For Us KC Area Guys - Fishing Reports

[Bluebasser86]

Well it's flooded now but Olathe Lake has been great the last couple weeks. Cbass12 and I did well last week then Jon and I did really well yesterday also. Not sure on numbers but for sure over 20 between us between 11 and 4 with some good quality fish. I also had 2 channel cats, a flathead, a couple crappie, one saugeye, and some sunfish. Jon had two keeper bass, one on a Keitech Swing Impact and one on a homemade chatterbait.

I had one that was close at 17 3/4" on a homemade finesse jig.

Caught fish on a little bit of everything, shakyheads, jigs, squarebills, chatterbaits, power minnows, and swimbaits. Tried to go out there again today but the water was 2' higher up the bank since yesterday with tons of junk floating in the water and really muddy. Probably take a week or so before it settles back down. 

[pbrussell]

Tough day at mound yesterday. It took me a minute to figure things out. That and my trolling shaft is coming loose. I've got it tore apart now in an attempt to figure out what's wrong and fix it but I will probably end up getting a new one. Also, a hawk dropped a squirrel from about 100 feet up three foot from my boat. It made an awful ruckus and scared me to death.

[Ku Xiong]

A friend and I braved the morning and afternoon showers today and headed to Melvern Lake specifically targeting smallmouth bass.  We caught 26 smallmouth, 5 kentucky, 2 largemouth, 3 channel catfish, 1 drum, 3 green sunfish, 6 crappie, 2 walleye, and "A LOT" of white bass.  We threw everything back.  Smallmouth were in 8"-18" range.  I lost 3 other nice smallmouth after their aerial acrobatics in the 16-18 inch range.

 

18" Smallmouth.

 

17" Smallmouth

 

16" Smallmouth

[retro basser]

Nice smallies!  Gotta love those 'arial acrobatics'

[retro basser]

I havent been able to get out much at all this year: my first trip since Shawnee Co was last weekend up at atchison and it was so muddy I couldnt get them to notice my bait.  I caught 1 decent at least largemouth after HOURS of fishing on a dark colored jig.  Must have got lucky and hit the thing on the nose.

 

I decided I deserved another shot and called into work and hit Lonestar on Monday.  My buddy and I fished the afternoon without too much luck but after he had to leave I went shallow and real quiet:  that was a good plan.  landed this 4.10  best i've gotten out of that lake.

 

Here it is

 

Here's a better pic of the 5lber at Shawnee:

 

 

I guess i should feel lucky to land solid fish 2/3 times out but sure wish it didnt take a month to hit the lake 3 times!

 

 

[brpowers]

Anyone going tomorrow? I am trying to get the skunk out of the new kayak, easier said than done. I am still staying on smaller lakes was planning on leaving the house around 1ish. Any other yak anglers out there would be fun to go with someone and split up or tackle a specific shoreline together.

[Bluebasser86]

Anyone going tomorrow? I am trying to get the skunk out of the new kayak, easier said than done. I am still staying on smaller lakes was planning on leaving the house around 1ish. Any other yak anglers out there would be fun to go with someone and split up or tackle a specific shoreline together.

I'll be at Olathe with a buddy in the morning but we'll be off the water about that time.

[Bluebasser86]

Dad and I spent Monday through Wednesday on Milford. It was pretty tough for Milford but we still caught lots of fish, just not many of what we were after. We caught more catfish than anything, lots of blues and channels. Dads first blue he's ever caught was 7 pounds on an ultralight, it was a pretty good fight.

We did manage to get our only 3 keeper walleye of the trip the first day though.

I caught this really cool looking blue cat on a Gulp minnow the next day, wasn't sure what it was when I first saw it.

Also caught a keeper spotted bass, probably my only keeper spot I've ever caught in Kansas.

Smallmouth were few and far between with almost no size to any of them, same thing for the walleye. We caught quite a few wipers but none very big. Did catch a couple big Goldeyes but didn't take any pictures of those goofy looking things.

[Bluebasser86]

Jon and I fished Lake Wabaunsee today. Didn't get a very good jig bite all day and actually caught a majority of our bass on a Ned rig around the docks. We caught fish on a little bit of everything we fished except a swimbait or spinnerbait. We were seriously considering going somewhere else when this 17" smallmouth ate my Ned rig next to a dock when I tried to reel it in.

A couple docks later I caught this tank, 19" and 3.83 pounds, also on a Ned.

Jon got a solid largemouth on a squarebill a little while later.

And then another nice largemouth in the back of a cove off a dock on the Ned.

Not long before we left I caught 3 in a row that were very solid fish near keeper or keeper size with this one being the largest, all on a Ned rig.

We saw lots of bass fry on the docks and it seemed like anytime you would see fry on a dock you could catch a good fish nearby where they were at. It was a little slow starting out but when we quit we had still caught an even 80 bass, plus lots of crappie, sunfish, a couple drum, and a saugeye. 

[retro basser]

I guess the moral is to never give up on Wabunsee!  Nice.

 

 

Anybody here have any luck with 'punching' the weeds?  I think i might have to give that a try.

[Bluebasser86]

I guess the moral is to never give up on Wabunsee!  Nice.

 

 

Anybody here have any luck with 'punching' the weeds?  I think i might have to give that a try.

