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235 comments:
1 – 200 of 235 Newer› Newest»Come on warm temps!!! Im ready to get on some water. Ice isn't safe
Clay.......
Can you get a boat on either Toronto or Fall River? Anyone can chime in.
Thanks
You should be able to at Toronto point. If your wanting to go this weekend It will be pretty rough water. Winds ganna gust up to 35 mph. You might have to break ice if your going up in the rivers. Manns Cove was open. Its at normal level....Lots of trees showing Been awhile since its been at pool. I don't know bout Fall River It should be the same...
Fall River- We fished from 7 to 11 A.M. all around the lake. We tried different depths,colored jigs andknown brush piles that have been good to us. NOT A SINGLE HIT!! Tomorrow will be a better day!
Toronto- We fished yesterday and caught 7 keepers, we threw back only one. They shut the gates off in A.M..
Went to Melvern today, tried for crappie and bass. Nothing biting. Only caught one keeper. Hope to hit other lakes soon and give reports
Melvern Lake- We fished for crappie around Arrow Rock today. We found some fish in 24 feet of water, we caught the fish 16-18 feet deep. Slow day, caught 1 keeper.Temp.38 degrees
Toronto- Gave the crappie a day of rest and we fished for channel cats. We didn't count how many we caught but we thought we caught 2 limits. Our largest fish was around 7 pounds, we cleaned 8 of the smallest fish. For size the BEST place was west of Toronto on the river using crappie guts and livers.
Attempted first fishin' trip of the season this morning. Should have stayed home. Don't know how the fishin' was, but my luck was poor. I lost some gear out of my boat on the way, doubled back and found it though. Thought my trolling battery was charged, wrong. Dept Finder went of the fritz, great, and just too much wind. I thought I had everything prepared, but I guess I dropped the ball. Hope someone else had a decent day.
Catman sorry to hear of the bad luck. I was kicking myself for not going fishing today I will make myself feel better by figuring that I would not have fared any better then you did.
Thanks, the helps. For the record, I just took the charger off my battery, I think I got my fish finder fixed, and for the gear I lost, then found, I got it repaired and cleaned up. I wish I could calm this wind down. If it's nice, the wife said she wants to reak some havoc on the crappie this weekend.
Just made it in from fishin'. This morning, my youngest daughter and I gave it a try, caught 4 small bass. Lots of wind. This evening wife and I went back out and caught probably 2 dozen crappie. All six to maybe eight inches. Wife did have one about 10 inches. Also 4or 5 small bass, 1 in the slot. All the crappie came on minnows after dark. Bass hit crappie jigs. Maybe next time I'll get to fillet some fish.
Toronto- We had a good day catching channel cats on the Walnut. The baits were worms, livers and crappie guts. The creek was coming up fast. The lake is up about 4 feet from where it was Monday.
Caught a lot of bass and crappie on the Little Osage. Last Friday and Sat.
Toronto- What does the lake look like? Water clarity and level? Anyone caught crappie or channel cat at Toronto in the last several days????
IS Big Hill doing anything?
Big Hill is hot and cold right now, depending on the weather. Have had 25-35 fish days recently and 1-5 fish days. Kinda hit and miss. The fishing with be excellent soon.
Wife and kids gave it a try on sunday afternoon. Got to fish mayme 15 minutes before my 3 year old decided to fall out of the boat. Just about to windy to fish anyway.
This morning was a different story, well for my dad. He caught one heck of a mess of crappie, and channel cat of maybe 5-6 #'s. He brought it and 20-25 nice crappie home for him and mom. My nephew went also. Him and I didn't fare as well, we caught a few small bass, and I caught small crappie. Everything came on minnows, except for a couple of bass, which hit tube jigs. Fishing in 20-23feet of water around brush. Fish seemed to be 5-7 feet down, suspended over brush. Tickled me pink to see dad act like a big kid. This will definitly be a trip to remember.
What are the Crappie doing at Melvern? Anyone been fishing lately? We went last week of February with no luck...period!
Just in from cleaning some fish. Never have I done so well when a cold front moved through as we did this afternoon. Temp dropped 12-15 degrees, and wind picked up from the North. I don't know how many crappie we caught. They were all about 6 inches though. I cleaned 7 bass just under the 13 inch slot and one crappie. My wife caught the majority of the fish, and we let the kids real them in. Most came on minnows, but we caught several on jigs in about 6 feet of water over brush.
has anyone done any snaggin yet? i know the rivers are low, but my only chance this season is next weekend, just wonderin if anyone had any luck or if the spoonies are even there yet.
We went to Miami last Friday and caught 6 spoonbills. The river at the dam was up about 2 feet. We went back to the dam Monday and had no luck, went down the river 4 miles and caught 2, the river had fallen 1 1/2 feet. Do not know about Chetopa.
I have heard the white bass are running at chetopa and baxter springs. anyone have any info on this. I drove by baxterspring yesterday and no one was fishing at all. I figure after these storms pass might get the rivers up high enough for spoonies at chetopa and white bass at baxter.
Fished Melvern yesterday. Caught a dozen or so. Wind limited fishing spots greatly. Looks like the corp is still drawing the lake down.
I hope they did not flush all the walleye out.
Wife and I cleaned four crappie and 8 bass last night. T-strom rans us off water. Caught lots of short crappie like the last trip we had. Gonna try a different pit maybe this evening. Still using minnows, and catchin' a few on jigs.
Just in from fishin'. Slowed down quite a bit, but still caught fish. We cleaned 4 bass and 10 tater chip crappies. Mostly on minnows. Didn't do as well with jigs. Fish seemed to be scattered this evening. We've been fishin' the pitts around the Hallowell area. Just some advice, we've tried minnows from 3 different bait shops and PR's in West Mineral by far has the best minnows. They don't die before you get started.
Anybody fished Toronto or Fall River for crappie lately.
Think the rain will bring the neosho up any for spoonbills?
