W
hen the weather starts getting hot and sticky at Lake of the Ozarks, Dion Hibdon checks the bass’ summertime menu to determine which lures to throw.
“The forage is always a big deal,” Hibdon said. “You have to be around the food.” The local pro knows that shad and crayfish are the main staples of Lake of the Ozarks bass during the summertime, so he opts for lures that best imitate the forage.
During low-light conditions, Hibdon finds bass hugging the bottom so he selects crayfish-imitating lures. “As the sun comes up and the current gets to flowing a little bit, then I go to those shad-oriented baits,” he said.
Here are Hibdon’s five favorite lures for catching summertime Lake of the Ozarks bass from top to bottom:
Topwater Popper
The former Bassmaster Classic and Forrest Wood Cup winner favors a topwater popper in open water when he sees bass on his graph suspended within 10 feet of the surface.
“The bass are so shad oriented that they will suspend up high in the water column,” Hibdon said. “When you see those fish on the graph within 10 feet or less of the surface, those fish are probably committed more to the surface than they are the bottom. So you can draw them to the top with a big topwater.”
Most of the time Hibdon prefers making a lot of racket on the surface with the topwater popper to draw bass up to the lure. “I keep it moving pretty fast,” he said.
Swimbait
Hibdon favors this lure because he can work it effectively throughout all levels of the water column. “I can throw it out there and let it sink 5 or 6 feet and take off swimming, or I can let it go all the way to the bottom,” he explained.
Scanning his depth finder gives Hibdon a clue on how deep to run his swimbait. “I try to make my cadence as such to where it covers that column of water,” he said. The tournament veteran believes the swimbait falls at the right speed through suspended fish, whereas a spoon or jig falls too fast.
Gizzard shad is the main forage for bass on the Lake, so Hibdon tries to “match the hatch” with 5 or 6 inch swimbaits. He uses a 1/2 ounce swimbait bighead for working the lure slowly through the upper water columns, but switches to a 3/4 ounce jighead for bass holding 15 to 18 feet deep.
Flutter Spoon
When he notices bass keep bumping or tapping his swimbait, Hibdon switches to a flutter spoon. The flutter spoon has an erratic action that triggers those fickle fish into biting. Most of the time, Hibdon selects a 1/2 or 5/8 ounce bait for his flutter spoon tactics.
Hibdon starts his flutter spoon presentation by letting the lure fall to the bottom. “I just kind of hop it up off the bottom and then I follow it back down,” he said.
Plastic Worm
When all other lures fail to produce a bite for Hibdon, he can always catch summertime bass on a Texas-rigged plastic worm.
The local angler favors a 10 inch worm most of the time, but he also throws 7 and 8 inch models. A ribbon-tail worm is his top choice because it has a good swimming action.
The depth he fishes and the mood of the fish determines the weight of the worm sinker he selects. “If the fish are pretty aggressive and eating pretty good I will throw a heavier sinker (1/2 ounce) out there,” Hibdon said. “If the bite is slow I have thrown a 3/16 ounce sinker in 20 feet of water.”
Hibdon drags the worm along the bottom until it bumps into something, such as a piece of wood or a rock. “If I bump something I might hop it a little bit and try to entice a fish into eating it,” he said.
Jig
Hibdon relies on this lure to imitate crayfish when fishing rocky banks, or to imitate bluegill when he is targeting shallow boat docks.
When targeting shallow bass around boat docks or boulders, Hibdon opts for a flipping or casting jig in lighter weights, 3/8 ounce or less. He wants a more natural-looking fall for his lure so he tips his jig with a plastic craw that generates less action than curly-tail trailers.
If he finds bass hugging the bottom 20 feet deep, Hibdon chooses a 3/4 ounce football jig for probing the bottom. He will upgrade to a 1 ounce jig if a lot of current is flowing in his area. He wants his deep-water jig to produce a lot of swimming action, so Hibdon pairs it with a twin-tail plastic grub or a Strike King Rage Bug. He lets the jig fall to the bottom, and lifts and drops it in a similar fashion to his flutter spoon presentation.
