conorsixtakc

FWIW I'd post on here a heck of a lot more if I got more opportunities to fish the lakes around KC, but most of my weekends have been spent at LOZ helping family out (and trying to fill a freezer)

I hear you Bluebasser86, in the end those guys won't be as successful fishermen (or people) as they would be if they knew what common courtesy was.

Welcome to the internet, I believe it's called assumption of risk... I'm going to place myself in the "lurkers" category here to represent anybody else stuck in an office that wishes they were fishing, using this blog to vicariously experience the waters they don't currently have access to.

Wow... just a minor oversight! I'm actually glad joefish asked because I've also got an old Sahara 2500 (old shimano = better than new shimano) that has been beaten up on some float trips and is about to see some saltwater flats in Tampa for my honeymoon... I'm sure a good disassemble and cleaning will be in order where's Delaware Valley Tackle located? Delaware?

Nice football!

Slab city! nom nom

Good looking jigs @Wachati, I'll have to pick up some pit bosses. That perfection blue fleck looks dynamite.

My dad taught me how to bass fish at South Lake! He used to take me there before dawn on Saturdays in the Summer. The only thing standing between us and that shoreline was a hot half dozen from John's Space Age... mmm... donuts...

Safe travels, @Fisher_C!

Thanks @Bluebasser86. Yeah the most consistent pattern in the summer has always been shaking big t-rigged worms in brush, at least for me. It produces in the heat when nothing else will, junebug in the day and black/red flake at night. Looking for something a bit more compact that I can get up under the docks with during the day though, and honestly i just wanna throw something different lol. Thanks @CCC-Drew. We get so much tourney pressure where I'm at on LOZ, so I'm always looking for presentations that look real enough yet different from the 100's of other presentations they've seen. I'll have to give this watermelon/purple/bama combo a go!

Well done @retrobasser! I'd take that morning any day. So I have a question I'd like to run across you fellow Kansas City guys, because I'm more interested in your opinions than I am in starting a new thread. I fish LOZ alot during the Summer months, and I need to get better with a finesse jig. What are your favorite jig+trailer combos and colors? The water's usually got a stain to it, around 4-6' visibility, lots of cover, and highly pressured during the week.

Love me some wiper, I'm addicted to those runs they make! @BlueBasser86 I'd say she's probably touching 5, only because i weighed this girl on a berkley digital scale and (assuming it's accurate) she went for 6.5. Awesome fish, and props for taking her on topwater!

We stayed at Shady Beach mid-July last year, and I was blown away by how many people pile into that river all at once. I think if I went back it'd have to be during the week. Last year the river was super low, with minimal current, and a couple locals were talking about some 18"s being caught on green/red flake frogs.

Sorry for the delayed update - floated the North Fork a few weeks back, found only browns. I'm pretty sure that we were floating water that was just too cold for smallies, although I had heard of people doing well on them further upstream from where we launched. That being said, those browns were fun! I had the best luck on a small deep diving rebel craw, in light green/orange. My biggest went 16".

Bluebasser86 is pretty spot on with his comments. When the water gets real warm later on in the Summer, big texas rigged soft plastics in black/red flake at night were what they keyed in on best for me. Shallow logs, deep brush piles, it didn't seem to matter. Find the cover, find the bass. Wiggle warts have also consistently produced on Summer nights.

Oh what? You can double up without dragging an A-rig?

Hit LOZ over the weekend for some Memorial Day fishing and partying. Couldn't get much of a pattern on them, and the water was still in the upper '60s. One 2lber on a T rigged black/red flake Zoom Dead Ringer off a dock brushpile. Topwater would have been an option if I was capable of waking up early, but again the whole partying thing... I did however catch a new personal best, in the form of a 23lb flathead! Never a bad idea to leave a catfish line in...man was that fun!

Rapala just came out with a countdown xrap that flutters on the fall, picked up a 1/8 oz in rainbow trout and really looking forward to tossing that one into the pools. Aside from that, everything you mentioned i've got so that's good to hear. Will do

I've been fishing Shawnee Mission Park for wiper this Spring with a fair amount of success. I've caught nice largemouth there (see pic), but nothing 4# or over. Never caught any smallies there. The attached pic is from like 5 years ago, so ignore the baby face.

Never floated it, but it's been mentioned to me as a good fishery. I'm planning multiple float trips in SW Missouri this Summer, let me know what you find! I'll provide an update on the North Fork when I get back, we're floating it 6/1-6/2. Wish it was sooner.

So I just found out soft plastics are prohibited from the stretch of the North Fork I'll be floating, which means I'll be doing more cranking than anticipated. Anybody have suggestions on what'll legally pull big smallmouth out of the deeper flow other than a rebel craw?

@Moguy1973 Thanks for the feedback! Btw how does the Meramec compare as a fishery to the North Fork? I've heard great things but so far I've only floated the North Fork and Elk. I'm looking to explore other SW MO fisheries this year.

The party float on the Elk that I mentioned earlier ^^^ was the same way, worse yet it was scheduled by my fiance's girlfriend in July ... algae for days + lots of dragging = pass me another beer. Needless to say I can't wait to get back on the North Fork after the Spring rains! I've heard you can find some big brown beaks in there too...

Makes sense to me, either passively waiting for a meal or actively searching. All great info, much appreciated.

Good to know, thanks cbass12! I'll make sure to bring a couple