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

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Boulder Lake, Pyramid SP in Southern Illinois- an AWESOME place to kayak fish!

I had an awesome time kayak fishing Pyramid SP in Southern Illinois on May 12th.  This area is an old strip mine that was converted in the early 60's for recreational use.  There is an older section and a newer section.  I went ahead and fished the newer section, choosing the larger Boulder Lake as the place I would fish for the day.

The water is gin clear and varies in depth within a matter of feet.  Like its name would imply, there are quite a few boulders and rock piles, which is AWESOME!

It took me a few hours to figure out what they were biting on.  I eventually caught a huge bass on a texas rigged Senko worm, but lost it about 5' from the yak.  I started to throw what has become my "go to", the Wiggle Wart (never thought a crank bait would be my go to LOL).  SMACK!  thought it was a bass a first, but ended up being a nice sized channel catfish.  Took me about 1/2 hour to the get the lure untangled from the net!  After that caught several smaller bass and bluegill on the Wiggle Wart.

Looking forward to coming back to this place soon!

Fish ON!

Mike

 

 

Boulder Lake, Pyramid SP, Illinois- Kayak fishing at it\'s best!

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Mark Twain Lake, Monroe County, Missouri: fishing was so slow, just had to write about it

Kayaking Mark Twain Lake, Missouri

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This is the path I took with the kayak on beautiful Mark Twain lake in northern Missouri.  I think this lake can be one of the more challenging lakes out there (I have caught nice sized bass in the past).  The lake is very low, just like all of the lakes in the Midwest.  I was throwing deep diving Wiggle Warts, 10" Mann's Jelly Worms, Chartreuse spinners, white spinners, Zoom trick worms, Red worms, almost everything I can imagine...it just goes to show, sometimes you "O-fer"...and that is alright.

I am looking forward to coming back in the fall to explore the lake even more....I love Mark Twain for its remote location.  It is chock full of structure, and reminds me of an undeveloped Lake of the Ozarks..

Fish ON!

Mike

Stockton Lake, Dade County, Missouri July 18th, 2012: Hot Temps and Big Pigs lurking off shore!

Stockton Lake is not a lake I have had an opportunity to fish all that often.  I think this trip may have been the second time I have ever fished this lake.  It is not really close to anywhere (It is north of Springfield, MO kind of between Springfield and Joplin.

The outside temp has been really high.  I put the kayak in around 3:30 or so.....It was 100 degrees when we put in at the Mutton Creek Access point.  My strategie starting off was to bring (2) spinning rods and (2) bait cast rods.  The (2) spinners had a wiggle wart and rebel popper, and the (2) bait cast had a white spinner and a texas rigged Zoom trick worm.

I caught the largest fish on this day off the main channel, in the rocks, about 8' from shore in about 10' of water.  I let the spinner sink all the way to the bottom and had a slow, inconsistant retrive.  It hit the spinner hard!  He was a nice, nice piggie bass!  After I released him, I got out of the kayak and took a quick swim (it was so hot outside).

The cove on the way back had some bass as well.  I caught a smaller one on the Wiggle Wart crank bait.  This has been a very productive lure this year for me in these Ozark reservoirs, big time.
Stockton Lake is a very interesting lake to me.  It is know as one of the top sailboat lakes, and it lived up to its reputation.  Everytime I have been here it is windy and choppy.  The bottom of the lake reminds me of Table Rock Lake...just not quite as clear.

Fish ON!

Mike

Stockton Lake, Kayak Fishing Mutton Creek Area

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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 of the Ozarks, Grand Glaize arm, April 9th: Fishing a little slow, but the kayaking was excellent!

The wind in central Missouri finally calmed down on Friday and I was able to get some kayak fishing in Friday. I had been to Table Rock and Stockton earlier in the week, and it was WAY to windy to get any fishing and/or kayaking in.

The paddling was incredible....the coolest part was the cave located in the cliffs. I got a chance to shore the yak, and went up to explore. A kingfisher was nesting in the cave and was not to happy about my presence. I was hitting the rocks and timber with a white spinner, then a chartreuse spinner as well....no success. Threw Wiggle Warts and little micro spins with Treetop grubs, still no success. I think if I would have had a nightcrawler and slip bobber set up, the results would have been different. Looks like the water temp is around 55 degrees (60 on top) so the fishing should get good real soon...the paddling was AWESOME!

Fish ON!

MLT