For Us KC Area Guys - Fishing Reports

[pauldconyers]

20 minutes ago, Russ E said:

I spend a lot of time at La Cygne. It has  big fish, but it can be one of the toughest lakes around to fish. Most of the better spots are not accessible by bank. One exception is the hot water outlet, when the water is cold.

lake Shawnee in Topeka can be good. There is a lot of bank access.

In Lenexa, Lake Lenexa can be decent from shore.

In Olathe Lake Olathe and Cedar Lake can be good. Cedar lake is probably better from shore.

If you want to pay for the permit, Shawnee Mission lake is ok.

there are a few decent places on the Missouri side, near Blue springs. I don't have any experience on them. Someone else can chime in.

I live in Independence and have a pontoon at Blue Springs lake. The crappie fishing can be good from the marina dock there. If you are going to be over by Blue Springs I would recommend you call "40 Woods" tackle shop there in BS. A lot of old time locals go up there and they would certain have the skinny on where to go for what around there. 

[expostdelirium]

27 minutes ago, Russ E said:

I spend a lot of time at La Cygne. It has  big fish, but it can be one of the toughest lakes around to fish. Most of the better spots are not accessible by bank. One exception is the hot water outlet, when the water is cold.

lake Shawnee in Topeka can be good. There is a lot of bank access.

In Lenexa, Lake Lenexa can be decent from shore.

In Olathe Lake Olathe and Cedar Lake can be good. Cedar lake is probably better from shore.

If you want to pay for the permit, Shawnee Mission lake is ok.

there are a few decent places on the Missouri side, near Blue springs. I don't have any experience on them. Someone else can chime in.

Thank you, Russ!  I am wanting to meet up with him somewhere between Topeka and BS. Anyone know about Hillsdale? I know nothing about that place. I've always heard good things about La Cygne, but it is farther out there than I thought. I grew up near Shawnee (10 min bike ride as a kid), and I rarely have fished it, and rarely did well there.  I don't want him to have to come this far to fish, then to return home, even if the fishing turns out to be great. I'll do some looking into Cedar Lake. Is the crappie fishing decent there?

 

9 minutes ago, pauldconyers said:

I live in Independence and have a pontoon at Blue Springs lake. The crappie fishing can be good from the marina dock there. If you are going to be over by Blue Springs I would recommend you call "40 Woods" tackle shop there in BS. A lot of old time locals go up there and they would certain have the skinny on where to go for what around there. 

Thanks you, Paul. I don't want to go out there if I don't have to because doing so after work will cut down on fishing time quite a little bit.  I will probably do some fishing out there this summer when I have more time. Teaching is a profession that is good if you like to fish.

 

I'll map a couple of these places out and go from there. Thank you both for the guidance. I'm still open to suggestions though! Hopefully I'll have a good report.

[Russ E]

41 minutes ago, expostdelirium said:

Thank you, Russ!  I am wanting to meet up with him somewhere between Topeka and BS. Anyone know about Hillsdale? I know nothing about that place. I've always heard good things about La Cygne, but it is farther out there than I thought. I grew up near Shawnee (10 min bike ride as a kid), and I rarely have fished it, and rarely did well there.  I don't want him to have to come this far to fish, then to return home, even if the fishing turns out to be great. I'll do some looking into Cedar Lake. Is the crappie fishing decent there?

 

Thanks you, Paul. I don't want to go out there if I don't have to because doing so after work will cut down on fishing time quite a little bit.  I will probably do some fishing out there this summer when I have more time. Teaching is a profession that is good if you like to fish.

 

I'll map a couple of these places out and go from there. Thank you both for the guidance. I'm still open to suggestions though! Hopefully I'll have a good report.

Hills dale has a lot of crappie, but I have never fished it from shore.

 

In spring Clinton can be good at the state park.  Fish the rip rap south of the marina. I have caught Quite a few crappies there. twister tails seem to work well. Plan on snagging a lot. If it is windy the white bass will also congregate there. Clinton is loaded with white bass.

 

I have caught a few crappies at Cedar Lake. It seems to have a decent population of Bass and bluegills.

 

[expostdelirium]

i used to fish my pond from after work from 3:30 until 5, go to green road in southern snco 'til it started to get dark, then i'd fish the face of the dam at clinton on the way home, go home and eat, then fish from 10 until whenever i got tired of catching fish or too sleepy to fish. i could thread the jighead eyelet and tie my knots in the dark, so yeah, i know about the snags - LOL.  my friends thought it was nonsense til they saw me do it.  i want to get back to that level of dedication and ability.

 

i think we are going to cedar lake to see what happens. i'll map hillsdale as well and see if it is fishable from the bank somewhere.

 

Thank you so much - again!

[Bluebasser86]

9 minutes ago, expostdelirium said:

i used to fish my pond from after work from 3:30 until 5, go to green road in southern snco 'til it started to get dark, then i'd fish the face of the dam at clinton on the way home, go home and eat, then fish from 10 until whenever i got tired of catching fish or too sleepy to fish. i could thread the jighead eyelet and tie my knots in the dark, so yeah, i know about the snags - LOL.  my friends thought it was nonsense til they saw me do it.  i want to get back to that level of dedication and ability.

