For Us KC Area Guys - Fishing Reports

[Russ E]

7 hours 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?? 

I agree with @Bluebasser86 Perry can be tough under good conditions.

There are however some really nice Largemouth and Smallmouth in that lake. 

If the water level is constant or rising, fishing the bridge rip rap can produce in spring. I use bladed Jigs, squarebills, and spinnerbaits.

If the water level is dropping it gets really tough. There are also a couple small coves in the back of slough creek that hold Largemouth in the spring. If you are not familiar with Perry, there are a lot of stumps and trees in the back of slough creek that can eat a lower unit

 

Since the lake is high, it is probably also muddy. The Smallies all but disappear in muddy water.

if the lake is relatively clear, (at least for Perry standards) rocky channel swing banks can produce.

 

Out of the last 3 years, 99% of the Bass I caught in Perry were either in the Slough Creek or Rock Creek arms.

[doughboy1979]

7 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

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. 

Dang, 13’ high??!!!!  Hmmmmm, maybe I’ll head down to Melvern or Coffee County if the wind isn’t that high. 

[Bluebasser86]

Finally got a day on the water with my old man this year. He's been craving fish and it's been killing him to hear about all the 'eyes and crappie I've been turning loose, so we went and got him some. An excellent example of selective harvest, he kept what he needed for a couple meals of fresh fish and we turned everything loose the rest of the day (and there was ALOT more turned loose throughout the day). 

[Heartland]

Was looking to make a trip this coming weekend to either Melvern or Wolf Creek, anyone had the opportunity to look at either of these lakes this year.   Open to suggestions for lakes that are fishing better at this time.

[doughboy1979]

1. Went to Melvern yesterday for smallies and we killed it.  Best overall outing in one day ever(we actually fished for only 4.5 hours before weather started to move in)!!  Between the three of us we caught about 50, all wipers and smallies.  We fished only the rip-rap since the bite was so good we saw no need to switch.  Myself, I had my best day ever for smallmouth.  I'll try to get pics up later, but there were 5 or 6 keepers that were all 2.5-4lbs, overall I caught 12 smallies and 3 wipers. I could have have higher overall numbers,  but i was being stubborn by trying some different tackle I haven't used before and after the first hour of my buddies catching about 10 fish to my ZERO, I switched to the tackle they were using and it instantly became a frenzy.... It's days like that which make me always come back for more....

[Bluebasser86]

9 minutes ago, doughboy1979 said:

1. Went to Melvern yesterday for smallies and we killed it.  Best overall outing in one day ever(we actually fished for only 4.5 hours before weather started to move in)!!  Between the three of us we caught about 50, all wipers and smallies.  We fished only the rip-rap since the bite was so good we saw no need to switch.  Myself, I had my best day ever for smallmouth.  I'll try to get pics up later, but there were 5 or 6 keepers that were all 2.5-4lbs, overall I caught 12 smallies and 3 wipers. I could have have higher overall numbers,  but i was being stubborn by trying some different tackle I haven't used before and after the first hour of my buddies catching about 10 fish to my ZERO, I switched to the tackle they were using and it instantly became a frenzy.... It's days like that which make me always come back for more....

Congrats on the great day! There's not any wipers in Melvern though, just big white bass. 

[Heartland]

16 minutes ago, doughboy1979 said:

1. Went to Melvern yesterday for smallies and we killed it.  Best overall outing in one day ever(we actually fished for only 4.5 hours before weather started to move in)!!  Between the three of us we caught about 50, all wipers and smallies.  We fished only the rip-rap since the bite was so good we saw no need to switch.  Myself, I had my best day ever for smallmouth.  I'll try to get pics up later, but there were 5 or 6 keepers that were all 2.5-4lbs, overall I caught 12 smallies and 3 wipers. I could have have higher overall numbers,  but i was being stubborn by trying some different tackle I haven't used before and after the first hour of my buddies catching about 10 fish to my ZERO, I switched to the tackle they were using and it instantly became a frenzy.... It's days like that which make me always come back for more....

Been a while since I have heard this kind of report coming from Melvern.  What was the water clarity like?

