Use this article to comment on any fishing issue in Region 2 or Northeastern Kansas. Keep discussions polite and appropriate. Any inappropriate comments will be deleted.
To view or add a fishing report, CLICK HERE.
Use this article to comment on any fishing issue in Region 2 or Northeastern Kansas. Keep discussions polite and appropriate. Any inappropriate comments will be deleted.
To view or add a fishing report, CLICK HERE.
184 comments:
does anyone know some good bankfishing locations on the northern end of lake perry?
Does anybody know if milford happens to have longear sunfish or orange spotted sunfish. I got a sunfish up there last summer and trying to figure out what it is. From researching on the internet those are the two sunfish that it looks like. But I didn't think those sunfish were found in kansas. Thanks.
Either one of those is a possibility. If it was a male in breeding colors it should be pretty easy to distinguish. If not, longears will be a little 'taller' (deeper bodied) than orangespots and will have a slightly to greatly extended opercle (ear flap).
Thanks for the info.
Shoreline fishing access to the north end of Perry Reservoir is rather limited. The best shoreline fishing access is along the K-92 Highway bridge or Ozawkie Causeway on the north & south sides of the road. There is also a limited amount of shoreline access in the Corps of Engineers Old Town Park and Boat Ramp at the east end of the causeway on the south side of the K-92.
The longear and orangespotted sunfish could have been seen in the Milford Reservoir area. The orangespotted may be more prevalent since its preferred habitat is sandy streams. There is a good book entitled Fishes of Kansas by Frank Cross and Joseph Collins that covers these fish and the rest of the Kansas species. It is moderately priced and available at many book stores and larger Wildlife & Parks offices.
If it was in face an orangespotted or longear sunfish; could it have been a potential state record? I am asking since I don't believe there is one for either one of these species. It was probably about 8-10 inches long. Just curious if I let a state record get away. Thanks.
That's pretty impressive. I can't count how many thousand individuals of each of these species that I've seen in my life and I've never seen one 10 inches long. If it was an orangespot that was probably a WORLD record (max length is about 6 inches)...I'd call guiness if I were you. ;)
I once caught a Pyganodon grandis on hook and line using worms, it was probably 6 inches long...I wonder if that's a state record...Chuck?
very amazimg people
The collection of a large specimen of either the longear or orangespotted sunfish would be quite unusual. However, KS W&P does not maintain a State Record Fish for either species and does not plan to establish new state angling records in their name. Neither of these species receive much sportfish angling attention. They are generally relatively small and most commonly frequent streams. They are a couple of the more attractive native fishes but not known for their sporting qualities. However, they can be legally harvested.
A comment on harvesting Pyranodon grandis or a flat floater mussel is unusual, but not unprecidented via hook and line. It is possible for your baited hook to find its way to an opened mussel. The hook can be wedged properly followed by a reflex reaction of the mussel to close resulting in an easy reel in of the mussel. If you really did capture a flat floater mussel or Anodonta suboriculata, hopefully you did release the specimen. This species is listed as endangered.
That reminds me. A long time ago I was trolling at Milford with a spoon when I hooked what I thought was a Rock. It turned out to be a what I would call a Clam.My spoon was gone. Inside of it, so I had to cut my line and lost my spoon.I have cought Rock fish, Tree fish, Buddy fish but was my first and probably last Clam fish.lol
No worries, mine was a giant floater. And I did release it. Caught it up in Pott #1.
Anyone else noting any new road closures on your local lakes? Last fall I witnessed several gates going up around the lake. A couple of these gates shut off good fishing areas, At first I thought that they were Seasonal road closures but while out turkey hunting today I found 1 Gate that has a big sign on it that says Seasonal Road and it was open. The other gate I saw was still closed and the only sign that is there says No Vehicals Allowed. Last yea I noticed that just about everywhere you could go camping they had put up No camping Signs. It would seem to me that either the KDWP or Corps of Engineers are trying to force us to go to the Parks maybe make up for some of that money they are losing. Anyone else notice any of this happening at your local lakes?
Milford is going that route anymore have closed a bunch of spots off i used to fish for free to force you into the parks. not a lot of hope for fishermen without a boat. I wrote them a letter and no answer yet. Even handicap fishing is limited to 1 dock i know of at milford. then you have to deal with boats coming in and out all the time.
This is really pretty petty, but I thought I'd throw it out there. Is there an easy way to get the blogs to sort recent to old with the most recent up top? That would make a lot more sense to me. Like I said, it's really small beans (or breams :) but I thought if there was something I could do to sort mine it'd be convenient. Thanks.
i sent a e-mail the the Corps of Engineers and they replied back to me that they are closing the roads off because of trash off road activitys and such they are saying that there budget is getting smaller but according to the KDWP they are having bumper years for people camping in their State parks. I'm willing to bet that the people are also caming in the Corp parks more too. So i can't see where they are getting less money having to be making more. I agree with the thought that they are just closing stuff down to force the people to go to the parks and spend money...I know this they will not get any of my money I will either spend my money in the State parks or i will go to places that don't require me to pay!
Went to Clinton on Friday April 7th,very windy and not a crappie to be found. Caught a few channel cats, and Drum.
