Use this article to comment on the Fishing in Region 5 or Southeastern Kansas.
KDWP Region 5 Fishing Reports can be found HERE.
The list of Lakes and Reserviors in Region 5 can be found HERE.
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302 comments:
1 – 200 of 302 Newer› Newest»LA CYGNE: 80 degrees on the main lake, clear, low. Linn County Parks reports: channel catfish fair on shrimp, shad; white bass fair on white twisters.
POMONA: 68 degrees, fairly clear, one-half foot low. Outlook: Lighthouse Marina reports: catfish good on shad sides, shrimp; crappies fair on jigs, minnows in 10 to 12 feet of water in the brush.
John Redmond Reservoir
There has been some good channel cat caught using turkey blood and beef liver anywhere from 3-14 pounds.
Melvern Reservoir
Lake has been pretty slow since the lake has turned over. Have caught bass largemouth and smallmouth, walleye around 8 inches off of Turkey Point area and some crappie have been caught around marina very few over 10 inches. There has been some good blue cat caught around pan size from 2- 6 pounds using shad and fresh cut perch and bluegill.
Pomona Reservoir
There is a flat area off of the 75 foot boat ramp that has been good for channel cat using shad they have been running about 2-6 pounds.
Melvern Reservoir -
Caught numerous white bass in cove off of 5 Star campground, west of the boat ramp this weekend trolling Shad Raps and deeper diving crankbaits. Also caught a few crappie from shore off the same area. bagged a few smaller channel cat drifitng a jig and crawler combo in same area, and a couple of lg mouth from shore as well.
LA CYGNE: 76 degrees on the main lake, clear, low. Outlook: Linn County Parks reports: channel catfish fair on shrimp, shad; white bass fair on white twisters.
•COFFEY COUNTY: 70 degrees midlake, clear, 6 feet low. Outlook: Coffey County reports: smallmouth bass fair on grubs, minnows; catfish poor to fair.
•MELVERN: 65 degrees, clear, three-quarter foot low. Outlook: Melvern Lake Marina reports: all species poor.
Coffey County Lake
Guide Lines Guide Service reports water is pretty low here and the boat ramp is hazardous.
John Redmond Reservoir
Cat Daddy reports fishing is picking up some and they have been catching catfish between 2-6 pounds using fresh cut shad. Best places are where it is shallow up in the brush.
Melvern Reservoir
Not much fishing going on.
Pomona Reservoir
Cat Daddy reports that the channel cat are biting on fresh cut shad up in the natural foliage where it is shallow up in the brush. Guide Lines Guide Service reports fishing is tough but there are a few crappie out there.
MELVERN
Caught White Bass on every cast Saturday during the rain before wind switched to the north. Fish were along rock piers 3 to 4ft. Using jigs of any color.
Melvern Reservoir
Not much fishing going on. There has been small size crappie caught, but not any keepers.
Pomona Reservoir
North Shore Marina reports that there has been a walleye about 20 inches long caught, but other than that fishing is pretty slow.
MELVERN: 60 degrees, clear, three-quarter foot low. Outlook: Melvern Lake Marina reports: catfish good on liver in 25 feet of water near boat ramps.
•POMONA: 60 degrees, fairly clear, 1 foot low. Outlook: Lighthouse Marina reports: crappies fair on jigs, minnows in 3 to 6 feet of water off the marina docks and in 8 to 12 feet of water off points and along channel edges.
COFFEY COUNTY: 65 degrees midlake, clear, 6 feet low. Outlook: Coffey County reports: smallmouth bass fair on grubs, minnows; catfish poor to fair.
•LA CYGNE: 70 degrees on the main lake, clear, low. Outlook: Linn County Parks reports: all species poor.
Melvern
Melvern Lake Marina reports that it has been slow but there have been some good sized white bass between 1-2 pounds and the crappie are slow.
Coffey County
smallmouth bass good on grubs, crankbaits in rocky areas; catfish good on cut bait.
Pomona
crappies fair on jigs, minnows in the deep brush; white bass, wipers fair on jigs, spoons on the main lake; channel catfish good on worms, prepared baits off windy points.
Melvern 11-07-06 WE caught mostly small crappie, two of us kept 18 legal fish-14-20 ft. of water on jigs,9-16 ft.deep. Water temp.53 deg.
Melvern-11-20-06 Water temp. 49 degrees, light winds. We fished 19 to 29 ft. of water. We kept 23 nice crappie but we also caught many small ones. We used shad color Stubby Butt Bodies 11 to 21 ft. deep.
John Redmond
Cat Daddy reports that the fishing here is usually good all year round.
Melvern
Fishing has picked up and they are catching white bass & largemouth bass. Other reports of catfishing using liver has been good. Crappie fishing has picked up using jigs with smoke sparkles running from 10 1/2" to 12".
Melvern
Picked up 35 Crappie over brushpiles on the south end of the lake on jig and minnows (shiners). 33% were 10-15 inches. Also picked up 15 white bass, ranging 8-17 inches, trolling along the dam with deep diving lures. All picked up between 15 and 17 feet.
Melvern- Water temp.42 degrees. We fished 20-27 foot of water and caught crappie13-21 foot deep. Weused Fin Thins and soft plastics. We couldn't find large schools of fish. We kept 32 real nice crappie,11-13 inches long.
Water temp. 42 degrees. Beautifull day but slower fishing. Fished 18 -29 foot of water and caught fish 10 -23 foot deep. We kept 23 nice crappie. Melvern Lake
Melvern
Reports of lots of little crappie are being caught out on the lake.
John REdmond
CatDaddy reports nice bluecat and it has been stocked lately.
Melvern
CatDaddy reports that the fishing is always good there and taht they ahve been catching bluecat from 10-15 pounds!
Melvern- 12-22-06 We believe we are fishing the wrong end of the lake. The keepers we are catching are nice fish(11-13") but we are finding no large groups of shad. We are catching our fish 19-26' deep. Wind was out of NW 9-16mph, water temp. 42 degrees. We kept 24 crappie.
