For Us KC Area Guys - Fishing Reports

[bassbassontherange]

So I have been on BR for a couple of months now, and I don't think I've ever seen a report on Shawnee Co. SFL. It's about 20 minutes northwest of Topeka.

 

Not the most exciting lake in the state. Fish the rock points, trees overhanging, or weeds/cattails. There's also a small cove with lily pads this time of year. Pretty straight forward fishing. It's not a huge numbers lake for bass (all LM), but there are some hawgs in there. The average most days goes north of 2lbs and I've caught a handful over 5 in the year I've been fishing it. On a morning or evening you're going to pull in around 10 if you fish peak hours.

 

This morning was exceptional for this lake. A 20 year old SK white spinnerbait did most of the damage along the weeds and cattails, but I had pretty good luck when I found the bass chasing schooling shiners and caught a couple on frogs as well. Ended up with 22 fish, all bass, in three and a half hours.

 

No real pigs this time. One went almost four, one more over three, and several over 2. Best five was 14lbs and change. I included some really crappy pics of three of the nicer ones for your viewing pleasure.

 

Just wanted to bring some attention to this lake. No Melvern, but hey, it's close for me.

[Ondrejka]

Lone Star put out a few good ones last night. Got to break in my new custom 1.5 from Doc on a 3 lb. 14 oz. that absolutely choked it. Thankfully the trebles didn't actually cut into her gills, I was able to reach up underneath and just push the bait out. After a pic and a weight, she kicked off nicely. Shortly after a chunky channel had me thinking I had another 3-4# fish. Everything else came on a blk/blue Wobbler. I think I saw Raymond from Mondo out there too. Great night! Might go back this evening for a little birthday trip.

 

 

 

 

 

[Skeeter9948]

I lurk on here and rarely post, but I wanted to say thanks for the Melvern reports on here.   I fished on Saturday morning down there and didn't do so hot.  Had a couple of buddies pull up to the ramp at 1:00 just as I was leaving and they had a 30+ fish day so I'm assuming they were just getting around to biting after that front.

 

Also I never see anyone post about fishing Wyandotte County Lake anymore.  If you guys haven't ventured out there then you are missing out on a real treat this year.   We've been catching 18 inch smallies with some regularity as well as good largemouth.  The grass has turned that lake on which is nice considering over the past 5 years it's been a tough lake to catch anything with size.

[ljd1971]

So I have been on BR for a couple of months now, and I don't think I've ever seen a report on Shawnee Co. SFL. It's about 20 minutes northwest of Topeka.

 

Not the most exciting lake in the state. Fish the rock points, trees overhanging, or weeds/cattails. There's also a small cove with lily pads this time of year. Pretty straight forward fishing. It's not a huge numbers lake for bass (all LM), but there are some hawgs in there. The average most days goes north of 2lbs and I've caught a handful over 5 in the year I've been fishing it. On a morning or evening you're going to pull in around 10 if you fish peak hours.

 

This morning was exceptional for this lake. A 20 year old SK white spinnerbait did most of the damage along the weeds and cattails, but I had pretty good luck when I found the bass chasing schooling shiners and caught a couple on frogs as well. Ended up with 22 fish, all bass, in three and a half hours.

 

No real pigs this time. One went almost four, one more over three, and several over 2. Best five was 14lbs and change. I included some really crappy pics of three of the nicer ones for your viewing pleasure.

 

Just wanted to bring some attention to this lake. No Melvern, but hey, it's close for me.

I went out there Monday evening after work and didn't do quite as well as you. But I caught one around four and one about three in addition to a few short ones.

 

Do you ever catch any off the dam? I don't, which is weird as the dam of most state fishing lakes is usually worth a few fish.

[joefish]

"Also I never see anyone post about fishing Wyandotte County Lake anymore.  If you guys haven't ventured out there then you are missing out on a real treat this year.   We've been catching 18 inch smallies with some regularity as well as good largemouth.  The grass has turned that lake on which is nice considering over the past 5 years it's been a tough lake to catch anything with size."

 

 

 

 

Hush!  Don't spill the beans.   I fish Wyco quite a bit and have been catching some nice fish.  Only thing that puzzles me is how thin the largemouth are.  I catch quite a few 15+ inch fish but they are skinny.

