Lake Ouachita is a new tour venue for FLW anglers this season. When asked to describe the lake in terms of similarities to previous FLW Tour stops, Kevin VanDam responded, “This lake is a blend of Lake Murray, Beaver and Rayburn.”
Ouachita is a highland reservoir. The 40,000-acre scenic lake lies within the Ouachita National Forest and is supplied by drainage from the Ouachita Mountains. The lake’s primary water source is the Ouachita River.
From above the waterline, Ouachita does look like South Carolina’s Lake Murray. The aimless shoreline creates multiple points and pockets. The bank composition continually changes from bedrock to chunk-rock to pebbles, and then back to bedrock.
Under the water, however, Ouachita looks more like its Arkansas cousin Beaver Lake. After the bank enters the water, the bottom drops abruptly into deep water. Even in places where the bank gently slopes into the water, the boat is often in 20 to 25 feet of water within casting distance of the shore. Also, Ouachita contains plenty of flooded timber.
The similarities to Rayburn become prevalent when the topic is submergent vegetation. Ouachita contains a mix of elodea, milfoil and hydrilla throughout the entire lake. The aquatic grasses begin growing in the 3- to 5-feet range and extend down to 20 feet deep. Since the lake’s banks fall off fast, what results is a ribbon, or band of grass, that follows the 5- to 18-foot contour all the way around the lake.
This band of vegetation bears two bass-fishing buzzwords, “inside grass-line” and “outside grass-line,” that will be used frequently during the week.
The inside grass-line refers to the contour line at which the grass starts growing. “The depth of the inside grass-line is dictated by the lowest water of the year,” explained VanDam. “Whatever level the lake is pulled down to during the winter defines the inside line. Now the inside line is about 3 to 5 feet deep.”
The outside grass-line is the contour line at which the underwater grass quits growing. The depth of the outside grass-line is determined by light penetration. In Ouachita’s clear lower end, stalks of elodea and hydrilla can be found as deep as 22 feet. However in the upper end, where the water has more color, the outside limit of the grass is restricted to 10 to 15 feet.
Anglers are concerned with inside and outside grass-lines because the bass use these lines to migrate to shallow water spawning areas during the spring. The big question this week has been whether to fish the inside line or the outside line.
Anglers targeting the inside lines are using shallow-running crankbaits and rattling lipless crankbaits. Anglers probing the outside lines are using deep running crankbaits, heavy jigs and Carolina rigs.
As if hundreds of miles of grasslines were not enough likely bass cover, Ouachita’s bank cover also looks irresistible. Miles of chunk-rock shoreline interspersed with laydown logs begs for attention from anglers.
In fact, a common sentiment from anglers this week is that Ouachita actually has too much bass cover.
“Everything here looks so good. It looks like you could get a bite anywhere,” commented Peter Thliveros.
“There is just so much viable bass habitat here, it is amazing.” added VanDam.
And if too much cover is a problem, consider that Ouachita also contains a mix of spotted bass and largemouth bass. This is further complicated by the legal length requirements: 12 inches for spotted bass and 16 inches for largemouth.
While most anglers agree that it will take largemouth to win the event, some are thinking that spotted bass might play a role in qualifying for the semifinals and perhaps finals. When asked about qualifying weights for the top 20, anglers were at loss for even an educated guess.
“I have no idea what the cut will be here,” admitted Peter T.
“The top 20 could be as low as 16 pounds or as high as 24 pounds,” said Randy Blaukat.
“I would have to see an extended weather forecast first before I could make a prediction.” said VanDam.
The overall consensus among anglers is that catching keeper bass has been a difficult task. During practice, water temperatures ranged from 43 to 46 degrees. Cold rain and a high of only 42 on Monday kept the water temperatures at bay.
Forecasts are calling for warming weather, but as of Tuesday morning, the sun and warmer temperature were still absent.
VanDam says he would like to see sunshine during the tournament to get the fish moving to shallower water. “There is a lot of cover in this lake, but that also makes it a good pattern lake. Once more fish start moving shallow, patterns will become more definable.”