papajoe222 Posted January 22 Posted January 22 Both my daughters and their families will be moving to Missouri. My oldest this spring to the Springfield area and my youngest next summer to the Kansas City area. That means Papa and grandma will be moving. Although my area of interest centers around the higher populations, better health care options, I'm looking for an area that offers some decent bass fishing. I have fished Table Rock on a number of occasions, prefer smaller bodies of water (I got lost on TR after the sun went down one time). Any lakes within an hour drive of either city? I've been checking out some properties, but it'd be helpful to target a specific area in my search. TIA Quote
Super User Jig Man Posted January 23 Super User Posted January 23 Stockton and Pomme de Terre are both north of Springfield and a lot smaller than Table Rock. Stockton is my favorite. Stockton has lmb, smb, and spots as well as walleye. Pomme de Terre has lmb, spots, and a few smb up in the rivers. It has a few walleye and has musky. 2 Quote
Super User senile1 Posted January 23 Super User Posted January 23 I second @Jig Man's recommendations. Stockton Lake is simply awesome. At approximately 24,900 acres it isn't small, but to me it fishes like a smaller lake. Maybe it just fits the way I fish, but I have not had a bad day there in a long time. Having said that, it could just be luck of the draw because I am only able to get down there a couple of times a year. During week days traffic on the lake is minimal. Pomme De Terre is fun too. Although, I only fish it now and then the bass seem to cooperate there as well. Quote
Super User Jig Man Posted January 23 Super User Posted January 23 When you get moved let us know where you are going to live. That way I can get you to the best launch areas. 1 Quote
Super User bowhunter63 Posted January 23 Super User Posted January 23 Welcome to Missouri Hope you like Smallmouth fishing. I live in Springfield.Nice place. Plus Bass Pro Shops is just down the road 1 Quote
Super User Bankbeater Posted January 24 Super User Posted January 24 First off welcome. Between Springfield, Kansas City, and Jefferson City you have the larger reservoirs, but there is also a bunch of smaller areas that are managed by the conservation dept. 2 Quote
KCFinesse Posted January 25 Posted January 25 3 hours ago, Bankbeater said: First off welcome. Between Springfield, Kansas City, and Jefferson City you have the larger reservoirs, but there is also a bunch of smaller areas that are managed by the conservation dept. The nice part is that many of the conservation lakes fish completely different than the big highland reservoirs. There's a lot of options to fish what you like at any given time (or fish to the conditions). - Jared 3 Quote
Cuivre Posted February 2 Posted February 2 Welcome to MO. I live in St.Joe area, but lived in NE MO as well. I wouldn't look past the lakes in KS either. I was a member of a KS kayak bass club and fished many of their lakes in addition to the MO lakes. NW MO is much better fishing than NE MO. Smithville and Mozingo are my favorite "bigger" lakes, but they are not big by the southern MO lakes standards. 1 Quote
Pumpkin Lizard Posted Monday at 12:39 AM Posted Monday at 12:39 AM On 1/22/2025 at 5:46 PM, papajoe222 said: Both my daughters and their families will be moving to Missouri. My oldest this spring to the Springfield area and my youngest next summer to the Kansas City area. That means Papa and grandma will be moving. Although my area of interest centers around the higher populations, better health care options, I'm looking for an area that offers some decent bass fishing. I have fished Table Rock on a number of occasions, prefer smaller bodies of water (I got lost on TR after the sun went down one time). Any lakes within an hour drive of either city? I've been checking out some properties, but it'd be helpful to target a specific area in my search. TIA I live north of KC. And if smaller waters are your thing then there are plenty of them. The lakes in and around KC aren't Table Rock. Smithville Lake is a good size but you can't really get lost. Smithville is a nice place to live and nearby Platte City is good too. Most of the conservation areas have small lakes and ponds with launches. In the northwest corner there tons of these and in my experience the fishing is good. On 2/2/2025 at 2:19 PM, Cuivre said: Welcome to MO. I live in St.Joe area, but lived in NE MO as well. I wouldn't look past the lakes in KS either. I was a member of a KS kayak bass club and fished many of their lakes in addition to the MO lakes. NW MO is much better fishing than NE MO. Smithville and Mozingo are my favorite "bigger" lakes, but they are not big by the southern MO lakes standards. I live in St. Joe too. Small world. 1 Quote
Global Moderator Bluebasser86 Posted Monday at 03:58 PM Global Moderator Posted Monday at 03:58 PM I would look somewhere in the middle between KC and Springfield. The Ozark lakes are great, then there’s lots of smaller lakes in the SE Kansas area that are really good and nice to avoid the crowds. Those are mostly my stomping grounds. 1 Quote
Cuivre Posted Tuesday at 01:04 AM Posted Tuesday at 01:04 AM On 2/16/2025 at 6:39 PM, Pumpkin Lizard said: I live north of KC. And if smaller waters are your thing then there are plenty of them. The lakes in and around KC aren't Table Rock. Smithville Lake is a good size but you can't really get lost. Smithville is a nice place to live and nearby Platte City is good too. Most of the conservation areas have small lakes and ponds with launches. In the northwest corner there tons of these and in my experience the fishing is good. I live in St. Joe too. Small world. I'm sure we've hit most of the same water. I spend a lot of time exploring the lakes around here when I moved here in 2012. I work with a big animal health employer in St.Joe. 1 Quote
Pumpkin Lizard Posted Tuesday at 02:49 AM Posted Tuesday at 02:49 AM Gotcha. I haven’t been here quite as long. I just got back into it last summer, other than fooling around on a couple HOA ponds I didn’t really get out unless it was going south or up north for trout fishing. I’m really looking forward to experiencing the pre spawn around here. The fishing in the conservation areas, even the ones that are “highly pressured” seems actually pretty great and running into a wiper or two is a bonus. Thinking about getting a kayak and getting even more invested in this. Quote
Cuivre Posted Wednesday at 06:23 PM Posted Wednesday at 06:23 PM I would check out the kayak scene if you're interested in it. (Gio Outdoors in Smithville is a small shop that handles kayaks etc. and EcoFishing Shop in Camdenton is a great shop that has a big showroom and lots of brands. That is where I bought my Jackson BigRig several weeks ago. I'll be selling my Coosa FD/Torqeedo 403 in the spring. Missouri has a couple great kayak clubs for bass fishing tournaments- KAMO (state wide tournaments) and Mo-Yak (southern MO focused). One of the big things I like about the kayak is the kayak+trailer I use is so much lighter than my 18' G3 and 150 Yamaha. It makes for better mileage and portability. Melvern is a good lake in KS that has decent smallmouth. I fished a couple kayak tournaments on it when I fished with a Kansas club and got into some 17" class smallies. Quote
Cuivre Posted yesterday at 01:29 AM Posted yesterday at 01:29 AM Here's an article about wiper stocking in NWMO: Stocks of Hybrid Striped Bass show promise for northwest Missouri sport fish populations | Farm News | kmzu.com Quote
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