Anyone having any luck at milfor for cats or blues yet this year. Planning on heading up this evening or thursday. Thanks
the corp and kdwp have been closing roads for over 20 yrs to save on upkeep, the roads that get tore up repeatrdly by 4x4 seem to be first ( ive seen counties do this also) always remember that there are other people who use public things
South end of Milford has 6-8 ft of visability and the smallmouth bass are hitting anything that moves!!!
They also closed the south entrance to the river pond area at Tuttle Creek Lake because of construction. They were "Not" going to reopen it but thanks to a petition Mike Hayden decided it was within the budget to reopen it in July.
hey mr. electro-shocking person (wardon)s. RE: Lake Perry- Have you guys ever brought up a paddlefish with that contraption? Back in the mid 1970's, I would see dried out 15-24" long dried out but fully intact spoonbill on the shores of the old town area where camping was allowed. There would be one every 30 or 40 yards close to where the old swim beach used to be during early summertime.
This weekend I'm going fishing at Banner Creek, any tips or advice? No boat, so will be limited to bank fishing.
I fished Banner from the bank last week with some friends. We fishing by the boat ramp on the north side. A buddy caught a nice 4lb+ largemouth. We all some largemouth and some bluegill. It was easy to walk and fish in that area. Had a good time!
The question about electrofishing; Yes, the electrofishing boats will sample paddlefish. Currently, Perry Reservoir does not contain a paddlefish population. This species perfers the large river habitat. There is a low density population in the lower Kansas River and an occasional specimen in the Manhattan area. KDWP did stock paddlefish in Tuttle Creek in the mid 1990's but the population easily moved from the reservoir and reproduction was never documented.
thank you, probably residual fish from before lake was filled.
what is the average depth that flathead catfish are brought up from while electro shocking. Specificly Wyandotte co. lake and perry please.
Anybody fishing up at Miami State Fishing lake today or next week thanks for the info
i need fishing reports form Miami State Fishing lake
Few bass chasing bait against rip rap at Miami last week.
How much crap is on Milford lake currently?? Logs, etc from the high water, will be going down middle of week.
All the lakes will have some floating debris during this period. Remember to be on the watch, but one should generally keep an eye on the water's horizon. There is lot of debris out there but it will subside. The water is going to be high for a while there is just not much room in the Kansas River for all the lakes to allow quick releases. On the good side, hopefully this will allow for development of good year classes of sportfish to enjoy in future years.
Question for fish Bioligist in Hillsdale lake...I caught two walleyes now with the VIRUS eating away the tail of the fish...havent seen it much on the crappies lately but its now affecting the walleyes in the lake. What causes that slimy virus to thrive in that lake??
anybody catching anything from the upper delaware recently?
I know that there is expected to be high releases at the Milford outlet for a while with all the rain that we have recieved. My question is when the lake gets down to near normal levels will USACE shut it down to 200-500 cfs like they were previously doing, or will they for a period of time go with a mid-range release like 2000cfs? From my experience it seems that fishing below the outlet tends to be best at that level. I would presume that it provides optimal conditions (current, oxygen levels, etc.)for fish. Can anyone shed some light on this for me? Thanks.
Depends on the water levels of the mississippi, ohio, missouri, and kansas rivers. Probably depends on the big blue, soldier creek and stranger creek also. There is a USGS kansas water table gragh map that will tell you the high, normal and low water tables if you can find it. It's pretty interesting looking at the map of all the rivers highlighted in different colors. Get a cast net and check for shad when they do release water and start fishing when they (shad, drum, carp)show up.
Thanks for the info. For anyone interested in links for water conditions these are the links that I generally use:
http://waterwatch.usgs.gov/?m=real&r=ks
http://www.nwk.usace.army.mil/WaterManagement/
http://www.nwk.usace.army.mil/mi/daily.cfm
i know osage SFL and Carbondale are in region 5 but being so close to topeka, does anyone know where I could get a contour map of Osage SFL? I would love to try there for walleye and Crappie...any help would be appreciated.
RE: about walleye virus at hillsdale. It seems that walleye are born with 4-5 mutant genes and they are activated with warmer water temperature. Amount of amino acids in the fish (or water?) has an effect to. From what I could figure from an article I read, seems to remiss with cooler water. KWDP could tag a few infected summer fish with transmitters and recatch them in early December. But if fish die or get eaten by other fish before then, we'd have to resort to plan b.
read where someone caught an 11# 7oz. walleye at Perry outlet in the past week.
Hope they didn't snag it like the last 11 pound walleye I seen caught there.