Pomona
North Shore Marina reports the lake being pretty busy right before Christmas with crappie being caught.
Melvern
Reports of nice size crappie are being caught.
La Cygne: Can anyone tell me if there is boat access on the east side of the lake, in the hot water channel? Wildlife and parks' website map shows one there. I have never driven to the east side. I always launch at the marina. I would think that they would not want boats in there.
At La Cygne boat access on the east side, goes into the hot water auxillary lake. It will not get you onto the main lake. I do not know if the fishing in the hot water aux lake is any good or not. Seems like in the summer, that would be really hot all the time. I would wonder what others say about that?
Fall River-1-05-07 Very foggy early. We found many fish but we had no luck catching them. The fish we caught were 9-14' deep. We kept 16, 10+" crappie. Wind was SE light
Melvern-1-06-07 Nice day. We fished from the dam to the silo. The fish we caught were 12-24' deep. Water temp. was 42 degrees. We kept 35, 10-14" long crappie. .
Pomona
North Shore Marina reports the lake frozen over and about 2-4 inches of ice layering the ground.
MELVERN, clear, 2 feet low. Melvern Marina reports: crappies fair on minnows off the docks.
The 2007 Fishing Forecast is available at this time and is located on the internet.
Has anyone been fishing up in Walnut creek or the Verdigris above Toronto Lake. My Uncle and I are ae planning a trip in search of Crappie and White Bass through the ice.
Melvern
Crappie are good in the morning and the ice is frozen about 6-8" thick.
February 7, 2007 - Answer to Ice fishing for walleye question -
I share your same concern. I've sent numerous emails to Kansas Wildlife and Parks and Nebraska Wildlife and Parks asking about good places to catch walleyes through the ice and they are just as curious as we are. The Nebraska folks said they just seem to go away in the winter. I personally believe the walleye are biting somewhere on something but haven't figured it out though. A friend of mine use to catch them on minnows at Cheney back when I was catching whites, wipers and stripers a 4 or 5 years ago on kastmasters and little cleos. I'm really concerned about the fisheries at Cheney because of the white perch. It's just weird on how we can have such great success and then nothing. It's not from a lack of trying. Since I live 20 minutes from the lake, I will venture out and I will cut 100 holes a day over a 2 mile stretch with nothing to show for it. I will fish 4 to 12 of water looking for them. Honestly, Cheney has left a bad taste in my mouth.
Last year I went to Glen Elder and caught crappie which was nice.
I just got back from Lake Oahe in South Dakota and had a good time catching walleyes through the ice. We caught our limit everyday (4 fish per person) of 18"-22" fish. I was catching them on rod and reels and tip ups. What seem to be hot was a little cleo tipped with a live minnow.
Unfortunately, our truck, 2 4-wheelers and all of our fishing gear was stolen in Council Bluffs Iowa on the way back so I haven't fished in Kansas yet. However, I just received my shipment from Cabelas. I will venture out this weekend. I typically don't use live bait but am considering it just because it does seem to pull walleyes through the ice. It's just something I personally haven't tried in Kansas.
Good luck fishing,
Postman
February 5, 2007 - Ice fishing for walleye question - This probably should be on the the commentary page, but I looked and it don't look like much is going on there. I would like to know if anyone can give out some info on how to catch walleye through the ice. I know some were caught a few years back at Cheney while fishing for stripers, probably more by accident as opposed to actually targeting them. The walleye is caught by ice fisherman consistently up north, so why can't that be done here, say like at El Dorado. If someone is doing it, how about sharing the info.
Wally
February 5, 2007 - Cheney question - Questions for ice fisherman. Is anyone seeing in the ice dead shad? Few of them? Lots of them? How big? Why I ask. Back in 2000, last time I went ice fishing. There were huge numbers of dead shad in the ice. I was told this was a good thing. Both for the shad and fish to feed on at the bottom of lake. Intern this is excellent food for the fish, (easy pickens). Like eating at Home Town Buffet, all you can eat. I remember that spring and into summer, (2000-2001). Was one of my very best years of fishing. Another comments would be apperceive.
COURTESY of www.kansasangler.com
Well I guess to answer my own quetion I decided to try the fishing myself at Toronto. The ice was about 5inches thick and thicker in some spots. Found a few crappie in deeper water up in the Walnut did not make it to the Verdigris. They averaged about a pound to a pound and a half. Moved closer to the main lake and found some White bass. Caught some on a white jig and some on spoons. Niether species wanted to hit the baits aggresively. But all in all was a wonderful adventure. Ended up with 8 crappie and 12 whites. If anyone else has input would like to here from you.
COFFEY COUNTY - white bass excellent on spoons, crankbaits near the hot-water outlet; largemouth bass fair to good on crankbaits, plastic baits along the riprap near the hot-water outlet; wipers fair on spoons.
Melvern
Melvern Lake Marina reports fishing is pretty slow at this time. Coves are frozen 4-5" thick but they recommend you do not get on ice.
Pomona
North Shore Marina reports the lake is partially frozen and not alot of fishing going on at this time.
Melvern
Melvern Lake Marina reports fishing is pretty slow at this time. Coves are frozen 4-5" thick but they recommend you do not get on ice.
Pomona
North Shore Marina reports the lake is partially frozen and not alot of fishing going on at this time.
Melvern Lake- We finally got back on the lake. We had no luck fishing the east end of the lake, we couldn't locate fish. West of Arrow Rock we found them. We kept 39 crappie, no large ones. Water temp. was 38 degrees. 2-26-07
2-28-07Melvern Lake-We started where we ended up yeserday,west of Arrow Rock. We caught more small fish today but we caught larger fish today(some 13" fish). There were 3 of us today and we ended up with 35 crappie. Hair jigs worked real well and Bass Asscinds.
Was on LaCygne yesterday and caught some nice bass, one that was 23 inches. Most were on north side of the hot water outlet. Did good with johnson spoons. Caught some little whites and saw another boat with some good crappie. Had to quite early because of the wind.
