Kansas City Star
"Catch of the week"
Jim Dorlac of Leawood will remember Sunday as his “best Father’s Day ever.”
He and his 11-year-old son, Jimmy (above), observed the day by going fishing
with guide Jack Uxa at Lake of the Ozarks. And they had a day to remember.
Fishing shallow flats, dad caught a 7-pound bass and son caught largemouths
weighing 6 1/2 and 5 pounds. By the time they were done, they had caught 25
bass.
Most of the fish were released, but Dorlac kept the two biggest to have mounted.
“My father, who passed away, was an avid fisherman,” Dorlac said. “I know he was
smiling down on us Sunday
Read more:
http://www.kansascity.com/2011/06/23/2971239/outdoors-digest-catch-of-the-week.html#ixzz1Qze7VX5r
Also make sure you listen every Friday afternoon
on KRMS "The Lake News Station" for Jack's Guide Service Weekly Fishing Report!!
Every Friday at 5:15pm
Monster Quest from the History
Channel --"Piranha Invasion"-- of Lake of the Ozarks.
"On The Trail" a
Heartland Tournament television show on TableRock (Spring 2004). I
was fortunate enough to win the win event because I found a group of fish
spawning along a bluff. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good,
right? It was a good event for me and helped to secure some sponsorships.
Recommendations
From Past Customers
I've taken a lot of guided fishing trips
over the years. I think Jack is probably the best one I’ve fished with. He
knows the lake, he knows what techniques are working, and he’s a just a great
guy to spend a day with. I’ve done a lot of bass fishing over the years – but I
never pitched around docks before. He taught me the tricks and was very
patient. If you’re on vacation, go for it. If you are thinking about a
“customer trip” - even better! I know I’m going back next year.
Signed – Matt, South Dakota
Hey Jack – thanks for the great day on the lake! I really enjoyed
learning how to fish deep water. I’ve been bass fishing for years and never
really learned this technique until now. Also, thanks for taking some “time
off” from the bass fishing to go get some white bass “for the pan.” They were
excellent! I’m already planning my trip for next year.
Jack,
Thanks for taking us out Friday, it was a lot of fun!! Thanks for all your
tipsand knowledge. Bill and I will be calling again for a refresher trip. Roger
Jack,
I wanted to thank you
again for taking Tim and
me out fishing today and
letting us pick your
brain on fishing. We
both had a great time
fishing with you and I
we both came away with
more firsthand knowledge
(versus articles and
fishing reports) about
bass fishing the Lake of
the Ozarks. You were a
ton of fun to fish
with. I will certainly
recommend you to anyone
that I know that is
interested in a guide
and also those that
don’t think they need a
guide but really do
J.
Also, I will be in
contact with you the end
of Feb early March to
hire you to help me to
find the right spots in
the mid lake area for
spring and again in June
for the Glaize, if you
don’t mind me learning
to get better from you.
If for any reason you
ever need a reference
and or quote for your
marketing, I will be
happy to do so.
|
Fishing Lake of the Ozarks
General information
April, May and June are the best months to
fish. This is when the fish are really biting the best. That being said Lake of
the Ozarks is a great fishery no matter what season, we will catch fish
regardless. Limits of crappie year round are caught even in the middle of
winter. There is no other lake in the Midwest that produces as many 20lb
tournament weights like Lake of the Ozarks. Week after week most
tournament winning bags will
be around 20lbs. This is a 4lb per fish average. This lake is visited by
thousands of people every year, yet only a portion realizes that they are
visiting a fabulous fishing lake. The other misconception is that this
lake is wild, and boats are everywhere. This lake certainly does get busy
especially on Saturday afternoons in the months of July and August. However that is only for about two months out of the year. The morning
is the most productive time to fish anyway. But I also offer evening trips or
when ever your schedule allows. If you are planning a fishing trip try
to plan it on a weekday, it is much better fishing compared to the weekend. Regardless
of the time you have available give me a call, I try to be flexible
and am usually able to fit a fishing trip in sometime. If you like to fish
as much as I do, try not to wait until the last minute to book a guide trip. It
is important to spend the a few minutes now and secure the fishing part of your
vacation.