Fished milford last night hard slow catfishing 4 hrs to get 1 =12 pound blue and 1 =7 pound catfish. But did better than my buddy with me. He about swore off fishing. Setting side by side and he catches to big old snappers in a row on cutbai . LMAO
Does anyone know where there might be some Bullhead fishing in NE Kansas? Thanks
Places for bullheads-
Deer creek on the west side of Clinton lake. Little slough creek, the west side of Ozawkie bridge on the south flat and a few ponds on the Ferguson hunting area at Perry lake. Any decent size drainage ditch/pond along the highways/roads. Watch out for snakes.
any creeks that flow into hillsdale lake or any reservior in kansas have bullhead. Since you didn't scout a place for bullhead this year,you are better off finding a pond. (poison ivy is one reason)
Ive never caught or seen a bullhead come out of hillsdale lake in 17 yrs of fishing. The big CATS must be doing their job. I know some folks use Bullheads for flathead fishing and thats probably how it all got started...Cant wait to start seeing those Asain carp jumping into your brain in a few years time..it wont take long for some folks to start using those for bait. they ought to kill the entire kansas river system but that will never happen..Does anyone ever hear of any action to disrupt the new invaders in KANSAS...I havent..Maybe its time to take that job over since its just not happening...
Good bullhead fishing is hard to find in NE Kansas. The streams contain only small fragmented bullhead populations in recent decades. Bullhead populations have been subject to habitat change and out competed for food and space. In public impoundments, bass populations prey upon young bullhead to possibly near elimination. The best bullhead populations in the NE would be in a few private ponds. I understand there is better bullhead fishing in private waters in the SC and NW Kansas. Exact locations, I am not sure.
If you run across a pond with 3/4 pound or larger green sunfish, it could have the 2 pound bullheads that one should look for if fishing for them. Just my opinion.
Is there anyway to have a game warden or KDWP officer at the milford spillway regulating the harvest of fish. More particularly wipers. I see at least 10 people everytime I'm down there keeping what appears to be way more than their limit of wipers, and well below the length limit of walleyes. the state could make a killing off writing tickets down there.
I guess the best we can do to control the over harvest of Wipers is to report all violations we encounter to KDWP officers. If enough incidents are reported on an area they may send an officer out there, we must understand that there are not enough officers to police all area's.
Another thing, there's no such thing as giving away a fish either. It counts on the person who caught its creel. A few years ago Steve Fields went undercover and that ceased all the problems.
What kind of fishing warranted that undercover work?
Overharvest of wiper, short walleye, they also hide their fish in coolers in their vehicles. I've seen them take 20 wipers before, not just little, unmistakable ones either.
I originally posted this topic. I was there last night and a "gentleman" left with his limit, then came back 30 min later and started over again. Many people have called and reported these incidents, all they say is that they will take care of it, yet nothing is really being taken care of. Wonder why I spend money on hunting and fishing licences. did manage to catch a nice walleyejust before dark, bunch of shorts too.
That is legal as long as he doesn't KEEP any species that he has already limited out on and kept. If he's in violation he'll pay the price eventually.
Chuck- if it is still possible and hasn't been suggested- have the person who caught the 25 # hybrid check to see if he qualifies for a line class record.
Theres too many wipers in Milford and I think (opinion)they are the root cause of the Zebra mussels infestation as well as the white perch. No specifics, but draw your own conclusions. This topic is a can of worms and should provide plenty of blogging hours.
I read an article where they (hybrids)grow 15 inches in their first year in the water. Those are eating machines for sure.
I'm looking forward to see if the zebra muscles can clean up the Kaw river any but after finding out about the carp infestation happening, I not sure what to think now. I guess I'll be respooling the bow reel for future fishing. I hope they can't clear the dam at Lawrence assuming they haven't already.
They were at it again last night. I even asked a guy how many wipers he had and he said 4, then got nervous and left. Saw 3 other guys taking all fish up to their truck, mustve been 7-10 fish, all looked to be big wipers, unless he caught the state record white bass 10 times over. It's not just the illegal fishing, too many people just go down there and throw trash,(had 3 beer cans float by me last night) and line, and leave bait boxes and stinky livers and dead fish everywhere. It's rediculous, I can't even take my kids out fishing. There's no excuse for the gross misuse and conduct of some of these people, and it's not like this is a new issue for the Milford outlet, been like this for as long as I can remember.Would a KDWP official please comment on this, and at least give some excuse as to why this keeps going under your "radar."
I remember when some of those guys (wardons) would walk a half mile or better to write a ticket. That was when the wiper program was in it's infancy.
Yeah, you're right- there is no excuse for the trash. Disregard and laziness come to mind.
YOU CARRY YOUR STUFF IN YOU CARRY IT OUT ALSO LEAVE IT SO NOBODY CAN TELL YOU WERE THERE.
What they did at Wyandotte county lake to curb littering was to give a 2 year or so posted warning about littering certain areas of the lake. If conditions didn't improve, that section of lake would be off limits. If anything, conditions worsened and they ended up closing the entire dam to fishing and sure enough it stays clean nowadays. That was about 7 years ago and it's still off limits.
A few years ago the COE shut Clintons outlet down to public access completly because of trash, and shortly after reopening they closed it again. That time the message sunk in. People started videoing violaters and turning the "evidence" over to the COE. People were banned and others fined.
Thanks for all the comments guys, at least I'm not the only one who feels this way about our natural resources. I don't think shutting it down would work at the Milford outlet, the same people would just migrate to a new spot and funk that up as well. Takin action and writing tickets and so forth is the only way. When you start messing with peoples money they seem to pay attention.
Close it down, teach em a lesson.
The fish will still be there, it'll
make everyone accountable. Mount
fake cameras on the lightpoles.