Melvern
Melvern Lake Marina reports fishing has been pretty decent and the ice is gone at this time. The boats have been abel to get out and they are catching their limit on crappie.
Pomona
North Shore Marina reportswhite bass have been biting and they are catching some pretty good size crappie and catching their limit.
Melvern-3-5-07 We had a good day! Yesterday (Sunday) we caught 18 crappie, today we caught our limit of some of the best size crappie we have caught all year (13" +). We caught our best crappie along the river's edge, 21-26' deep using Bass Assassins and hair jigs. Water temp. 40 degrees.
Melvern-3-8-07 Beautiful day but poor fishing! We located fish early but we thought we could do better, not to be! Fish were still 21-23' deep. We ended up keeping 10 crappie.
Melvern
Melvern Lake Marina reports fishing has not been too good, but there are lots of people out there trying! They did open the release up to 200 due to the inch of rain that was received on Sunday. Walleye and Sauger should be catching pretty soon!
Pomona
North Short Marina reports of people out there fishing from Thursday and through this weekend. Haven't heard how the fish are biting though.
March 5, 2007 - Farm Ponds - Took my dad and brother out fishing last wed. Whether was perfect, but I knew the water would be very chilly. Tried our farm pond we have fished for twenty years and couldn't get anything. I think the fish haven't recovered from the rainy chilly weahter we had. The pond was very muddy too. Even his small pond that has tons of small bass didn't produce a bite. We went to a bigger farm pond about 40 acres and tried it as well. It wasn't as murky, but couldn't find the fish. The carp were jumping all around though. Another fisherman was there and said it had nice sized fish in there, but he had nothing either and he scaled the whole lake with his chest waders. Going to try next week... might even take my boat out as well. Hopefully I will have a better report.
Dominic
COURTESY OF KANSASANGLER.COM
Melvern
Melvern Lake Marina reports that fishing has picked up this morning so far and that the catfish are starting to bite. Crappie are also biting. At the pond there are plenty catfish biting though.
Pomona
North Shore Marina reports that there are little crappie biting.
Neosho has some water, but the levels arent steady spoonbill is iffy need more rain this weekend, went yesterday and no such luck.
Toronto-Fished for channel, had 3 bites, caught one keeper channel. Fished for a short time for crappie on the bank, caught 1 keeper with a jig and bobber (18" deep). Other fisherman did better early, lake water is in good shape.coa
Toronto/Cross Timbers
Cross Timbers State Park reports that the crappie are beginning to bite.
Melvern
Melvern Lake Marina reports that fishing is fair around the docks; crappie and some channel cat are catching on cut bait and the walleye are catching on the flats.
Pomona
North Shore Marina reports that it has rained alot but not alot of fishing.
La Cygne
Sat 3/24/07
Fished from the bank at the outlet. Caught 12 or 13 keeper white bass. Water is high, so plan on standing in the water if you want to cast for white bass. Several boats were trying their luck. Only saw one boat catching a white bass about every 10 min. They were anchored throwing weighted spoons.
Toronto
Cross Timbers State Park reports crappie are biting really well on minnows and jigs.
Melvern
Melvern Lake Marina reports that crappie are biting and some saugeye and walleye are biting on the the flats (but not on the dam).
Pomona
North Shore Marina reports that they are catching crappie betwene 6-7 inches in cove areas around the docks using minnows and lures.
Osage State Lake,
Catfishing has been pretty good this month3/07 some big ones up in the shallows!!!!
does' anyone know how much FPS of dishcarge at the gates on JHON REDMAN , IS SAFE TO WADE live in topeka and don't know how much water being let out, is safe to wade the spillway.don't want to waste a trip down there if the gates are open to high thanks
Toronto/Cross Timbers/Fall River
Fishing has been terrible & the gates have been open.
Pomona
North Shore Marina reports that the fishing is slow due to the rain, snow and varying water temperatures.
was at big hill did not catch a thing, fished at timber hill by the boat dock, the down stream point, and the rae bridge access. I used minnows for bait.
Hello,
Planning to visit for some fishing this weekend. Does anyone have any information they would be willing to share about crappie fishing at Carbondale?
Thanks!
Melvern-4-23-07; 4-24-07 Fished the last two days at Melvern, the lake is up about one and a half feet, water temp. ranges from 58 to61 degrees. We found fish from 1' to 4' deep, some were in the willows. We caught 24 on Monday from the boat and walking the bank today I caught 11. The fish are nice size. Not very many yet.
Melvern- Friday, tough day. We tried catching fish in shallow water, no luck. We caught some white bass and small smallmouths shallow. We did find some crappie in 17 feet of water 12 feet deep just as the rains came in, kept 5. Water temp. 58-59 degrees.
FallRiver-4-30-07 We fished for crappie. We found the fish shallow. We were able to tight line some of the crappie off the bank. Most of our fish we caught using a cork setabout 1' deep. We caught 52 keepers only 6 were females. Hopefully the rain won't bring the lake back up.
Fall River-5-1-07 Crappie still close to the bank. Catching more smaller males. The lake is still in good shape, they did opened the gates today. We cleaned 45 crappie, mostly males.
Melvern-5-2-07 Went back to Melvern and fished off the bank. Caught most of our fish 2' deep but we also caught some 5' and 1'deep. Again mostly males and the females were squirting eggs. Boat people said the water temp. was 60.Jig color, as usual, made no difference. We cleaned 28 crappie and we got wet!
4-30 /5-1-07 MINED LAND WILD LIFE WEST MINERAL KS. TROUT BITING HARD ON POWER BIAT , BASS IN SHALLOW TO SPAWN MY BUDDY CUAGHT 4 .5 LOTS OF 3'S - I CUAGHT 1- 5 LBS , 1 -5.9 LBS GOING ON THE WALL
LOST A 8 LB OR BETTER.
