Kayak fishing Whetstone CA, Callaway County, MO June 8, 2013: High and muddy= slow fishing!

Bit of a slow fishing trip.  The Big Lake on Whetstone CA was high and had a "chocolate milk" consistency about it.  Threw a lot of different lures to try and roust up some bass.  Had a slip bobber/night crawler set up that yielded a nice sized bluegill, but other than that, not many bites to speak of for the day.....maybe next time

Fish ON

Mike

 

Kayak fishing Whetstone CA, Callaway County ,MO

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Whetstone CA, Callaway County, MO April 22nd, 2012: Rainy but got on some fish anyhow

Whetstone CA in Callaway County, MO (between Columbia and St. Louis) has some great fishing opportunites not only in the big lake, but also in Whetstone Creek and the other smaller lakes surrounding the bigger lake.
The weather was not the best, but I decided to take my chances and get a day of fishing in anyhow.  I was throwing slip bobber and texas rigged Zoom trick worms.  The slip-bobber/nightcrawler rig was not working out to well, however, the trick worms were doing the trick.  I would not say this was the worlds best day of fishing, but I got enough action to make it entertaining.  What was interesting was the bass were not hitting the worm very hard at all.  It seemed like when I would pull my rod tip up, that is when I would know I had one on the other end....like they were putting it in their mouths like a cigar, or something.

Water temp was around 68 degrees, and it was windy and raining on again/off again.  Good news was I had the entire lake to myself....always a plus!

fish ON!

Mike

Kayak Fishing Whetstone CA, Missouri

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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 Sherwood, Warren County, Missouri April 8th 2012: Panfish are now ON!



Huge Green Sunfish from Lake Sherwood

I had had so much success at Lake DiSalvo in St. Francois County the day before, I decided to hit it again on Sunday.  Like I may have said in the previous post, about the only thing I like as much as bass fishing is panfish fishing.  Lake Sherwood is, in my opinion, one of the better sunfish lakes in the entire state when they are on, especially in regards to the redear sunfish variety.

Something I like about my fishing kayak is the fish finder I am able to use with it.  I fished for about an hour without much success, and then noticed on the finder that they were about 10' from shore in about 14-19' of water, suspended about 1/2 way down.   I went ahead and made the adjustment on the slip bobbers (my favorite rig in the spring) and then they started to turn on.  Came back with an entire stringer of really nice panfish, which I proceeded to clean when I got back home.....great trip at Lake Sherwood.  I am glad I was able to catch the adjustments!

Fish ON!

Mike

Nice Lake Sherwood string on the Miss Bossy Flossy!

DiSalvo Lake, Bismark CA, St. Francois County, Missouri: Hot and heavy panfish action

I got a chance to kayak fish Lake DiSalvo on April 7th, 2012.  I had been to this lake a few months prior, but the wind was so bad at the time (and water temperature so cold) I passed on kayaking this lake earlier this year.

Lake DiSalvo is located in the Bismark CA in St. Francois County, Missouri.  I have not had a lot of luck on bass using artificials to this point, so I was using basically nightcrawlers on a slip bobber set up.  I have to say, I love bass fishing, however, when the panfish are "ON" , I really believe there is nothing better.  On this day they were ON!  In the beginning, I was catching a lot of really small bluegill, but as I worked my way down the lake, the size started to improve.

By the time I got towards the dam end of the lake, the wind really started to pick up and whitecap.  I think that is why the fishing was so go, at least for all the bluegill and redear panfish.....I think the wind was working the forage in that direction.  I was only out for about 4 hours, but caught enough for a nice stringer to take back home.

What was funny about this trip was when I got back to my house (this is about 2 hours from where I live) I was SO tired, I took the lazy, east coast, saltwater method of cleaning fish:  I re-iced the fish on the stringers and went to bed...cleaned them in the morning.....and all was good!  Good tip if you get too tired to clean fish (or too intoxicated LOL).

Fish ON!

Mike

Lake Sherwood, Warren County, MO. June 26th 2010: Tore it up on large Bluegill and Red-Ear Sunfish- Big time!!

I have fished Lake Sherwood in Warren County many times in the past from shore, but this is the first time I have kayak fished the main lake at Sherwood. My opinion is that Lake Sherwood in Franklin County is the best Red Ear Sunfish lake in the state of Missouri, and is one of the top large Bluegill lakes in the state as well....what an incredible fishery!

I put in near the island on the main dam and paddled into the first cove past the island. The day started off with a couple of large bluegills. Started with a slip bobber, but soon moved to a bottom rig with a nightcrawler...that was the trick!

When I paddled back, I anchored up at a point and started to cast out...BOOM! I must have hit a whole school of large redears! We ended up with a nice stringer at the end of the day, big time. Ended up cooking the filets baked over cajun rice...yum!

Fish ON!

