Kayak fishing for smallies on the Meremac/Bourbouse River confluence June 15th, 2013

I had an opportunity to fish one of my favorite rivers, the Meremac and Bourbouse Rivers.  I put in at the confluence point and set to paddling.  It is interesting how much more challenging my S.O.T. kayak is opposed to the sea kayak in regards to paddling upstream.  I like to go up river, and then drift fish down.  Some rivers have too much current (thinking Spring River in Oklahoma- almost had a kayak "incident" in regards to current).  The current on the Meremac is not too incredibly sporty at this point.  The Bourbouse is much more docile than the Meremac.

Nice Meremac Smallmouth Bass!!!

I took it about as far as the train bridge close to Moselle, and found a nice "seam" (where the current hits still water).  It had a lot of rocks, and some nice cabbage close to shore, so I thought it would be a good spot.  It was!
I was fishing a zoom watermelon trick worm with a Texas rig when the smallie picked it up and went under the boat.  I was using a Gamakatsu 2/0 hook (I have had some problems this year losing some fish, so I scaled down the hook with the smaller worm.)  It was a beauty!  Fought her for a little over (5) minutes, and it was all fight, as smallmouths like to provide!  I made a video to share a little bit how I landed this one.  Measured out a little over 15" and was released.
A little later I stared to hear thunder, so I decided to get closer to the ramp.  I got caught out on the Meremac once a few years ago during a thunderstorm, and it was a bad experience, so I wanted to ensure that I was not too far from the launch point.  Glad I did!  As soon as I started to loaded it on the top of the car, the torrential rain started....lucky day!

Fish ON!

Mike

Kayak fishing for smallies on the Meremac and Bourbouse Rivers

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McCubbins Point, Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri May 21st, 2013: Lesson learned...ALWAYS re-tie your lures!

 The weather the last couple of weeks has been a bit challenging (at least speaking for me coming from a kayak).  I had an opportunity to hit the McCubbins Point area (just south of Lake of the Ozarks SP).  I like this area due to the fact that there are not as many pleasure boaters on the water.  If you go back in further, there are some nice gravel access points that are perfect for someone with a canoe or kayak.
I used the boat ramp and headed out for a few hours of fishing.  It started off cool, windy and grey, and then the clouds moved out and we experienced sunny skies.  The only challenge was that the wind really started to kick in.  I fished the first cove (to get out of the wind), but realized the the fish were probably up on the rocks in the whitecaps.  Great for fishing ...challenging for kayaking.  I went around the point (you can see it in the photo, towards port side).  I took the kayak through the white caps into the next cove and fished the other side- same story-not a taker.  So I headed back and drift kayaked back up on the point.  The lesson learned in this trip was a quick fact that I got lazy and forgot.  ALWAYS RE-TIE YOUR CRANKBAITS AFTER A SNAG UP!  I was fishing a crank bait (Wiggle Wart- my go to!) and got snagged real bad in the second cove.  I thought I might lose the lure, but managed to get it out.  If I would have felt the line, I would have realized it was time to re-tie the lure. 

Going back to the "one that got away" story- As I was drift fishing with the wind to my back, and got up on a very nice Largemouth in the rocks.  Got him almost to the boat, and then "snap" I watched him take off with my Wiggle Wart in his mouth....wow!  Lesson learned....

Fish ON!

Mike

Kayak fishing McCubbins Point at Lake of the Ozarks

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Kayak fishing Table Rock Lake, Aunts Creek Access May 15-16th: Fishing slow with rain, but still managed to get up on one!

Had a chance to hit Table Rock Lake at the Aunts Creek Access point (just north of Kimberling City, MO) on May 15th & 16th.  We have been receiving a lot of rain and storms, so the lake is not necessarily high, but is more murky than I am used to (at least at this section of the lake).  The first day got a chance to only fish for about an hour or so.  Got back to shore just in time (heavy thunderstorm).  Would have really thought the fishing would have been better with the impending

storm coming in.  Was throwing Senkos, Wiggle Warts, spinners, and kitchen sink LOL.

Day 2 I had a little more time, so I got down to the ramp around 2:00 p.m.....then I waited for the rain to stop....and waited....and waited.  Finally I went back to the camper and took a nap, and then came back out around 5:00 or so.  I call the fish in the photo "the fish of a thousand casts" (I know that moniker belongs to muskies)

I did a TON of casting and throwing things out to try and figure what they were getting up on.  Once again, the Wiggle Wart came through for us!  I am really starting to enjoy fishing crank baits, especially on Table Rock.  Made a short video for you viewing pleasure...enjoy!

