WesG

Thanks fellas. I appreciate the feedback!

Perfect. We don't have waders so I will look at the state park area. I saw that on a map but didn't know what access was like over there. I appreciate the heads up.

Hello Everyone, My sons 5th birthday is July 2nd. We are headed to Branson for a few days to hang out and go to Silver Dollar City. We got started into fishing together a couple of years ago and he loves it. So, I thought we would take some gear on our trip. Are there any decent places to bank fish down there? I don't really care to rent a boat because he hasn't ever fished off of one. He is about to get a new rod/reel for his bday so that will be enough of a learning curve. We are staying near the Table Rock Dam and would like to stay in that area. I see a trout hatchery right there. It looks like there might be a spot to fish there. I was just wondering if anyone had a good location where we could get a line wet for a couple of hours and have some fun. We usually fish for bass and bluegill near our house, but I have been told that the trout fishing my be the way to go given the hatchery being there. Thanks in advance for any ***.

I am such a noob that I should probably stay out of the conversation, but I have been bank fishing with my 3 year old and this is what I have learned so far. If you aren't getting a bite, move around. In the evening at the little lake by our house, we have caught squat on the "shady" side of the lake. Flip to the other side where there is cover for the fish but you are scorching in the sun and suddenly we get hooks. I caught my first bass in the sun and casting into the middle of the lake/pond where there is no cover (maybe it is better to be lucky than good) My little guy is on safety bobbers with hot dogs and gets blue gill every time we go out so it is just a matter of what you want to fish for. If you are ok catching small fish try out the simple stuff until you find where they like to hang out. He caught one last night without bait on a safety bobber. I texas rigged senkos and caught a couple. I also bought several lures to try. Last night I snagged three little large mouth with a little crankbait I picked up Lures all get fished different ways. I found lunkerstv underwater videos on youtube to be super helpful. I wouldn't have caught anything without watching those videos and figuring out what the action should look like to make the bait most appealing to the fish. That pretty much exhausts my fishing knowledge to date.

Hello Everyone, New to fishing because my son wanted to try it out so I am trying to learn enough to stay ahead of him! Just wanted to say hello because I will probably be bugging you all for tips soon enough! Our first day fishing was last Saturday. So far his count is 5 bluegill and I have a bluegill and 5 little bass to my name. We have a couple little ponds/lakes within walking distance of our house so it is easy to pop down and try new stuff. He is on a mickey mouse pole with safety bobbers and hot dogs (he is 3). I caught a couple on a texas rigged senko and I caught 3 last night with a small crankbait. I just bought a pflueger spinning combo from bass pro. I tried to spend good money on nicer stuff, but they kept pushing this rod so I bought it to learn (I already want a bait cast setup). So far so good, but if there are any threads that I should read as a beginner or tips you have for the KC area I am open to suggestions. Thanks!