Ouachita Scouting Report
Flood-Level Water Scatters Fish, Bream Hard To Find

Photo: FLW Outdoors/Brett Carlson Mike Wurm stayed off most of his best stuff in practice – he didn't want spying eyes to see him.

Lake Ouachita in Arkansas was supposed to be the perfect post-spawn tournament. The fish spawned a few weeks ago and they should be grouped up and chomping by now.

But shades of 2008 have appeared. That's the year when the Ozarks got hammered by spring rains and Mark Pack won a mid-May event at Beaver by fishing a flooded parking lot.

The water's not quite that high, but the serious flooding in the mid-South has yet to disperse and Ouachita's a full 3 feet above flood stage. It did drop a collective foot or so over the past week, but the entire system's full of water so most in the field don't expect the Corps to pull the plug.

That means shoreline cover should stay plenty wet over the next 4 days, but that's not necessarily good news. Many in the field noted the fish are extremely scattered in the high water, and bites are more random than normal.

The high water's hurt the deep-tree bite, and it's made it ultra difficult to spot areas with bedding bream – a key part of Ouachita's post-spawn bite.

Before more about how things set for this week's event, here's more about the lake itself.

BassFan Lake Profile

> Lake Name: Lake Ouachita
> Type of Water: Highland reservoir
> Surface Acres (full pool): 40,000 acres
> Primary structure/cover: Grass, standing timber, points, humps, creek channels
> Primary forage: Shad, crawfish, sunfish/crappie
> Average depth: 51 feet
> Species: Largemouths, spotted bass, smallmouths
> Minimum length: 13 inches for largemouths and spots, smallmouths are catch-and-release only
> Reputation: A beautiful, undeveloped lake that varies in fishing quality by season
> Weather: Sunny and hot with little to no wind and daily potential for thunderstorms
> Water temp: mid- to high-70s
> Water visibility/color: 3 to 9 feet, clear to stained
> Fish in: All depths
> Fish phase: Post-spawn
> Primary patterns: Carolina- and Texas-rigged big worms, jigs, jerkbaits, some early topwater, swimbaits, dropshots
> Winning weight: 59 pounds
> Cut weight (Top 5): 44 pounds
> Check weight: 20 pounds
> Fishing quality (1=poor, 5=great): 3 for Ouachita
> Biggest factors: Water level – will it drop, and if so, will the fish pull out of the bushes? Also local brushpiles – with flood conditions, they're even more important.
> Biggest decision: Deep or shallow? Also, whether to buckle down and run banks or gun from spot to spot?
> Wildcard: Deep, post-spawn brushpiles

A Change in Style

Ouachita's usually a worm and jig fishery, where guys like Larry Nixon excel. But according to Nixon, these flood conditions are more to the liking of his best friend and Hot Springs resident George Cochran, with whom he's staying this week.

That doesn't mean Nixon will change his gameplan though. He's going to fish the lake just like he would if water level was normal.

"My practice was pretty slow," Nixon said. "This rain came and messed it all up and it's perfectly suited for those mud-runners up shallow, but even so, there's not many fish up there. This water has them all confused. What could have been an awesome tournament turned into a tough one, although the local guys who know some brushpiles are liable to do real well.

Photo: FLW Outdoors/Brett Carlson Larry Nixon admits the conditions aren't best for him – they're better for his mud-running buddy George Cochran.

Local Advantage?

The field has its share of true locals. In addition to Cochran, there are fellow Hot Springs citizens Mike Wurm and Rob Kilby, as well as area sticks like Nixon, Ron Shuffield, Scott Suggs and more.

During summer, when the bite's brutally tough, there's a decided local advantage. Suggs won the 2007 Forrest Wood Cup at Ouachita, and Cochran won the 2005 Cup at Hamilton (a lake he lives on).

And as Nixon noted, locally planted brushpiles could be a huge factor this week.

But Wurm isn't quite sure what he's got yet. He stayed off most of his stuff to avoid prying eyes.

