Whetstone CA, Callaway County, MO; July 26th: Kayaks are the way to go!!

Here are some cool photos from our "Kayak Adventure" at Whetstone CA, Callaway County, MO. Morning started off overcast and then got real warm. We Kayaked from about 8:00 a.m. to about 1:30 p.m.
I had never been on a Kayak before, so this was a new adventure for me. My friend, Ray, is an expert kayaker (he is considering kayaking the Missouri River, which I think is totally "gung-ho" and very cool). Kayaks are interesting, because it is a bit of a challenging hook set. I am glad I brought my 5'6" rods and not the 7', or else it would have been real challenging.
Started off with baitcast rods and did not have a lot of luck. Switched over to spinning rods with nightcrawlers and tore them up. Lots of big pan fish and some nice bass.
When I got the fish home to clean (I always do it "east cost style"- load the fish in a cooler with ice and clean them later) I realized something. After cutting the heck out of my thumb, right in the same spot I hacked a month ago, while cleaning the fish I discovered something new. Bluegills have gill plates (small, but very sharp). You would think after cleaning all the bluegill in my life, I would know that- how weird!

Fish ON!

MLT

Lake Hunnewell, Shelby County, MO, July 23rd- Lizards are the word

Came back for a few afternoon hours at Lake Hunnewell. Caught over 12 bass on a Carolina Rigged Zoom Plastic Lizard, 14# test on a baitcasting rod. I really have come to like the Carolina Rig as a tool to catch fish. You will get more hang-ups and lose more rigs, but the sensation of catching a bass on a Carolina Rig is pretty awesome.
I am going to come back to this lake and fish it for what it is really known for: Redears and large bluegills (maybe some cats as well).

Fish ON!

MLT

Busch Wildlife CA, Lake 33 July 19th: Some success with Plastic Worms

Had a little success in the morning with a Texas Rigged red/black culprit 8" worm. Skies were cloudy and overcast. Bites were coming close to shore near structure. After the clouds moved out, started to get incredibly windy and rough (but sunny). The bites really started to turn off after that. Left around 5:00....probably would have had some success towards nightfall if I would have stayed out later.

Fish ON!

MLT

Busch Wildlife Area, Lake 35, St. Charles County July 17th & 18th; Tubes seem to work good!

Here is a cool picture of a Large mouth totally engulfing a tube. I was down in Springfield last week speaking with one of my favorite tackle shops, Fin and Feather (on South Campbell). The owner of the shop and I were having a conversation about fishing heavily weeded lakes (which is real common this time of the year) and we got a discussion going on about flipping tubes in weeds. I was originally looking for the red Gamakatsu "Fluke Hooks" (the kind that have the weight molded onto the hook). He showed me one of the coolest hooks for tubes. You run the eyelet part of the hook thru the very top of the tube and then press the hook right thru the tube (so the hook is exposed on the other side, but throws out weedless). I will include a picture on some future posts.

The fishing on 35 is slow right now, but the lake is the healthier than previous years. The tubes seemed to work, and they are hitting on plastic worms. Later in the day and probably early in the morning (typical summer pattern)

Spent some time with a friend of mine, Art McCall. We threw a lot of different presentation. Got very hot and action was slow. Art had better luck than me, caught one on a red plastic worm thrown almost weightless.

Fish ON!

MLT

Lake Hunnewell, Shelby County, July 13th- Bass on Lizards (again!)

Lake Hunnewell is a very interesting lake. Lots of deep drop-offs and tons of really thick vegetation. Fished the entire day in the veg, used worms, drop shot rigs, rattle traps, etc. The only thing that seemed to work was a carolina rigged Zoom plastic Lizard. Caught about 8-9 fish up on the dam on the way out the door. Felt good not to "0-fer".

Fish ON!

MLT

Bennett Spring, Lebanon, MO: Thursday & Friday July 10th & 11th- Crowded Conditions

Here is a video from Bennett Spring. Hit the part late in the day (after 4:30) on the 10th, caught a couple of trout on spoons. Time was limited, so I went right to my "go to".

Came back Friday around 3:00. Had more time, so I got the fly rod out and threw some really small jigs- no luck. Moved around later and went to the "go to"- no luck. Managed to "0-fer" for the day. Park was REALLY crowded. I think everyone is staying in Missouri for vacation this year.

Fish ON!

MLT

Busch Wildlife Area, St. Charles County, Lake 35, July 4th, 2008: Bass hitting on "spring like" lures

Hit Lake 35 about noon on July 4th. I decided that I was going to leave the live bait at home and just go for bass. Tried and threw quite a few different lures: Flukes on a spinning rod, Plastic worm, Hula Grub jigs, even tossed a wiggle wort around.
Here is what worked: A carolina rigged baitcast rod with a green zoom lizard. Caught the two fish you see and got more taps that I was able to miss. Here is what I have noticed about 2008: since the water is high, what worked in May last year is working now in July. I have even noticed this with panfish fishing.
Good news: Lake 35 is looking healthy for the first time in about 3 years. It still is a real mossy lake, but it looks nice and healthy.

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

Lake Sherwood, Warren County, MO. June 14th-15th; Large Bluegills on attack!

Here is a nice bass my daughter caught at Sherwood. The large bluegills hit very hard- most were bigger than your hand. Just the traditional rig- slip bobbers rigged about 7-8' about 15' off shore. Dallas caught this on a slip bobber rig as well. We came out with a large stringer of really nice Bluegill- just wade fishing

Fish ON!

MLT