 

i think we are going to cedar lake to see what happens. i'll map hillsdale as well and see if it is fishable from the bank somewhere.

 

Thank you so much - again!

Fish the dam, especially the concrete outlet on the dam at Cedar and you should catch some crappie. 

[expostdelirium]

Thank you, Bluebasser. I'll do just that. Thank you all. I'll report when I get back!

[doughboy1979]

Hey Bluebasser86, those pics above from your last Friday La Cygne trip; were those bass caught at the south side rip-rap/dam??? I plan on going down there this Friday and to work solely on my ned-rigs, jigs, and worms since I have very little skill set with those type of baits and need to learn other methods of bass fishing other than cranking!!

[Bluebasser86]

11 hours ago, doughboy1979 said:

Hey Bluebasser86, those pics above from your last Friday La Cygne trip; were those bass caught at the south side rip-rap/dam??? I plan on going down there this Friday and to work solely on my ned-rigs, jigs, and worms since I have very little skill set with those type of baits and need to learn other methods of bass fishing other than cranking!!

They were all caught on rocks. 

 

You won't ever find me cranking much except during winter out there. 

[doughboy1979]

11 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

They were all caught on rocks. 

 

You won't ever find me cranking much except during winter out there. 

 

LOL, gotcha!!! 

Hey guys, I'm fairly new at this so I need some help.  With the thunderstorms we had last night what advice, if any, would you give me as I want to go fishing at La Cygne tomorrow but I don't know with the rains if I need to change the tackle and/or the presentation(slower, faster, etc.) .  Any advice would be awesome!! 

[Bluebasser86]

2 hours ago, doughboy1979 said:

 

LOL, gotcha!!! 

Hey guys, I'm fairly new at this so I need some help.  With the thunderstorms we had last night what advice, if any, would you give me as I want to go fishing at La Cygne tomorrow but I don't know with the rains if I need to change the tackle and/or the presentation(slower, faster, etc.) .  Any advice would be awesome!! 

Shouldn't need to. 

 

They were biting good at Hillsdale this morning. 

[doughboy1979]

24 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Shouldn't need to. 

 

They were biting good at Hillsdale this morning. 

Okay great, thanks blue!!! 

[Bluebasser86]

Couple of my better ones at Hillsdale Thursday in the hurricane. I dumped the biggest one next to the boat.

 

Caught a whole pile of these things Friday. All released to get bigger. I was fishing with a local writer for In-Fisherman trying to help him crack the Kansas walleye/saugeye/sauger code, I think I helped him a little.

[doughboy1979]

On 4/21/2019 at 12:42 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

Couple of my better ones at Hillsdale Thursday in the hurricane. I dumped the biggest one next to the boat.

 

Caught a whole pile of these things Friday. All released to get bigger. I was fishing with a local writer for In-Fisherman trying to help him crack the Kansas walleye/saugeye/sauger code, I think I helped him a little.

Nicely done!!!

Went to La Cygne last Friday, and it wasn't bad.  I tried mostly fishing plastics, ned, and jigs; need to get that dialed in because I had NO LUCK on those at all.  I need to learn more about where to fish those, depth, etc; because right now I am lost on those.  My buddy caught a 5lb'er on worm there, and a couple more as well.  Ended up going to the outlet so I could at least catch something, which I did so at least the trip wan't a complete bust.  

[Bluebasser86]

15 hours ago, doughboy1979 said:

Nicely done!!!

Went to La Cygne last Friday, and it wasn't bad.  I tried mostly fishing plastics, ned, and jigs; need to get that dialed in because I had NO LUCK on those at all.  I need to learn more about where to fish those, depth, etc; because right now I am lost on those.  My buddy caught a 5lb'er on worm there, and a couple more as well.  Ended up going to the outlet so I could at least catch something, which I did so at least the trip wan't a complete bust.  

I'm surprised you caught anything at the outlet, last few times I've been there it's been nothing but carp and gar so thick you could walk on them there. 

 

I usually keep the boat a long cast off the bank and put my bait right on the bank and fish it most of the way out. Some days they're right on the bank, some days they'll be right next to the boat, or somewhere in between. Fish slow is the main thing at La Cygne it seems. 

[doughboy1979]

15 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I'm surprised you caught anything at the outlet, last few times I've been there it's been nothing but carp and gar so thick you could walk on them there. 

 

I usually keep the boat a long cast off the bank and put my bait right on the bank and fish it most of the way out. Some days they're right on the bank, some days they'll be right next to the boat, or somewhere in between. Fish slow is the main thing at La Cygne it seems. 