I love flipping plastics into the water willow along the shoreline, that's about all the weeds I ever get to fish though. 

 

 

Went to Olathe with my buddy Jared this morning. Water was still really muddy and I didn't have high hopes at first. It started slow until I switched to a dark jig then I started catching a couple bass. I had a hard hit on the jig and when I set the hook my line broke. A little irritated but I tied a new jig on and a couple cast later it happened again. This time my line held and it obviously wasn't a bass when it started fighting. A few minutes later I got a hold of this 25 1/4 pound flathead.

Not sure how many bass I caught but it was plenty to feel like I had them figured out good. A black with gold flake home made finesse jig and a home made blueberry colored chatterbait caught all of my bass and catfish. My biggest bass came off the dam and was the only fish I caught off the dam. I didn't think she was a bass at first, could have sworn I felt her roll. Not sure on a length but she was 4.16 pounds and she hit the finesse jig. 

[kylek]

Another nice day Clayton. Great job!!  Do you ever have bad days?  All your posts on here are 20+ fish days :-)

[Bluebasser86]

Another nice day Clayton. Great job!!  Do you ever have bad days?  All your posts on here are 20+ fish days :-)

It happens but not very often, usually during the winter at La Cygne. I've fished for hours to catch one or two fish out there. During the warmer months it rarely happens but I don't usually go places that are tough to fish either. 

[bkohlman]

I think I am going to sneak in the back of bluebasser's boat one day, we will have to meet in the middle!  

[Bluebasser86]

I think I am going to sneak in the back of bluebasser's boat one day, we will have to meet in the middle!

Let me know if you can get a Thursday off and I'd be more than happy to. 

[kylek]

I have come to a conclusion that my father in law and I flat out suck at fishing. We fished at Smithville Lake today from 5:00-12:00 and managed to boat a grand total of 2 freaking fish. I caught them both. One on a swim jig and the other on a black & blue crawdad.

We threw everything in our tackle boxes, fishing shallow and deep. I am very frustrated with fishing at this point. Almost ready to just quit for awhile.

[Bluebasser86]

I have come to a conclusion that my father in law and I flat out suck at fishing. We fished at Smithville Lake today from 5:00-12:00 and managed to boat a grand total of 2 freaking fish. I caught them both. One on a swim jig and the other on a black & blue crawdad.

We threw everything in our tackle boxes, fishing shallow and deep. I am very frustrated with fishing at this point. Almost ready to just quit for awhile.

You went to Smithville, that was your problem. I've fished Smithville twice, never had anything I could confirm was for sure a bite either time. The second time was a 30 person tournament, 1 fish was weighed in out of a good group of fishermen. 

[inunishi]

First fist with the boat.

 

at Hillsdale in the wind.

 

[joefish]

 

Just got back from Rainy Lake, Ontario.  Lot's of nice 3+ lb smallmouth, nice big Northern Pike, and a few Walleye!  Had an awesome week!

[Bluebasser86]

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Just got back from Rainy Lake, Ontario.  Lot's of nice 3+ lb smallmouth, nice big Northern Pike, and a few Walleye!  Had an awesome week!

Wow that second smallie is a fattie! I'd love to get back to Canada sometime but it's going to have to wait at least a year or two now...

[pbrussell]

Went to garnett cedar valley saturday to do battle with the wind. My buddy and I caught fish on rattle traps, shakey heads, jigs, and our best fish came on squarebills. Wind blown rocky areas with drops near shallow water were best. If timber was near by, that was better still.

My best 5 fish would've gone somewhere between 13-14. With my buddies catches, probably somewhere closer between 15-16. That's not a bad day for only having fished for 5 hours. If the wind wouldn't have came up at noon, I would like to think our sack would've ended up closer to 19-20.

 

That last fish there went 4 1/2

[retro basser]

Went to garnett cedar valley saturday to do battle with the wind. My buddy and I caught fish on rattle traps, shakey heads, jigs, and our best fish came on squarebills. Wind blown rocky areas with drops near shallow water were best. If timber was near by, that was better still.

My best 5 fish would've gone somewhere between 13-14. With my buddies catches, probably somewhere closer between 15-16. That's not a bad day for only having fished for 5 hours. If the wind wouldn't have came up at noon, I would like to think our sack would've ended up closer to 19-20.

 

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That last fish there went 4 1/2

 

 

 

Sounds like a great day!

 

Is that a little bigger body of water? 250 acre +?

[pbrussell]

Sounds like a great day!

 

Is that a little bigger body of water? 250 acre +?

It's right around 300 acres.

[Doc-Drew]

Went to Miami SFL Saturday with my wife to fish and work on my outboard. Didn't catch a ton but I think between the two of us we caught around 30 in 5 hours. Got the outboard working again so that was the main goal. Probably to to Olathe or somewhere close Friday afternoon just to make sure it works again before I go to a lake where I actually need it.

[Bluebasser86]

Went to Miami SFL Saturday with my wife to fish and work on my outboard. Didn't catch a ton but I think between the two of us we caught around 30 in 5 hours. Got the outboard working again so that was the main goal. Probably to to Olathe or somewhere close Friday afternoon just to make sure it works again before I go to a lake where I actually need it.

I'll be on Olathe Friday morning so you can shoot me a text or call me and I'll let you know what we find if we figure anything out.