I went out crappie fishing this morning, boy am i glad i did ! caught 23 crappie the smallest was 14 inches!! the biggest one was 4 pounds! I am going to put that one on the wall.
where did you catch the nice crappie
yeah what a lake and what bait?
did u round down to 4 lbs by more than .02? if u did u have a state record fish and probably missed out on your chance to get the record if the fish is already at the taxidermy
Coffey County Lake-5-10-07 We fished for spawning crappie, we caught 21 in 5-6 feet of water. Temp. where we caught the crappie was 74 degrees. We also fished for channel and caught 20 cats, 3 were white cats. We had a good day!
Fished below Chetopa late on 5-12---slow. River was dropping, we had one bite on greensunfish, no bites on various other baits.
Anyone have any info on Melvern for this weekend 5-18-07? Im planning a trip down there and was wondering if Ill be wasting my time on account of the recent bad weather?
I fished at Melvern on Monday (5/14) and the lake was 11 ft high. The water was very muddy and there was a lot of debris floating on the surface. We drifted several of the flats on the north side of the lake for about 3 hours and didn't have a bite. I only saw one other boat on the lake and they hadn't caught anything either. The water might be down a little now but I'll bet it is still muddy. I'm going somewhere else this weekend. Hope that helps.
Fished in the strip pitts northwest of columbus eartly on 5-19 for bass. Caught lots of short fish( I mean LOTS).Caught four or five long slot limit fish. Plastic worms!! Higher the sun got, slower the bite..
fished Melvern 5/18 for 6 hours. did not get a bite. Lake is very muddy and the wind didnt help.
I fished Trout lake at mined lands early this morning....i must have caught 20 trout in two hours.....everyone caught their limit within 30 minutes!!! it was amazing...
fished with setlines above Chetopa dam from 5-25 to 5-28. Caught 9 fish (only 2 flatheads), biggest weighed 11 lbs. total stringer weaghed 46 lbs. River is up with some current, but could be fished.Planning on going back if the weather forcast doesn't bring river up anymore
Took wife and kids to farm pond on 5-31. Kids and I just dinked around. Wife caught one bass on plastic worm, had couple other bites.
Took wife to strip pits NW of columbus on 6-1. Lighting storm kept boat off water,we fished from bank.(not the smartest thing to do in a lighting storm) Wife caught one bass on a jitterbug, had couple other bites. I threw plastic worm, hula popper...nothing.
Big Hill Reservoir - 6/2/07
Put in at Mound Valley boat ramp around Noon. Fished all afternoon until around 7:00pm. Got one small LMB and a 15 lb Drum. Tough, tough bite all day.
I noted hundreds of dead white bass floating all over the Lake and on the shoreline. Turkey Buzzards were circling overhead.
Not that I'm complaining but, what in the world killed the White Bass?
Is this something that could also effect the Black Bass?
Toronto- Two of us fished for yellows and channel cats below the dam. We caught 7 channel, kept 6 and threw back the largest- 6.75 lbs.. Noluck on yellows, pipe opened 25%.
Toronto- Seven gates opened about a foot, lake is up 5 feet. We had no luck on yellows, we kept 6 nice channel.
Three of us fished below Chetopa dam on 6-6, caught 2 channel and 1 blue (all 2-2.5 lbs). Ran down river to the "Mill Riffles" caught 2 more channel about same size. Used chicken livers. Current was SWIFT. Bites picked up about time we had to leave.
Fall River- Six gates opened at 7 a.m.. I fished the basin using worms, caught a 23+ lbs. yellow by 8:30. At 9 they changed the gates to 2, had no luck after the change.
Toronto-6-12-07 Fished below the dam. Caught limit of channel, most of them were to big to keep (6-10 lbs.). Caught 3 small yellows, turned them loose. Pipe opened 25%.
Toronto- Fished below the dam, one gate opened a half of foot and pipe 25%. Two of us caught 9 small channel and two small yellows( largest was 12 lbs.) The lake is up 1 and a half feet.
Spent a week camping at Woodson sfl what a beautiful spot it is , caught some fantastic fish, 1 walleye 15 in., some crappie,2 wiper 1 better than 5lbs , bunch of great fighting catfish 4 to 10 lbs.Got to see a gentleman catch a channel he thought would go over 20,great week,great spot,great staff of caretakers had a wonderful vacation the bass did'nt play, only one but better luck next year! Thanks KDWP
We chased the channel cats on 6-23 in the strip pitts nw of Columbus. Caught of few that would be good eaters, just shy of the 15" min. Caught one 18.5". All were caught on liver, nothing caught on dip bait.
Went bass fishing on6-24. We caught 2, using plastic worms. Fished the strip pitts.
I've been hearing good reports from the Neosho River. We're going to try some setlines this weekend for flatheads.
Fished from a boat anchored in the middle portion of the hot water discharge at LaCygne on Sunday morning. Water surface temp read 90 when we got in & 91-92 at the discharge. Not sure how accurate that is, but it did feel like bathtub water to the hands.
Channel cats hit on shrimp like crazy at the discharge & it would not be crazy to suggest we caught around 40 or 50 by the end of the morning as we went through our bags of shrimp. Biting like crazy. Unfortunately, or fortunately, nearly all were 10" or less. Quite a few incredibly small - kind of like the shrimp bait! We did catch one 4 pound blue cat that was 22" long & 2, 14-15" channel cats in the process.
It was just fun throwing it out & getting bites everytime even if they were little ones.
The spot we were set at read 16' depth, but it varied mostly 5-10 ft around the discharge area.
Does it seem surprising that the bite was this good w/ a surface temp this high? Although possibly an inaccurate temp. I don't fish this lake very often & mostly in very early spring & late fall.
I'm guessing the surface temp has less to do w/ the bite than water clarity & thermocline or temps at 10 ft & lower? Surely it can't be that warm too deep into the water?
does anyone know how much water is being released at toronto or john redman? thinking of heading to one or the other this evening?