The Neosho and Cottonwood are both coming up. Better question is will teh Corp let it go out of Redmond.
looks like Redmonds release is 4000 CFS but the lake isn't up much at all so I wouldn't think that release will last very long.
Melvern- Fishing was slow. We caught 6 keeper crappies. Spoonbill- Neosho is up at Parsons and Miami,fishing should improve.
I heard they were catchin' the heck out of spoonies at Miami on Wed. A buddy of mine brought me a 30-35 # male this morning after work. Don't have anymore info on it. Looks like the weather is gonna turn nasty.
I liked it when you had to check in the spoonies and kdwp would put how many caught on the fishing report page under the chetopa spot. It was always neat to see the numbers. thought about going to look for some spoonies today till i walked outside. BRRRRRRRRRR
I drove down to Miami this morning. There was a couple dozen die hards down there jerkin'. I did see a few males caught. Some buddies of mine who were there said the water dropped quite a bit over night. I doubt theres enough water to get them to Chetopa. I also miss seeing the #'s posted on the web site. Then again I really miss being one of them jerkers even more. I would be happy to trade my 10"'s of scar for my ol'
10' rod. Sit tight boys, the sows will be at Chetopa soon enough!!
Miami- We fished along the side of the other diehards this morning. The locals said we were a day late, water was dropping. We caught 5 between two of us the largest about 50 pounds. Probably about 12 were caught between 8-12 am.
Nice to hear that but did you show the spoonies a map to chetopa? ha
anyone been down to twin bridges at the process center?
Just checked the Army Corps. web site. There ought to be a lot of water coming down the Neosho River. If I'm reading it right, as of now, it should be in the park. Maybe some spoonbill are moving up river out of OK. Good luck guys!!
Yea the Neosho at miami showing about 14k cfs but looking up at chanute the rivers already crested maybe redman being up 3' will open up some more to make a stable low flow...being the spring rains up today down tomorrow. maybe a few spoonbills will come up and stick around.
Do you use a barbed hook now days?
Always when fishing with bait for cats.
Correction - Circle hooks used when fishing bait for cats much better.
Also use circle hooks fishing bait for trout.
Circle hook mostly sets in lip not in gut or gills of course not 100 percent but very good.
Is chetopa holding any spoonbills?
I was down there this morning catfishin'... COLD! Did not wear enough clothes. There was 4-5 snaggers down there. Never seen a fish hit. The water was still just about bank full and dropping. Whether the spoonies are there, I don't know. One young feller said he has heard of 2 being caught there since Sat.
catman got any update on the spoonies?
A coworker of mine who live in Chetopa said when he went home Thurs. afternoon, the park was full of snaggers. When he came in this morning said there was already of few fishermen there. He said the river had gone down a little more. Good luck.
Anyone been up the fall river in search of white bass yet? Wanting to go but if there not biting I'd rather not waste my time.
Anyone fished the old iron brigde on the elk river for white bass yet?
Hit it a few days with no luck. Need some warm days and it would be great.
Just back from Chetopa.It's SLOW!! River has good current, but water has gone down a little more since yesterday. I's there 1 1/2 hrs, never seen a fish hit.Nothing.Quite a few people fishin' this evening, just no luck. I did get a few hooks and sinkers with my rope and chain. I would like to show Mr. Hayden where he can put is automated license system though. My nephew called me because the little computer at the jump start was down and he needed his permits. Closest place was Baxter. So my wife did it online for him. You got to love the extra convience fees they charge you for using your own ink and paper. Funny, I don't remember the old license pads ever going down. Thank you so much Mr. Hayden!
Know of some nice crappie , a few largemouth bass, a 6lb, and a 7lb, and a few white bass that were caught before all the rain and snow up in Elk River at Card Creek. Now the Elk Lake is about 6 ft high, with release of 2900 cfs. If they can get level back down in a few days, the whities will be going strong at bridge south of Elk City. Fishing will be good all over as long as water will stabilize.
I just fished the old iron brigde on the elk river for white bass. I caught one female and that was it in an hour, water temp is 54, river looks good but maybe just a littl eto high yet?
Is that bridge on on the Elk River on Hwy 160 or County Road 1550? I haven't ever been there but might want to give it a try.
The elk river is at both places. Both are equally good places to fish, just have ot catch them at the right time.
Anyone know how Redmond flatheads are doing? might go there later today...
So which one is called the old iron bridge?
its at the old iron bridge.ha its on the county road 1550 just north of midwest minerals gravel lot . the old bridge is gone the new ones in its place. theres parking on the north west side also parking on south east with multiple areas on the south side with trails to the river. Its a great place to fish/ access can trip you/ but some days theres no fish or ample. Good for white bass, catfish and flatheads..carp and drum are in the river as well. If you drive around south and west of elk city-the town there are half a dozen + small access points on the river that can produce.
Fished the iron bridge today. Saw one fish caught in 2 hours. Water temp is in the mid 50's. Still a little early - too cold. Need warmed temps - prob next week.
THANK YOU KDWP FOR YOUR INPUT ON WATER TEMP. OF SOME OF OUR LAKES. AT THIS TIME OF THE YEAR IT'S VITAL TO HAVE THIS INFORMATION. IF YOU CAN GIVE IT EACH WEEK FOR THE NEXT FIVE WEEKS IT WOULD REALLY HELP.
Good luck with getting an answer from KDWP on anything.
For you that are wondering about White Bass on the Elk River it don't look like it rained much above Elk City as the water at the ELFK1 Elk River Station is only up about .25ft and at 52.5 degrees and will probably rise from there. FYI Spoonbillers the water flow is 6885cfs at Parsons and 6396cfs at Commerce and 5694 at Miami and 4260 at Iola Your window of opportunity may be short. good luck!
Is it me or has spoonbills kinda decreased at Chetopa in the last decade? I know its rockn in OK. I know they stock Redmond with spoonbills are they just not making it down to chetopa and vise versa up from OK? Should the river be stocked as well? I know it takes like 7 yrs or something for a spoonbill to grow up but should something else be done? maybe the last few years I have hit it wrong but go at optimal times in my book .
