AllDay

Very good thank you! squarebill cranks are what I'm all about. I may break out my super spook for grins. Thanks again.

A buddy and I will hit up Leavenworth this evening for a couple hours. If anyone has general areas to share such as fishing the NW or NE arm it's appeciated! It'll be a first time outing for me at this lake.

I think everyone should just pitch in to a fund and we can all tailgate with burgers, etc. Let me know how much per person it'll be.

I agree that the west side is a waste of time. More pressure there and its not deep throughout. The east side is where it's at.

I'll take your word on Pleasanton West having the bigger fish. This Saturday I'm taking an out of town buddy to East and West and this time I'll boat it in the West instead of taking it on foot. Last time on foot I did lose a couple of big ones on the NE end and it was due to my treble hooks on my crank bait being bent outward. I upgraded the hooks so that doesn't happen again. Pleasanton West, however, has been nothing but a delight for me: first outing - 5.2 lbs; second outing 5.1 lbs and 4.9 lbs and I lost a 6+ lbs as she fought harder and heavier than the 5.1/4.9. btw, that was a championship sized crappie you had on your 1/2oz jig B-) ...If elephants can eat peanuts then ants can eat apples. Almost on par with my caboose perch I boated at Wyandotte this summer:

I think Pleasanton East is a hidden gem with not much pressure. Pleasanton West is a "playground" for chits & giggles. Mound City is on my long term hit list. Glad to see others having success at Pleasanton East

Pleasanton Lake East rocks. Pleasanton West is good for "playing". I'll be back to Mound City again You're drinking the Pleasanton Kool-Aid, nice.

Hardcore zebras, this pic says it all, thanks for showing it. I was wondering why my line was snapped dragging across the bottom at milford when I swore I tied my hook well!

Nice one!

If my performance at Pleasanton East tonight is a prelude to Melvern 10/20, watch out I boated a 5 lbs 1 oz and a 4 lbs 9 oz tonight. However, I lost a 6+ lbs LMB which is quite disappointing (it's the opportunities you lose that is remembered most). Here's a pic of the 5 lbs (left) and 4 lbs (right):

Alrighty then - scratch John Redmond off my list!

Speaking of Melvern, to the south is John Redmond - I notice nobody has talked about that much. Is it worth a troll?

Is LOZ = Lake of the Ozarks? Bet not many of us have a MO fishing license (I do, though). Been meaning to fish James A Reed Wildlife area too - heard good things about it. It's all good about Melvern - the lake structurally looks good on paper and I see it as an opportunity to go to someone's home court and play ball - Pittsburg Steelers did it a few years back in the playoffs.

It's been a while since I hit up Dotte last especially since I've been on the lake marathon across the state. Maybe when it really cools off at the Dotte the big boys will come back to bite consistently. The biggest bass I've ever caught at Dotte was around 16.5" and every other body of water I've fished as beaten the Dotte's sizes. At least you're finding success (better than getting skunked, right?) although it's a grind at the Dotte. I've never tried to thoroughly fish the marina but it makes sense to try it b/c that's where they release tourney fish and as we know bass don't travel far.

71 mph? woah I'll bring my 20 # line for that then. If it comes to deep fishing, I'll bring my deep diving cranks and drop shot tackle. Well check your PM, I sent a recommended strategy for Melvern. We're gonna need strategy - we have Blue to contend with out there and all signs point to us playing on his home court at Melvern

Retro, here are my video sunglasses, purchased from http://hiddencameraglasses.com/. I got the ones with 16 GB (8 hours capacity) and I'm very satisfied with them. I'm practicing slowing down when I look around and when I look at the fish I catch so others can get a better view of the fish from the video. I'll bring these glasses on the 20th. They don't look retro so you probably wouldn't like them I too hate wasting my time on dead waters so this forum has been very good for not only saving time but $ from going to unecessary places. This year I've caught several catfish and of decent size ( > 20") and find it fun to catch cats off crankbaits while the salts sit and wait for something to bite their livers.

You know it's going to be a good day when catfish bite the crankbaits. That's a sure telltale sign!

It's like from the Shawshenk Redemption - Brooks etches he was here then Red follows up afterwards. The Pleasanton lakes are good when you want to mix it up from time to time. I will definitely go back to both of them. Next time around, I plan to hit up that smaller 11 acres Pleasanton lake that's adjacent to and to the east of the 32 acre Pleasanton West lake. I see the fun in testing your mettle on different bodies of water. It's one thing to dominate the Big 12 conference, it's another thing to go on the road against non-conference competition! I have a buddy who lives just 4 miles from La Cgyne, has fished it for years, and who worked at that powerplant. This Saturday early morning I'll be at La Cygne and he'll show me his tactics for that lake. Congrats on 2007!

So Blue, I gather from what I've read about Melvern that this is, like Milford, a SMB dominated lake vs. LMB - correct? Will apply the strategies accordingly

Thanks. I'll research the lake and since we're teaming up. Does your boat have a 12V battery? I can bring one for spare.

Ha! Funny but good suggestion, I'm Dave

Can we fish any route we want or do the rules of engagement prescribe that we all fish the same general areas?

Triton, if I can hitch a ride with you on your boat I'd appreciate it. I have a two-man boat but that may be too small for Melvern.

Pleasanton Lake (West) is a small ~30 acres body of water with easy shoreline access in 75% of the lake (good news). The bad news: the remaining 25% of the lake is where the fish were, lol. I bank fished the entire lake starting from the south end, going west, then north, and finished on the east. Unequivocally, the northeast and east side of the lake is where the fish were holding on that day. The problem is - as you'll see in the video, to effectively bank fish it you have to battle through the bushes and shoreline rocks. Bank fishing again reminded me of the trials and tribulations of that style: snags both in and out of the water! A boat gives you the upper hand. I was lazy to put my boat in the water because I didnt want to exhaust my batteries to the trolling motor at this lake because I was going to Pleasanton Lake (East) later which is about ~130 acres and I needed enough juice for that lake. Towards the northeast bank I lost a couple of big ones and it was due to my treble hooks on the crankbait bending outward from the snags and the fish. I'll be switching to larger more durable treble hooks for the future. Ya learn something new every time!

Overall it's a decent lake so it wouldn't take an arm twisting for me to return to it. Also, it happens that my outings are after a downpour so weather factors into my performance. The vids are here to let you guys decide if you want to fish these bodies of water!