Lake Sherwood, Franklin County, May 30th, 2010: Fish moving into summer patterns

Got out on the pontoon boat with Rob and Tammy and Hunter. The weather could not have been better....seemed to get up to 90 degrees or so. We were catching them on bottom rigs with nightcrawlers. I caught the bass on a small spinner w/ jig and plastic minnow. Came out with quite a stringer of fish...took me a few hours to clean. This is an OUTSTANDING red ear and bluegill lake.

fish ON!

MLT

Busch Wildlife Area, St. Charles County, MO, Lake 37; Catfish turning on!

Check out the photo of the HUGE crappie I caught at 37! He hit on a nightcrawler like all of the rest of the fish. Landed a much larger catfish that I lost (when I fish this style, I use a thinner, sharper crappie hook and 6# test- makes the fishing more exciting!).
This lake has a good varity- good catfish, redear sunfish and, I guess now, crappies. I have never had a lot of luck with large bass- most that I have caught here over the years have been in the 8-12" range

Fish ON!

MLT

Weldon Spring CA, St. Charles County, MO- Got on some major fish!

Good day of fishing at Weldon Spring CA (Lost Valley Trail Area). Started off slow- lake was low like all lakes around here. Caught the bass on a silver beetle spin with a blue/sparkle plastic minnow, spinning rod. Several closed to the edge- pond/lake difficult to fish- hard to see where structure is. A few minutes later caught a red ear sunfish around 10" on slip bobber and night crawler- then it got slow. Walked around lake, flogged my legs big time (next time- wear pants- note to self). Almost went home (figured I could watch the KU-KSU game).
Then they started to hit- dead middle of lake. Same spot I have caught numerous bass in the past. Started with really nice Blugill. Was using the same slip bobber and nightcrawler. Then came the channel catfish. Almost limited out. The photo shows one of the largest cats. Ran out of baby nightcrawlers so I started to use the box of "glow" nightcrawlers. Man, do they stain your fingers. Think I will stick with the traditional nightcrawlers.
Total for day: 3 Channel Catfish, 1 Redear Sunfish, 10 Bluegill. Sunny and about 90 degrees, with moments of wind and clouds (almost looked like it was going to storm up). That was when the channel cats hit. Caught all (3) in about a 15-20 minute period. Had to stop fishing do to the fact that I ran out of bait.

Fish ON!

MLT

Busch Wildlife CA, Lake 37 St. Charles County, MO.- Catfish and redear sunfish! Sept. 16th

Great day of fishing. Overcast all day. water temp around 73. Nothing artificial worked (could have left baitcast rods and big tackle box at home) but they were hitting on nightcrawlers! Used slipbobbers and had them about 8' deep in 14' of water.

Took 5 redear sunfish (the largest was 10") and two catfish (the largest was 20"). Caught several small catfish and bass (the largest bass was 13")

This lake is turning into a really good redear lake. The key to redear fishing is being able to go were timber and deep meet (you need a boat) and fishing it deep enough.

Very productive day

Fish On!

MLT

Busch Wildlife Area, St. Charles County, Lake 33- Catfish are back

Good day of fishing. Cool and foggy when I set out, fish hit hard up to noon. Used my traditional live bait set up, slip bobbers and nightcrawlers. Hit close to cover, as the photo shows.

Lost one of good size in the timber (snapped the line), but soon came to realize later, I was having gear problems (reel is so old, it is nicking up the line- damaged carrier) so I will probably have to retire that reel and break down and buy a new one.

Fish was good! took them home, cleaned them, and baked the filets in the oven with lemon and cajun seasoning.

Fish On!

MLT

Busch CA, Lake 33, April 29th- Catfish are back!

Went back to Lake 33 Sunday. Wind had died down quite a bit- very warm. Water temp is starting to warm up as well (was at around 72 towards the end of the day)

Crappie not as active, but larger in size on minnows. Hit the spot that I had hit a week or so ago before the storm (north side of lake). Look at the catfish that my mother got on a nightcrawler! Same spot as the mess of catfish I caught last week. We originally thought that this big guy was a Blue Catfish, but really it is a Channel Cat (I forgot that they start to lose their spots the bigger they get). Sure looked like a Blue when we pulled it out of the water. She was using a light action rod on what appeared to be 6" test (line was very old)

This may be a very good year for catfish- at least right now.

Fish on!

MLT

Busch Wildlife CA, Lake 33 Catfish hitting on minnows- Big Time April 24th, 2007

Weather finally starting to warm up after the cold snap. Caught a ton of catfish and crappies before the big thunderstorm hit. The large on measured out to about 23". Used slip bobbers and minnows in some heavy tree/ brush cover along the north side of the dam.

Caught a 15" bass first (hit the minnow hard), caught about 8 crappies and then the catfish hit (channels). Limited out on the catfish- should be great for the fish fry that we are going to have for my grandmother in Ohio.

Glad I brought the boat back- lightning and heavy rain soon after. It is amazing how the barometer effects the catfish.

Fish on!

MLT

The Bass are back! Weldon Spring CA, St. Charles County, MO.- March 24, 2007

Great day of fishing. Caught a lot of smaller bass, some good size bluegills and belive it or not, channel catfish (on a gold/silver spoon!)

Charlie caught a 6# on a roadrunner with a pumpkin trailer in the shallows- What a fish! I think I had got a piece of it earlier or maybe it's brother. Lost a micro spin- snapped the line! We were both fishing with spinning roads and 6# test. Check out the photo of the bass Charlie caught!

Fish on!

MLT