Fished over at Toronto over the weekend. It was pretty slow. They were letting lots of water out. We wernt out that long just wanted to get the boat up and going. My son who's 7 caught a nice fat crappie little over 2 lbs. He was the only person to catch one. He was extremely proud of that. Once the weather gets a little more dependable Im sure the crappie will start going. We were reading a lot of fish just couldn't get them to bite and we tried everything.
Clay, give that son of yours a pat on the back and tell him catman said good job!! We gots to keep the kids interested and excited. About previous post on spoonbill. The spoonies being snagged at Chetopa are moveing upriver out of grand lake in OK. Yes, it is rockin' down there,but it's fairly deep water up to Miami. It takes a lot of factors to get the big #'s on up to Chetopa. Water temp, current flow, and of course enough water.If kdwp stocked the river, I imagine they would end up back in grand lake after the spawn. Hang in there, when everything is just right, Chetopa rocks also. Granted the window of opp. at Chetopa may only be a day or two, but it can be a blast. Sure wish I could still be down there snaggin to.
Does anyone know about Chetopa spoonbill, are they there? Is anyone catching any?
I was there on Sat 20 people snaging but I did not see any caught. A lot of big shad in the river to spawn I guess, white bass and wipers should be in the area if the water clears. River is very muddy and still up a foot or so. Did not catch any white bass at Chetopa, caught one at Baxter.
I dont know if it is just me but the big catfish just arnt biting!! I have been fishing in coffey county lake and john redman. I guess i havent hit the sweet spot yet :(
Anyone been fishing Melvern for crappie or have any updates? What is the water temperature? Have they started moving into the shore?
went to miami fri sat and sun the males are going strong and saw 1 60 and 2 80 lb it rained sat night and sunday so the river should be coming up shouldn't be long befor there in ks good luck i got 3 males in the 35 to 40 lbs
I used to fish Miami but since they made keep one and quit I haven't been back. I agree that 3 like they used to do was to much but string up 1 and quit is not enough. Every State around have a 2 fish limit and it wouldn't hurt OK a bit to do the same. I would maybe look again at Chetopa if I knew were I could use my boat and do good.
Huntnfish, its good to hear that you know more about fish management than the biologists in Ok. Maybe you should call them and let them know what they are doing wrong!?
catman on the spoonies i was just wondering if they stocked them in the river this far up would the fish return to that spot to spawn? Its just my concern you can go to OK and not buy a spoonies tag and catch all you want and more per day and keep one and at twin bridges they will even clean em for ya..i think thats good OK dept. wildlife does that and they get a pretty good kickback. come to KS you buy a tag for what a narrow window of a few days to fish at the best? Just doesn't add up to me. I would like to see something either kdwp stock em different and see what happens or kdwp do away with their spoonie research do away with the tag but have the season and if any move up then the sportsmen win that time. you go to OK and they snag all summer below the dams and do decent and all year on the reservoirs and do great. Why can't KS have spoonies in our larger reservoirs and snag for them? Just seems to me in KS we are just halfAn it and nobody's getting any benefit from it.
I agree, we the sportsman aren't benefiting from there paddlefish permits, and so called research here in Kansas. I don't see how they call it research when they just make you buy a permit. Research usually involves some creel samples, or tissue samples. Heck, they don't even keep track of how many is harvested. Thumb through the regs. at the license and permit page. Look @ everything they charged you for, and draw your own conclusion. Looks like they are doing an awful lot of "research"!
catman on them spoonies this yr research well a few weeks ago i got an envelope in the mail that has four pages, 1 info page and 3 pages of spreadsheet data tables with every day of the season and your supposed to put on the date you go your location,time your there, harvest, sex. They didn't need 3 pages of tables for that and the .59 cents to mail it out plus the postage paid envelope to send it back paper dont cost much but it still costs and so does envelopes. so about 2 bucks goes into getting their 'research' Surely a game warden and creel clerk could see no fish=problem problem=need a solution.. i could go on a soap box catman about their fees i think all these nickel and dime fees are there just to pad their pocketbooks and not specie specific targets. I think we could have a better understand just by talking to the OK wildlife dept. they have something going on down there. but KS must do some shocking and see what they got. Does kdwp ever take the shocker boat in the neosho and see whats at chetopa?
Actually when I lived in OK I did talk to several different biologists and they agreed with me. The creel limit was set by the legislation not the biologists. The biologists for Kaw, Keystone, Grand Lake and Hudson for actually lobbying the legislation to raise it back to 2. As for KS I really don't agree with the 6 tag limit and I also agree that they could expand the Spoonies to other lakes.
I just want to clarify my last post as to not sound like the lone ranger. I fished Miami for spoonies for 20 years both living in KS and OK before they lower the creel from 3 to 1 I just so happened to be living in OK at the time and it wasn't just me that was hollering at the biologists it was everyone who loved spoonbill fishing. I know that OK will not care that a guy from KS won't go down there anymore and that most people have 1 maybe 2 weekends a year to make the long trip to go spoonbill fishing. I am 2 hours away and I was 2 hours away in OK too. It is just my opinion but it is also the opinion of a lot of others too. Enough on that. I am ready for White Bass. :>)
any word on white bass at baxter. went saturday and first cast hooked very large Gar. of course one jump and he broke me off. after that neither me or my two boys had another bite in the rest of the time we were there.
Talked to a guy that caught some "big" crappie up the Elk River above Card Creek. The females eggs were nowhere close to being ready to spawn yet. Need warmer temps for a stretch!
Fished Melvern two days in last week. Tough have not found any consistent bites. Some on the dam but not a lot. Going tomorrow trying up the lake. Will post results.
I was thinking about heading out to the Mined Wildlife area to do some early fishing....I have never been there though, any ponds/areas better than others? I'm just lookin to take the flat bottom and catch some bass and crappie.