 

[doughboy1979]

48 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Congrats on the great day! There's not any wipers in Melvern though, just big white bass. 

Oh crap, I thought they were wipers.  What's the difference between White Bass and Wipers then?? 

42 minutes ago, Heartland said:

Been a while since I have heard this kind of report coming from Melvern.  What was the water clarity like?

 

It wasn't bad at all for this time of year.  Water temp at the d**n/rip-rap was around 58 give or take. 

[expostdelirium]

My trip to take the older guy out didn't pan out. I did get to go out and boat fish Clinton dam on the 19th. Lots of crappie and a smallmouth. I was getting smoked by the capt and the first mate. My rust was really showing but I had a great time.

 

I will keep watching and I will contribute more when I really have more to contribute.

[Bluebasser86]

10 hours ago, doughboy1979 said:

Oh crap, I thought they were wipers.  What's the difference between White Bass and Wipers then??  

Easiest way to tell imo, wipers have defined stripes below the lateral line that run from the back of the gills to the tail, white bass do not. You can check the tooth patch too but that's pretty sketchy. 

11 hours ago, Heartland said:

Been a while since I have heard this kind of report coming from Melvern.  What was the water clarity like?

 

I had several very good trips to Melvern last year, couple 50+ fish days on guide trips with fish up to 4 pounds. Mostly Ned rig, ploppers, and jerkbaits. This was about a week before it really broke loose last spring when I was getting a feel for what they were doing for a guide trip the next week. I caught a couple dozen but the father and son I took the next week really hammered them with me.

 

[Russ E]

spent the day at Smithville.

water temp was 57 degrees.

water was 1.5 foot low and stained, when I launched. it was slowly rising all day. it was .5 foot low when I left.

I caught 15 bass in the 1 to 2.5 pound range. 

was hoping for a big fish, but could not find them.

caught fish on a jerkbait, swimjig, squarebill, and a flipping jig.

fish were scattered.  Caught a few in the trees and some on riprap. 

never did find a pattern.

talked to a couple other fishermen. they both got skunked.

 

I also caught a bonus 3lb walleye on a jerkbait. I gave it to a couple crappie fishermen. no pictures.

 

 

[Bluebasser86]

Caught some good ones in the muddy water this week. 

 

[doughboy1979]

On 5/5/2019 at 2:08 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

Caught some good ones in the muddy water this week. 

 

Very nice!!! So jealous of you catching them on jigs.  Still to this day I have never been able to catch a bass on a jig......

[Bluebasser86]

1 hour ago, doughboy1979 said:

Very nice!!! So jealous of you catching them on jigs.  Still to this day I have never been able to catch a bass on a jig......

Nothing to it but to do it. 

 

I spent most of a summer with nothing but a jig many years ago and forced myself to learn it. It's my favorite way to catch them now.

[hobson232]

Went out to Wyandotte tonight for a few hours. Very fun night. Caught about 30+ fish on topwater, Texas rigged speed craw, tube, shakey head, drop shot, crankbait... just about everything in the box. However every fish was a largemouth. For some reason I can’t seem to find these smallmouth on this lake. Two smallies in four trips has me questioning my methods.

 

I did however I did tangle with this full grown brownie two weekends ago. Went 3lbs on the dot.

[Bluebasser86]

5 minutes ago, hobson232 said:

Went out to Wyandotte tonight for a few hours. Very fun night. Caught about 30+ fish on topwater, Texas rigged speed craw, tube, shakey head, drop shot, crankbait... just about everything in the box. However every fish was a largemouth. For some reason I can’t seem to find these smallmouth on this lake. Two smallies in four trips has me questioning my methods.

 

I did however I did tangle with this full grown brownie two weekends ago. Went 3lbs on the dot.

Nice! I miss fishing Wyco. Never really had to look for the smallmouth when I use to fish it all the time, they just happened. If you threw topwater all day and caught that many fish, you should have ran into one though. Use to catch a bunch of them on the bank across the lake from the beach, the points of Wilson and Boyscout cove, and right off the boat ramp. 

[hobson232]

It really is a fun lake to fish with opportunities to fish so many different ways, which I love. 