They destroyed the lights and
cameras that watch the box there. 1
week with a LEO down there is all
it takes. Ante up for budget cuts.
If the fishermen are abusing their privilege shut it down. Every time they drive by the closed fishing hole it will make them think "what if" or "I wish I wouldn't/would of ..."
For those who will suffer from the wrong doing there, they will find other resources for what they want to do.
Just shut it down? Why do I have to pay for other peoples stupidity? I agree there are people keeping fish in coolers,taking snagged fish and giving Wipers away to othersafter they have thier 2.. That whole milford outlet makes me sick. We dont let people get away with it here at Rocky Ford. You want to stop this, Get involved. Call a Warden or better yet speak up!Just be polite and say something like "You know you can get fined for that" Or "you know that's not legal right"Everyone that fishes there needs to get involved. If KDWP cant or wont then it's up to us!
Oh yea, Congrats to the guy that cought the new State Record Wiper!!
Hey Chuck,I have a Question. On April 9 2010 Justin Shiney from Toronto KS caught what he beleived to be a 9.7 Lb White bass. His pictures clearly show one tooth patch but the Biologist was not comfortable making the decision so he sent a peice of the tail to Texas for analysis. What was it a Wiper of White? Any info would be great. Thanks.
To tell you the truth, in my younger days, if I approached someone doing illegal fishing and they didn't pay heed to my word, I'd pound their head through their shoulders with my fist. These days I wouldn't want to take the chance of getting into a fight simply cause I couldn't back up my words. Ah, to be young again. It wouldn't be any fun ending up at a hospital when all I wanted to do was go fishing. All it has to do with is the way the violators were taught fishing ethics while learning how to fish. It's not hard to walk away when your through legally fishing, just simply put it all away and leave.
Fishing ethics I'm afraid are a thing of the past, everywhere. I'll share a "hole", area with anyone, if I'm fishing a jig, some will step in, we'll say, cut you off fishing a bait rig. Or, the guys who throw across the outlet and sweep down stream the full length of their cast tangling everybody, and continue doing it to run you off.(that way they can overharvest) I drive an hour to fish the outlet at Milford and really don't want to just leave. I'd rather push them in the water, which I haven't. It "sucks" to be there before them, and get cut off. Yes there are some who don't do it on purpose, but when they show up in large groups I really don't think so. And NO WAY am I going to say anything, people are crazy anymore, it's not my JOB to police the public. I don't have a cell phone, so calling to report is not a option for me, thats why I'm complaining here at least there's a degree of animity. And how would I be penalized for them closing down the outlet, the fish will still be there when it reopens. I don't feel sorry for locals who might have to travel to fish. I'm from Salina, and we don't have a lake, we have to "migrate" to fish anyway. So now maybe you see my problems with unethical fisherman!!!!
Here's something to try there . I do this when I can remember to. Most fishermen break for lunch or whatever around 11:15 a.m. or so. Show up around then and if the crowd doesn't show back at around 1:00 p.m., you'll more than likely have it for yourself until close to 3:00 p.m.. Thing is, what will the fish be doing? But if everyone who fishes when it's crowded there reads this, you're back to square one. Just a suggestion here- In the future try getting there like 5:00 a.m. or earlier. I've seen impressive stringers of crappie in outlets already caught when I would show up at 6:00 - 6:30a.m.
So I was somewhere near the Milford spillway as usual this weekend. Did manage to catch a 28" walleye and a few around 22". Last night I went down early and began to fish when a guy walked up and asked if he could tie his stringer off by me. I said I don't care, and asked if he had a wiper, he said yes and then I informed him that they have to be 18" to keep. (his was maybe 12-15") He said "So the guy next to me has a bunch this size, and he told me they only have to be 12" to keep." I said Ok and went about my business, and then called Operation game theif to see what may happen. An officer answerd the phone and sounded very enthused and stated he would send an officer there as soon as possible. This was at 8p.m. I left at 11P.M. with no sign of any official, and the perps. left shortly before me withg their wonderful catch. Any answers why this is happening?
If I were you, I would call Topeka (state capitol) and see If there Is a police advocate that includes the game wardens in Kansas. But to tell you the truth, wiper don't cook up worth a duke compared to some other freshwater species. Keep in mind though I would only try calling Topeka if I was going through what you are going through. How much you recon a 28" walleye weighs?
I am glad to here that there are so many people (other than myself) at Milford outlet that have the kind of respect that I do. Not only for the laws but general fishing courtesy. Perhaps in the future when I see something wrong I can be re-assured that when I point out someones errors that someone nearby will back me up.
Walleye are the only fish in KS outlets to have a length limit. Good luck calling Topeka, you'de have better luck calling a Reg. Supervisor or maybe one of the commissioners. Maybe if we complain enough they'll try to sell Milfords outlet off like Rocky Ford. A 28" walleye is in the 8# range, nice fish. I believe part of the problem is the "No Trash" policies, they're not working, and how much money are we really saving. Waste management needs some TARP funds to stimulate the economy. Then we could justify burying/burning our money.