On the MLWA, just get your flat bottom in and fish slow. Plastic worms for bass, jigs or minnows for crappie. Some are better than others, but there are just way to many of them to try and sort out good from bad. We are gonna try and chase some crappie this weekend as well. Good luck!
catman
is there any pits at the mined land wildlife area that arent accesible by road that i could hike into and would it be worth while to try for bass in these pits? just wandering if you might heading down from salina on friday to fish there for a week or so
thanks
Any luck on crappie at Fall River or Toronto.
There are some small pits you can walk into and catch bass. But be extremely careful, turkey season is open, lots of hunters are out. The brush is also getting pretty thick, could be difficult hiking. Dad and I tried for crappie this morning and only managed three bass. Not the best day. We threw tube jigs, road runners, and minnows. Shallow, deep, around structured, nothing. Tried 2 different pitts. Maybe better luck tomorrow.
seen some nice spoonies this week get snagged they are running I got two myself at the damm in Miami Co. one female went 80#'s. good luck
Just cleaned limit of bass and 7 crappie. Fished the pitts. Used jigs and minnows. Bubblegum/red/chart, & white/black/chart. both 1/16 oz. Right on bank out to maybe 7 foot over structure. Just couldn't find the bigger females. Thunder off in the distance, turkeys gobblin' down in the timber, man it's great to be in Kansas in the spring.
Yes,
Crappie on the bank, mushrooms popping and warm temps can't bet it. I hope we keep being ignored. God bless and sharp hooks.
catman what pitts are you going to? I was out on the MLWA just west of Pittsburg and just caught a couple small bass. I'm no expert angler and this is my first season fishing in this area, I know enough but any helpful tips about locations and what to use for bass and particularly crappie would be appreciated.
For pitt fishin' I mainly stay in Mineral/Hallowell area(cuase I'm from Columbus). Crappie, we usually tube jigs, WHITE roadrunners, and minnows. I used to carry a tacklebox full of lures, plugs etc, but I also ventured to other places bass fishin', not anymore. Four years ago, I told my wife I wanted bass fishin' to be fun again like when I was young. So now, I have a lot smaller box and a lot more room in my boat. You will alway see me with a 7 inch purple plastic worm tied on (my confindence bait)texas style w/ 1/16-1/8 oz sinker. Now I do carry other baits don't get me wrong. Dad told me years ago you need the worm, rebal crawdad, rebal
pop-r, and a floatin' rapala minnow, and a beetle spin (caught my biggest crappie on beetle spin). Can't go wrong with buzz bait either. Good luck!
Looks like the Neosho is gonna come up, any word on spoonbill, blues/channel cats at Chetopa?? I'm ready to tangle with to big cats!
catman, the fish are getting to chetopa. Was down there today a lot of snaggers no spoonies, that i saw anyway. looks like the rivers gonna come back up some more there could be hope this week. But its looking better. got into the shad-nice size. got into some striped bass and white bass- i hate that but its part of snagging, i wish you could keep em. Of course the gars are thick. so somethings tell N me the waters warming up. Did see some people going for cats, didn't see any brought in tho.
Hey has any one ever had any luck snagging at the burlinton city dam?
Mike
never snagged at burlington..
Chetopa today..spoonies-slow but steady. prob. about 12 or so harvested in roughly 3+ hrs. rivers flow is good about to parking lot, a lot of snaggers with a few catching em. I would say its slow hopefully it gets better before the river goes down but don't think there's enough water to keep the river steady at its current stage.
Anyone got any type of report for Chetopa. Water level, catchin' any cats/spoonies?
looks like the bottoms bout to drop out. flow is gonna go down like a rock. ;( might wonder over tomorrow and see if any stayed around.
Any word on crappie at Fall River? Looks like the lake went up quite a bit.
talked to a gent that normally fishes chetopa. says that the cats are starting to come in. take it for what it is worth didn't know this person.
Tried for Crappie at Carbondale East last night using medium minnows and a variety of lures off of the dock and surrounding area. Not a bite. Maybe it's still too chilly.
Any Word on Crappie at Big Hill?
I was at Chetopa this morning fishin' cats, got a couple of bites using eggs, and worms. Did see some spoonies caught, seen several surface and roll in front of me. River was dropping. Guess maybe I should have spent 2.5 hours trying to catch some crappie at the pitts. Oh well! Can't catchem' if you don't try!!
Never been snagging for spoons before. Was planning getting away to go to chetopa during may 2 weekend. Anybody got any advice on where to park or pitch a tent? Also will the water be too low or run be over by then? Should be some rain before then i hope. Tried to search for some web sites with info but it's pretty scarce.
if your going to chetopa you should jsut go down to miami its only liek 20miles more
Went to toronto today and the lake is very high and muddy, water temp was getting close to 60 degrees at the surface, when the water goes down crappie should be on, i will probably try again on friday or saturday. The entire day was not a waste we went down to Woodson state lake (lake Fagan) and tore the crappie up We caught about 30 crappie around brush piles they were not the quality of toronto quite a few under the length limit and had to throw back we managed about 10-15 quality crappie (11-13 inch fish) between my wife and I, a lot of fun none the less. Toronto did have nearly all of gates open at the dam hopefully this will speed up the drain of the lake to normal.
Snaggin' at Chetopa can be a gamble. Miami is about as close to a sure bet as you can get when it comes to snaggin'. You can pitch a tent right there at the riverside park in Chetopa. I really think if we get another big rise in the river about that time, it'll be the BIG run. But if there's no water, no fish. Rememeber, if the flatheads move in, the state will close the season (in OK, you can keep snagged flatheads). Don't skimp on line! I used to use 10/O hooks and 4 oz. sinkers, have some
3's and 5's. This should help either at Miami, or Chetopa. Take plenty of hooks and sinkers.All the fish I've been seeing smaller males up to 60#s, grayish white. Old timers say those are fish that's been shallow and out of lake for awhile. They say when they're blueish/white, those are fresh from the deep holes of the lake. Heck, I don't know.Remember, the work is well worth the fight. Good Luck!!