Fish ON!

Mike

Day 2 of Kayak fishing Table Rock Lake- Success in day 2!

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Kayak Fishing Table Rock Lake- Rain and slow fishing for our first day

EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking in Missouri

July kayak fishing at Lake Sherwood, Warren County, MO: Heat does not always stop fish

This is a combined report from (2) trips I took to the always wonderful Lake Sherwood, MO.  Sherwood is a private, gated community with several lakes.  I prefer to fish the main lake for bass and monster bluegill.  Both times I fished the lake, the temperatures were about 100 degrees, with very warm water temps.
The first trip I had a ton of success on Largemouth bass (which is what I was fishing for).  I had a fire tiger bright colored Rapala medium diving crank bait.  There were a lot of casts involved, but caught over (8) that day, as well as a catfish that I was unable to land (I knew if was a catfish due to the fight and the slime left all over the line when he spit the lure out).  Most people I spoke with that are familiar with the waters said that the fishing was slow, but I think I figured out what the deal was.  The bass were laying at the bottom of the lake, in the middle of the arms in about 15' of water in the heavy vegetation.  When that lure when by, they jumped up to hit it (hence having to cast a ton of times before a bite).

The second trip the conditions seemed very similar, but no such luck.  A storm front was getting ready to move in, and I started to throw a Rebel topwater plug.  What was interesting was the fact that no bass were caught, however, I caught several good sized bluegills off my efforts.  Makes me think I should come back with a fly rod and a bunch of smaller sized poppers....hmm.....

Fish ON!

Mike

Best of July kayak bass fishing: Stockton, Beaver, Dardenelle, Sherwood

Table Rock Lake, Aunts Creek area, Stone County, MO April 2012....nice bass on Wiggle Wart!

Late in posting this one.....crazy business stuff going on that has kept me from updating.  This video pretty much says it all.  They were deep and not biting on a lot of soft plastics so I switched over to a Wiggle Wart and BOOM!
Table Rock is an interesting lake due to the fact that the water is generally more clear than other lakes, and the fact that it is so deep (mid channel on this arm is about 80' deep)
Great day of kayak fishing on the lake!

Fish ON!

Mike

Lake Sherwood, Warren County, Missouri April 8th 2012: Panfish are now ON!



Huge Green Sunfish from Lake Sherwood

I had had so much success at Lake DiSalvo in St. Francois County the day before, I decided to hit it again on Sunday.  Like I may have said in the previous post, about the only thing I like as much as bass fishing is panfish fishing.  Lake Sherwood is, in my opinion, one of the better sunfish lakes in the entire state when they are on, especially in regards to the redear sunfish variety.

Something I like about my fishing kayak is the fish finder I am able to use with it.  I fished for about an hour without much success, and then noticed on the finder that they were about 10' from shore in about 14-19' of water, suspended about 1/2 way down.   I went ahead and made the adjustment on the slip bobbers (my favorite rig in the spring) and then they started to turn on.  Came back with an entire stringer of really nice panfish, which I proceeded to clean when I got back home.....great trip at Lake Sherwood.  I am glad I was able to catch the adjustments!

Fish ON!

Mike

Nice Lake Sherwood string on the Miss Bossy Flossy!

DiSalvo Lake, Bismark CA, St. Francois County, Missouri: Hot and heavy panfish action

I got a chance to kayak fish Lake DiSalvo on April 7th, 2012.  I had been to this lake a few months prior, but the wind was so bad at the time (and water temperature so cold) I passed on kayaking this lake earlier this year.

Lake DiSalvo is located in the Bismark CA in St. Francois County, Missouri.  I have not had a lot of luck on bass using artificials to this point, so I was using basically nightcrawlers on a slip bobber set up.  I have to say, I love bass fishing, however, when the panfish are "ON" , I really believe there is nothing better.  On this day they were ON!  In the beginning, I was catching a lot of really small bluegill, but as I worked my way down the lake, the size started to improve.

By the time I got towards the dam end of the lake, the wind really started to pick up and whitecap.  I think that is why the fishing was so go, at least for all the bluegill and redear panfish.....I think the wind was working the forage in that direction.  I was only out for about 4 hours, but caught enough for a nice stringer to take back home.

What was funny about this trip was when I got back to my house (this is about 2 hours from where I live) I was SO tired, I took the lazy, east coast, saltwater method of cleaning fish:  I re-iced the fish on the stringers and went to bed...cleaned them in the morning.....and all was good!  Good tip if you get too tired to clean fish (or too intoxicated LOL).

Fish ON!

