DiSalvo Lake, St. Francois County, MO April 17th, 2012: Largmouths pinging on spinner baits...panfish still on!

DiSalvo lake located on the Bismark CA area in SE Missouri is becoming one of my favorite lakes to fish.  I got a chance to fish this place for about 5 hours which was very exciting.  I started off fishing for panfish with a slip bobber and nightcrawlers (you can see the success I had a few post prior.  I was not disappointed, matter of fact, my stringer was large with larger size bluegills than the prior trip.  Had enough for a nice stringer of fish to take back and clean.

After I had a full stringer, I decided to start bass fishing with chartreuse spinner baits.  I was HAMMERING them.....these little pigs were so hungry.  I must have caught at least (7) bass, all really, really, nice sized.  I lost a HUGE pig that I was not able to get a photo on, but I was grateful none the less.  This lake has a lot of vegetation.  I was throwing the spinners parallel to shore and they were absolutely hammering them.

I am looking forward to coming back to this lake a little later this month....great spot for kayaks (not as great for larger boats, although people take them out)

Fish ON!

Mike

Lake Ft. Smith, Arkansas, April 8th, 2011: Some success with Crappies!

What an incredible lake!  I only had a few hours to kayak and check this lake out, but I made sure to bring my fishing pole along.  Caught a few small Largemouth Bass, and then hit a log with a bunch of "bigger than your hand" crappies.  What a fun spell of fishing!

It seems like right now the roadrunner/white grub is the lure of choice with all the fishing I am doing.  Started throwing a small beetle spin and then switched to the roadrunner.  I was using 6# test, which I think helped with this lake.  Seems almost as clear as Table Rock Lake.

The lake has expanded....according to my GPS, I was on land the beginning of the paddle trip.  Lake Shepard Springs had the dam breached and it merged with Lake Ft. Smith.  Nice, large lake in NW Arkansas.  Really looking forward to going back.

Fish ON!

MLT

Finger Lakes SP, Boone County, MO, April 15th, 2010: First nice crappie of new year!

I have fished Finger Lakes SP in the past, but due to the fact that I did not have a kayak, it has always been from shore. Finger Lakes is a reclaimed coal strip mine area north of Columbia, MO. This is an EXCELLENT area if you are into Kayak fishing. The "fingers" are like little canals that span all over the place. The largest lake is actually outside of the state park, called Rocky Fork (which I have fished w/ the kayak last year, see earlier post).

It got very windy, which made the kayaking and the fishing interesting....a current actually started to develop, so it almost felt more like fishing a small river. The strips are narrow, but they go down 20-30 feet in some places.

Caught the nice 11" crappie on a jig/spinner set up, as well as the couple of smaller bass, especially as the sun started to provide shade close to shore. All fish were released on this trip, but I am considering coming back to do some harvest fishing....overall great day. Water temp is still a little cool, but we are really on the brink of a heavy spawn....my prediction is any day now.

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

Little Dixie CA, Callaway County Missouri: Friday, May 9th- Crappie Fishing GOOD!

Here are some great photos of Little Dixie CA in Callaway County, MO. (near Columbia, MO.). First off, the weather was incredible bad in the A.M. (rain, intense wind, cold, etc), but I had promised myself I was going to take some time off work to find my center and hit the lake.
If anyone is reading this, keep this in mind: The boats are $5 to rent, but some of them have holes in them- beware! (I got one of those so I had to "trade it in " after bailing all the water out for about 1/2 hour)
It started slow. This first fish I caught was the largest (The crappie measured out at around 12"-not bad). What was weird was that it hit on a nightcrawler on a slip bobber.
I then fished around for a while and finally found a crappie bed. They hit on a small spinner with a jig and small grub. Came out with about 16 crappies. During that time caught a nice slot bass (in photo- was released). This lake seems to have a lot of these. Also caught a really nice (11") red ear about 20' off a point with a slip bobber deep.

Fish ON!

MLT

Busch Wildlife Lake 33: Not much to report

Here is a great sunset photo. Fished Lake 33 about 3 times in april- not much success. I am glad to see the water level is up, but have not been able to figure out what patterns have worked. Crappie have been caught on minnows, but very sporadic. Usually this time of year, the catfish are really on, as well as the bass. Not yet.

Fish On

MLT

Busch Wildlife CA, Lake 33, Crappies are hitting! April 27th, 2007

Hit the lake with my good friend, Ray. We used minnows and spinning rods. Tried the normal bass gear, bass seem sporadic right now- this weekends 80 degree weather should change that. Windy conditions, about 70 degrees outside, water temp around 64.

Check out the crappie- about 10.25" in length. Most of the crappie very small- typical lake 33. Just goes to show if you keep fishing, there are some fish worth keep out there.

Fish On!

MLT