Continued........ With the number of individuals I see here that are concerned about the situation at the outlet perhaps we could start up a group of some sort. Also maybe open up a dialogue with the local fish & game officers. I personally have always wanted to get a group together to go down there and collect trash once a month. What do you think? Anybody interested?????
Can someone explain "possession limit is three times the daily limit". There are no length limit on wiper unless posted otherwise.
It is probably time to make a few statements on wipers and aquatic nuisance species.
- Wipers are congregating in good numbers below the Milford Dam due to the high releases from the outlet. Wipers are prone to migrate from the lake at these times. That is one of their drawbacks. Tuttle has not been stocked with wipers since that lake is prone to high releases.
- Wipers are good eaters but do not grow to 15 inches in the first year. They should reach that length during their third growing season. Studies show that they prefer smaller shad just like a lot of predaceous species.
- No wipers were responsible for Zebra mussels being in Milford. That was a good one. Zebra mussels can not swim upstream therefore they were transported to the lake by people or aboard their toys.
- Zebra mussels will not clean up the Kansas River. They compete with small fishes by consuming plankton, attached to everything including water intakes and degrade habitat.
- Milford does not have minimum length limit on wipers. However, there is a statewide creel limit of only 2 per day. Yes, it is illegal to harvest more than 2 per day.
- It is true that the Asian carp invasion is another threat to the resource. Stay on the alert to keep these invaders from our reservoirs. They are in all waters associated with the Kansas River and its tributaries. Do not transfer them to other waters via a bait bucket and it is illegal to have them in your possesion alive.
Chuck- I commented above about the hybrids growing to 15" and about the zebras cleaning up the Kaw. I went through and rechecked sources where I found previous hybrid information. One source says by age 3 they can be at 6-7 pounds. Another source says they can be 275mm (10 3/4") in year one. They grow from that length to 550mm (21 1/2") in year two. I'm assuming they are stocked in Kansas as fingerlings, hence the 15" length they attain in the first year IN THE WATER. About the muscles cleaning up the Kaw- I'd like to see clear water in march at Bowersock for pre-spawn walleye. Same goes for the I-435 riffles down stream. A note here for you guys (wardons). Over 20 years ago, the wardon named Johnnie Ray showed up during a white bass run one day and after checking licences had 4 or 5 of us gather around for a lecture. He showed us the difference between male and female white bass, explained how much water we needed for a good run, and the best of all- how he was the wardon who introduced the striped bass to kansas back in the early 1960's. He was proud of that, I think. Point being here, any hand you KDWP people deal us, we'll follow the best we can. Thank you
Zebra mussels and white perch are being transported via bait tanks from anglers fishing for wipers/stripers. Another culprit are those big ski boats that have ballast tanks to keep them on plane. KDWP has info on wiper growth rates right here on their web page and they do grow fast. The carp unfortunately will continue to spread inadvertly by anglers who don't know the difference (about 98% of them). In
Europe most countries make anglers take a test (similar to Hunter Safety) to apply for a fishing license. If we followed suite we'd eliminate much of complaints here on the blogs. Education is key here, and we have to start somewhere.
when it's time to make the signs posting the illegal possession and movement of the ans species, write some of them in spanish and the majority oriental language of the people fishing the problem areas. Somedays it would be up to 15 hispanic fisherman to 1 or 2 english speaking people. They can catch fish as well as we do, but not knowing about the ans species problem could unknowingly do more damage.
Milford Reservoir
16,020 acres, 5 miles NW of Junction City on
US-77.
Blue Catfish - 5 fish daily creel limit.
Channel Catfish - 10 fish daily creel.
Flathead Catfish - 5 fish daily creel limit.
Crappie - 50 fish daily creel limit.
Largemouth Bass - 15-inch minimum length
limit, 5 fish daily creel limit. Smallmouth
Bass - 15-inch minimum length limit, 5 fish
daily creel limit. Spotted Bass - 15-inch minimum
length limit, 5 fish daily creel limit.
Walleye - 18-inch minimum length limit, 5 fish
daily creel limit. Wiper - 2 fish daily creel
limit.
ANS Alert - Zebra Mussels
(Unlawful to possess alive)
----
If you actually read the fishing regulations you would see that WIPER has no length limit in MILFORD period. You can keep 2 fish no matter how big.
There is no state length limit like the walleye at 15 inches.
The Wipers leaving the lake are fair game but you can only keep 2...
Has anyone been having any luck in the actual LAKE ???
Hey, why did you use all that space man?
Tried Milfords outlet last night again, I don't think I'm going back. There are some really selfish anglers down there, and they're locals who speak English. They'll cut anybody off for some 10" whites. One guy even snagged his 2 year old while casting. Sorry but I can't take this anymore.
Well, if you do change your mind, next time pick a spot to fish and fan cast the area. Keep your spots at 25-30 ft. apart. Fan cast again. Keep doing that(moving) so you draw attention to yourself. The less they can concentrate on fishing by watching you, the better you'll be. It'll help if you can reel in a good one or two while they are watching. Sending them home "disgruntled" is the idea here. Make it your fishing hole.
Ok well was thinking of giving the Milford outlet a try, but after all the comments will pass, maybe if you can keep at it things can be corrected but I can't abide such people as the ones that can't abide by the rules of common respect.