 

Those were my thoughts too when fishing top water. Each time I had a blowup on the spook, I thought for sure it would be a smallmouth. The two I have caught previously actually came off the same point. One was shallow and the other was deep on a drop shot. The point I caught mine were closer towards the dam across from the marina. Which is Wilson and which is boyscout?

[Russ E]

12 minutes ago, hobson232 said:

Went out to Wyandotte tonight for a few hours. Very fun night. Caught about 30+ fish on topwater, Texas rigged speed craw, tube, shakey head, drop shot, crankbait... just about everything in the box. However every fish was a largemouth. For some reason I can’t seem to find these smallmouth on this lake. Two smallies in four trips has me questioning my methods.

 

I did however I did tangle with this full grown brownie two weekends ago. Went 3lbs on the dot.

Nice smallie . Wyandotte has to be one of the best numbers lake in the area.  Ned Kahde spends some time there.

It can also give up a big fish occasionally.  Caught my pb smallmouth there. Along with a few largemouth over 5 pounds.

It also has a few monster wipers.

[Bluebasser86]

3 minutes ago, hobson232 said:

 Which is Wilson and which is boyscout?

Wilson is the cove almost directly across from the marina cove, and Boyscout is the next cove towards the dam from that, it has the rowing docks in it. 

[hobson232]

10 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Wilson is the cove almost directly across from the marina cove, and Boyscout is the next cove towards the dam from that, it has the rowing docks in it. 

Awesome, thank you. So my smallies came off of Boyscout cove point then. That has been a fairly productive point for me for both species. 

[Bluebasser86]

2 minutes ago, hobson232 said:

Awesome, thank you. So my smallies came off of Boyscout cove point then. That has been a fairly productive point for me for both species. 

There's quite a few big boulders and a few scattered trees down there along with the fact that there's a small shelf that drops really quickly into deep water. Lots of attractive things to hold fish. 

[hobson232]

5 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

There's quite a few big boulders and a few scattered trees down there along with the fact that there's a small shelf that drops really quickly into deep water. Lots of attractive things to hold fish. 

Definitely. I need to go through and side image that spot and some more of the lake in general. I noticed that sharp drop on the 2D. Seems like there are lots of shelves like that on the lake that would hold fish. I learn more and more about the lake each time I go. Very interesting features and structure in there. 

[Russ E]

7 hours ago, hobson232 said:

Definitely. I need to go through and side image that spot and some more of the lake in general. I noticed that sharp drop on the 2D. Seems like there are lots of shelves like that on the lake that would hold fish. I learn more and more about the lake each time I go. Very interesting features and structure in there. 

Side image is your friend at Wyandotte. There is a lot of structure in that lake. 

Some quality bass hang out in deeper water there and are relatively untouched by most fishermen. Several  of the larger fish I have caught there were in 10 to 20 feet.

[hobson232]

1 hour ago, Russ E said:

Side image is your friend at Wyandotte. There is a lot of structure in that lake. 

Some quality bass hang out in deeper water there and are relatively untouched by most fishermen. Several  of the larger fish I have caught there were in 10 to 20 feet.

That makes sense with how clear the lake is. I mark fish in all kinds of depth it seems, even around the base of 40 foot drop offs etc. I’m sure the deep bite will improve as the fish group up deep/offshore as we move into the summer pattern in a month or two. One of the reasons I purchased the yearly pass here is to improve my vertical presentation. My slice of TRL, but only 20 minutes from my house. ??

[Bluebasser86]

15 hours ago, hobson232 said:

That makes sense with how clear the lake is. I mark fish in all kinds of depth it seems, even around the base of 40 foot drop offs etc. I’m sure the deep bite will improve as the fish group up deep/offshore as we move into the summer pattern in a month or two. One of the reasons I purchased the yearly pass here is to improve my vertical presentation. My slice of TRL, but only 20 minutes from my house. ??

If you haven't already, this is probably worth reading through.

 

Got out for a couple hours this morning and did pretty decent doing something I very rarely do, fishing a swim jig.

 

Finally got the video together from my dad and I just laying it on some walleye a couple weeks ago too.