I just checked the Army Corps web site(Tulsa District)and all gates were closed at 10:45 pm on 6-28 at John Redman. Don't know about Toronto. Hope this helps. Good Luck, keep us all posted.
columbus,
it said that six open half way this morning and planning to keep them open all weekend. would you head to toronto or jred?
i haven't fished toronto, but i have redmond......
kmiller5@isp.com email me....i'd like to perk your knowledge
thanks
ps: i am from mapleton which is nw of fort scott
thanks
hit redmond friday evening... no water being released. catfishing was very slow but they were slaying the white bass on white/chartruese twister tails...
Wife and I hit the strip pits nw of columbus the evening of 7-7-07. Largemouth bite was RED HOT!! We threw blue/purple/sparkle plastic worms and they hammered it. Had to cut the line on a couple that we released cause they took it so deep. Wife lost a real nice fish in some brush early in the evening. No big ones, a few in the slot limit, lost a lot at the boat, don't know how many we didn't get the hook set on. Brought home our limits for the skillet. Anyone catching any cats?
Neosho River at Neosho Falls:
Fished for three hours on Sunday afternoon 07082007. My brother and I was catching Drum near the lowhead dam at a rate of about one every three minutes. Used worms for bait. I did land a six pound flat head but it was the only non-Drum I caught. You could see schools of minnows working the areas around the rocks and this lead for an abundance of gar and water snakes nearby. All in all a fun day but nothing on the table after this trip.
Took my dad and nephew bass fishin' at the strip pitts nw of Columbus Sunday evening. The bite was not as good as Sat. night, but we seemed to catch some bigger fish. We caught several long slot limit fish. We kept nine just under the slot. We used purple plastic worms, Rapala Floating minnow, and Heddon Pop-R. Only real difference between the two evenings, was Sunday we had a breeze. We noticed that the bass seem to be real healthy... nice and fat (even the fish under the slot).Wife and kids and I are going to try Crawford SFL this weekend. We do good up there usually.
Has any one been catfishing in Toronto? If so, what were the results?
We fished Crawford SFL this past weekend with liver and wild nightcrawlers. Caught a few short channel and wife caught about a 6# drum. Didn't really see any other shore anglers doing that good. The ol'catman is down with an injured back so we didn't really fish like we normally do. Boat anglers may have been doing better. Most everything was on worms.
Fished the Bourbon State Fishing Lake at Elsmore a couple of times last week. Morning fished the first day and caught two five pound channel, a half pounder, and some small blue gill in about three hours of fishing. Second time fished in the late afternoon and evening and caught several small channel, only one not below the length limit and some blue gill.
fished toronto spillway yesterday evening. they were letting out some water. we fished down from the spillway where the riprap ends in deeper water. we used live bluegill and fresh shad. had a few bites, but no cats. my son hung one good fish, but we didn't see it. it was really slow and the gar were annoying. the lake is still way too full to do any good fishing it. most of the camp areas are under water.
I am headed back home (Lebo) this weekend and was wondering if anyone had a report on what to fish for in Melvern?
I fished the cottonwood river at emporia last night for flathead and caught several over 20 pounds.. the biggest was 49 pounds. I let all of them go except for the 49 pounder. I was using shad sides. If you dont mind the mexicans who keep every thing this is a good place to fish!!!
i am calling BS on the cottonwood report!
Caught one white bass and 1 smallmouth at Melvern. White bass were busting shad on the surface. Threw shad imitation rattle-traps into the melee. It was very short lived due to a thunderstorm though.
my son and i hit mound city lake in linn county saturday evening for a couple of hours. we managed to find the channel cats. we were fishing in about 8' of water right off of the main creek channel against a weed edge. we caught about 20 fish in two hours. most of them were smaller than the required 15". we kept three fish with the biggest being about seven lbs. we were using bait shrimp and live bluegill.
Fished Toronto for channels Sunday. Caught one small fish. The lake is still very high. The water looks good not muddy. We just could not find the fish.
bill,
do you fish toronto alot? it looks like a very good lake and i'd like to start fishing it more, sure would appreciate any advice you could give.
thanks
I just got home from catfishing on melvern lake..It was fair night no big ones but lots of smaller fish. I seen some mexicans keeping everything they caught, big or small. I wish the game warden would have been there. what is the game wardens number for melvern lake?
Operation Game Thief is a Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks program which allows citizens to turn in poachers. You can call toll-free 24\7\365 within Kansas at 1-877-426-3843.
Toronto-8-14-07 Fished for yellows, we caught one small one(2lbs.). We used worms and shad. We ended up catching 5 channel,3-9 lbs. It was a hot day.
to anon no I do not fish Toronto a lot but will spend 5 days with buddies starting Aug 16. Will post success or failure. Hope for success. The lake is rated tops in Ks for channels and crappies by KWPD.
Toronto- 8-16-07 We again fished for yellows today, had no luck. Yesterday we caught 2 yellows (4& 11lbs.). There is no problem catching channel, all sizes. They have only one gate opened, the second from the west side.
Toronto-8-20-07 Fished off the high wall on the east side. I had no yellow bites using white bass. The channel cat fishing was much better, I used livers and crappie guts. Had my limit of 10 by 9am. The largest was 9lbs..
Toronto-8-21-07 I waded in the basin (pipe is the only water opened). Again no luck on yellows, bait: worms, drum, shad. Caught 7 keeper channel but they were small, largest 7lbs. Used livers and fish guts.
just got thru putting in the freezer about 100 pounds of fillets from 5 flatheads me and my brother Jose caught them in sodens grove in emporia
Toronto-8-27-07 We did our first drift fishing today. We caught our shad at Toronto point. The shad were all about 3 inches long. We drifted down by the dam Best water for bites was 10 feet deep. We caught 9 channel, they range from 2-9 lbs.. Wind 6-15mph,south.
I took my wife out sat. evening 8-25-07 to the strip pitts nw of columbus. I'm unable to fish so she fished from the shore with no luck. O Sept.8, 2007 there will be a hunting and fishing expo a Big Brutus in West Mineral, contact the Big Brutus offices for info. I understand there are going to be lots of give aways and outdoors venders on site.
John Redmond 8-28-07 Drift fished for channel, did well until the wind came up. We kept 10 from 4-8lbs., we turned loose 5 large channel.
