Artificial Lure here with your Lake of the Ozarks fishing report for Thursday, November 13, 2025.

Today’s forecast is classic mid-November Ozarks: expect early temps in the low 40s climbing to upper 50s by afternoon. Skies are mostly clear, winds light out of the northwest—great for dock fishing. Sunrise hit at 6:47 a.m. and sunset’s about 4:59 p.m., so you’ve got short but prime windows of daylight.

For water conditions, Bagnell Dam has the lake level steady at 657 feet, typical for late fall, and surface temps are hovering right around 65 degrees. There’s no tidal swing here—just that steady generation from the dam, ideal for triggering active bites in the main arms and around creek mouths.

Bass fishing is still strong as the fall feed tapers off. Recent tournament results at the Toyota Series finale show pros hauling in some quality sacks—Jared Lintner won it last weekend with a whopping 51 pounds, 8 ounces over three days, with daily bags from 15 to 19 pounds. Dennis Berhorst and Andy Newcomb trailed close behind in the upper 40-pound range. Anglers were pulling 12-20 bass per day, but keeper bites were harder to come by as the bass get choosier late in the season.

It’s all about matching the hatch. With the shad schools on the move, bass are tight to isolated main lake docks, especially those near points. Lintner’s “milk run” dock pattern had him covering 40-50 docks a day, using a mix of reaction baits and jigs. Chatterbaits like the Z-Man Jack Hammer (white/gold blade with a white Yamamoto Zako trailer) and swim jigs in blue magic and white consistently put fish in the boat. Flipping jigs (old-school brown) into deeper dock stalls picked off the occasional kicker.

For more finesse, guides are still leaning on the 3/4-ounce Crock-O-Gator Football Jig with NetBait Paca Chunk trailers, and 1/2-ounce ball heads rigged with big soft plastics like the Deps Sakamata Shad. Whopper Ploppers scored two big 4-pounders for co-anglers last weekend, so topwaters can still make magic in low-light stretches.

Crappie are fair to good in the Glaize arm and around Gravois, especially in the early morning—use small jigs tipped with minnows or Bobby Garland Baby Shads in chartreuse.

For catfish, jug lines set in deeper coves with fresh cut shad or bluegill are producing above-average blues, especially in the mornings as water temps cool.

Best hot spots today are:
- **Gravois Arm:** Shad are pushed up, so docks near main lake points and creek mouths are loaded.
- **Niangua Arm:** Isolated docks and flats with chunk rock—perfect late fall spots for both largemouth and spotted bass.

In summary: target isolated docks, match your baitfish, and don’t be afraid to hit new water. Bass are moving shallow and stacking up for their last big feed. Bring the chatterbaits, flipping jigs, and a topwater or two for the early sun and dusk. Most successful anglers are covering water—quantity beats patience right now.

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