Just move downstream from everyone else. Use three way rigging using strips of beef liver. Stay there as long as possible. It could take awhile to get 10 channel cat and 2 decent wiper. The slower the current- the lighter the lead and line.
I find it funny that people on here that want to complain about the Milford outlet feel that it's not their place to say or do something. The last time I was at Milford there was this guy casting all the way to the other side of the river and letting it drift down stream where we were fishing. About the 4th or 5th time he snagged my line not to mention every one elses I walked up to him and told him he shouldnt be casting out that far and I was getting tired of it.He stopped doing it.I also drive about 40 min to get there. I'm will not just pack up my stuff and go home. I will say something!
If you would like you can write here. KDWPinfo@wp.state.ks.us
I just wrote and asked for increased Natural Resource Officer pressure at Milford Outlet. Maybe if more of you guys write they will listen.
Hillsdale KWPD - Why isn't there a daily information report for hillsdale lake? They can be found for other lakes by scrolling down to Current Lake Level (underlined in brown) and selecting to go to next screen. All Federal reservoirs have this option except Hillsdale. One could save fuel by knowing if Hillsdale was releasing 1200 CFS (for example) instead of driving extra mileage to Pomona or farther for the same type of water/fishing conditions. Plus, it gives us something else to look at while visiting the website here.
USACE KS Water management
USGS Waterwatch
Try em they'll show your info
That was my fault about telling that guy wipers had to be 18". what was I thinking. I just had it in my head that the length limit was 18" as it had been previously on the lake. guess we all need to pay more attention to the regs. in my defense though at least it was incorrect in the right direction. Sorry to the gentleman I told that too. I really do try to keep up on all the regs. just had a brain fart I guess. Last night at the outlet, very slow, few wipers and short walleyes, lots of catfish though.
You can still go up to them and say no littering here in the outlet.
kwpd- jason g.
if this makes the situation (asian carp) any better, then good.
All of those asian carp on the new video (I-435 kaw river)is the first time that carp species has been there in numbers like that. Last year they weren't there unless the construction company there noticed. I would of noticed too. Only thing that would be in that spot shown on film was the occasional channel cat. If someone wanted to get into the catfood business, that would be the fish source.
Something to think about, the new state record striper was caught on imported bait,as was the 40# previously caught. As a matter of fact, the person was also run off of Lakewood Park in Salina for using his big boat to throw-net bait. Now he's been glorified with illegally caught fish. TAINTED
The asian carp are coming and theres nothing we can do about it. I guess we can use them for bait.
Been having luck for catfish in the lake all along at sunup till around 11am . Been catching some nice blues and channels. Headd up ther this morning. School creek area maybe.
Thank you for taking an interest in the Aquatic Nuisance Species issue. It is true we can not keep the asian carp from invading the Kansas River or its immediate tributaries. However, we do not have to give up. I would rather go down trying to avoid the unpleasant situation of asian carp lowering the quality of our reservoir fisheries. We have to continue efforts to educate everyone that transfering these beasts to other waters is wrong. It is important to keep the infestation away from impounded waters.
If the person knows who is using Asain carp in lakes that do not have them then they are personally responsible for making sure those folks are prosecuted and stripped of their God given rights to fish in this beautiful country we live in. If this is true then those folks need to be watched very closely and caught doing this type of illegal activity. This is the very reason every body of water will be destroyed at the expense of a few people who thought they had a edge over other anglers using bait that would eventually ruin all that we know is good.
they seem to have a real good headstart. I read where China eradicated their carp supply by consuming all of them. Another place had a spill of some sorts and 90% of fish killed were asian carp. My suggestion here- if you find any dispose of them with any feasible means.
Seen the video, my son was in Olathe this last July and where they fished he says the video doesn't do it any justice. He says the water was black from them, everywhere. He also said the catfish would hit Asians for bait, nothing else the week he was there.
Not wanting to stir the hens in the coup but I'm observing 2 things now that could effect Hillsdale. One is the silver carp migration from Mill creek/Kaw river confluence to Olathe. When I started working construction in 1987, we traced Mill creek all the way to what is now 1/8 mile n.w. of old hwy 56- I-35 exit where the small pond is. If the asian carp make it down that far from the kaw, be ready. The second thing I 'm observing is how the feeder creeks of both Hillsdale lake arms start to darned close to creeks that lead to the Kaw. The other hillsdale creek arm (spring hill area) could hook up with wolf creek which is a tributary of the Blue river which flows all the way to the Missouri River. We know the carp are in the Missouri R. Once in Hillsdale, it's down the spillway to the Marias de cygnes, to Truman lake and lake Ozark if they choose to swim downstream. If this happens at Hillsdale I'm adding blue herons as culprits to some of the spreading. If you have a kansas atlas (topo) book, you might be able to find other similar areas.
Chuck- Can you give reasons that Lake Perry doesn't receive walleye fry stocking and Milford received over 92 million fry and over 100,000 fingerlings in 2009. Seems like over a period of 4-5 years, Milford fluctuates more than Perry. That's not really fair to Topeka and Kansas City fishermen and people who live closer to Perry. On a better note here- what's the estimate for sauger per acre at Perry. Any reply from you or other biologists about this will be worth the wait, so thank you.
excuse me I meant 9 million 250 thousand sorry.