Melvern - 8-29-07 We fished for crappie. Caught quite a few little ones, we kept 15 keepers. Caught fish in 12-23 feet of water, 10 to 16 feet deep. Wind light to 15mph.
Toronto-9-3-07 We fished for yellows and had only 2 hits. Wayne caught 1 little one and broke his line on another. One gate opened 4 inches and the pipe 18%. We are hoping it will get better.
Melvern 9-4-07 See above, fishing was almost identical,except we caught one more keeper. Water temp. 79 degrees. (above 8-29-07)
John Redmond 9-10-07 A cool morning! We drift fished for channel, slow early, too much wind. Mid morning the wind went down. We lost some fish and had our lines broken a couple of times. We kept 6 nice channel out of the nine we caught. The largest was 12 lbs.
MLWA strip pits just west of Pittsburg. My first time out to a strip pit today. Didn't stay for long but tried watermelon seed senkos and chartreuse creature baits. Only a few nibbles. Was told to try some purple baits so that's my gameplan for next time. We drove around to the north side (off of 560th rd I believe) and noticed it was being worked on, any idea when that's going to be done?
John Redmond 9-13-07 Drift fished for channel. Caught our limit along the river. Largest fish was 9lbs.14 oz. Wind blew 4 to 17 mph. Another good day!
Melvern-9-19-07 Beautiful day but a poor day for catching crappie. We caught many little ones, sometimes every time down in the brush. We kept only 3 crappie, made my wife happy( her supper).
John Redmond-9-20-07 Drift fished for channel. We had difficulty at first getting shad, found many out on the river. Wind was about right,5to 10 mph. We caught 11 nice channel, 2 to 7lbs.
We ATTEMPTED to fish at Chetopa Ks Dam. The water is VERY low and fishing is poor to impossible. The only people on the water were picking up lead sinkers in the rocks.
Seth G.
Dear KDWP Staff,
La Cygne Lake:
Can anyone speak to the availability of Striped Bass (not hybrid) in this Lake? I read somewhere that some 2,000+ SB were stocked in past years. Understanding the cool water nature of these fish, I was curious if their able to not only survive but to thrive in this warm water Lake.
Thanks for any information you can provide.
Luvtofish
There were 13,720 fingerlings stocked this year. The last stocking before that was 1999 when 3,402 were released. All were fingerlings.
KDWP
Doug,
Thanks for responding. I hope the Striped Bass do well in this Lake.
Thanks
Hello I am a Colorado transplant. Living in LaCygne and craving Trout. Any word on Mined Land Wildlife area or Fort Scott - Gunn Park Lake Fern.
Thanks in advance.
There's a trout lake in a MLWA unit down SW of West Mineral, might be a good bet.
I went fishing this morning at melvern river pond and had a great time catching bass on a topwater bait! The bass were hitting it almost as soon as it hit the water! The biggest was 21 inches with a lot of them in the 18 to 19 inch range.
Toronto-10-16-07 We went fishing for channel in the lake but didn't have enough wind, caught one. We ended up fishing for white bass and crappie, kept 5 crappie. A beautiful day to be out!
We tried melvern river pond today. (I figured I would give it a try after seeing what 10/13/2007 said.) So I fished for catfish and bass. bass fishing was slow but the ones we did catch were nice, biggest was 5 pounds. caught 5 catfish in the 3 to 8 pound range. turned out to be a real nice day! Thanks 10/13/2007 for the hot spot!
toronto hit walnut and gris sat super slow a few whites we fished all day tj
Boat Builder
Spent the day on Miola lake , caught 30 to 40 walleye on jig and crawlers . Lake has a 15 in length limit on walleye , and at least half were legal size . Biggest was only 17.5 , had broiled fillets for supper ,and will be stocking the freezer over the next couple weeks hopefully . Best bite was at the no wake markers at the north end of the lake , on the east side . Some little humps there , only real structure on lake .
fished melvern river pond the pond part was slow fishing, but then we went and fished the creek part thats where the fish were biting. caught several crappie, bass and wipers! we kept 20 crappie biggest was 14.5 inches. I will defintely fish this place some more this fall.
I have fished unit 30 in the minded land wildlife area for trout and had little success, I have heard there are other pits that are good for different kinds of fish, anyone know which pits are good for which kinds of fish except trout in unit 30?
Melvern 10-25-07 We fished for crappie and had a slow day. We caught 3 keepers and not many small ones. We put the fish back in the lake hoping for a better day. water temp. 60 degrees
does anyone have a report for La Cygne? Last report is outdated.Is there any good walleye fishing at La Cygne?
John Redmond-10-29-07 We have had a good summer drift fishing this lake. We normally quit drifting by now but we thought we would try again. NO LUCK, not even a bite. Time for the crappie!
Melvern-11-01-07 Went after the crappie today. We fished from Arrow Rock to Sundance and caught 7 keepers, 30+ small fish. A beautiful day to be fishing! Water temp. 58 degrees.
There are no walleye in La Cygne. If your are looking for walleye go to Hillsdale, it has a great walleye population. Or look to the smaller lakes in the region to find them. Good luck
Toronto-My uncle and I went out Saturday found a lot of fish on the sonar but couldn't get them to bite. Used jigs, spoons and small crank baits. Water temp was 58 degrees. Couldn't get up next to the dam due to a large number of out of state fishermen ganged up there. Saw a lot of nice slabs being caught though. Wouldv'e caught fish but decided to not buy minnows. Found an area where the gar were busting the surface. Fishing was slow when you decide to go try for gar. Had a few come up after our topwater, some of them were pushing 6 feet. Thank god we didn't hook one. Whoa!
Fished La Cygne this weekend caught alot of short fish. It seems that the big ones haven't moved up yet.
Melvern-11-8-07 Took a break from deer hunting and tried our luck fishing for crappie. The fish were more aggresive then last week. We kept 11 keepers and caught many small fish. Used bass assacinds about 13-16 feet deep. Water temp. 55
we went fishing today caught a lot of nice crappie (biggest was 15 inches) in brush 10 to 14 ft deep. limited out early !! best day of crappie fishing so far this year. We were home with the boat put up and the fish in the freezer by 1:00 pm.