Thanks for all the spoonie advice guys. Really appreciate it!
We hope to make several camping trips to Melvern Outlet Park this year and we would like to try fishing either the main lake or Outlet Pond. We may also bring a small boat. Are there any suggestions for good spots where the kids may have some luck? Thanks!
Thinking maybe trying Bone Creek Sat. for crappie. Haven't been there for about 5 years, any reports would be appreciated.
I didn't realize limit on crappie at Bone Creek was ten.Any report on Big Hill? Not for sure where I want to go now.
saw a good size spoonie female down at chetopa full of eggs. just need some more river flow if we get any rain this weekend should be a hot spot.
haven't made it over to big hill but Im sure if your in a boat the bridge would produce or the timber around it. this warm weather should help it a bunch.
With all the wind last night, stayed close to home. We caught lg mouth bass, warmouth bass, bluegill, green sunfish, and channel cat, but no crappie. I think I found one of the few pitts that doesn't have crappie in it. The bass were either really short and fat, or in the high end of the slot limit. And we caught lots of em. Fished minnows in 10-12 ft off a weed line breaking to deeper water. Just way to windy!
Heard Miami is hot for spoonies. Chetopa none to slow unless the river comes back up. come on rain....
Got rain up north, neosho is coming up, hopefully the spoonies will make it back up they aren't there right now.
fished the inflow at mound city lake yesterday evening w/fresh shad... no bites
fished some backwater of the little osage river nada....
anyone have any info. on spillway fishing??? hoping to make it somewhere this weekend
spillway fishing should get some crappie,white bass waters a lil cool for cats and flats but its getting better everyday. Fished elk city before they shut the flow off and didn't produce anything but carp.
Whats the water level at Chetopa? Are the spoonies flopping in the parking lot? looking at the flow it looks like its either bank full or well over into the parking lot! Just wondering if it would be worth the trip over.
Anybody know if any flathead have been caught @ the spillway in toronto.
spoonies at chetopa its slow though
YaW gas prices going up when fishing's getting good.
Been fishing the Cottonwood low water dam in Emporia, still too cold for the flats. I have seen some channel caught, and a cpl White bass. The river has been fluctuating up and down so often, it has really killed the fishing lately. Anyone fished Council Grove Lake...?
wat r spoonies
tastes like chicken
Spoonies, spoonbill, paddlefish.All the same unique lookin'fish. They kinda remind you of a shark, but with a shovel attached to their face. Definatly not the pretties fish, but put on a decent fight, don't taste to bad either (if cleaned RIGHT).
I've never had a bad piece of spoonie and have cooked it several different ways. The bad part you don't get much meat compared to the weight of the fish. Just watch out the red meat has some flavor HAHA Cut it OUT~!
I didn't mean it was bad, me and my family really enjoy it. I just meant to clean it right by trimming out the red meat. You are right though, that red meat does have some flavor, WOW!!
Curious about the fishin around Sedan? Is the water worse than stained?
I like the old City Lake.
Id jump in the pick up at hit Hulah, Maybe Copan or Kaw there all close by and a day trip. There in OK just get a lifetime nonresident fishing license for 275 bucks.
If not I would hit the city lake, or go over by caney on the river or even elk city reservoir and the elk river or keep going at go to big hill. all easy day trips or afternoon trips. all would be less than an hour drive.
Went out and hit a farm pond Friday evening before storms. Tried plastics, spinner baits/buzz baits, jitter bug. Nothing!! Wife had one fish hooked, but not landed. Boy, I sure figured we would've done better. Water was fairly warm, but kinda muddy from the winds. I don't know. I'm ready for more stable weather. Any reports from the Neosho River, I know it's still up, any flatheads/blue cats yet?
Sunday evening, took wife and kids and a bucket of crawlers out to fish an overflow runoff. Caught bullheads, greenies, sunfish, bass. And lot's of them, just good to catch whatever was biting. Nothing bigger than 12 inches. Water was fast and muddy.
How is the bass fishing in the strip pits? I am primarily interested in those around the Hallowell and Big Brutus area.
Is there any chance of being able to launch a bass boat in any of them? The last time I was down there, most of the ramps didn't look fit for launching.
How about Big Hill? Crappie?
The bass fishin' in the pitts should be really pickin' up.Haven't really tried here lately for bass with all the bad weather though. I'd say 90% if the ramps(the concrete ones) are in good shape. I know several locals that fish out of big fiberglass boats and don't have any problem.I've even seen people launch pontoon boats out there. Just be cautious and take a second look before putting in. I'd recomend of purple plastic worm texas style, but I'm awfully partial to that rig. Good Luck. How's the catfishin'??
Toronto- I was having fun catching nice channel cats and white cats until they opened the gates back up. It should be real good when they cut the flow again.
Hello - I'm going to be in the Big Hill area for 9 days starting 5/23. From what I have read, Big Hill has the potential to produce nice walleye/sauger. Any tips or locations woudl be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Can you please explain what a Kansas White catfish is? Please?
It is a blue cat that is lighter in color due to environmental conditions. Some may dispute this but THERE AINT NO WHITE CATS.
Blackdog40, thank you!! I been trying to tell my buddies that for years. Over here, we catchem' running up the Neosho from Grand Lake OK. For years, they've called them Mississippi Whites. WRONG! Like you say, they're blue cats. I read an information sheet put out by Grand Lake biologist, stating there was no such thing in Grand Lake. Over the last 5-7 years, we've been catching quite a few above the dams at Chetopa and Oswego, so they have definitly taken of residence. Maybe we will eventually start seeing the huge blues like you see in S.E. United States. If there was a white catfish in Kansas, wounldn't there be a state record for it??