[Skeeter9948]

I agree the largemouth are thin, but I've caught a few that are chunky.  I only live 5 minutes from the lake so after work about every other night I hook up the boat and head over there.  Only thing about that lake that annoys me is all of the docks and for whatever reason I cant seem to get bit flipping them.

[bassbassontherange]

I went out there Monday evening after work and didn't do quite as well as you. But I caught one around four and one about three in addition to a few short ones.

 

Do you ever catch any off the dam? I don't, which is weird as the dam of most state fishing lakes is usually worth a few fish.

 

Everything below is reflective of what's been working late summer--> into fall for me on SSFL. Spring, early summer, and mid summer I fish pretty differently. 

 

I almost always get a couple in the southeast corner first thing after I launch. A popper usually does pretty well right before the sun comes up. Last couple of times I've been out, they've been chasing the schooling baitfish around the dam in the mornings and evenings, especially when it's been overcast. I had pretty good luck with a white/chrome lipless crank hitting the edges of the schools, using a fast reel and really burning it to get reaction bites. 

 

That's what I've done to catch them around the dam. However, for me the action around there dries up after about the first hour of sun up. If you notice they're still hitting topwater, I've had more luck frogging (green and black) around the lilies and shallow in weeds, and using a walking bait in the open water in front of cover. Lipless cranking (chrome or white) whenever I find schooling baitfish has been killer once the topwater bite has slowed. You'll typically find this going on in that first cove northwest of the dam. There are usually some big fish in that small area.

 

All that works, but nothing has been as effective lately as a plain ole white spinnerbait, all day, regardless of conditions. Trolling the shore and casting up to the cover on the west side of the lake has netted a bunch of smaller fish, but I've caught the bigger ones sporadically hitting that same white spinnerbait or a lipless crank about 10-15 feet off the shoreline, right where it drops off. They seem to be moving shallower in general now though, so that bite has slowed a bit.

 

The cattails at the north end of the lake have been excellent. You can hit most of them with a spinnerbait, and there are some real monsters sitting in ambush around them. Be careful though, it's extremely shallow back that way. You can fish it right now, but you're in 2 feet of water if you're lucky. I take a buster type boat for this very reason. 

 

When the bite slows, I've been going more finesse. A white/silver keitech 4" weightless minnow has done well around cover, swimming it an inch or two below the surface as long as it's not super hot outside. In the spring/summer senkos have done well for me, but I can't get much of a bite now, no matter how I've rigged them. Maybe I'm using the wrong colors (been sticking with primarily green pumpkin and black/blue).

 

White or chrome has been a good color lately. The water is clearer right now, so finding what's working has been a little tougher. Like I said, my report was based on an exceptional day, and it definitely was an exception. I don't usually do that well out there. 

[ljd1971]

Thanks for the information on the schooling bass bite-- I'll have to check that out. Other than that, I've been catching them similarly to you, although I have yet to boat one on a frog. They seem to be more halfheartedly rolling or slapping at them than eating them. I will mention that while I don't catch quite the numbers, I have caught most of my larger fish on a dark bladed jig in the shallow cover you describe.

 

My first time out there this year (early August), I caught a 17" smallie off the first rock jetty northwest of the dam on a crankbait. I got real excited and have thrown cranks, tubes and Neds every time I've been out there since then but have failed to hook another smallmouth. The lake seems to be nice habitat for them, though. Maybe they need some time to establish.

 

 

[joefish]

............all of the docks and for whatever reason I cant seem to get bit flipping them.

I know, I rarely catch anything but dinks in the marina cove and never under a dock. 

[bassbassontherange]

Thanks for the information on the schooling bass bite-- I'll have to check that out. Other than that, I've been catching them similarly to you, although I have yet to boat one on a frog. They seem to be more halfheartedly rolling or slapping at them than eating them. I will mention that while I don't catch quite the numbers, I have caught most of my larger fish on a dark bladed jig in the shallow cover you describe.

