish into biting their
offering rather than the smorgasbord of natural bait in the vicinity.
Lake of the Ozarks guide Skip Surbaugh favors throwing a topwater lure when
bass bust the surface. "I'm a (Zara) Spook freak," he confesses. "I carry a
Spook rigged up with me all the time in the fall." The local guide
occasionally throws a Rebel Pop-R at surface explosions, but the Super Spook
is his top choice for catching big bass in autumn.
Surbaugh selects a chrome-color Spook that he retrieves in an erratic
fashion. He walks the lure quickly in short jerky motions by constantly
popping the rod with his wrists. The action makes the lure pop and spit
while it walks across the surface.
Sometimes Surbaugh retrieves the lures
quickly and then pauses it to trigger a strike.
If a fish misses his Spook, Surbaugh follows up by throwing a Zoom Fluke or
Yamamoto Senko to the blow-up. He opts for a 6-inch shad-pattern Fluke or a
light-colored 4-inch Senko and impales both lures on a wide gap hook (3/0 to
4/0 for the Fluke and 3/0 for the Senko).
Letting the lure flutter down is
Surbaughs's favorite follow-up presentation for the Fluke; he prefers
walking the Senko in the same fashion as a Spook.
When a bass busts the surface, Surbaugh always casts past the explosion and
then retrieves his lures back through that spot. He makes a few deliveries
to the surface commotion before trying a new target. "I don't spend a lot of
time on that, maybe two shots at it," he says.
With all that surface commotion, you figure a bass should hit about anything
you throw over there. But when strikes are few and the frustration mounts,
just keep trying because there is something the fish will bite.
For
information on lodging and other facilities at the Lake of the Ozarks or to
receive a free 152-page vacation guide, call the Lake of the Ozarks
Convention & Visitors Bureau at 1-800-FUN-LAKE or visit the Lake of the
Ozarks Convention and Visitors Bureau web site at funlake.com.
Copies of John Neporadny's book "THE Lake of the Ozarks Fishing Guide" are
available on this web site. Click
here to order your copy today. |
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