Story by Ken Duke
It’s hard to find a bass expert on Lake of the Ozarks with more tournament success than Dennis Berhorst. The 60-year-old pro from Holts Summit, Missouri, has won numerous contests on the lake, including two Major League Fishing BFL events and a Toyota Series tournament. Most recently, he finished second in a Toyota Series event just two weeks ago. As a result, he’s exactly the guy you’d want to hear from as we near The Chompers/NPFL Stop 5 on Lake of the Ozarks presented by BaitWrx.
Berhorst has been fishing LOZ for more than half his life, and to say that he’s “dialed in” to the bass behavior there would be a tremendous understatement. He knows enough to realize that the pattern he used two weeks ago (fishing a Chompers Skirted Brush Jig and Wild Hawg around docks on the upper end of the reservoir) wouldn’t likely get you very far next week, when the NPFL pros hit the water.
“With overnight lows in the 30s and cooling water, the fishing should pick up,” Berhorst says. “It’ll push a lot of gizzard shad to the bank, especially from mid-lake to the lower end. If someone finds those gizzard shad on the bank, they just might blow it away on topwater baits.”
For this pattern, Berhorst’s favorite topwater options are the River2Sea Whopper Plopper 110 (black) or a 1/2-ounce Crock-O-Gator X Bite buzzbait with a Crock-O-Gator XToad (black) instead of a skirt.
He fishes both on a 7-foot-2 to 7-foot-4 St. Croix casting rod (heavy-fast action), a Lew’s casting reel (7.5:1 gear ratio) and 65-pound-test Power Pro braided line.
“I like the heavy braid because I put those baits in harm’s way,” Berhorst says, “and I want to get them back. A lot of this fishing is around boat docks with lots of cables and tangles. Putting a lure where other anglers won’t even try is important if you’re trying to win a tournament.”
Of course, not every bass that takes a swipe at his plopper or buzzbait will connect. For those times, he’s ready with a “back-up” bait. For mop-up duties, Berhorst likes the Chompers Boss Hawg and Skirted Brush Jig, but his favorite option is to pitch or flip a 5-inch Chompers Salty Sinker into the spot where the bass missed the topwater offering.
“I Texas rig the Salty Sinker behind a 3/16-ounce slip sinker on a 4/0 Flippin’ hook. Green Pumpkin is just about the only color I use for this. It seems to work everywhere.”
If someone can get on this topwater bite, Berhorst thinks it’ll take 18 pounds a day — 54 pounds over three days — to win. He believes the tournament big bass will come in at around 6 3/4 to 7 pounds.
And he has some advice for the NPFL pros who are not familiar with LOZ.
“Don’t get spun out by all the boat docks on the lake,” he warns. “The bass live there. They live around the docks, behind the docks, and under the docks. You can catch some fish that aren’t around the docks, but it would be a mistake to ignore them.”
