Mike's Guide ServiceLake of the Ozarks

Bass Fishing

Bass fishing on Lake of the Ozarks

Lake of the Ozarks is built for bass. Steep bluff walls, chunk rock points, creek arms that run for miles — and more boat docks than almost any lake in the country. Bass hold on all of it.

Why Mike

Built for bass

It is a dock lake
There are thousands of them, most with brush sunk underneath. The difference between a good day and a slow one is knowing which ones are holding fish this week.
Size, not just numbers
Bass fishing here is a different day out than crappie. Fewer bites, more weight behind them, and a real shot at the kind of fish you take a photo of.
You will be casting all day
This is active fishing — working docks, points and bluff ends rather than sitting on one spot. Bring a bit of energy for it.
An angler holding up a heavy largemouth bass on Lake of the Ozarks

When to come

Bass through the year

Bass are catchable here every month of the year. The month you pick changes how many you catch and how big they run.

March – May

Spring

The best window for a big one. Bass stage on secondary points as the water climbs through the 50s, then move into the backs of pockets and spawn. The heaviest fish of the year are shallow and catchable, and the lake has not filled up with pleasure boats yet.

June – August

Summer

Early starts. The first two hours of light are the best of the day, and you are off the water before the traffic builds. Fish pull to shaded dock brush, deeper points and bluff ends once the sun is up, and evening trips fish well for the same reason mornings do.

September – November

Fall

Shad pour into the creek arms and the bass follow them in. This is the most aggressive fishing of the year — schools pushing bait, fish that eat properly rather than picking. Good numbers, cooler weather, and far fewer boats than July.

December – February

Winter

Slow days with a high ceiling. Bites are fewer and everything happens at half speed on deep rock and bluff ends, but winter fish tend to be heavy ones. This is the season for anglers who would rather catch four good fish than twenty small ones.

Where the bass live

Lake of the Ozarks is a highland reservoir, which means structure everywhere: bluff walls dropping straight into deep water, rock points, and mile after mile of creek arm. Add thousands of private docks and you have a lake where bass are never far from cover. Which of it is working changes with the season, the water level and the wind — and that is the part Mike has spent ten thousand hours learning.

An angler in camo holding out a big largemouth bass on Lake of the Ozarks

How the day runs

  • You will fish cover — docks, points and bluff ends, moving until you find the pattern.
  • Rods are rigged and ready, and Mike changes them out as the day changes.
  • One or two anglers on a 21-foot Phoenix with a 250 Mercury behind it.
  • Keep a few or let them all go. Mike cleans whatever you decide to keep.
What to expect on the day

Common questions

Worth knowing

Largemouth or spotted bass?
Both. Largemouth are the main target through the creek arms and around docks, and spotted bass show up on the rockier main-lake stretches. Nobody complains when a spot eats.
When is the best chance at a big one?
Spring. The heaviest fish of the year move shallow to spawn, and for a few weeks they are catchable in water you can see the bottom of.
Do people keep bass?
Most let them go. If you want a few for the table Mike will tell you what is legal that day and clean them before you leave.
Every question, answered

“Mike put us on the fish immediately! We caught 11 bass within the first hour during a tough August heat wave… We landed 20 largemouth and spotted bass on a 4 hour trip.”

Reed H. · Last month · on Google

Let’s put one in the net

Trips run four, six or eight hours at a flat $100 an hour. Call or text and Mike will tell you straight what the fish are doing.

Book a trip314-517-3520
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