For Us KC Area Guys - Fishing Reports

[KansasBASS9948]

@Bluebasser86 I joined this site about a month ago or so, but haven't gotten around to posting all that often. I wouldn't be able to make this paper tournament, but if you guys have a good turnout and do another one count me in. Looks like we fish the same waters so keep me posted! Take care!

[Chris S]

@Bluebasser86 I joined this site about a month ago or so, but haven't gotten around to posting all that often. I wouldn't be able to make this paper tournament, but if you guys have a good turnout and do another one count me in. Looks like we fish the same waters so keep me posted! Take care!

I am going so Clayton(Bluebasser) can kick my arse and meet some new folks that I BS with on the board! I have never seen Melvern but hey it gets me out of the house for two maybe three days to fish so I am all good!! I did promise myself that I would expand my lakes this year so what a better way to start!!

[Hi Salenity]

I am going so Clayton(Bluebasser) can kick my arse and meet some new folks that I BS with on the board! I have never seen Melvern but hey it gets me out of the house for two maybe three days to fish so I am all good!! I did promise myself that I would expand my lakes this year so what a better way to start!!

X2

[KansasBASS9948]

I am going so Clayton(Bluebasser) can kick my arse and meet some new folks that I BS with on the board! I have never seen Melvern but hey it gets me out of the house for two maybe three days to fish so I am all good!! I did promise myself that I would expand my lakes this year so what a better way to start!!

Melvern is a GREAT lake to fish....especially if you are looking to catch quality smallies. I went down there earlier in the season around mid April and tore them up fishing crankbaits along main lake points. Best of luck down there!

[Chris S]

Melvern is a GREAT lake to fish....especially if you are looking to catch quality smallies. I went down there earlier in the season around mid April and tore them up fishing crankbaits along main lake points. Best of luck down there!

What colored crankbais?

[KansasBASS9948]

What colored crankbais?

At the time they were hitting on Mann's Baby 1 minus in red...Id suggest throwing something to mimic crawdads. Also you might try pitching a brown and black jig along the rock drop off in the marina area. Just try to not fish the docks too much...they get kind of edgy around there when guys start casting around the boats. Hope it helps! If you have any more questions about the lake hit me up.

[Bluebasser86]

At the time they were hitting on Mann's Baby 1 minus in red...Id suggest throwing something to mimic crawdads. Also you might try pitching a brown and black jig along the rock drop off in the marina area. Just try to not fish the docks too much...they get kind of edgy around there when guys start casting around the boats. Hope it helps! If you have any more questions about the lake hit me up.

I tired fishing around the docks once and was run off almost immediately. I don't know how they can decide to make part of a public lake off limits like that but when I tried to email KDWP about it I never got a response. I love Melvern, as long as the wind isn't blowing too hard. You can really catch fish about any way you want to fish out there. Lots of gravel and rocks, some coves with weeds, and a couple with lots of standing timber. I mainly stick to fishing the rocky/sandy areas for smallmouth because I can catch more and better largemouth in a lot of other lakes that are closer. I've personally caught smallmouth up to 5lbs and largemouth over 4lbs and a friend of mine caught a 5lb 9oz largemouth out of the back of my boat out there. I've caught fish on almost every technique but finesse plastics and cranks catch a majority of my fish. On cloudy days spinnerbaits and spooks can really be hot. I don't fish jigs often out there but I know they work well for some. My wife usually does pretty well swimming a grub.

[KansasBASS9948]

I am heading down to Truman lake this weekend and will be putting in at Warsaw. Could anyone give me a few hints on where to hit up? I'm not familiar with that lake in the least, but figure with the fish being in post spawn mode I'll be fishing vegetation if I can find it.

[retro basser]

Well I've had a hell of a week. Transmission in the truck started slipping Monday and I've been trying everything I can think of to bring it back but I've given in. This old F-150 has survived being T-boned and a huge tree limb dropping on the roof not to mention the mechanical stuff i've kept up on. It just kills me to think that it's gone. Anyways I havent had much time to think about the Melvern weekend but I do have it free. I've been going back and forth between having a rebuilt tranny put in and buying a new one. If i opt for the rebuild I'll be able to get my boat down there in time but i never rush my vehicle buying. If anyone knows of a spare 94-96 F150 with the 300 I-6 I'd be very happy to know it

One other scenario is if anyone is going who drives a tow ready truck we can certainly figure out the extra gas$. The back roads down to Melvern are pretty good going out of lawrence, you never have to go over 65..

