Lake of the Ozarks fishing trip, any tips or tricks?

So every time one of my buddies gets married, we always go on a fishing trip for the bachelor party. It is just how we send them off. We got a house on the 10 mile marker for this weekend at the Lake of the Ozarks. I'm bringing my boat and a good friend of mine has a nice Nitro that he is bringing. The waves from the larger boats get big enough to sink my boat so I am going to be pretty limited to what times I can fish and where I can go. I'm trying to catch fish, not sink my tin.

Every time I go to the LOZ, it is so darn hit or miss for me. I fish a lot of farm ponds and rivers so large lakes always give me fits. I know a brown jig and a crawdad color Wiggle Wart work well at the LOZ but have any of you guys had good success this time of year down there? What did you use, best time of day, ect? I will be fishing at night for sure along with early morning. I am also considering putting the tin in on the back side of the dam and run the Osage river. Thanks in advance for any tips.

John

I don't have any tips for ya because I have never been on the lake in my life. But my dad and I will be heading down there early October to fish the Big Bass Bash. My fiance's brother talked us into fishing it.

Fished it a couple times this year with fair success. Each trip was completely different though.

First trip: Big success on anything sexy shad colored and the fish were still up on the banks. I used a square bill in the shallows and a medium diver in deeper water. Caught a 5+lb that trip.

Second trip: Brown/Red Wiggle wart and SOME bass were still up on the beds, but not all. Caught quite a few on the main points of the lake in heavy chop. Wasn't easy to fish in a flat bottom tin, but it paid off. Had to slow down our retrieve a bit. We actually took 3rd in the tournament that weekend. The only color that we could catch fish with though was the PHANTOM BROWN CRAYFISH Wiggle Wart. Not a bite on any other color.

Good luck and be safe! Call me with any other questions.

Bulldog, be very careful if you put your boat in below the dam... very turbulent water there... Of course it depends on how much water is being released from the dam. White bass, Hybrid's and crappie are usually catchable there using anything flashy... I used a single spin, white and chartruse last fall and we did fairly well.
I don't remember the size of your boat and motor but wouldn't put anything less then 15' with a 40HP motor....
Good luck and let us know how you did.
Oh, I almost forgot. don't put in below the dam at night.......period
peace

Ok,Bulldog. Here it comes from a guy who fishes LOZ on a regular basis. I've had my best luck throwing T-rigged Watermelonseed Zoom BabyBrushHogs. I carry 3-4 bags with me at all times down there,they are fish catchers. I use 1/4 and 3/8oz weights. If your scared,you won't do worth a darn.You have to get in,around and behind the docks.If you can get your boat between the docks,get in there and flip or pitch over the cables. If you can cast to it go for it,you'll probably catch one.
My advice is to stay in your comfort zone when venturing out in the morning,to go no farther than you would if the lake had 3-4ft rollers on it. It may not turn out that bad,but it might get hairy. Just depends on the traffic and the wind. I run my 17ft Alumacraft and get pounded pretty bad sometimes. I usually only run 2-5miles, 'cause that's about all the pounding I can take.
10mi marker, is that the Main Lake marker or one of the arms?. The 8mi cove on the end of HorseshoeBend(Workman's Cove) is a good place to fish. There is a resort(Alhonna) just as you enter.head back in their secondary cove,you should catch a few in there. But the hole cove is killer. Thene there is the Island on the west side,across the lake(from 8mi) and the adjacent coves produce also.
Also, around the 10mi(main lake) on the HorseshoeBend side there are quite a few coves that we have caught nice ones in.
All of the lake pretty much fishes the same-docks,docks,docks and maybe a few laydowns.
Just don't try to overthink it,and you so do OK. Good Luck,and be safe out there.

Thanks a ton for the advice. My boat is 1848 with a 150 Merc on it so I should be alright but it does sit a little low in the back. Maybe I am just paranoid but I have had water come over the sides on three different occasions so maybe overly cautious is the word. Ill post how it goes. Ive fished down there probably 6 times and never caught a limit but have caught some alright fish. One time i went down there with a Pro fisherman that I sponsor and he caught 33 keepers to my 1. I could have killed him. :LOL2:

Sorry, we are at the 10 mile marker on the main channel in Sunrise Beach.

Had a lot of fun and caught some fish. Biggest being 16" on a cotton candy 10" powerworm. Caught a 3 or so pound drum on a tiny little topwater bait that looks like a cicada on ultra light tackle. The fight was great. Boat did a ton better than I thought it would in the huge chop on the lake. Did not sink it.

Took a pic of this awesome house with a helicopter pad. Amazing.

Bought a fish finder while I was down there also. Lowrance 522 ci. Awesome unit and I have been looking for a good gps/fish finder for a while now and finally found one for the right price.

Sounds like you had a great time. I landed about a 4 lb drum that hit my black and blue jig on Friday at Mark Twain. I like the fight, but they are so disappointing to me! Scrap fish to me!

Glad to hear you had a great time and DIDN"T sink your rig.

Here's a pretty cool house at the 24mi marker on the SunriseBeach side. Love the slide, And it was for sale back in April.

That's a really cool slide! The kids would love it!