ljd1971

Word.

Interesting. I just started fishing Melvern in 2015, so all I know is this clear(er) water era. What you say makes perfect sense, though.

I went to Melvern Saturday 6/17 and put a report on the KC area forum. The bad news is that the recent hard rains muddied it right back up.

Went to Melvern Saturday 6/17. The late week rains muddied it up again-- just as it was starting to clear. It took me awhile to figure them out but I was able to start catching some smallmouths. Most came on topwater (spook and whopper plopper) but I caught a couple on a tube and one, my first at Melvern, on a bladed jig. The key was finding water that was just a little clearer than everywhere else. Caught one that went 18" but it was so skinny it didn't make 2.5 lbs.

Humminbird opened a facility in Olathe?

Spro McStick. I got a few on clearance last year that have quickly become my favorites.

Solid but unspectacular solo outing at Carbondale City Lake today. Caught 40 or so mainly in 1 to 3 FOW off of steeper rocky banks (where it was 7 feet deep or so within 20 feet of the water's edge). Only a handful were over 15", however. Most came on a bladed jig but also caught a few on a wiggle wart. Once the wind completely died at 11:30 or so, the bite really slowed. I switched to a black/blue Hula Stick rigged Ned style and was able to coax a few more in the boat. WT 49 to 52.

What he said. If they're not chasing, flippin a jig in cedar trees is usually a solid pattern this time of year at Truman.

It was slow at Carbondale City Lake today. But a buddy and I probably caught 20 dinks. 10 of them came off one point over a 20 minute span. Most fish were on the Ned, but caught a couple on a Wart and one on a lipless crank. Caught a solid 17-18" walter first thing in the morning on a firetiger Wart. Water temp ranged from 43 to 47.

Thinking about trying Carbondale City Lake myself. Haven't been there in years, but if memory serves there are several places protected from the south wind.

Where is everyone going this weekend?

Both. The answer is both.

They weren't waking up for me today at Shawnee State Fishing Lake. Marked tons of suspended fish but couldn't only call one dink up with a 78 Pointer. Had to break out the Ned to catch two more dinks. Nice to be out in February, though.

I recently scored some LC Pointers at half off. Never have tried them before. Are the hooks in the "immediately replace" category? You wouldn't think so on a bait that retails at $15.

Whoopsie. Glad I didn't go, then.

I spent a lot of time at the lower (larger) lake at Jeffrey EC last year when Melvern and Milford were high and muddy. The way the EC lakes are set up, the water level and clarity in that lower lake remains relatively stable. It has good numbers of smallies but not much size. There's a good jerkbait bite in the spring and a fun topwater bite late spring through fall. I ran into some decent wipers using both methods. My most consistent year round bite, however, was swimming a grub. It gets pretty weedy in the summer if you're into that kind of thing.

Odd day at Wolf today. Started out with the first 45 minutes on a pretty good jerkbait and trap bite lakeside. Then it died. I mean nothing- not even the Ned could buy a strike. After more than an hour without a bite, I broke down and went to the outlet. I caught several greens and one stout brown on the Ned in the outlet by absolutely deadsticking it. Then, as the afternoon progressed and the wind died down a little bit, I went back out lakeside and started catching them pretty good on a jerkbait, Ned, and tube. But the best pattern was running a mag wart parallel to the riprap in about 8-11 FOW. Bad news is that I lost my last pre-Rapala Tennessee Shad mag wart. WT was 72 in the outlet and the lowest temp I saw was 49.2 at the dam.

Wolf was a little slow today but I did catch one 19.25", an 18" and a 17.5". The biggest two came on a tube 7'-10' deep on riprap. The third came on the Ned out of 1-2 feet of water near some dead weeds on a flat. Other than those two baits, I caught a few on two jerkbaits: a Helsinki shad Husky Rap and a chrome- green back McStick. Hooked a few on an old crawfish-colored Poes 300 but could not get them in the boat. Time for new hooks.

It was nice seeing you and Adam on the water; sorry I wasn't much of a help in the big fish department. That wind was a bear. My results were pretty similar although I caught one that may have gone 2lbs but I couldn't leave the trolling motor to grab my scale and weigh it without ending up 100 yards down wind.

I'm not near the fisherman as @Bluebasser86 or @Ondrejka but I hope to get out to the 'Vern this weekend and if I do, I will post a report here. If nothing else, I can provide an update on water temperature and clarity.

Had one of my better numbers days in the rain at Lake Shawnee this morning. Didn't start out that way as I couldn't buy a bite on topwater or any moving bait for that matter. They were also a little deeper than they've been recently, probably 6-8 feet. Once I figured it out, the Ned, tube, and a jig caught most fish. I did catch a few flipping a beaver in the water willows after the rain slowed. Unfortunately, none of the big smallies showed up for me. Plenty of big drum, though.

Melvern was a bit tougher today. Me and a buddy caught probably 40 bass (95% smallmouth) but only one measured 17" and only three others came in between 16" and 17". Most fish were still skinny. The water was a 2-3 feet high and muddy up the last 1/4 of the the creeks but was otherwise ok. Also caught a couple whites, two walters, a channel cat and a carp just under 8 lbs. No drum, though.

I just got back from New Orleans. To my surprise, drum was featured on several fancy restaurant menus. But I think that's red or black drum. I thought of this "controversy" as I gladly ordered something else.

Fished Shawnee State Fishing lake last Saturday morning and this morning. Caught fish but it was a little slow. Nothing over 3 both trips which is a little disappointing for this time of year. Most fish were caught on shallow wood but got a few in the reeds. Had a couple of frog blow ups in the big pad field but failed to hook any. Caught not a single fish in the rocks on the jettys at all.

Since the wind forecasts i saw varied, I decided to play it safe and stay away from Wolf and instead got my brown bass fix at Jeffrey Energy Center. Took a buddy from work that doesn't fish much.The topwater bite was disappointing- i caught a few on a spook and he had a number roll on the tiny torpedo but not hook up. Got him set up with a green pumpkin red flake Ned and he started catching them. We probably ended up with 60 smallies and a handful of larries. Approximately half came off the dam and half were out along deeper weed clumps. Biggest was 2.5 lbs.