Tried the strip pits by West Mineral last evening. Caught bait size perch and one small channel. Although a friend of mine did pretty well on crappie during the midday had one 13 incher, then he caught a few more yesterday evening he said. Wife and I went back out this evening and caught several small crappie. We did keep 6 crappie, one bass, and one channel cat. had 3 crappie over 11 inches, others were 9-10 inchers. Using minnow 3.5- 4 feet down, and black/chart. jigs with bubblegum jig head. Most of our crappie and a lot of my buddies still were full of eggs!! Tried of red/chart. jig, but it didn't fare as well. Water was murky. Wife did loose 2 NICE bass right at the boat. She tells me she needs new line tomorrow, go figure!
Strip Pit Fishing Report May 1 thru may 24th....
We have been tearing into bass this month.. We have caught a total of 234 this month but having problems getting the big ones to bite, the biggest we have boated was 3 pounds 10 ounces, and we have caught 6 over three pounds... Most of our fish have been inbetween 1 to 2 pounds... The spawn is over with here in the pits it was over for sure last week.. Some of the bass in the smaller pits are starting to go into there post spawn pattern... We have caught them on crankbaits, spinnerbaits, texas rigged worms... Right now to catch them try throwing bigger soft plasics for the big ones or you can tear into dinks for a small worm or a small crankbait... Good Luck to everyone and tight lines.
We are also looking for some members to join Reel Vicious Bassmaster we fish once a month in the Pits. We draw a pit out of a hat and we fish that pit or chain of pits that day, if you are intrested email me at levisnow@hotmail.com.. Only $5 entry fee if you are looking for a fun time fishing with a little competition Reel Vicious Bassmasters is perfect.
Fish up by West Mineral last night. Bass fished for a short while, caught one slot fish on a blue plastic worm. Then went after the crappie. Just about any jig color combo was producing fish. Wife was using minnows. She also caught a slot bass. Water was a little dingier with yesterday's wind, fish seemed to be a bit deeper.Cleaned 14, 3 nice ones, the rest were a little smaller. Beached the boat at dark and tried for cats with liver, few bites, that's it.
I believe the crappie are about done in the strip pits. We tried them again last night, but they seemed to be a lot deeper than last week. We used minnows and jigs. We did clean 18, but they were as big as we were catching last week. We did catch a few shallow about 2 feet down, over about 10 of water around brush. the deeper ones were in 15-17 feet of water. Tried for cats a while, we caught 2, one dink, and one legal keeper. On liver. Tried blood flavored dip bait, and liver and cheese dough bait, no results.
Just back from a weekend of R/R and a lot of fishing at Crawford SFL.Caught a lot of crappie, mainly 8-9 inchers, with about a 1/2 dozen SLABS mixed in. Used several differing colors of tube jigs in deeper water. We only caught one channel cat, while crappie fishin'. We used liver, worms, dip/dough baits, and black perch for cats, with only a few bites. A buddy that was visiting with us caught 3 walleye with one just under 18". Wife and I cautht crappie, bass, channel cat, perch, and a real good size drum this weekend. All in all, we did pretty good.
Clay.......
You been to Toronto fishing for crappie? I have never been there and am looking for a chance. What whould be your best advise for techinques and locations?
Thanks
Bustslab
Bustslab...I have been over there fishing my butt off but the crappie just seem to be not showing themselves lately. The lake had been so high for so long and they have been letting out lots of water. Its about a foot above normal but it was almost 25ft most of the time I have been fishing. I have caught a few but it has been very hard. I fished in Manns cove and Toronto Point with jigs and minnnows. I have also been in the rivers trying to find them. I don't know how much help I can be with this info. Its just been hard fishing. I usually catch 15-20 fish from 12-18 inches evrytime I go but lately its more like 1 or 2. The high water screwed with the spawn and I don't know if they did spawn. What I have been catching are still full of eggs so I guess they are just ingesting them back into thier bodies. I don't know what to tell you to do. I'm sorry...
We gave the cats a break and went bass fishin' yesterday evening. Fishin' great, catchin' poor. Fished the strip pits using plastic worms. Had LOTs of hits but no fish in the boat. They'd either hit it 1-2 times and drop it, or they'd just have hold of the tail. Tried down sizing to shorter worms, then they would'nt hit at all.I had one small bass hooked untill it jumped and threw my bait. Still a fun evening to be out.
Has anyone had any type of fishing success at Pomona? I"m new to the area was wondering what it has to offer.
I'm taking my three young kids camping at Melvern this weekend and we'll be fishing from the shore. What's the best bet to get them into fish, the outlet pond, the river below the dam, or spots on the lake (eagle rock, turkey point, marina, etc?).
Fish the River Pond below the dam. I would suggest the pond and not the connected river channel as it could be difficult to manage with keeping kids out of trees. There are very large bluegill in the pond and river (not the release river). Find a pier to fish off of and set the kids up with worms and bobbers. Probably have to use equipment that casts and not cane poles but they may work. Don't be discouraged if you can't find them at first. Keep trying different areas to fish on the pond. If you can reach some visible brush, that could help. 8-10" bluegill can be caught and plenty of them. Good luck. Maybe somebody else could chime in with their ideas.
Bustaslab has got it right the pond is the best bet and should be the easiest.
Thanks for the advice. My kids would much rather be in small bluegills all day than spend the day going after largemouth or walleye. This is helpful.
Hope they have fun
I went fishing all weekend at the pits by halowell no luck at could see the fish going after the jig but they never went for it should have used minnows
Went fishin' at the pitts NW of Columbus Sat. Evening. As the previous post mentioned, slow. We threw soft platics and crankbaits caught just of few small bass. The highlight of the evening, was my oldest daughter(6 yrs) learned to fish with a lure all by herself. Casting, reeling, set the hook on her own. I tied on a white roadrunner, showed her one time how to do it, and turned her loose. She went to "chunkin' and windin' right along with her mother and I and was content. After maybe an hour, she caught her first bass, then when we anchored about an hour before dark she got a real surprise. On her own, she got a real nice wiper, what a fight!! Now I believe shes hooked. One heck of a fathers day gift!! My wife also caught 2 wipers, she likes them also. The wipers came on liver over deeper water about dark. Nice to see the state putting wipers in a few pitts.