Anyways I'm pretty sure I'll have it figgured out by then, just an update..tourney format and everything sounds real fun

[Bluebasser86]

Well I've had a hell of a week. Transmission in the truck started slipping Monday and I've been trying everything I can think of to bring it back but I've given in. This old F-150 has survived being T-boned and a huge tree limb dropping on the roof not to mention the mechanical stuff i've kept up on. It just kills me to think that it's gone. Anyways I havent had much time to think about the Melvern weekend but I do have it free. I've been going back and forth between having a rebuilt tranny put in and buying a new one. If i opt for the rebuild I'll be able to get my boat down there in time but i never rush my vehicle buying. If anyone knows of a spare 94-96 F150 with the 300 I-6 I'd be very happy to know it

One other scenario is if anyone is going who drives a tow ready truck we can certainly figure out the extra gas$. The back roads down to Melvern are pretty good going out of lawrence, you never have to go over 65..

Anyways I'm pretty sure I'll have it figgured out by then, just an update..tourney format and everything sounds real fun

If you don't have a tow vehicle by then I'm pretty sure kanasbassfisher08 can pull my boat with his truck and I could pull yours down there, shouldn't be too far out of the way for me really if need be.

[Bluebasser86]

Well I got to Lake Paho today with the wife. It got pretty hot and I didn't want to keep her out in it for too long but still spent about 6 hours on the lake. Very well kept little lake and ramp. Trailer never touched gravel the whole way there and it was easy to get to. Water was stained to muddy in some area and the banks were pretty much either rock or mud. Not a deep lake at all, deepest water I saw as I was idling across (no wake if your motor is bigger than 10hp) was 22' with a majority being 6' or less within a cast of the bank. Lots of willow trees hanging over or growing in the water and lots of brushpiles in the lakes in some areas. There's also a little bit of weeds growing in the water but not very thick yet. If I wasn't around wood I wasn't catching fish. I caught my first bass of the morning on a KVD squarebill on a fishing pier and that was it for moving baits and catching fish on anything other than wood.

Now to the good parts. Like I said small one on the squarebill, couldn't buy a fish on a jig like I thought I could. Got to the first laydown and flipped a YUM wolly bully into it and caught another little chunky 14 incher. Flipped a couple really good looking trees and nothing. Got to thinking the water was pretty murky for color I was fishing so I switched to a black and blue Havoc Pitboss. First tree got a tick and stuck a good one. She was hung in the tree for a minute but I leaned on her pretty hard and she popped loose and the fight was on. She wallowed around on the top a little before I got ahold of her. 4.40lbs from the big nasty cedar tree behind me.

Hit a couple other brushpiles and caught another 3lber. Flipped to a laydown and when I lifted I felt nothing. Cranked like crazy and caught up with the fish and hit her hard. Almost exactly a pound smaller than the first one, 3.39 on the same bait.

Caught a few more small ones flipping trees before I ran out of good bank and putted across. Tons of willows with bass fry everywhere on the other side. I stuck another one in the 4lb range that wrapped up in the tree and came off. We got into the back of a cove and I saw a couple big fish in a willow tree. I could tell one was a carp, the other looked too green to be a carp. Pitched my bait and it caught a leaf and landed right on top of the fish. It was obvious that it was a bass that shot off and I thought I ruined my chance when she spun around, tipped down and inhaled my bait. She shot out of the water as high as I've ever seen a fish that size go and gave me a heck of a fight. 4.80lbs on an Okechobee craw Pitboss (ran out of black and blue).

I caught another 3 pounder off the same tree I caught the 3lber earlier in the morning on a black and blue Rage craw. I had to fish the first couple brushpiles from the morning before we left, since I had the right bait now. The first one was a huge dead cedar, nasty real estate for a big fish to be. Pitch, shake, shake, thump! Slammed the rod back and she didn't budge. Seesawed back and forth on the limb, saw a big white side flash then she was gone. Don't want to guess a weight but without a doubt bigger than anything else I caught. Made a couple more pitches to that tree before I spun around and flipped into the smaller cedar behind me. Pitched in and lifted into weight. Crossed her eyes and the same thing happened. Tug of war, flash, gone. Another one that was bigger than the rest. Disappointing but still good to see that the monsters are there since it was the first time on the lake.

[retro basser]

Never heard of Lake Paho before that. Sounds like an awesome little lake..

Well I found a little shop I really like to take the transmission to so i'm having it rebuilt... it should easily be ready in time for Melvern. Hopefully before, cause I might have to *ahem* test out that drivetrain and hit some other lake earlier in the week getting rusty over here...

[Chris S]

Never heard of Lake Paho before that. Sounds like an awesome little lake..

Well I found a little shop I really like to take the transmission to so i'm having it rebuilt... it should easily be ready in time for Melvern. Hopefully before, cause I might have to *ahem* test out that drivetrain and hit some other lake earlier in the week getting rusty over here...

A few of us are heading down Saturday to camp and fish let me know if you want to join in!!