"I had a couple of good practice days," Wurm said. "I checked a few things and I think I might know what's going on. Hopefully it'll pan out and I'll be able to catch them out of those places. But we have a high-water situation with water up in the bushes and trees, so there's a lot more going on than what I'd have hoped for. I'd rather have the water down. Now, at least two or three different patterns are working."

But he did note that he doesn't think bushes are the winning pattern by themselves. He thinks the winner will have to have two patterns, at least.

The Quality Quest

Many reported that limits can be caught with relative ease, so 9- to 10-pound bags should be fairly common. It's the 3-plus-pounders that make a difference though, and a 4-pounder's pure gold.

Shuffield, from Bismarck, has only caught a few of those types of fish.

"The lake's full of quality fish," Shuffield said. "But the water coming up has made it a bit more difficult than it would have been. The fish usually suspend and become predictable, but that's changed and I spent my entire first practice day trying to develop a pattern. I ended up catching most of my fish in the mid-depth range – not out deep like normal for this time of year. And usually I can run bream beds, but with the lake coming up, it's impossible to find those."

He thinks the dominant patterns will be big worms in the mid-depths, flipping and pitching up in the bushes, with some early topwater in the mix.

Top 10 To Watch

With the above in mind and more, here's BassFan's recommendation on the Top 10 to watch at this event.

1. Scott Suggs – He won the Cup here in '07 and could easily be called the overall favorite this week. Hinted that he's going to fish deep – his brush can be tough to beat.

2. Bryan Thrift – He's the hottest pro on the tour right now, but told BassFan he had a rough practice and is probably just going to run banks. That's pretty much when he's at his best, but the high water might hurt him this week.

3. George Cochran – High, stained, post-spawn fishing is the perfect recipe for Cochran, who might have his best showing in a while this week.

4. Mike Wurm – He's fishing well after the move from BASS to FLW and knows the lake better than his own bathtub. A strong bet for the Top 5.

Photo: BassFan Keep an eye on Scott Suggs, who won the 2007 Forrest Wood Cup here.

6. Ron Shuffield – The veteran has undergone a rebirth of sorts and is hunting for his first-ever Angler of the Year title. Has a good handle on what's happening, and gets the rest and reassurance of staying at his home this week.

7. Glenn Browne – Gets the nod for his flipping ability, and the fact that he's got some momentum coming off a win at Ft. Loudoun–Tellico. History may be against him – it's hard to make repeated Top 5s – but he's fishing very well right now.

8. Clark Wendlandt – If this was a Beaver Tour stop Wendlandt would be the favorite. It's at Ouachita, but Wendlandt still makes the list given his track record and the fact that he's rolling steady this year.

9. Brent Ehrler – Right there with Thrift on the hot meter. Ehrler's specialty isn't muddy water, but he's deadly on deep trees and should be able to put together an offshore or mid-depth pattern.

10. Mark Rose – An Arkansan who can sneak up on a lot of people. Look for Rose to be working the brush with a backup pattern for a kicker.

Launch/Weigh-In Notes

Anglers launch daily at 6:30 a.m. from the Mountain Harbor Resort and Spa. Weigh-ins on days 1, 2 and 3 start at 3:00 p.m. CT at the same location. The day-4 weigh-in starts at 4:00 p.m. CT at Summit Arena.

Weather Forecast

> Wed., May 26 - PM T-Storms - 83°/65°
- Wind: From the NE at 3 mph

> Thurs., May 27 - Scattered T-Storms - 85°/67°
- Wind: From the N/NE at 4 mph

> Fri., May 28 - Scattered T-Storms - 84°/67°
- Wind: From the N/NE at 4 mph

> Sat., May 29 - Isolated T-Storms - 87°/66°
- Wind: From the E/NE at 5 mph

Notable

> FLWOutdoors.com reported that Ramie Colson, Jr. withdrew from competition rather than commit a possible rules infraction. Colson spoke with a friend about "commonly known lake and fishing information, such as water depth and seasonal migration," the website said. When he realized he may have broken a rule, he self-reported the potential violation. Further reporting from BassFan is coming soon.