Fished setlines on Neosho above Chetopa this weekend. Had lots of bad luck!! I caught 3 blues, one channel, and one flathead. The biggest was a 15 # blue. We used perch for bait fishing holes. We also had 2 flatheads in a livebox 10-15 # each, but lost them. See my entry under dock squawk. Maybe better luck next time.
Catman, is the neosho wadable?
The Neosho is not wadeble!!Although, we did clean one bluecat that was chalk full of eggs still. Good luck.
Fished setlines above Oswego this weekend. Used perch, fishing deeper holes, caught four fish. Thirteen # bluecat, 12 # flathead, 8 # flathead, and a small channel. River was falling fast from Sat. to Sunday morning. Not bad, but could've been a lot better. Good luck.
Anyone know what all is in pit 30? I know there is trout, bluegill and bass. I was wondering if anyone knew of catfish or anything.
If Pit 30 is the trout lake, there is some good catfishing there, really good! I've lived here my whole life, but I can't remember the #'s, I go off names the pitts have aquired over the years. There is really good bass in there too. The bass and catfish love to eat them trout!!!
Thanks, Catman. Wasn't sure if there were cats in there or not. Haven't caught any yet.
Does anyone have any info on Toronto. My son and I are going down over the weekend. We will be trying for some cats. If anyone has any news it would be appreciated.
Toronto-7-17-09 Two of us fished the lake today for channels. We thought we had a good day. We caught 19 very good shape channels before noon. We found shad at Tor.Pt. and Duck Island. The channels ranged from 2 to 8 pounds. We drifted mostly down by the dam.
Been fishing at Bourbon SFL (Elsmore) 4 times this week. We have averaged 6-8 channel every night using mainly shrimp on the south half of the lake. Most were around 4-5lbs with a couple of 8-9 pounders. Was wondering if anyone else has been having any luck with shrimp?
Went down to Chetopa yesterday morning and did a little wading. Was using livers kept 3, one maybe 2.5 lbs., other two were just keepers. I caught 7 all together. My buddy that went with me had 3, all maybe 3 lbs. a piece, he lost a couple of nice fish that broke the serface. He said one of his was still full of eggs!
Fishing in the Pits NW of Columbus has been slow but did catch a 5pd 5ozer a wile back, my brother went out with me to the pits west of Pittsburg and pulled in a 6 pounder but as for number there not doing to good... Just to spark a conversation, since we have a high unemployment rate in this area. I was wondering everyones opinion on building a dam on the neosho river just east of Oswego and north of 69 highway. If the build the damn 50ft high the lake would stretch pretty close to st paul and up lighting creek it would go about 2 miles from mccune. I think if they build this lake it would open a lot of jobs in this area and also generate a lot of revenue for Labbette County and Cherokee County, and even Crawford County, then the state of Kansas would make a lot of Revenue off this to, and to top it off we may have a lake in Kansas that is worth fishing it would already be stocked with big bass, big catfish, and big crappie and would have plenty of structure. It would also be a decent sized lake. Maybe there is a way we could all get together and get this to the pass...... Just an Idea
Get it done sounds like a good stimulus project. Maybe we can take some of the money back from the bonuses that were paid. That would be enough to fund the project.
Yeah Blackdog it would be going for a good purpose to. I just wonder who I would need to talk to about it. Who is in charge of that in the state in Kansas?
I do not think it is the State but the Feds. Corp of Engineers. The only state agencies I would know about would be KDWP or maybe economic development.
Caught my first trophy class blue on a rod and reel, 50+ pounds. Also several blues and flats in the 10 to 20 range. Hammering creek chubs and small carp. River fishing is hot! Wish we could upload pics here. Tight lines...
Catfish John...Where you fishin'?? I talked to a couple of locals Sat. morning, after they got done cleaning their catch. Looks like your right, river fishin' is hot right now. I think they were fishin' the Neosho.
We're fishing the Marais des Cygnes in the holes under the riffles. It seems they're all under the riffles where the oxygen is. We've been using creek chubs mainly.
Fished Melvern this morning. We started at daybreak using jigs. Caught a few crappie early. A few keepers. Not really tremendous but it was a nice morning.
i have started to hear a lot about secret 7 catfish bait from team catfish so thought i would come to the one place where I knew I could get some feedback. has anyone fished this and how does it compare the other prepared bait. also I have heard that you need to use a umbrella hook. but do not know what an umbrella hook is. the team catfish site has a mini furry thing hook is this the same thing? just as a side note I see that steves in chetopa now has muzzy broadheads pretty good selection (better then wally world).
I have been using Secret-7 dip bait this summer. I can say it works well, if they want to bite! I bought their starter kit or something like that for about $50. You get quite a bit of stuff with it, 4 tubs of bait, a spray bottle of Dead Red which I have yet to use, and some treble hooks, kahle hooks, and the "furry thangs" and some tubes, a cool hat and a sticker. The furry thang is for treble hooks. I thought of buying some minnows and letting them die and then soaking them in the Dead Red juice. The kit is the way to go for starters, for all that you get with it. I have caught some nice channel on it with the biggest of about 6 pounds.
Melvern-Two of us went to Melvern yesterday and fished for crappie. This is the second time since the spawn. We fished 11 to 24 feet of water, allthe brush piles produce but one. We kept 27 crappie using black and chartruse, blue and white. Caught most of the fish 16 feet deep. Water temp. 74 degrees.
Went to melvern last Friday limited out on Crappie. Fished 10 to 25 foot of water on brush piles.Used gig heads red tubes tipped with minnows. Fishing was good!
Toronto- Pipe opened only-fished for yellows but had no bites. Fished for channels using crappie guts-slow- did managed catching 7 channels-1 to 5 pounds.
