Top 10 baits from the (semi-frozen) Lake of the Ozarks - Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats
by Major League Fishing 6 Mar 20:08 UTC
Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats Plains Division © Matt Brown / Major League Fishing
The Toyota Series Presented by Phoenix Boats Plains Division event at Lake of the Ozarks was one of the toughest events seen in a long time. Across the field, limits were almost impossible to come by - even the Top 10 couldn't guarantee full stringers.
A big shad kill, cold water and wind all contributed to the tough fishing, with the constantly dying shad likely hurting the fishing most of all. It all amounted to an event that most are not eager to fish again.
Still, when bites are at a premium, your tackle needs to be as dialed as possible. So, here's what the Top 10 had tied on.
1. Breeden goes full winter mode
Cole Breeden got the win with three limits in a row, and he did it with a few wintertime staples fished around brush.
The key bait was either a Berkley Stunna 112+1 or a Berkley Stunna 112 in a worn-out Table Rock colorway. For both baits, he used a 6-foot, 10-inch, medium-light Abu Garcia Fantasista X paired with an 8.3:1 Abu Garcia Zenon MG-X and 10-pound Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon.
On the final day, Breeden caught a 5-pounder on a float 'n' fly, which he tied with bucktail and feathers on a 1/8-ounce Picasso head. He used a slip bobber to adjust the depth for each brushpile.
2. Another close call on the home pond for Newcomb
Basically a lock for a top five in every big event on Lake of the Ozarks, Andy Newcomb was about one bass away from taking this one home.
Newcomb did his best work with a jerkbait and an umbrella rig early in the event, and he mixed in a crankbait on the final day. For his jerkbait, he used a Megabass Vision 110 with a 6-9 Daiwa Tatula Elite rod. His umbrella rig was a Dark Horse Custom Baits rig with 1/8-ounce Apex Tackle Pro Series Deaver Swimbait Heads and 3.8-inch Bait Cave Customs Cave Swimmers. His crank of choice was a Strike King 1.5, which he threw on a 7-foot Daiwa Tatula Elite. He used Daiwa Tatula Elite reels across the board.
On the first two days, Newcomb struggled a bit.
"Everybody was talking about how bad the fishing was, and my last two days of practice were actually pretty dang good," Newcomb said. "And so, I was pretty excited about it, but I was practicing down the lake. And the first two days, I went down the lake throwing mostly a jerkbait and also an A-rig. My fish hadn't moved; I just couldn't get them to bite."
At the end of Day 2, Newcomb was in 11th - he roared back with 20 pounds on Day 3.
"I've got some good stuff up some arms that I knew was going to be covered in ice until probably even the first day of the tournament," said Newcomb. "So, I told my buddies that if I slid into that Top 25 - unless I'm leading by 8 or 10 pounds - then I might do something stupid. So, that's exactly what I did. I ran up a river arm and I caught two that I weighed on that Megabass, two on that squarebill, and then that big one was the only one I weighed in on an A-rig that day."
3. Jerkbait and umbrella rig do it for Jelinek
If you hadn't guessed it by now, Brad Jelinek will really start the trend for this edition of Top 10 baits. Like many, he found an umbrella rig and jerkbait combo to be the way to go.
For his jerkbait, Jelinek used a 6th Sense Provoke 97DD in ghost bone minnow. For his chandelier, he went with a 6th Sense Divine Umbrella Rig, 1/8-ounce 6th Sense Divine Swimbait Jig Heads and 6th Sense Divine Swimbaits.
"I was looking for points in creeks that had kind of a flat nearby and had some deep water right by it and just covered water," said Jelinek. "I didn't get to fish everything that I wanted to fish. I literally just put the trolling motor down and hit everything that I could that I've caught fish on before, and it's just all about timing.
"There's so many fish in the lake that just do not want to bite, and I'm assuming it's the shad kill that's making them do that," he explained. "So, you just have got to time it right to where one little school wants to pull up and feed and try to get lucky and catch a couple of them."