 

My first time out there this year (early August), I caught a 17" smallie off the first rock jetty northwest of the dam on a crankbait. I got real excited and have thrown cranks, tubes and Neds every time I've been out there since then but have failed to hook another smallmouth. The lake seems to be nice habitat for them, though. Maybe they need some time to establish.

Smallies?! I didn't realize there were any in there. That's cool, and thanks in advance for contributing to me wasting way too much time tubing those rock points hoping for a smallie. 

[ljd1971]

Speaking of smallies, I'm heading back to Melvern this weekend to try and figure them out. I haven't done nearly as well as many of you have done the past two weekends. 

 

Does anyone know if there are any tournaments going this weekend? I want to try and avoid tournament day.

[RangerDanger]

Speaking of smallies, I'm heading back to Melvern this weekend to try and figure them out. I haven't done nearly as well as many of you have done the past two weekends. 

 

Does anyone know if there are any tournaments going this weekend? I want to try and avoid tournament day.

KDWP website lists all the tournaments. I wouldn't worry about it there are plenty of places to fish.

[Ondrejka]

Speaking of smallies, I'm heading back to Melvern this weekend to try and figure them out. I haven't done nearly as well as many of you have done the past two weekends. 

 

Does anyone know if there are any tournaments going this weekend? I want to try and avoid tournament day.

 

I've fished Melvern the past two weekends during tournaments and it hasn't had any effect on the fishing, for me at least. Like Adam said, plenty of places to fish. The Brownies are everywhere.

 

Will be out on Sunday this weekend. 

[gardnerjigman]

KDWP website lists all the tournaments. I wouldn't worry about it there are plenty of places to fish.

 

 

I've fished Melvern the past two weekends during tournaments and it hasn't had any effect on the fishing, for me at least. Like Adam said, plenty of places to fish. The Brownies are everywhere.

 

Will be out on Sunday this weekend. 

 

 

Exactly. We were out there with 30 bass boats and several pleasure boaters last time we were there. Didn't have any negative effect on them. We also caught fish behind every tournament boat we pulled up on. 

[ljd1971]

Thanks for all the replies. This is a great forum-- I've been lurking here for a month or so before finally setting up an account and posting. I'll probably be out at Melvern Sunday morning trying to figure things out. I've never fished for SM in Kansas before this year. If I don't pick up on things quick, Brian I may be contacting you.  

 

Good luck all.

[Bluebasser86]

I lurk on here and rarely post, but I wanted to say thanks for the Melvern reports on here.   I fished on Saturday morning down there and didn't do so hot.  Had a couple of buddies pull up to the ramp at 1:00 just as I was leaving and they had a 30+ fish day so I'm assuming they were just getting around to biting after that front.

 

Also I never see anyone post about fishing Wyandotte County Lake anymore.  If you guys haven't ventured out there then you are missing out on a real treat this year.   We've been catching 18 inch smallies with some regularity as well as good largemouth.  The grass has turned that lake on which is nice considering over the past 5 years it's been a tough lake to catch anything with size.

There's a separate thread for Wyco that's down the page a ways. I don't fish it anymore because it's 40 minutes away now and I don't want to pay $100 to fish a lake that tough. 

[Bluebasser86]

Thanks for the information on the schooling bass bite-- I'll have to check that out. Other than that, I've been catching them similarly to you, although I have yet to boat one on a frog. They seem to be more halfheartedly rolling or slapping at them than eating them. I will mention that while I don't catch quite the numbers, I have caught most of my larger fish on a dark bladed jig in the shallow cover you describe.

 

My first time out there this year (early August), I caught a 17" smallie off the first rock jetty northwest of the dam on a crankbait. I got real excited and have thrown cranks, tubes and Neds every time I've been out there since then but have failed to hook another smallmouth. The lake seems to be nice habitat for them, though. Maybe they need some time to establish.

 

 

Smallies?! I didn't realize there were any in there. That's cool, and thanks in advance for contributing to me wasting way too much time tubing those rock points hoping for a smallie. 

I think you guys might be talking about 2 different lakes? Shawnee State Lake is suppose to be good for bigger than average sized largemouth but I'm pretty positive there's no smallmouth unless someone put them in there. Shawnee County Lake however, does have smallmouth and a few really big ones too. Both are in Topeka, the state lake up north a few miles while county lake is smack in the middle of it. 