Melvern-9-08-09 We fished 3 hours before the rain ran us off the lake this morning. We caught quite a few fish but under size. We kept 17 legals, caught ontube jigs ( red/chartruse-black/chartruse-10 to 18 feet deep).
if anyone could give me the heads up for toronto flathead fishing i'd be grateful. heading up this weekend to give them a whirl
My Uncle went up in the Verdigris and caught #15 #17 #20 and #25 lb Flats Down river from 54 Highway. Set trot line with Goldfish. I know the lake is up 20 ft They had quite a bit of rain over there this week. The water was very muddy and high. Im suprised they did so well. I am sure they are releasing water so I don't know how the fishing is in the outlet.
Melvern- We fished for crappie,caught 34 legals. Lake up 4 feet but still clear. Water temp. 71 degrees.
fished at woodson county lake this morning and caught a bunch of nice crappie! i never knew that the crappie were that nice at woodson! the biggest one was 15.5 inches
we fished the verdigris about 6 mi. north of the 54 hwy bridge. we were lucky enough to get on some good private property. river was bank full and the fish bit well until late friday night when the drop started. ended up with 11 total fish: 10 flats and one channel. all between 10-25 pounds. caught most of them on goldfish and bullheads. it was a great trip.
Went to Melvern last Friday lake is up about 6 feet. I caught 20 keepers Fished watwe from 16 to 30 feet deep. Hadto keep moving would catch 3 or four from a brush pile and they would quit. Caught on jig and tubes tipped with minnows.
Thought I would drop just a quick note to remind everyone it is youth rifle deer season so if you are hiking to pits in the mined land wildlife area be aware and vigilant that there could be hunters in the area. The season ends on the 20th (Archery starts on the 21st)so there could be lots of hunters out and about this weekend. be safe and wish you the best of luck while fishing.
Toronto - Fished below the dam, gates were all turned off. Fishing was fast using chicken livers for bait. Caught a limit in an hour, turned all the channels loose( largest 3 pounds).
Melvern- Two of us fished for crappie and we had our limit of 40 by 10 a.m.. We used red,black,yellow chartruse fishing 12 to 21 feet ddep. Water temp.70 degrees. GREAT DAY!
this is off topic indirectly but for all those that enjoy the outdoors in southeast ks and ks as a whole but jack lacey pasted away in the last couple of weeks he lived in cheopta ks and may have been in charge of the damn where people in this area go paddle fishing. he served as the wildlife and parks secerty in the past and also was in state goverment so the next time you go fishing think about this man and what has been done in the past to make wildlife activies present in the future.
The father in-law took some secret seven catfish bait to the river this past week. with in an hour he had caught (2)9 lb, (1)8 lb, (2)6 lb, (3) 5 lb and more channels. this was told to me by his daughter. He had tried it at a pond but did not have as good of result. but is a believer in it for moving water.
Went to Melvern last Friday letting so much water out the Crappie had lock jaw Fished all day only caught 4
Melvern- Two of us fished for crappie today. We caught our limit but had to work harder for them today! Water temp. 68 degrees- light winds-a good day!
Been struggling at Toronto. Just started fishing seriously this summer. Tried worms, minnows, liver and some lures. Mainly fishing in coves but did try up in the river north of Toronto point a couple of weeks ago. So far, only caught one small channel cat. Wife and kids are giving me a hard time. Any advice on time/location/baits?
Newbie-Don't give up, just hang in there. Don't mind your wife and kids, I', guessin' they aren't serious. Stick with your bait you are usin', maybe try shad or live perch. Just don't make catfishin' work, it's supposed to be fun. I've only fished Toronto once and that was for crappie. But I here it's good for cats. Maybe you ought to try for crappie using jigs..?? Good luck!
Thanks Catman. It's becomming my mission in life to catch something noteworthy and prove all the naysayers wrong. Family teases but I'm sure they are pulling for me. Wife loves fried catfish so she has a vested interest in my success. I'll be sure and post when I do.
Does anybody fish for/catch walleye in Toronto?
Maybe someone else knows different, but I don't think there is any walleye in Toronto. At least not stocked anyway.
There are walleye in Toronto but they havent been stocked they have came down thru the river system I have caught two of them up the Verdigris River It blew my mind away and they weren't that bad of a fish either They were both legal fish. One as I remember was atleast 5 lbs. They tasted Great! Has anyone been catching any crappie I broke my ankle in a cast from my knee down Haven't had a chance to get out lately.
does anyone know of any other message boards, groups, websites, etc...to discuss fishing the pits around pittsburg, scammon, and west mineral? i fished them alot in the early to mid 90's and just got back into it again this year. i fished them quite a bit this year and made alot of notes on my maps and took several pics of the areas. i would like to find other people that fish them regularly to exchange notes, map locates, stories, advice for lures, or maybe even just to have a fishing buddy. i only fished from the bank this year but i'm hoping to get a flat bottom boat and trolling motor over the winter. thanks in advance for any info.
About other message boards post. Unfortunately KS is just not a big message board posting state. NAFC is prob the best, but you have to be a member and there are maybe only ten people that post, but some of them have lots of fishing experience. Zeiners runs http://www.kansasangler.com/ksreportanglers.html but it's been slow this year. And you get more big reservoir postings. I think you might get some success if you have any fishing stores you can post a little flier with your email/phone # simply saying you are looking for people to share each others tips. The more polite the better response you can get. I started chatting w/someone that I lost contact with and he sent me books on how to baitcast. I think we found each other on kansasangler.com
There is an angler group on facebook it is not local but if enough of us would use it then it would be.
crappie.com has a kansas board and bassboatcentral.com has one as well. I like both. Not many people down your way but some.
Melvern- Two of us fished 5 hours today with the results being 7 keeper crappie. Water temp. 54 degrees- a nice day to be on the lake!
Yes Melvern was a little tough today. They bite early but then shut down. Great day to be on the water though
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