Lake of the Ozarks is still a ‘bass factory’

Sitting in his boat on the Lake of the Ozarks, Bob Renken pondered a question that every bass fisherman encounters at one time or another.

Where do the bass go when a big cold front moves through?

The big lake had enjoyed Chamber of Commerce weather the past few days — 75 degrees and sunny. And that put the bass in the loving mood. They moved to the spawning banks and toward nests they had fanned out.

But the temperature dropped at least 15 degrees with the advance of a cold front, and Renken had to go to plan B.

“When a front comes through, they’ll back off these spawning banks and go out deeper,” said Renken, a veteran bass fisherman who lives near the lake. “We’re on a secondary point, just outside of a spawning pocket.

“They like areas like this when fronts come through during the spawn. They’ll stage here and wait for the weather to straighten out.”

Moments later, Renken was making a long cast with his Carolina-rigged Baby Brush Hog and was sliding it across the rocky bottom in about 15 feet of water. He could feel the rhythmic ticking of the sinker and the bait as they rolled across rocks and gravel. Then they came to an abrupt halt.

Renken set the hook, and his fishing rod bowed sharply. A big bass shot to the surface and made a clumsy jump, then landed with a loud belly-flop. After a short fight, Renken had the bass boatside and got a good look at why Lake of the Ozarks is considered one of the best spring bass lakes in the country … even during cold fronts.

“I knew when she hit, she was a grownup,” Renken said.

He dug out a digital scale and weighed his catch, and his first impression was confirmed.

It read 5.30 pounds, a bass Renken would have welcomed in one of the tournaments in which he competes.

That fish was far from being a loner on this recent weekday. For the next several hours, Renken, Jim Divincen and I caught bass regularly on the Carolina rigs. By the end of the day, Renken estimated that our five biggest bass would have weighed close to 18 pounds.

That might sound like a lot, but it probably wouldn’t have been in the top five in some spring tournaments at Lake of the Ozarks. The fishing has been that good.

The 54,000-acre reservoir in central Missouri has historically been known for its spring fishing. But this year has stood out.

Even with the rollercoaster weather, the big girls have been eating. Many bass over 5 pounds have been landed. And two fishermen reported catching a largemouth in the 10-pound range, the first veteran fisheries biologist Greg Stoner has seen in his long stint as the Missouri Department of Conservation biologist managing the lake.

“Our bass population stays pretty consistent,” Stoner said. “It’s a factory.

“A good part of that is that we have a very consistent shad spawn. And the baitfish remain in that size range where they give the bass a steady food source.”

Renken, who is the executive director of the Old Kinderhook Resort and Golf Club in Camdenton, Mo., was lured to the lake by the bass.

He was a PGA golf pro in St. Charles, Mo., but was offered a chance to come to the lake area to manage golf operations. He ended up helping develop Old Kinderhook, an upper-end resort and golf course, and is still there. But he and his family might not be at the lake if it weren’t for the appeal of the bass fishing.

“I moved here because I wanted to do more bass fishing,” he said.

He’s never regretted that decision. Today, he competes in local and regional bass tournaments whenever he isn’t on the golf course. And he is convinced more than ever that he moved to the right place.

He has caught bass as big as 7.96 pounds at Lake of the Ozarks, but he knows bigger ones are out there. And he knows spring is the time to get them.

“I’m out here every chance I get in the spring,” he said. “March, April and May can be great months to catch big bass here.”

This story was originally published May 13, 2016 at 5:17 PM with the headline "Lake of the Ozarks is still a ‘bass factory’."