4. Boehle drops on the final day
After catching 16-8 on Day 1, Adam Boehle worked his way into the lead on Day 2 despite not catching a limit. On Day 3, coming in shy of a limit again cost him, and the Missouri pro dropped to fourth.
"There were a lot of areas that were holding smaller keepers and short fish," said Boehle. "And I had a couple other baits you could catch a couple keepers on - a Damiki rig, and you could even run a jerkbait through that stuff and catch some small keepers. But the difference was, at the end of the day, if you could get five bass in the boat on an A-rig, for the most part, they were gonna be a bigger bag overall than what you could catch on anything else."
As was the case for many, Boehle relied on the umbrella rig and jerkbait combo. His jerkbait of choice was a Megabass Vision 110, and he used a YUM YUMbrella Flash Mob Jr. with 3.8-inch Keitech Swing Impact FAT swimmers on 1/8-ounce heads.
5. Big final day moves Fox up
Walloping 19 pounds on Day 3, Travis Fox moved from 16th to fifth, and he did it with a key bait adjustment and by fishing new water.
For his umbrella rig, Fox used a YUM YUMbrella Flash Mob Jr. with 4-inch Rapala CrushCity The Mayor swimmers in pro blue. On Day 3, he heavied up his rig, going to 1/8-ounce blanks on the top and using three 1/4-ounce heads on the bottom. For his jerkbait, Fox used the Rapala PXR Deep Mavrik 110 in hot blue frost.
He ended up making two adjustments after getting clued in late on Day 2. The first was to use a heavier umbrella rig that he could fish faster. The second was the addition of new, recently iced-over water to his rotation.
"We'd had that warming trend," said Fox. "I knew at some point, things had to break loose and something had to change, and so I just relaxed and went out exploring a little bit and started fishing some pockets and stuff that I knew hadn't been fished because it had ice in it all of practice."
On Day 3, Fox started back in his primary area and really unlocked the bite.
"The hybrids moved in, and I made an adjustment on the A-rig and started fishing it a lot faster with a lot heavier weights, because that water temperature had moved up considerably," he said. "I started getting a lot more bites - some shorts, and then the hybrids. And, finally, a 3-pounder came out of the pack of them. I figured there had to be some bass in there. And then, I caught a 5 or a 6 in there with them as well."
After that, Fox ran his fresh water to great effect, finishing his limit and catching another 5-pounder.
6. Brush the main play for Hirt
After leading on Day 1, Jordan Hirt fell down to sixth - only catching two keepers on Day 2 ended up sinking his chances. While the umbrella rig was a key player for Hirt, he had some fun tweaks to the game plan.
For his wire contraption, Hirt used a Brown Dog Tackle Umbrella Rig with 1/8-ounce heads and a Berkley Fusion19 Swimbait Jighead in the middle. For swimbaits, he went with the venerable Keitech Swing Impact FAT in the 3.3-inch size. He threw the umbrella rig on a 7-6, heavy, fast, Fenwick World Class. His other bait was a Berkley Krej 85 (that's 'jerk' spelled backward!), which he threw on a 7-foot, medium Abu Garcia Zenon. He used a prototype Berkley fluorocarbon for both baits, opting for 12-pound test for the Krej and 20-pound for the umbrella rig.
Running brush, Hirt got fish to bite on Day 1, but his percentages plummeted after that.
"The second day, I had six fish follow my umbrella rig," said Hirt. "I could've weighed 20 pounds with them if they were to bite. The first day, those same fish just bit; it really all lined up that first day."
Though most of his bites came on the umbrella rig, Hirt used his jerkbait to enhance his electronics.
"When I was running around, checking some new piles and stuff, I could throw the Krej, and it would sink," he said. "I could get it down to the brush faster than a jerkbait or the A-rig, and I could get the bass to come out of the brush just far enough that I could see them. Then I could throw the A-rig in there and get those fish to bite."