I will significantly help you catch more fish.
Bass Fishing on Lake of the Ozarks
The type of fishing we do
depends on current conditions, your experience level, the time of year and what
you want to get out of the trip. I have had several tournament anglers
hire me to help them get onto a good pattern for their upcoming tournament.
I also have lots of beginners hire me to help them catch their first fish in
years. I have many years of experience fishing here and the key to your
success is to follow my instructions. I have caught thousands of fish and get
more enjoyment out of watching someone else catch a fish than I do catching them
myself. If you have a certain goal for the fishing trip let me know and if
it is at all possible we will see it through. The best month to fish for
bass is June on Lake of the Ozarks. Offshore spots that you need to be
able to read your electronics will reveal the best spots.
There are two major
patterns to fish on Lake of the Ozarks in the summer on guide trips. The
first and most productive method is fishing docks. Generally speaking we are
fishing for suspended fish
over deep water using the dock as an ambush location to eat baitfish.
Fishing the windy side of the dock is going to put your lure in front of the
most aggressive bass. Lures that are commonly used are plastic worms, Frenzy crankbaits and Power Tubes. You want to fish these lures fairly fast with an erratic retrieve.
Accurate and quite casts are helpful. Not all docks will produce fish. It is specific docks being hit by the wind and/or
current that will have a small school of bass roaming about. Sometimes the
right docks are spread out by a mile or more. You will know within the
first few casts if the fish are there.
Largemouth and
Kentucky (also known as
Spotted Bass) use
the dock as cover. They use the shade, cables and even foam itself to conceal
themselves. This is a great technique for beginner fisherman because many times
the bass will hit your lure pretty hard. It is also a fun technique because you
will often catch quite a few fish. I have caught numerous fish off of one dock,
often cast after cast. What is happening is the school of bass
is going into a feeding mode. They see one of the other bass feeding and then
believe I must feed also. They can be very competitive. So competitive
that you will often see other bass following your bass all the way to the boat.
The other major pattern
for bass is fishing deep water. This pattern produces more quality fish.
Many 2-5lb fish with an occasional six pounder, were caught last summer.
Lures that I usually use are big 10” Berkley Worms, or
Football jigs matched with 3 or 4” Chigger
Craws and new
Chigger chunks. When using either the big
worm or football jig we don't use light equipment. I use big baitcasting
rods
spooled with 20lb Berkley 100% Fluorocarbon. Fluorocarbon line makes fishing deep so much
easier than regular monofilament. The sensitivity is increased tremendously,
hook sets are much stronger, and the abrasion resistance is also better. Another
fish catching lure of choice is the Shaky Head
with a plastic worm. We will throw this worm after we have already
located a active school of feeding bass, often times after one or two bass have
already been caught from a point. It will often catch one or two more fish
after the most aggressive ones have already been caught. Electronics have
come a long way the last few years to make deep water easier to fish. I
have both a Lowrance HDS7 and a Humminbird 997 Side Imaging. This pattern peaks in June.
It's deep offshore structure fishing at it's best!
Lake of the
Ozarks Crappie Fishing
Crappies
are one of my favorite species to catch. They are just as fun to catch,
as they are good to eat. Lake of the Ozarks has a
limit of 15 crappie per person and a minimum of nine inches. Most days catching
a good mess for dinner is not a problem. This is because Lake of the Ozarks has a huge population of not
only crappie, but also docks with brush piles. The equipment I use is light
action Fenwick HMX graphite rods, Abu Garcia Spinning reels spooled with 6lb
high visibility Berkley XL line. Generally for the bait we use 2’’ Johnson
crappie tubes,
1/16 oz jig heads, and we tip our bait with a Crappie Nibble. This combination
will produce limit after limit of crappie. Berkley
Crappie Nibbles often times will literally double your catch! You
will catch twice as many crappie compared to someone else in your boat without a nibble on
their jig. My favorite time to crappie fish is in April. The fish spawn then and
the action usually is fast and furious. The males will even change color. I
would be glad to show you this and many more of my crappie fishing secrets.