Where did you go fishing?
Fished the discharge at La Cygne monday afternoon and caught a couple of flatheads in the 2-5 pound range. Also caught lots of small channels, but no big fish.
Fished LaCygne Tuesday afternoon. Fished the bluff walls and the Hot water discharge. Caught alot of small wipers and white bass. No crappie and not many largemouth. A few small channels though.
Fished LaCygne Saturday 12/1, discharge area some small white bass and channels, no wipers strong winds out of the south. Water flow over falls very strong and fast.
Have been fishing Fall River since Thanksgiving weekend. Have had some very good days with most fish in the 11-14 inch range. 10-20 ft of water.
Some going at 15 with the biggest at 16. Tubes and hair jigs worked well. Fish were around structure...starting to school, 90% had been feeding on shad.
I would like to take this time to THANK the Employees at Eisenhower State Park, Melvern, for opening the boat ramp during inclement weather conditions! Sometimes it is the only boat ramp opened onthe whole lake. Happy Holidays to all of you!!
Melvern-12-18-07 We fished the east end of the lake about 16 to 23 feet deep for crappie. We were able to catch only 15 keepers. We saw very few shad. Water temp. was 39.9 degrees. Wind was SW to NW,5 to15 mph.
Fall River 12-19-07 We fished for 8 hours today and we caught only 12 keepers. There are MANY small fish (5 - 9") at the dam. Ice was on most of the lake in early A.M. Water temp. 35 degrees.
Fall River- We fished the lake Thursday and Friday of this week. Caught many small crappie,lest than 10", we kept 34 and 25 the last two days over 10". The big ones are hard to find.
I fished Melvern Lake Marina heated dock today and caught alot of 5" to 9" and only 7 keepers in about 10 hours of "work". Doesn't seem the big ones are schooled up yet.
I WENT DOWN TO THE RIVER TODAY AND FISHED A DEEP POOL AND CAUGHT A 35 POUND FLATHEAD WOOHOO!!!
Melvern 1-7-08 We fished close to Arrow Rock, the wind came up to 15-25mph SW. We had success early but we got blown off of our sets each time, we quit early. Kept 5 keepers.
Fall River-1-11-08 Nice day early, very little wind. We fished in different parts of the lake, north end south east end. We saw 5 eagles and kept 27 nice fish.
The plant was off at LaCygne water temp. was 40 degrees at the hot water outlet this weekend. If anyone knows when the plant will be back up and running please let us know. Thanks
fished sodens grove this morning...it was very cold... I caught several walleyes!!! this is the first time we have caught walleyes!!! has anyone else caught walleyes here lately??? let me know...
Melvern-2-7-08 Went to Melvern today with the boat. Without four wheel drive we couldn't get the boat in. Ice in the cove at state park,Arrow Rock and Sundance. Best chance might be at the marine, some ice on the road. Main lake(east end) is opened.
yes to answer the sodens grove question dated 2/3/2008 I have caught several walleyes and some nice sized wipers out of sodens grove...but it is a hit and miss deal, I think they stage downstream and once a day come up there to the dam and feed. I have fished there and it seems to only last a few minutes and thay are gone. But is fun while it lasts i fished there a couple of days ago and didnt cacth anything for a long time then i caught 3 walleyes with in a 5 minute time period, the biggest one i kept it was a 3 pounder! just cont let the mexicans see you catch them!
Fished western shore line at Lecygne 2-09-08 for about an hour. Caught one small white, and two decent (12-14 inch) black bass on a small spinner bait.
Melvern-2-13-08 Took the boat to the lake hoping to fish for crappie, no such thing. The lake was completely froze over, from the east end to the west(this has happened 2 weeks in a row). Stopped at Wolf Creek and caught channels on our crappie poles, nice day to be out.
oh my god! the channel are biting like crazy! I could not use 2 pole yesterday! a bite every few seconds! most were in the 3 to 4 pound size. I took home a limit and ran out of bait and went home! best day this year. I will be there at daybreak today! see you there....
Please watch your mouth.
HAS ANYONE BEEN ABLE TO GET ON POMONA OR MELVERN? IF SO, HOW IS THE CRAPPIE FISHING? THANKS!
Melvern-2-18-08 We were on the lake today, we didn't have much luck(the wind came up). We did speak to a couple of guys that said at times it has been very good. Ice is gone except way back in the coves(water temp.36 deg.).
THANKS FOR THE INFO, HAVE A TRIP PLANED FOR THE FIRST PART OF MARCH, COMING FROM OUT OF STATE, HATE TO GET THERE AND BE ICED IN. ONCE AGAIN THANKS!
Has anyone fished Toronto Lake lately? I was wondering if the crappie were bitting down there yet? Thanks
Went to LaCygne today... fished off the bank at the hot water outlet and the bass were HAMMERING Orange RoadRunner heads with orange curly-tail bodies. Fished maybe 45 minutes and caught 6 nice whites and one keeper largemouth.
Anyone with an up to date fishing report and lake conditions for Melvern and Pomona? Thanks!
I'm planning a trip from the Columbus, Ks area to Fall River Res.(late March/early April) for crappie. Is it as good for crappie as the state say in there magizine and Great Plains Game and Fish says or am I wasting my time?
The crappie fishing is great at Fall river, but for real fun you should try to get up above Ladd Bridge around Otter Creek and catch some White Bass. You might find it addictive at first. Fall river is one of the top fisheries in the state for nice sized Crappie. They are not as big as the ones produced in Toronto Lake but the numbers are high. You should have a good fishing trip if you can find them.
Clay-thanks for the info.I'll try the whites when I go. I enjoy fishin'for them also.(normally on Grand Lake in Oklahoma.)
