Bluebasser86

Anyone want to fish Wyco for a few hours Tuesday morning? I don't get off work until 8am so it would probably be around 9 when I got out there and I'm only going to fish for a few hours so I can get a little sleep that afternoon.

Depends on the time of year but if you get a 3" Berkley powerminnow and put it on a 1/8oz jighead and cast it to the dam or flat, rocky points and just reel it fast enough to keep it off the bottom you'll catch lots of them. Probably the biggest smallmouth I've ever hooked ate that exact combo off the dam at Melvern and promptly jumped and spit my bait right back at me. I'm guessing she was in the 6lb range, maybe bigger. I did catch a 4 pound smallie on that rig at Milford off the dam too, along with every other fish that swims in both those lakes. Shakyheads, cranks, spooks, spinnerbaits, traps, jigs, and jerkbaits in the spring and fall are all good baits. The smallmouth in my avatar ate a tiny Lucky Craft CB zero in American shad color on a flat point in about a foot of water last fall at Melvern.

Be faster to drive to Melvern from where you're at, probably an hour closer than Milford is. Either lake mid April-early June and then late August-until the water drops below 45 are good times to be at either lake. Milford is my favorite of the two but I fish Melvern more because it takes an hour instead of 2 hours to get there.

I'll usually have between 5-12 rods in the boat. If I have 12 my starting lineup is usually: 6' 2" M/XF Avid/50E popper/jerkbait rod 6' 6" M/F Mojo/Revo S spinnerbait/buzzbait rod 7' M/F Mojo/200e7 T-rig/light jig rod 7' M/M Pro Glass/200e5 cranking rod 7' M/F Premier/200BSF trap rod 7' H/F Mojo/Record 50 swimbait rod 7' 3" MH/F LTB/200e7 C-rig/jig rod 7' 6" MH/F LTB/200e7 pitching/flipping rod 7' 8" MH/M Mojo/PQ deep cranking rod 6' 8" ML/F Crucial/Symetre 1000 light shaky/dropshot rod 6' 10" ML/F Rage/Supreme 30 dropshot/grub rod 6' 10" LTB/Supreme 35 shakyhead rod

Anyone I've ever talked to says it's good for catfish and that's about it but I've never fished it myself.

It can be very boring but it's far from a technique for "lazy losers". You have to be able to read a lake and the structure in it, know where the fish will be holding, what speed your boat needs to be going, what direction your bait needs to cross with the fish, what baits to use, what gear will get your bait where it needs to be, and a host of other factors. True you can just pull the first bait out of your box behind the boat long enough and probably catch something but the same could be said for casting a bait. Personally I'd rather get poked in the eye with a sharp stick then have to troll because it bores me to tears but I have done it and if you know what you're doing it can be far more effective than casting the same baits you're trolling. It's great for coving lots of water and picking up scattered fish or fishing a bait in water way deeper than it would normally reach. I've had my best success trolling with number 5 or 7 shad raps or glass raps. I wasn't trolling for bass but they can't seem to leave those things alone at time.

Like the head, the hook is crap though.

Same deal in KC. I don't fish RES very often but for that price they're good ones to throw in nasty places or at big hybrids since they don't hurt as bad to lose. They're some colors I haven't seen anywhere else too.

I move to pretty much all night fishing for catfish during the summer months. I bring a sleeping bag and set my baitfeeders and kick back. Some nights all I catch are Z's, some nights you can't hardly keep up with them. It's pretty much the same deal with big cats during the summer, if you aren't fishing at night you aren't catching the big fish. The skeeters are terrible around here on the river too. I used to just get all the way inside my sleeping bag and close the top over my head. It was pretty brutal on those 80-90 degree nights but it was better than getting eaten alive. Tried bug spray but these skeeters just like that stuff like salt off the rim of a margarita glass before they bite you. Now I have a Thermacell, no need for any headnet or long sleeves with that thing, it's great if you're sitting still.

Nice redear! I had one that size chase my DD22 to the boat once, I really wish it would have hit it, would have been my biggest by far! If they got that big regularly I'd probably fish for bass a lot less.

Never have done much good night fishing for smallmouth. I've tried at Melvern too and caught nothing but flatheads until it got light out. I've caught a couple at Wyco on spinnerbaits and shakyheads with finesse worms but not near the numbers I catch if I'm after largemouth. I know they bite at night though, some guides are pretty successful fishing for smallmouth at night.

That's a beautiful bait! My heads never look that clean when they're finished. I doubt the fish care any but it sure does look nice!

WHAT?? Then it's just going to get fished hard again once it's restocked and you'll have a bunch of overfished dinks. If it's your buddies privately owned pond he could always make it off limits for a year or two to give the fish a break. I've had the chance to fish a couple smaller lakes after they had been closed for a couple years and they're usually pretty incredible when they first reopen. At the very least he might think about being more selective about the people that are going out there.

Anyone ever fished it? Buddy of mine said he did once a few years back and did really well but hasn't been back since. Thinking about making the drive up there Wednesday but don't really want to drive an hour if the fishing isn't going to at least be decent. http://maps.google.c...F-8&sa=N&tab=il http://prepro.mdc.mo.gov/reports/belcher-branch-lake

I made over 400 this past winter, 3 3700 boxes stuffed full of finesse, football, casting, swimming, and flipping jigs. Plus the probably around 50 store bought jigs I had before I started making my own. I know I have lots of jigs I bought on sale still in a tote in the garage, no idea how many might be in there though. Jigs are an easy bait to have a lot of, they'll never go out of style.

Yes.....

Nice! Usually a 18" fish runs around 3lbs here but I was fishing a private lake that I just got access to with a buddy a couple weeks ago, and he had one that was 16 3/4" and 3.39lbs. It was truely footballish.

Xcalibur XR50 and XRK50 in ghost or rayburn red are about the only traps I use anymore. I have them in several other colors and I have some RES that I use on occasion but they just don't work as well for me as the Xcalibur does.

I'm a big fan of War Eagle spinnerbaits. The little 5/16oz finesse spinnerbait in mouse color seems to catch fish when I can't get them to touch any other spinnerbaits. I could get through most situations with that bait plus a 3/8oz double willowleaf bait in mouse, spot remover, white/chart, and the same colors in a colorado/indiana blade combo for dirtier/cooler water.

Tiny paca, twin tail grub, or the smallest size craw papi.

Man, all those fish are thick but that big one is a tank!

The state park marina is the last ramp on the north side by the dam. Thunderbird is the next to last ramp on the north side of the lake going towards the dam. Thunderbird is in the state park I guess but the other ramp in the state park doesn't have a name I don't think.

http://www.clydetheguide.com/

Spook or Super Spook can be great on windy days and still cast very easily in the wind.

Don't know if he does Smithville but Clyde the Guide is a stand up guy that knows how to find fish with the best of them. I believe he provides all the gear and will even pick his clients up at their house. He guides on a lot of lakes in Northeastern and Central Kansas and will fish for about anything. Everyone I've ever know that fished with him said it was a great experience.