Fishing in the Ozarks (MO/AR/OK/IL/KS) all 12 months! even winter! what is working, what is not working, new ideas and photo's of great fishing experiences. Kayak Angling is spoken here with a heavy emphasis on Kayak Fishing and paddling!
I got a chance to kayak fish Beaver Lake in Northwest Arkansas. This was about the 3rd time I have fished this lake, and the experience was awesome. The lake reminds me of my "home water" lake of Table Rock. Nice rocky bottom with deep drop offs and clear water.
My strategy was to take (4) rods...(2) spinner rods with a topwater plug on one, and a Wiggle Wart on the other, with the two baitcasters rigged with a texas rig and a white spinner. I got out about 5:00 pm., but the bite did not really start until 6:30 or so. I got a little interest on the plug, but I started to catch them on my "go to" bait for summer: texas rigged with watermelon Zoom trick worm on the end. I was catching them about 6' off shore.
Before I headed in (I saw lightning in the distance.....time to get off the water!) I fished the cliffs that were right across the put in point. These deep cliffs are really, really productive. The bass like to lay towards the bottom against the cliff waiting for either things to go past or things to drop. I dropped the worm in a couple of times, and the third cast I caught the pig. I could have fished another couple of hours, but I really need to rig my kayak with some lights and night fishing stuff....maybe that will be what I work on for the rest of the weekend :)
I cannot wait to get back to Beaver Lake to do some more bass fishing. It is an incredible lake with some awesome angling opportunities!
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.
This blog is dedicated to fishing in the Midwest/ Mid-South, however, about once a year we like to venture out to the east coast for a family vacation, which always includes plenty of fishing and kayaking.
The weather was great in the first half of our week long trip. We opened up by surf fishing Ocracoke Island. My brother, Charlie, caught a nice, nice Cobia, but was unable to land it...plum snapped the 50# test we had rigged up. I caught my first blue, which was small and was thrown back into the water.
The next day I was able to venture out and kayak fish the sound. I was throwing a bottom rigged curly Gulp! white grub on a jig head, and I managed to catch my first speckeled trout...exciting!
Then came the wind....It got incredibly windy and cool (which, sitting in 100 degree + weather currently) sounds not so bad. The sound was too choppy and white capped to paddle and fish with any degree of sanity, and the ocean side had 15' waves and rip current warnings, so the fishing and kahyaking came to a complete halt for the rest of the trip. Maybe next year the weather will be excellent the entire week. We have been lucky in the past to have outstanding weather.
