Casey Scanlon Shares Tips for Fishing Lake of the Ozarks
Lake of the Ozarks is my home lake, and even out of all the places I’ve fished throughout my career on the Bassmaster Elite Series, there are a number of reasons why it is still my favorite lake to fish.
Whether you’re a beginner or a pro, Lake of the Ozarks is one of the best places in the country for new anglers learning how to fish and for experienced anglers looking to refine their skillset. The lake is loaded with quality bass in the 3 to 6-pound range (my personal best at LOZ being an 8-pounder), and throughout the year single day tournaments consistently take 20 pounds to win.
Lake of the Ozarks offers a wide range of cover, structure and different water clarities depending upon which section of the lake you’re fishing. This allows anglers to target fish in a variety of depths, using a variety of different baits and techniques. Another reason Lake of the Ozarks is great is that the lake fishes very big, making it easy to get away from other anglers and pressured fish.
My Garmin electronics save me time on the water and offer several key advantages while fishing Lake of the Ozarks.
Mapping:
Having the best mapping available is especially important when fishing Lake of the Ozarks. My Garmin LakeVü HD Ultra mapping has more detail and contours than any other mapping available for the lake. I’m able to see subtle breaks, points, ditches and humps that don’t show up on other maps. The LakeVü HD Ultra mapping also comes loaded with photos of marinas, boat ramps and gas docks, as well as side images of sunken boats, sunken docks, ledges and other underwater objects that were recorded by the Garmin survey crew while mapping the lake.
Sonar:
My Garmin SideVü and ClearVü CHIRP scanning sonars help me find fish every day I’m on the water. I simply idle around points, flats, ledges, and boat docks to locate brush, structure and fish. This saves me a ton of fishing time, as I am able to put myself directly on key structure spots and fish without wasting time in unproductive water. In the summer I’m able to idle over structure, see the fish on my Garmin ClearVü and SideVü sonars, then turn around and catch each one of those fish.
One of my favorite new pieces of equipment is Panoptix LiveVü Forward sonar. With Panoptix, I’m able to precisely scan the water column by pointing my trolling motor exactly where I want to see underwater. This helps me look for individual fish under docks, on laydowns, brush piles, and those relating to bait. If the fish move, I can stay on them and locate exactly where they are, then make direct casts to these fish. Without Garmin Panoptix technology, you would never even know these fish were there.
If you’re interested in fishing Lake of the Ozarks or would like advanced instruction on using Garmin electronics like the pros, Bassmaster Elite Series pro Casey Scanlon offers excellent instructional guide trips that’ll help you learn how to catch fish when no one else can.
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