The ‘hunt’ begins on Ouachita

American Fishing Series anglers expecting strong shallow-water action

MOUNT IDA, Ark. – The reservoir takes its name from an American Indian word – presently in the French spelling – which means “good hunting grounds.” However, Lake Ouachita won’t require much hunting for FLW American Fishing Series anglers who’ll find plenty of fish on or near the lake’s shallow spawning zone during this Central Division event.

Sunny conditions, warming water temperatures and light morning breezes will provide ideal sight-fishing scenarios, and even if the afternoon wind picks up, the lake offers numerous leeward shores. With Ouachita’s largemouth spawn just about at the midway point, anglers will find fish in various stages – some will be “locked” onto their beds, some will be hanging around in the perimeter areas, others will be staging deeper in preparation for the shoreward move they’ll soon make.

Earl K. Garrison IV of Bull Shoals, Ark., said he had a good practice, and through the last couple of days, he’s devised a simple plan that he believes will produce what he needs.

“I’m going to start out throwing a topwater for a couple of hours, and then when the sun gets up good and bright, I’m going to do what probably 75 percent of the field will – I’m going to drive around until I find one that’s locked on a bed and catch it,” he said. “I’m getting about 15 to 20 good keeper bites a day. Hopefully, that will continue through today and tomorrow.”

Garrison will throw a shad-pattern Super Spook Jr. and a Fin-Tech shaky-head worm with a Reaction Innovations creature bait in white or chartreuse. Considering the abundance of shallow fish, he said he will not waste time on the difficult ones.

“Ten minutes is the most I’m going to spend on any fish,” he said. “There are so many up there that, if they don’t bite in 10 minutes, I’ll just move on to the next one.”

Taking a slightly different approach, Duke Jenkel will fish the outside edges of the spawning zone in hopes of finding more aggression with the fish that are not committed to their beds.

“Some of these big females are not 100 percent locked onto the beds,” Jenkel said. “My intention is to go down the bank, fishing a wacky-rigged Zoom finesse worm and watching. When I see a good one, I’m going to stop and try to catch her.

“I have some areas that have some pretty good fish. Some of them are still loose – they won’t sit still. They want to squirt around. I’m hoping I can pick them up with that wacky worm by laying back off of them where there’s no boat pressure.”

Jenkel will work about 20 to 30 feet off the banks in about 5 feet of water and throw a green-pumpkin worm. For bed-fishing, he’ll throw a white or green-pumpkin tube or a 3/8-ounce Lunker Lure ball-head jig with a green-pumpkin trailer. Jenkel said he’ll downsize to 10- or 12-pound line to avoid spooking fish on the beds.

Foregoing the bed-fish routine entirely, Seth Brown will start his day by throwing a jerkbait early and then transition to secondary points where he’ll fish a Carolina rig with a Strike King Rage Craw.

“A lot of the fish are skittish, and they’re moving on and off the beds pretty quickly,” he said. “I may keep (the beds) as a backup plan, but I’m going to stick with the jerkbait and Carolina rig most of the day. A lot of the fish I was catching in practice were prespawn fish.”

Brown will make a big run to the lake’s east end where he hopes to find better action with fish that have not been pressured as heavily.

Roger Harp will also make a big run early. He said he expects 12 to 15 pounds will be a competitive weight, but Lake Ouachita is likely to yield a few hefty bags.

Logistics

Anglers take off from Mountain Harbor Resort and Spa located off U.S. Highway 270 West in Mount Ida, Ark., at 6:30 each morning. Thursday and Friday’s weigh-ins will be held at the marina beginning at 2:30 p.m. The final weigh-in on Saturday will take place at Allen Tillery Chevrolet located at 4573 Central Ave., Hot Springs, Ark., beginning at 3:30 p.m. Takeoffs and weigh-ins are free and open to the public.

The Lake Ouachita American Fishing Series tournament is being hosted by the Hot Springs Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Pros will fish for a top award of $25,000 plus a Ranger 198VX boat with 200-horsepower outboard if Ranger Cup guidelines are met. Co-anglers will cast for a top award of $10,000. If the co-angler meets the Ranger Cup guidelines, they will earn an additional $5,000.

Thursday’s conditions

Sunrise: 6:04 a.m.

Temperature at takeoff: 54 degrees

Expected high temperature: 82 degrees

Water temperature: 60 degrees

Wind: SSE at 5-10 mph

Humidity: 6 percent

Day’s outlook: sunny