Is it safe to say Clinton lake is full of ASIAN CARP??? Due to outlet report??? What next..
no, it's not safe. Get a map and find Eudora. The squigley blue line running just west of there is the Spillway river for Clinton lake. It is called the Wakarusa. Follow this river to the backside of Clinton Dam. This is as far as the asian carp can swim from the Kansas river.
Yea till someone uses them for bait in the lake, probably fishing for wipers, maybe catfish.
That's when I'd condone the use of firearms by KWPD personel.
I think a more appropriate consequence on top of fines and jail time would be to throw 50 or so of these asian carp in the 5 to 8 pound range into the offenders head at 10 to 15 mph. A reminder of the potential problems they are causing for boaters. After that sit them at a boat dock for a week straight and have them apologize to every fisherman and boater for their stupidity. Thats my idea. Maybe after being treated like a 5 year old the message might come through.
You might be on to something there. One would feel the humility having to apologize at the boat ramp to every boater using the ramp. Good idea.
They'll just claim "mentally incapable". Besides one good flood and it's all over anyway. Judge, Jury, and Exhibitor?
Exactly..someone has probably already used a net to get bait from spillway becuase its easier...then they think they are saving money and time and only causing everyone in Clinton to fear for their lives while boating. I have noticed some fish hitting my boat at hillsdale already and seems odd but could be bigger shad but im not sure about that..never happend before..
More than likely it is the submerged/underwater part of tree trunks causing the bumping sounds at Hillsdale. I knew someone who had a 19 ft. mark twain i/o and lost the entire outboard lower unit to a not so deep stump field at 30-35 knots. Pay attention.
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A question was asked earlier on why Milford received good stocking numbers of walleye while Perry received only sauger. This is a good question that is commonly asked at various locations around the State depending on where you live. Well, when one looks on the long term Perry fluctuates considerably more than Milford. And, yes, it is true that walleye do tend to migrate out of our reservoirs when releases exceed 500 cfs. and Perry has a much higher frequency of this class of water releases. Historically, Perry did commonly receive walleye stockings and these efforts did not prove to be fruitful. Therefore, Milford has a higher priority since this lake has produced good walleye populations with stocking efforts. Perry is now the site of sauger stockings since they are more tolerate to high releases. The sauger population at Perry is also very important as a broodfish collection site for the production of the hybrid saugeye that are important in many locations in the State. In conclusion, stocking efforts are prioritized to meet available species habitat and utilize available budget to the best of our ability.
Thank you for the reply- I don't mind having just sauger to catch at Perry, but I would like to be able to catch more than 1 or 2 per year. What is your estimate of sauger/saugeye/walleye per acre in that lake? I can tell by your 2010 night info video that you want that to be a better fishing lake than it is. If it wasn't for the music, I'd feel more disappointment.
No,,,Actual Fish were hitting my boat at Hillsdale...we were just moving very slow and must of bumped a school of big shad , I hope...never hit my boat before though..I see them jumping at night when you shine the light on them but it was not dark yet..
Well get all of your stuff together and investigate those bumpy sounds. We need to know what's happening there. Mostly so we can do some more belly acheing.
Thanks Chuck- What I meant to say is that Perry Is the greatest lake ever built in Kansas.
Why do folks make jokes out of this blog page. If your not going to say something that applys to a lake or fishing please shut the H up,,thanks..
Richard Sanders or Chuck: Is there a fishable population of saugeye and sauger still living in Leavenworth county SFL? I noticed both species are listed under this lakes info. page.
Perry Reservoir's walleye population is rather small with an occasional fish being harvested or sampled. As stated earlier we no longer stock walleye at this location. We do not really know how many sauger exist per acre. We work on relative densities according to the number collected per sampling effort. I would say that the current Perry sauger population is not high. The population is dominated by young fish stocked this year and older mature fish over 2.5 pounds. Therefore, it is rather difficult to harvest limits of this species.
Leavenworth SFL has a pretty good walleye fishery for a small impoundment, but the saugeye and sauger are almost non-existent. We maintain this population with annual walleye stockings of 25 one to two inch fingerlings per acre. This walleye population is designed to provide some angler harvest and to provide additional predation on young crappie to enhance growth of remaining crappie into harvestable length groups.
yesterday i and someothers took some seniors from alocal nurshing home to osaowatomie city lake fishing i was very disapointed the handycap fishing platform had boards missing so couldnot use they hadnot mowed in a while we took them to the boat ramp to fish this is akdwp spomserd lake more tax dollars used if someone from kdwp reads this hope they can check this out with who is responsable for maintaining this lakeits ashame its not keep up.
Can stocked rainbow trout in Willow lake swim to the Blue river-Tuttle outlet unrestrained or is Willow a separate impoundment?
Does KWPD still stock walleye fry/fingerlings in Wyandotte County lake? In 2001-2002, some of the bigger ones were making it to 7 pounds- maybe eight pounds.
