Busch Wildlife CA, St. Charles County, MO, Lake 28, March 29th, 2009: Powerbait Paste worked well for Rainbows

Very interesting start to the day....we had about 3" of snow on the ground, and by the time I got out to Busch Wildlife CA, almost all of it was melted. Got my hip waders on and proceeded to walk around the lake. Fished next to a Canada Goose nest...female let me past, but once the male flew in, it became an issue...secret is not to show fear- or they will attack. Instead they just hissed at me and I walked past. Caught the largemouth Bass on a Little Cleo Silver/Blue spoon real close to shore. Got to the corner of the levy- backside of the lake, and bottom fished with a small treble and white/red/blue Powerbait paste. Took back home (2) decent Rainbow Trout and missed on a couple of more. Got real windy towards the end.

Fish ON!

MLT

Busch Wildlife CA, St. Charles County, MO, Lake 28, February 28th, 2009- Still a lot of trout in lakes

Got out to Lake 28 around 1:30 p.m. and fished until about 5:00. There are still a lot of trout in this lake. In November, December and sometime January they stock this lake and it is catch and release only...seem to recall they stock them with a couple of thousand or so.
Got my hip waders on and walked around towards the back of the lake (forest side, not Highway D side). Used a Silver/Blue Little Cleo spoon due to the overcast skies, but had little luck, so I hiked towards the parking lot and changed the spoon up to a Little Cleo Gold/Red spoon (my "go-to" spoon). Got in the water a little and caught a nice one fairly deep.
Man it started to get cold out...the guides were freezing and water was freezing on the line (this can be a challenge w/ 2# test). The real reason I stopped after a couple of hours was that my feet were absolutly freezing. The air temp was colder than the water temp, so when I got out of the water, it really started to get cold... note to self: make sure to put on (2) pairs of wool socks, not just one!

Fish ON!

MLT

Busch Wildlife CA, St. Charles County, January 3, 2009: One Rainbow, One Brownie, and One Bass

Saturday, January 3rd, 2008: How is that for a title? Sounds like a George Thorogood Song, does it not? Weather was very warm (55 degrees or more) and most of the ice has melted from the lakes. Quite a large crowd at all of the lakes (typical for a warm Saturday). I just got a brand new pair of hip waders. I thought this would be a good day to break them in.

Went to Lake 22 first and proceeded to walk the entire lake. Lots and lots of people fishing w/ bait, so I went with my typical pattern, spoons and metal. Lake conditions are very high and murky to almost muddy (Lake 22 leaned towards the latter). Walked around the entire lake. Did not see anyone get on any major fish (one person caught one in the back part of the lake on bait, but that is all I saw). Caught a nice Largemouth Bass on a gold Kastmaster spoon w/ red slash- thought it was weeds until it started to move in the opposite direction. Went to the back corner of the lake where I had limited out last weekend (forgot to post a report on this site) and fished it for about 20 min. w/ no success.

Decided after that to go to the catch and release lake, Lake 28. Towards the back of the lake there was an ice patch (lost a spoon on it, thank you very much!) and started to fish the edge of the ice bank along the jetty. Caught a nice brownie! (see the photos and video below). It is amazing how bigger their teeth are than the Rainbows (thought I was thumbing a Walleye at first!) Fought hard and was a real joy to catch. Caught him using this seasons old reliable, Gold Super Duper

Walked around the side of the lake closest to Hwy D and hiked over a water covered jetty (hip waders came in real handy) and caught a nice rainbow on the standard, Gold Little Cleo spoon. He was deep near some structure. Debated getting the fly rod out and throwing jigs, but decided to head back.

Fish ON!

MLT