One man’s bad weather is another man’s treasure
Conditions continue to change at Ozarks
OSAGE BEACH, Mo. – Listen to a Wal-Mart FLW Series weigh-in long enough, and you’ll begin to wonder just what it is that bass anglers really want with the weather.
One angler wants wind, another wants calm. One angler wants clouds, another wants sun. One angler wants cold, another wants warm.
For every angler that wants one condition to enhance his pattern, another angler wants the complete opposite.
This week, Lake of the Ozarks has dealt anglers just about every kind of weather for which they could ask. Wednesday brought cloudy, cool conditions as the front approached. Day two delivered cold temperatures, high winds and bright blue skies. Friday looks about the same as yesterday, perhaps a little less blustery.
Tournament leader Dion Hibdon of Stover, Mo., would like to see the wind quit blowing.
“I’ve got some offshore places out there that I haven’t really been able to hit
yet because of the wind,” he said. “Dead calm and slick as glass would suit me just fine.”
However, Andy Morgan of Dayton, Tenn., who sits in fourth on the pro side, does not like that idea.
“Slick as glass? Oh no, don’t even say that,” Morgan quipped. “I need at least a little wind to catch my shallow fish. The more it blows, the longer my window of shallow power-fishing lasts each morning.”
If yesterday was any indication, the FLW Series event at Lake of the Ozarks might just end up being a Hibdon benefit event.
The Hibdon family has a rich heritage on Lake of the Ozarks. Between legendary Guido Hibdon and his son Dion there lies nearly a century of fishing experience on Lake of the Ozarks.
Considering that both Guido and Dion sacked 18-3 and 16-2, respectively, yesterday and they have just been fishing their secondary areas to stay out of the wind, there’s no telling what could happen if calm conditions let them get on their best spots.
Dion indicated that the way he and his father have been fishing this week is usually a way they fish in late fall when water temperatures plummet into the 40s.
With dropping water temperatures and a forecast calling for little wind Saturday, it looks like the track is coming to the Hibdons.
The day-three weigh-in will begin at 3 p.m. Central time at PB-II on Lake of the Ozarks. For those who can’t watch the action in person, FLWOutdoors.com provides FLW Live, a real-time viewing application that is the next best thing to being there.
Friday’s conditions
Sunrise: 7:18 a.m.
Temperature at takeoff: 32 degrees
Water temperature: 60 degrees
Expected high temperature: 64 degrees
Wind: W at 10 to 20 mph
Day’s outlook: sunny, breezy and cool