Story by Ken Duke
Bill Davenport is just a few months shy of his 80th birthday and has been fishing Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks for more than half a century. In that time, he’s won 161 tournaments of various types and sizes — club tournaments, team tournaments, you name it. To say he has insight into how things will go at The Chompers/NPFL Stop 5 on Lake of the Ozarks presented by BaitWrx — October 23-25, 2024 — would be a serious understatement.
“It will be a great event, and the fishing should be strong,” Davenport says. “We’ve got some cool nights coming in the next week or so — down into the 30s — and that should help the bite.”
Currently, water temperatures are in the upper 60s to low 70s, but by tournament time they should dip into the mid 60s. It’s a time that Davenport really enjoys fishing on LOZ.
“Right now — and probably through the event — anglers can find quality fish on the upper end around boat docks,” Davenport says. “Flipping boat docks with a black and blue Chompers Flipping Brush Jig and matching trailer or a creature bait like the Chompers Wild Hawg is a solid pattern. So is fishing the backs of upper end pockets and cuts with a spinnerbait or square bill crankbait.
“If I’m fishing the lower end at this time of year, I look for schools of shad in the backs of creeks and throw a spinnerbait or plopper-style topwater. The key on the lower end is finding the shad. If you can find the baitfish, the bass will be there, too. They’ll often concentrate around shallow brush (7-8 feet of water) in small pockets.”
Davenport is known around LOZ as “The Legend,” and it’s not just a title thrown around by friends and family. The current issue of Lake of the Ozarks Fishing Guide — a popular area tabloid — has a photo of the affable angler on the cover with a blurb that reads “The Legend: Bill Davenport.”
To cement his legend status, Chompers named the lake’s most popular jig skirt color after him in 1995. It’s called the “Davenport Special,” and it’s a combination of brown and green flash. That basic pattern has been responsible for 90% of his 161 wins over the decades, with most of those coming on the Chompers Skirted Brush Jig. The combo could be a major factor at the NPFL event later this month.
When it comes to trailers for the Brush Jig in his signature color, Davenport makes it simple. He relies on just two colors and a couple of body types.
“I like Green Pumpkin early in the morning and under low-light conditions,” he says. “Once the sun gets up, I go to Root Beer Green.”
As for body styles, he’ll mix it up but usually finds himself opting for the Chompers Super Jig Trailer (a twin tail) or the Chompers Baby Craw Hawg (a realistic craw imitation).
When asked what it might take to win at LOZ, Davenport said, “Forty-five pounds over three days should put you way up there, and any bass over six pounds is a big one here in the fall.”