Thanks, Columbus Catman
Tried the pitts NW of Columbus for crappie this afternoon. No luck,we threw plastic grubs and hair jigs. We did catch 2 bass. Couldn't get minnows at any of our three bait shops, don't know if minnow would've made a difference. Columbus Catman
I have never fished LaCygne before and was wondering how the fishing was in general during the month of March? I would like to fish the hot water outlet and dont know if it is accessible by boat or not? I would be mainly fishing for bass and wipers. Any comments are appreciated.
to the post before mines. Not sure how the fishing is at LaCygne in March but the hot water oulet is accessible by boat. I've fished there only two times but seen Anglers catching some 4-5 lb stripers using Bluegills for bait just a few weeks ago. From what I heard the fish there aren't that good to eat. My guess would be because of the hot water.
Columbus Catman, I am from your neck of the woods. I have heard that Big Hill and Elk City are producing Crappie. My boys are waiting on the white bass to run in spring river. The information I am getting on the baitshops around Oswego is that there will not be any minnows until March 15.
I normally do good on crappie at big hill, never been to elk city res. though I hear it has a good population of white bass..?? as for Spring river, I was over it 3-4-08 it was bank full, when it drops and clears back up, look out!! The bait shop in Joplin, MO has minnows, I don't know about PR's in west mineral.-Columbus Catman
Neosho river is up at chetopa but was not in the park yet. I have had some good luck at the trout pit (sportsmans pits) catching limit within an hour using powerbait. This was a couple weeks ago.
I want to fish Toronto this weekend for Crappie out of a boat. Are the Crappie biting there and where would one unfamilar with the lake look for them? Any tips would be appreciated and I'll follow up with a "success report".
Thanks!
Melvern-3-9-08 Beautiful day! Water temp. 37 degrees, light winds. We fished from state park to Turkey Creek, we caught our fish in 24-35feet of water. The fish were caught 19-25 feet deep. Very few small fish and very light hits, we kept 30nice crappie. Going back tomorrow!
To the person who wants to Crappie fish in Toronto...If it is your first time going there Toronto is very stumpy especially in Mann's Cove. The lake level is low but if you take it slow u should do alright. Try jigging around stumps and hit the shoreline with the most sun. The water temps will be warmer there. Take along some minnows. You can also just go out from the boatramp in Toronto point and fish the cove there and do some good. You will just have to find them. Hope this helps a little they are doing some work in Mann's Cove so they have been lowering the lake to do some repaires.
Melvern 3-10-08 We went back. We fished the north side because of the wind. We only caught 6 keepers(3 over a pound).
You can access the hot water by boat it is on the east side of the lake. The bluff walls are a good place to fish if the plant is on. But that has been sketchy in the past month. LaCygne is a great place in March if the plant is running last weekend it was off. You can catch wipers there just about everyday with a crankbait. Weekends are crowded this time of year though. Good luck. Hope this helps
Fished strip pitts nw of columbus morning of 3-12 for crappie. No luck, caught 1 bass, missed 2 other bites. Used minnows around brush both shallow and deep(4ft-16ft).
Columbus Catman
Melvern-3-14-08 We fished around Arrow Rock, found fish in24-35 feet 0f water. Caught fish 19-22 feet of wateron 2 inch jigs but caught more of the crappie on hair jigs(1/16-1/32 oz.). We kept 24 nice crappie and quit by noon. No wind and water temp.41 degrees.
Looking for someone to give me some info on Melvern Lake. Would like to know where the brush piles are on the lake. I fish for crappie and would like to know the best spots!
Does toronto lake generally freeze over in the winter?
What is the depth of the lake in the creek channels?
Does the electricity stay on in the state park?
How much does the water level fluctuate in the spring?
Is there any way to find out if La Cygne is generating power and when? I would be traveling 5 hours to fish and didn't know if they had any schedule when the hot water outlet was on or not.
Yes you can call Linn County Parks at (913)757-6633. They should be able to answer that for you. But the plant is on as of last Saturday. And if there is a east wind the fish in this lake shut down more than any other lake I have fished. So check the forcast!
Heard white bass were running in spring river. Went Saturday and Sunday but no luck talked to some others that were fishing and they stated that they were biting better the previous weekend. Limited out at the trout pit Friday.
Columbus Catman, Did the one stop get in their minnows?
Jack at the one stop said he would have minnows on 3-15. I haven't checked back, but I did get some a PR's in west mineral. I would call one stop before hand. The white bass was biting at Baxter last week, but the river is approaching the levels of last June, as of this morning it was still rising. Is anyone getting any spoonbill or bluecats at Chetopa???
Just got off the phone with cashier at JUMPSTART in Chetopa and a customer just told her that the spoonbill have not made it to the chetopa dam yet but that they are catching them in miami. no word on the cats.
I requested info on Toronto Res. from the staff of the state park a few days ago via email. I would like to let everyone know how well and quikly they responded. I couldn't have asked for better service. I have also found the same type of service at Crawford SFL. Staff of these two parks,...GREAT JOB!!!
Thanks for the info on Chetopa(previous post). I am unable to snag for spoonbill anymore, but I still enjoy watching people snag for them.
The power plant at Coffey county is not generating electricity. Thus, there is no hot water being pumped into the lake. We fished today, 3/22, and the warmest water we found was at the boat ramp 50.7 degrees. Most of the lake was 47-48 degrees. They say the plant is down for maintenence, and will be down for a month.
Has anyone have a report on spoonbill at chetopa?
Going to Toronto instead of Fall River now for crappie(4-12-08). Does Manns Cove have a pay station?? Or do we need to launch from Toronto Point? We are coming from Columbus, do we need to bring bait, or is there a bait shop close to the lake?? Any info will be appreciated.
Drove over the chetopa dam on way to work this morning (10 am) only seen one person so I would take that to mean the spoonbill are not up to the dam yet.
make that last comment to read drove over the bridge by the chetopa dam....
Caught 9 spoonbill over the weekend at Miami. Heardthey finally started catching them at Chetopa. Biggest one that has been caught according to the Oklahoma fish&game is 62 lbs. the biggest we caught were only about 35.
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