Fishing specific docks with brush piles
is one of the keys to consistent crappie fishing. Close access to deep water,
current (when available), and baitfish in the area are also very important when
choosing which dock to fish. During the spring, crappie fishing is great and the
fish seem to be everywhere. But as the water warms up it becomes more important
to get out early in the morning. Even in the middle of summer we have had
numerous 30, 40, even 50 fish days. Generally 50% are keeper crappie being put
into the live well to be filleted for dinner. I do not
charge extra to clean the days catch as long as time permits. This is
included in the day’s fee. However if I have another guide trip immediately
following your trip we will see what we can do because of limited time. If you are planning on keeping a
bunch of fish you might want to bring a cooler because most hotel’s freezer
space is limited.
Last spring was unbelievable. I
found a few handful of crappie "nests" that produced 100's of quality crappie.
I use the term nests because it was almost like a hornets nest or something.
Just lots and lots of crappie coming out of a little spot was so amazing you
just had to see it to believe it. This coming year should be good also.
I can't wait to find out.
Wintertime
bass fishing on Lake of the Ozarks
Winter for me in the past, was my toughest time of the year. Our lake
occasionally freezes over a day or two, or like last year for a full week,
making it difficult to fish. This winter has been different. To
call it a mild winter would be a huge understatement. Nice day after
nice day has even made it hard for me to do all the things I need to do
before I really get busy in March. I've learned a lot this winter
about where the bass really winter at and where they fell the most
comfortable in water temperatures in the low 40's. Certain conditions
are favorable for this pattern or that pattern but for the most part warm
cloudy days with a manageable amount of wind is preferred. Bright sunshine
with no wind means tough bass fishing. Those are ideal conditions for
crappie however but that's a different topic. Right now I'm really
only using a couple baits for bass. I’ve been using a Jerkbait for the most
part and a jig just to change it up. Drop shot, shaky heads, crankbaits can
work but have not caught a lot of fish lately. Jerkbaits are what everyone
uses in the wintertime and as the name implies we jerk, jerk, pause, jerk,
manor. Change up your cadence to match the mood of the fish. The colder the
water the slower you work the bait. Several guys will wait up to a minute in
between jerks. I've never been one of those guys to work a jerkbait that
slowly. My typical cast lately takes about 2-3 minutes to get back. Right
now the water temp is 42-44 degree range. With these relatively mild water
temperatures (usually by now 39) fishing can be very good. As the water
temps drop more the shad die off will start. Thousands of dying shad are
easy pickings for all the game fish. It can help fishing and it can
certainly hurt fishing just as easily. I have seen a few shad dying this
winter, but not like most winters. We have been blessed with a very mild
winter so far. After a cold couple of days this weekend is expected to
return to the 50's again.
There are two main ways to fish a jerkbait. The first way is to fish points
or creek channel banks. Cast to the rocky shore line and get the bait to the
desired depth. Twitch your rod tip with some slack in your line to make it
snap similar to working a topwater spook style bait. You want to have some
decent water depth below your boat. These fish are generally suspended and
you're going to be calling them up to feed. Fishing windy or shady areas
make it easier for the bass to move up to your bait. Windy points can be
main lake or secondary points. Secondary points are my favorite. Creek
channel banks are steep rocky banks with a 45 degree angle to them. They are
great for Jerkbaits or a jig this time of the year. Find a stretch without a
lot of docks so you can make some long casts down them. Good chunk rock with
wind and shade with some baitfish in the area is a killer combination.
Jerkbaiting brushpiles is another technique often used on Lake of the
Ozarks. For this technique it is best if you fish brushpiles you already
know about. You want to make specific casts to the brushpile and work your
bait slowly by the submerged tree. Working your lure just above a specific
spot helps you be more patient in between your jerks. An added bonus this
time of the year is the giant crappie that can be caught while you are bass
fishing. Crappie love brushpiles and the 4 inch long Jerkbaits can trigger
some true slab sized crappie.