MLT

Lake Sherwood, Franklin County, MO, April 25th, 2010: Huge Redear Sunfish and Bluegill harvested, despite rain and wind

We got a chance Sunday to head out to Lake Sherwood for some fishing. I just had a feeling that the fishing would really be on. The weather was not very encouraging. It seems the best time to fish would have been on Saturday morning before all the really big storms moved in. On Sunday, the cold front had already passed and it was windy with intermittent showers, some were fairly heavy at times. That forecast usually spells for bad fishing. However, I do believe that the spawn is on, so sometimes, especially with panfish, that rule is not always applicable. In this case it was not.

We started out with slip bobbers down about 10', but soon found that the bigger fish were closer to shore. My nephew Hunter came out with Rob, and he tore them up...very, very large Redear Sunfish and Bluegill. The most productive rig was the rig that is always productive at sherwood- bottom rig with nightcrawlers.

We got out around noon and left around 4:00 p.m. or so....Rob and Hunter had 30# worth of fish, we came close to 10#....great day at the lake despite the weather!

Fish ON!

MLT

whetstone Creek CA, Callaway County, MO., April 17th 2010: The SPAWN IS ON!!

The title should say enough....THE SPAWN IS ON!! Got out to Big Lake on the Whetstone CA around noon or so and the fishing started off a bit slow. Hit the first cove that I had some success on a couple of weeks ago first, but only caught one smaller bluegill. What was nice about this trip was that we did not have 20 mph winds coming in from the SW, so I was able to get some decent paddling in as well. Paddled to the back of the lake and fished that spot for a short period. I had a strike on a Gulp! nightcrawler texas rigged, but that was it.

As the sun started to go down lower as it got later in the day, I decided to paddle to the east shore of the lake (where the sunlight was in direct contact). Parked the kayak and got out to stretch and shore fish for a bit...this is when they really started to hit. The bluegill are obviously starting to spawn about 10' from shore. Got on them using a slip bobber and night crawler outfit about 6-8' down.

The most exciting part was catching the large Channel Catfish on 6# test on a kayak...at one point he tried to go under the bow of the kayak...really thought I might lose him- what a fight! The fish are on again, off again, but if you follow water temperature, you should really do good this time of the year....finally, the spawn!

Fish ON!

MLT

Whetstone Creek CA, Callaway County, MO. April 4th 2010: First stringer of new year!

The wind was a challenge again, but that is why kayak fishing is part workout, part fishing. Found a nice cove and anchored the kayak in about 14' of water. Caught my first nice (9") bluegill on a treetop jig w/ spinner close to shore. The rest of the stringer was caught in about 20' of water with slip bobber and night crawler rig.

Fishing action was slow (as expected) due to the fact that the water temp is still quite cool. Whetsone has a slot on bass (12-15") with a limite of 6. The bass I caught was 11". Got the stringer home (6 bluegill, 1 bass) and fileted them on the back deck, and baked them and served on top of brown rice....great meal!

Fish ON!

MLT

Rocky Fork Lakes CA, Boone County, MO.: Main lake very healthy and productive!

I finally got a chance to fish Rocky Fork Lake at Rocky Fork Lakes CA in Boone County (about 6 miles north of Columbia, MO.) I have fished this very healthy lake before, but never was able to really explore it due to lack of transportation....my kayak has changed all of that!

A nice upgrade if you like to Kayak fish is the Eagle fish finder. I have used this over the years with rental boats from the Conservation department, but never really thought about attaching it to my kayak (goes on with a suction cup, runs on AAA batteries). It has been a big difference maker...not as much in finding the fish, but determining depth and water temperature

Caught a nice sized bass (about 15" or so) using Gulp Alive! watermelon power worms. I have had a lot of success with these this year. Also caught quite a few Bluegill and a couple of channel cats using the time tested and proven method of slip bobbers and nightcrawlers.

This is a healthy lake. The main channel runs about 12-14 feet deep, with an average depth of about 6-9 feet in most places. Lots of good cover for bass.

Fish ON!

MLT

Lake Sherwood, Warren County, MO. October 12th: Red Ears are still hot!

Fished Lake Sherwood by the clubhouse using slip bobbers and nightcrawlers. The action was not as quick as in the summer time, but when the Red Ear sunfish hit, they fully committed. Ton of fun............the meal afterwards was most excellent. Cleaned them on the deck and fried them on the spot. Very good to eat, and fun to catch. Average size of the sunfish are bigger than you hand!

Fish ON!

MLT

Lake Sherwood, Warren County, Mo, Sept 21st: Large Bluegill and Red-Ear Sunfish abound

The main lake at Sherwood is still chock full of large Red-Ear Sunfish and Bluegills. Fished about 10' off shore with the standard: Slip bobbers and nightcrawlers. Action was a little slow at first, and is slower than summer- but was still able to get a nice stringer of above average sized pan fish. Largest Bluegill was 11", largest Red Ear was about 13". Great Day!

Fish ON!

MLT

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