7. Jerkbait does most of the work for Harlin
Always a player at Lake of the Ozarks, Michael Harlin got better each day and really rallied up the leaderboard on Day 3.
For his umbrella rig, Harlin used 1/8-ounce Crock-O-Gator heads and Crock-O-Gator swimbaits in two sizes. His jerkbait was a Megabass Vision 110+1, which he fished on a 6-6, medium FX Xtreme Angler rod with 10-pound test and just a touch of weight on the bait.
Targeting fish in 18 to 25 feet of water, Harlin had to use all his talents to get the bait in the right place.
"I was catching fish that were schooled up really, really deep off points," he said. "And once in a blue moon, when you actually got a good cast on them, you would catch one. I could only catch them in the morning till about 9 or 10 o'clock, and then it was brutal after that."
Actually making the right presentation was not easy.
"The whole deal is it couldn't sink very fast or they wouldn't bite it," he said. "So, you had to throw it as far as you could and then try to hit your line and then hold the boat right there. That is pretty damn hard, probably the hardest way of fishing that a guy can do, honestly."
8. Umbrella rig the main player for Luetkemeyer
Justin Luetkemeyer got off to a red-hot start in the event with 17-11 on Day 1 but struggled as things wore on.
For Luetkemeyer, his umbrella of choice was a YUM YUMbrella Flash Mob Jr. with Crock-O-Gator heads in 1/8-ounce and 4-inch Crock-O-Gator swimbaits. He followed it up with a 1/2-ounce Dirks Jig and a Ned-style trailer.
Fishing up the lake, Luetkemeyer could never quite replicate the magic of Day 1.
"I was running up the river, and it's just one of those areas where it's hard for me not to go there, because I know if it happens, it would have been amazing," he said. "I mean, when they bite up there, it's easy. But the thing is it's very hit or miss. Day 1, it happened. I had a 2-hour window where I caught everything, and I kept going up there, just because I knew what was there, and it never it just never happened."
9. Trio of umbrella rigs play for Luce
Sliding into the Top 10 for the first time at the Toyota Series level, Nathen Luce used a whole school of umbrella rigs.
Fishing a YUM YUMbrella Flash Mob Jr. and a KC School'em rig, Luce used one with 1/4-ounce heads, one with 3/16-ounce heads and one with 1/8-ounce heads, outfitting all three with 6th Sense Divine Umbrella Rig Jig Heads and 4-inch Keitech Easy Shiners.
Fishing somewhat shallow and running pockets in less than 20 feet for the most part, Luce changed up his rigs depending on the situation.
"I had three different sizes I was throwing," he said. "Just for different speeds and different depths. Really, the key was to keep an A-rig in my hand and just adapt to the water I was fishing."
10. Small minnow unlocks the bite for Gill
After a shortened practice due to his busy schedule and the need for regularly scheduled oil changes in his Toyota and Mercury, Drew Gill started off the event on the wrong foot. Dialing the bite in on Day 2, he screamed up the leaderboard from 55th on Day 1 to 10th on the final day.
In the end, a 4-inch Big Bite Baits Jerk Minnow in wakasagi on a 3/16-ounce head was the key bait for Gill. He threw it with a 7-foot, light action Phoenix Ultra MBX and an 8-pound Seaguar Tatsu leader.
"I weighed all of them on the minner," said Gill. "I used a 3/16-ounce head - 1/4 was too fast, 1/8 and 1/16 were too slow. If I threw it on a medium-light, I couldn't make them bite. I kid you not. I did not think it was that nuanced. I thought that was a stupid thing to say until I tried it, picked it up, threw the medium-light, same bait for like 10 minutes at one group of fish, did not get any of them to bite. Cut it off, put it back on the light and caught two in a row. So, clearly, it must roll different, and when you're moving it that slow, I guess how much it rolls probably matters a lot."