[Bluebasser86]

I agree the largemouth are thin, but I've caught a few that are chunky.  I only live 5 minutes from the lake so after work about every other night I hook up the boat and head over there.  Only thing about that lake that annoys me is all of the docks and for whatever reason I cant seem to get bit flipping them.

Throw a swimbait (a real one, not a hollow belly), around them, you'll be amazed what lives under those docks. I've pulled so many big fish out from under them on a slammer or glide bait, and I didn't even fish swimbaits long before I quit fishing out there. The whole lake really is a good swimbait lake. The MS Slammer gets killed by fish of all sizes and even some of the brown fish. A couple of marina slammer fish from one of my last trips out there a few years ago.

[Bluebasser86]

Oh man, what a fishing weekend. Got started Tuesday by fishing Miola. Nothing real exciting there but the stiff south wind made things pretty tough. Wednesday the wife took a day off with me to do some fishing. It was a good decision as she put on a Ned rig clinic, to the point that she got tired and took a nap after a few hours, which finally gave me a chance to fish a little more. No big fish but lots of typical healthy Melvern smallmouth, mostly on a Ned, spook, or BS. 

Thursday, RangerDanger and I fished Cedar Valley. I tried to force them to eat what they normally eat for way too long and it cost us. We caught some dinks on dark colored BHWs and a couple on a jig. It was so bad I started fishing a Ned just to put a dent in the drum population and actually caught a couple little bit bigger bass. Finally made a switch after noon to a golden shiner BHW and started catching a couple fish. Adam followed suit with a sexy squeaker BHW and caught his biggest bass of the day on it and (almost) our only catfish of the day. I finally got the whole day made worthwhile around 3pm when a fish just loaded onto my wobbler. The sack of potatoes splash down after she jumped confirmed it was a big fish. I had put the net up quite awhile ago and quit filming pretty early on when we weren't getting anything so no video and landed her the only fashion way, but I don't think she was going anywhere.

 

Too long for my 18" board but the fish was super dense feeling (is that possible?), just like she was full of cement. I weighed her twice to try to get her to go 6 but at 5 pounds 15 ounces, she's my biggest of the year so far.

 

Our next biggest after that probably didn't go 3 pounds. 

 

Friday I was back at Miola to see if all the fish had sore mouths. They did not and I managed to catch 5 fish that went 15 pounds even with a 3lb 10oz and 4lb 4oz fish being the largest. I got video of the smaller one but not the biggest one. Not sure what happened but my camera screen was frozen when I checked it, bummer. It worked again after I reset it though thankfully. Flipping the weeds (duh), frog, and a wobbler caught all my fish, video to follow. 

[ljd1971]

I think you guys might be talking about 2 different lakes? Shawnee State Lake is suppose to be good for bigger than average sized largemouth but I'm pretty positive there's no smallmouth unless someone put them in there. Shawnee County Lake however, does have smallmouth and a few really big ones too. Both are in Topeka, the state lake up north a few miles while county lake is smack in the middle of it. 

Nope, Shawnee State Fishing Lake north of Topeka. I think I must have caught the only smallmouth in the lake!

[Bluebasser86]

Nope, Shawnee State Fishing Lake north of Topeka. I think I must have caught the only smallmouth in the lake!

Crazy. Somebody must have carried it in a cooler or something. Even KDWPT's stocking reports show no smallmouth ever having been stocked in the state lake. 

[bassbassontherange]

Crazy. Somebody must have carried it in a cooler or something. Even KDWPT's stocking reports show no smallmouth ever having been stocked in the state lake. 

That's what I was thinking!

[kawiguy08]

Caught this nice one on gardner lake. Throwing an watermelon slice trick worm. Was a nice catch in the kayak.

[ljd1971]

Crazy. Somebody must have carried it in a cooler or something. Even KDWPT's stocking reports show no smallmouth ever having been stocked in the state lake. 

That explains my hundreds of empty casts since I caught the one. I feel better now. Thanks BassResource.com!

[Ondrejka]

If I don't pick up on things quick, Brian I may be contacting you.

Let's do it!