Mike

Kayak fishing Lake Sherwood, Warren County, MO, Sunday, March 25th: Lake temps starting to warm

Got the Feelfree Moken Fishing kayak out for the first time this year up at Lake Sherwood in Warren County, MO.  This lake is really known for it's panfish (killer sized Redears and bluegills).  I did not know if it was too early yet or not.  I went out the week before for a few hours without much success.  Caught a couple of nice sized bluegill towards the dam, but was not able to put together a stringer.  My brother in law and nephew did really well out by the marina.

The temperature towards 4 p.m was around 67 degrees surface, so the rest of the water should be changing real soon if the temps keep staying in the 70's and 80's....should be an early spawn this year!

I am thinking I will have some better success stories in upcoming posts real soon

Fish ON!

Mike

Lake Sherwood, Warren County, MO, April 20th, 2011: Panfish are starting to warm up.....

Lake Sherwood is probably like most lakes in east central Missouri right now....high with water!  I did not know how the fishing would be after we had that massive cold front move through yesterday.  It was colder than I expected when I got out there.  I am glad I keep my gore-tex jacket stored in the kayak just in case.

Picked up some nightcrawlers and had one of the rods set up for a bottom rig, but due to the wind and the fact that my sea kayak does not have an anchor, I went back to mini spinning rigs (silver or gold spinner, jig head and mini grub).  Caught a couple of nice bluegill and a small slot size bass (the slot at Sherwood is 12-15"). Really enjoyed my time out in the water.
If you watch the video, I get the jig stuck in my hand about 2/3rd through it.  I like how I just tried to shake it off.

The thing to remember about sea kayaks and fishing is that there are some limitations.  I bought a rod leash and some foam rod floats.....leash D hook was cheap, fell off, and actually lost it in the water.  Rod fell in water and turned kayak around to find in floating.  Rod leash= FAIL  Rod Float= thumbs up!  Keep that in mind if you are fishing from a sea kayak.  I will be breaking the SOT fishing kayak out very soon.

Fish ON!

MLT

Lake Lincoln, Lincoln County, MO, November 26th, 2010: Great winter paddle across Lake Lincoln

It was a windy, 45 degree day however sometimes those can be the best days when you want to just get out and paddle.  The trip did not disappoint at all.  I just picked up a really cool spray skirt for the kayak, and it was worth every penny....what a difference a good spray skirt makes in a touring kayak!  I am ready for some even bigger trips this year.

MLT

Meremac River, St. Louis County, MO. November 21st, 2010: Great maiden voyage of the new Feelfree Atlantis 14 sea kayak!

This is the video from our "maiden voyage"of the new touring/sea kayak I purchased this weekend.  It is a Feelfree Atlantis 14 touring/sea kayak.  I got it at Branson Kayak.  I have known Rodney for a number of years, and it is the spot I picked up my first fishing kayak.  If you are looking for an excellent kayak, the Feelfree Kayak brand is a good way to go.  Branson Kayak is the only distributor in Missouri.  It was worth the drive from St. Louis to Branson

Once I got all the kinks worked out in regards to the rudder and balance, the paddle today was incredible.  It really started to get windy, but fortunately it was on our back heading downstream.  We did about 6 miles or so, and saw wild turkeys and kingfishers.  Ray was throwing a mini spinner, but the fish are seemingly dormant at this time.  Time spent paddeling with friends is always good time spent.  I am exciting about all the possiblities this winter now I have a touring kayak.  This will be the kayak I race on the Missouri River next year....very excited!

Flow (CFS): 700
Gauge Height (ft): 2.2

Paddle ON!

MLT

Might I make a suggestion?Life is better from a kayak- check out a great place to get one for yourself!

As some of you are aware, I was able to get a kayak this summer....after going out with my good friend Ray several times to fish, and then renting an Ocean Kayak out in the Outer Banks, NC for a week, I decided to finally get one.

This has been one of the best decisions I have made in a long time....if you are considering getting one, or just want to rent one for a couple of hours, I have just the person for you. My friend Rodney (shown above shaking hands with me) has the coolest outfit in Branson. He is located right across from Table Rock Lake State Park. If you are in the St. Louis area or beyond, take my advice: It is worth the drive!

He has several different fishing kayaks in stock. One brand is Crow Wings and the other is feelfree (that is the type I purchased). You can tell Rodney is passionate about what he does...he can outfit you with everything you need to get started.

Here is his web site:
http://www.kayakbranson.com/

If it is something you are interested in, give him a call and mention my name....I would love to refer as many people to him as possible--It would be excellent to see him grow his Kayak business this year!

Fish ON!

MLT