Being a black-bass angler in Missouri is sort of like being a kid in a candy store — there’s so much good stuff that you hardly know what to do. As a result, many anglers run to and fro looking for the mecca of bass fishing. The savvy ones know better.

Bronzebacks are special in the eyes of most Missouri bassers, and Table Rock’s our prime place for taking smallies this year. Photo by Ed Harp.

Let’s face it: Any reasonably competent angler can catch several good bass a day from many different waters in the Show Me State. Accordingly, picking the top spot for each species is no easy task.

The approach of top anglers differs a great deal depending upon the season, the location and the target species of fish. All of them have one thing in common, however: They fish waters that harbor high populations of the fish they seek.

That may sound obvious, but it’s a mistake many anglers make. Why fish a venue that has a poor population of the fish you want to catch? You’re beat before you start.

If it’s largemouths you want, most anglers and fisheries professionals will send you to Lake of the Ozarks. For smallmouths and spotted bass, your best shot is Table Rock Lake.

So at the risk of insulting some readers by not selecting their favorite spot, let’s take a closer look at both these lakes. We’ll examine the opportunities they offer and see what several top experts have to say about them.

LARGEMOUTHS AT LAKE OF THE OZARKS

Lake of the Ozarks, a massive impoundment in south-central Missouri, is nearly equidistant from Kansas City and St. Louis. Interstate 70 runs to the north of it, I-44 to the south. There are a number of good ways to get there.

There’s a lot of water to fish in this impoundment covering 90 square miles. If you like to fish shorelines, this is the place for you: Lake of the Ozarks has as much shoreline as the east coast of this country.

When the lake was built over 70 years ago, ecology and environmental concerns were in their infancy. There is little or no timber in the lake. According to Greg Stoner, the Missouri Department of Conservation fisheries biologist in charge of the lake, most of the timber was cut and hauled away at the time the lake was constructed. What little remained was burned or has long since silted over.

Stoner notes that the primary structure and cover is artificial: boat docks and the brushpiles found around them. That’s good news and bad for anglers: The fish are easier to find, but they’re also under more angling pressure, and are far better conditioned to anglers’ offerings.

Given this, Lake of the Ozarks seems like a strange place to grow huge numbers of huge largemouths. And yet grow them it does. Stoner believes that one of the reasons for their growth rate and survival rate in the lake, despite its lack of classic habitat, is the forage base. Year after year the shad spawn can be rated good to great. (The only recent exception was 2003.) A good spawn does good things for a fishery. Chiefly, it provides a steady food source for the fish — all the fish. The small get big, the big get bigger.

A strong food source also keeps the fish healthy. Fish that are well fed with nutritious forage such as shad stay slick, fat and strong. They are far less susceptible to the ravages of disease. Parasites and predators find them to be difficult marks.

The shad spawn in 2004 was even better than usual. “There are two distinct sizes of shad in the lake this year (2004). That’s good news. It’ll make the bass grow fast and big … keeps ’em healthy,” said the Lake of the Ozarks fisheries biologist. Thus, its 2005 largemouth fishing should be even better than ’04’s. If that turns out to be the case, it’ll be a virtual paradise for Missouri anglers.

Stoner’s experience leads him to believe that there isn’t any one area of the lake that holds more or bigger fish than the others. In his view, they’re scattered around the lake, relating to docks and brushpiles, and high numbers of good-sized largemouths can be caught just about anywhere.

George Tomlinson, a Missouri B.A.S.S. Federation official, agrees that the key to understanding Lake of the Ozarks’ largemouth bass is brush. He strongly recommends fishing the upper section of the lake above the 50 Mile Marker, especially early in the season. According to the local bass expert, most of the brush will be found near private boat docks.

Nearly every dock on the lake has one or two piles. Some piles are put out by crappie and bluegill anglers, others by bass anglers. No matter why they’re there: The bass find most of them attractive.

When asked about tactics, both men will launch into a discussion of the venerable Texas-rigged worm. An old lure that’s been around for a long time, it’s still effective. The worm of choice, at least with local anglers, is simple enough: 10 inches long, black, and rigged with an offset wide-gap worm hook.