[Bluebasser86]

Never heard of Lake Paho before that. Sounds like an awesome little lake..

Well I found a little shop I really like to take the transmission to so i'm having it rebuilt... it should easily be ready in time for Melvern. Hopefully before, cause I might have to *ahem* test out that drivetrain and hit some other lake earlier in the week getting rusty over here...

Seems like not many people have heard of it before, part of the appeal of it to me.

Good deal on the truck!

[bassinKS]

is lake Paho in northern Missouri?

[Bluebasser86]

is lake Paho in northern Missouri?

Yep, in Mercer County. Nice little lake and very well taken care of.

[retro basser]

A few of us are heading down Saturday to camp and fish let me know if you want to join in!!

Sure, I'll probably shoot for getting down there in the afternoon, 3-5 or so and prefish a little. (makes getting the boat on the water at dawn soooo much easier What campground are you all staying at?

[Chris S]

Sure, I'll probably shoot for getting down there in the afternoon, 3-5 or so and prefish a little. (makes getting the boat on the water at dawn soooo much easier What campground are you all staying at?

No clue never been down to Melvern, any suggestions? What boat ramp are we meeting at on Sunday? Also are the roads paved down there? Not a real big fan of busted up gravel roads!

[Bluebasser86]

No clue never been down to Melvern, any suggestions? What boat ramp are we meeting at on Sunday? Also are the roads paved down there? Not a real big fan of busted up gravel roads!

Forgot to add that part I guess. I'm thinking we'll go from Eisenhower State Park Ramp, the one closest to the dam. You never touch gravel and it's a pretty nice ramp minus one big pothole but it's easy to miss. It's a big campsite and very well kept for those of you that are camping.

[Hi Salenity]

I just saw that In 2011, it was discovered that Melvern Lake had been infested with zebra mussels?

BTW what is the name of the campsite?

[Bluebasser86]

I've never seen the zebra mussels in there but they're supposed to be there so I'm sure they're there. There's a bunch of different campsites within the state park, just a matter of which one you guys want to stay in. I think we stayed in the Dade loop last time we were down there and it was really nice with electric hookups in case you want a fan or to charge boat batteries.

[retro basser]

Yeah looks like Eisenhower State park has just about everything including a huge ramp area to get everyone together in the morning...

Site #38 on the churchill loop seems to have the most room and electric.. I might just book that. You can have 8 tents per site but you might wanna just book another one next to it so we have plenty of room to bbq after the tourney etc. Whaddya think Chris?

This link will hopefully show ya what i'm talking about:

http://www.reserveamerica.com/campsiteFilterAction.do?sitefilter=Standard with Electric Hookup&startIdx=0&contractCode=KS&parkId=519126&map=true

What insane pre-dawn hour should we be at the ramp Clayton? This must be why I bought a stove that boils water in under 2 minutes... Speed Coffee

[Chris S]

Yeah looks like Eisenhower State park has just about everything including a huge ramp area to get everyone together in the morning...

Site #38 on the churchill loop seems to have the most room and electric.. I might just book that. You can have 8 tents per site but you might wanna just book another one next to it so we have plenty of room to bbq after the tourney etc. Whaddya think Chris?

This link will hopefully show ya what i'm talking about:

http://www.reserveamerica.com/campsiteFilterAction.do?sitefilter=Standard with Electric Hookup&startIdx=0&contractCode=KS&parkId=519126&map=true

What insane pre-dawn hour should we be at the ramp Clayton? This must be why I bought a stove that boils water in under 2 minutes... Speed Coffee

Book it and those of us camping can split the cost when we get there, will need to bring ext cords and a power strip so we can run mult items off the power. I will be leaving around 230pm on Saturday to head down my fishing buddy Sean has a Church picnic he has to attend from 11-2pm. I have Claytons cell number, I will PM my cell to those of you that are camping Saturday. I am going to stay possible Sunday night and fish Monday also any one else have that plan?

[Hi Salenity]

Yeah looks like Eisenhower State park has just about everything including a huge ramp area to get everyone together in the morning...

Site #38 on the churchill loop seems to have the most room and electric.. I might just book that. You can have 8 tents per site but you might wanna just book another one next to it so we have plenty of room to bbq after the tourney etc. Whaddya think Chris?

This link will hopefully show ya what i'm talking about:

http://www.reserveam...519126&map=true

What insane pre-dawn hour should we be at the ramp Clayton? This must be why I bought a stove that boils water in under 2 minutes... Speed Coffee

It won't let me book it online... I called earlier to look for a cabin and the woman I talked to was not in Kansas and was unhelpful to say the least. BTW it says 2 cars / campsite.

[Bluebasser86]

We had to book at the little office down there last time we camped there. You do have to use a home computer to do it, it won't let you book them on a smart phone for those sights that you can book online.