Yah, we got pretty lucky at the outlet.  With that crazy/strong wind coming from the north/nw, we actually found a head of wipers at the west side of the outlet where that point is on the main channel.  They were fairly shallow to, maybe 3-5 feet and were ONLY hitting our flicker shads.  Very strange since we were the only ones fishing the outlet during that time.  However, that wind was super crazy and has having a hell of time keeping the boat pointed in the correct direction.  Not having spot lock or anything like that was brutal.  My foot/calf muscle was actually a little sore with dealing with the foot controller for about 2 hours in that wind.  

[matthew3]

Best lakes in the KC area for a kayak? Trying to go out this weekend

[Russ E]

1 hour ago, matthew3 said:

Best lakes in the KC area for a kayak? Trying to go out this weekend

I can only speak for the Kansas side. these are all under 25 minutes from KCK. 

These are my choices from best to worst. they all have fair populations of bass.

1:Wyandotte county lake. (need a county lake permit). I may be biased. It is 5 minutes from my house. This is probably the busiest lake on weekends. 

2: Shawnee Mission Lake ( need a county permit.)

3: Olathe

4: leavenworth state fishing lake

5: Lenexa

6: Cedar.  

[Bluebasser86]

6 hours ago, matthew3 said:

Best lakes in the KC area for a kayak? Trying to go out this weekend

Gardner is usually pretty good. Douglas is good if you don't mind wading through a bunch of small fish to get at a bigger one. 

[doughboy1979]

10 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Gardner is usually pretty good. Douglas is good if you don't mind wading through a bunch of small fish to get at a bigger one. 

I second Gardner.  With it's limitation to "idle" speed, Kayaks would be the way to go there.  Plus, it is "usually" not that busy, so fishing is good there though 90% of the bass we catch there are 10-14 inches tops.  

[matthew3]

16 hours ago, Russ E said:

I can only speak for the Kansas side. these are all under 25 minutes from KCK. 

These are my choices from best to worst. they all have fair populations of bass.

1:Wyandotte county lake. (need a county lake permit). I may be biased. It is 5 minutes from my house. This is probably the busiest lake on weekends. 

2: Shawnee Mission Lake ( need a county permit.)

3: Olathe

4: leavenworth state fishing lake

5: Lenexa

6: Cedar.  

Okay thanks! I’ve never done too well at SMP and always wanted to go out to Wyandotte so maybe I’ll have to try it. Also really like Olathe and Cedar. 

[Bluebasser86]

13 hours ago, doughboy1979 said:

I second Gardner.  With it's limitation to "idle" speed, Kayaks would be the way to go there.  Plus, it is "usually" not that busy, so fishing is good there though 90% of the bass we catch there are 10-14 inches tops.  

Gardner has a lot of good (greater than 15") bass in it. Generally takes 12-16 pounds to win our Thursday night tournaments out there and big bass is always 4-5 pounds. There's a lot of smaller fish too, but plenty of quality fish if you figure out what they're eating.

 

12 hours ago, matthew3 said:

Okay thanks! I’ve never done too well at SMP and always wanted to go out to Wyandotte so maybe I’ll have to try it. Also really like Olathe and Cedar. 

I haven't fished SMP in a couple years, but I did pretty good the last time I was out there. It was this time of year too.

 

 

Fished 'Dale again this morning for a couple hours. Pretty sure I got redemption on the good one I lost last week. She ate the same bait, on the same spot, short lined me again, but I got her in the boat this time, 4.19lb big fish of the morning.

Also got my first frog fish of the year from the bank at Gardner right before work on a Toadrunner Jr.

[doughboy1979]

10 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Gardner has a lot of good (greater than 15") bass in it. Generally takes 12-16 pounds to win our Thursday night tournaments out there and big bass is always 4-5 pounds. There's a lot of smaller fish too, but plenty of quality fish if you figure out what they're eating.

 

I haven't fished SMP in a couple years, but I did pretty good the last time I was out there. It was this time of year too.

 

 

Fished 'Dale again this morning for a couple hours. Pretty sure I got redemption on the good one I lost last week. She ate the same bait, on the same spot, short lined me again, but I got her in the boat this time, 4.19lb big fish of the morning.

Also got my first frog fish of the year from the bank at Gardner right before work on a Toadrunner Jr.

Good job on landing that hog!!! I need to figure out where that spot is at Hillsdale because I do not know that lake very well because the tree's in the lake scare the **** out of me!!  

 

Also, congrats on catching that LM on a frog!! That is something I also want to experience as I have never caught anything using a frog. 

[conorsixtakc]

thanks backlashers for leaving some goodins behind a couple saturdays ago. ?

[doughboy1979]

Hey guys, going to Perry for the first time tomorrow. Any hints/advice?? What it where are the typical spots on the lake for smallies and LM?? 

[Bluebasser86]

1 hour ago, doughboy1979 said:

Hey guys, going to Perry for the first time tomorrow. Any hints/advice?? What it where are the typical spots on the lake for smallies and LM?? 

According to the Corps website its over 13' high still. My best advice would be don't go. Perry is tough under good conditions, going to be all but impossible under conditions like that. If you're deadset on going, fish the marinas with dark colored plastics, and spinnerbaits.