The best rods are medium action 6 to 6'6". Your rod length changes for how
tall you are. I'm 5'10" tall so a 6'2 or 6'3" rod is ideal. My favorite rod
is a 6'3" medium action Garcia Vendetta or a really nice rod is the new
smallmouth series from Fenwick. I also fish it in a 6'3" medium action in a
casting rod and a spinning rod. You will want to fish a good
baitcasting reel also. Jerkbaits can be troublesome to cast compared to most
lures with a baitcasting setup. I use a Garcia Revo SX or STX to help
eliminate backlashes. I can cast a long ways and these reels are very
smooth. Spinning rods are also nice for jerkbaits and offer a change in the
wrist action. After several days of Jerkbaiting your wrists can become tired
and a spinning rod can be a nice change. 8, 10lb line is what is suggested
to help you maximize lure depth. Plus clearer water is preferred and lighter
line with help you get more bites. 6lb line is not out of the question with
a spinning rod. Some of the brands of Jerkbaits that I have caught fish with
this winter are Megabass, Lucky Craft, Lucky Strike, Smithwick Rogue,
Berkley Frenzy, and Sebile. I prefer the Berkey frenzy jerkbaits on spinning
rods because they cast much easier. The high dollar ($30) Megabass are being
thrown on heavier line.
Have you ever wondered why some of these baits are so expensive? The reason
is the bass literally study these baits 10 times as long as look at a
typical lure. We have to fish slowly because of the cooler water
temperatures. The fish learn obvious color schemes and even learn particular
baits after months and months of regular use. That is why companies like
Megabass and Lucky Craft have been so popular for so many years. Dynamic and
lifelike colors or one of a kind paint jobs make a big difference when it
come to jerkbaits. More than any other bait it is important to make your
bait a little different than what everyone else is throwing. Red hooks, gill
slits, finger nail polish, Spike-it lure dye, even permanent markers can
easily make a difference for you without spending $30 on a bait. Berkley
Frenzy work just fine for me after tweaking the bait the way I like.
Where the bass spend most of their time is in creeks on steep banks and
secondary points. Good conditions will help pull the fish up in the
water column and make them occasionally feed. Baitfish in the area is
helpful but not mandatory. You should be seeing fish occasionally on
your electronics. Fish those areas thoroughly making multiple casts to
any area holding fish. Winter fish group together and to catch a limit
of quality bass off one small stretch of bank or point is not uncommon.
Then remember that spot and return next winter.
Confidence
Fishing
confidence is a big key to success.
Confidence in fishing is expecting a bite and focusing on what your lure is
doing at all times. You will be around fish, and you will be getting bite. Some
fisherman have had bad luck in the past fishing by themselves. My job is to put
you around fish. I'm not a god gifted fisherman but when you fish everyday
fishing becomes much more predictable. If you go out with me you will have
fish biting your lure. You have to be ready for them by focusing on your
bait, feeling for a bite, watching your line, and being ready to set the hook at
all times. I spend countless hours on the water pre-fishing for my
clients. I find where the fish are and what they are biting on in preparation
for you to come fishing with me. Whether you’re an experienced fisherman or a
beginner going out in a boat for the first time, I can show you how to become a
better angler. To book a trip just give me a call on my cell phone at
(573) 434-2570.
My fishing guide service will pick you up at
your hotel or if you are staying at Tan-Tar-A Resort
I can simply pick you up at the Marina dock
on the water. Jack’s Guide Service
will have everything you need for an enjoyable day of fishing. The only
thing I cannot do for you is get you a Missouri
State Fishing License. To order a license for yourself simply
go to
http://www.wildlifelicense.com/mo/ . Everyone over 16 years old
needs one to be legal and one day licenses are available. At the end of
the day I will bring you back to the dock, you then can pay by cash, check or
credit card. Then we practice
catch and release or
catch and keep for crappie and average sized
catfish. Lets go
fishing today call me at 573-434-2570 and
book that fishing trip that you'll remember!
Gift Certificates Available!
Gift Certificates make great presents. In particular if you
have someone who is difficult to buy a present for. Someone who already
has everything. This is a present that can be used whenever they want. It's a present that can be
time well spent between the two of you enjoying the outdoors. We can set
everything up over PayPal, so it can be done quickly. This is something
people really enjoy and it lasts all day long.
No Fish, No Pay!
Jack's Guide Service
1086 Normandy
Osage Beach MO 65065
573-434-2570
Email me for more info
jack@fishinglakeoftheozarks.com
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Uxa- 2008
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