My father (68 years old) got a ticket today at Milford for fishing too many wipers. He thought they were white bass. He barely speaks English and could not defend himself when the officer wrote him a ticket. The officer took the extra fish (dead) from him, and he came home with 5 fish... 2 wipers 3 white bass. Now, I looked and looked and looked. It was VERY difficult to distinguish one from the other. I checked online to find how to distinguish one from the other, tried to see if there is any difference based on spots on the tongue. We could not tell apart. Took pictures to take to court. The poor man is devastated - not knowing how much fine he will be charged. Does anyone have suggestions? Thanks.
Go fishing again, take a camera or a cell phone that enables picture taking and catch both species of fish again. Capture the mouth/tongue area for viewing in court and present them to the judge. Take full side profiles too. I've been catching white's/wiper since 1986-87, and some of those guys are hard to distinguish. Kwpd should take that into consideration. Back in 1988, I caught a white bass or hybrid that was 5# 7 oz. I immediately drove to the closest bait shop thinking what kind of fish do I have. I asked the owner there (Vestal) if he knew the difference between whites and hybrids. He said "sure I see them all the time". After coming outside and looking, he said I'm not sure. He called the other baitshop owner in town, a sheriffs deputy, and the lakes kwpd ranger at the time. There were a few others there too. No one knew what it was and someone suggested striped bass. The new Kwpd biologist didn't show up at the time and had just transfered in from Illinois to Kansas and said he'd put some expereimental wiper in Leavenworth Co. lake not to long ago. He was a no show that day and called a few days later. We had pictures showing the differences but we still couldn't tell what was swimming in the baitshop tank. My biology teacher from high school was the first to tell me that the nice fish was a hybrid. These days you could fish at Clinton and catch fish with 2 tooth patches and darn near perfect side lateral stripes. On the outside it looks like white bass- on the inside it looks like hybrid. After almost 25 years of fishing and catching that species, the thing to say here is the only place that I'm confident I'm catching 100% pure bred white bass is at Pomona. All the rest of the lakes/reservoirs- I'm not really sure. Feel free to take a copy of this comment to court. Good luck.
Very simple. If you're not sure, DON'T KEEP IT!!! As far as him trying to defend himself, LEARN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE!!!
Even the KDWP needed a lab report to ID that 8# white bass from Totonto. It turned out to be a wiper. Keep em all, catch and hot grease!!
In all reality, since a ticket was written, the thing to do is to show up at court and take your lumps. I looked at KWPD fish I.D. for striper, wiper and white bass. It's self explanitorial info. there with pictures to boot. I know from experience that a person from Mexico can learn fluent english in 4 years with no lessons from school. It's a major accomplishment when that happens simply because it makes communication easier for us and them. I don't know what your dad's ethnic background is but if he's been here a while I'd say it's selfishness on his part for not learning the english language. If he's only been here 2 or 3 years then you guys might have a chance in court. Maybe pay court costs only and a slap on the wrist if your lucky.
Learning English at the age of 68 (almost 69 in 2 months)? He has been in this country for 2 years.
Thank some of you for useful suggestions. I do have pictures but again, they all look alike. I am not sure the ranger even knew which was which... I have a feeling all of them are the same kind. (whichever they may be)
If it was you or even me going to court, I'd say we would lose our case mostly because of our ability to read english and our age. Since your dad has never had to have a KS fishing license in possession (because of age) and has probably never had a reason to obtain a copy of the fishing regulations (simply because he can't read/understand them) is why I'm saying you guys might have a chance. You will really have to convince the judge about species differences and hope he and the game wardon present understands the plight presented when it's court time. Duplicating some of the above comments might help with the judge. If it were me and I lost in court because of hybrid/white bass, I would take offense and move to Missouri to take advantage of better/more fishing opportunities, but that's just what I would do.
Ante up or do your homework, I'm not going to share defense theories but it's maybe beatable. But in all reality your dad just bought his 1st "fishing license". It's an assimilation thing.
Earlier there were a few questions that could be answered.
- Willow Lake at Tuttle Creek does not have an outlet to the River Pond except during very high releases in excess of 17,000 cfs. Therefore, Willow Lake's trout should stay home all winter.
- KDWP used to stock WY County Lake but has not stocked fish in recent years. KDWP no longer has an Enhanced CFAP Cooperator agreement with the County. Why? Fishing priviledge charges outside the standard KS Fishing License are still being collected at this location.
- Thanks for the heads up on the handicap dock at Osawatomie City Lake. We will look into it. We do not want anyone to get hurt. However, maintenance is performed by the City and this location is also not an Enhanced CFAP Cooperator. Non-Enhanced CFAP status restricts State involvement in annual stockings and other financial commitment.
Now would be a good time for some habitat in the River pond area at Tuttle Creek!!!!!
Thanks KWPD for the weather caption area on the lakes fishing pages that are presented. It saves time when I can view all of my preset towns and cities (mostly KS) going through your website.
Where do they catch the crappie at over around Milford? Are they catching any now? We watched 2 boats catch giant white bass under the Madson bridge.
Milford fishing has been going well this fall. The whites are going very well in the Madison Creek Area and along the Wakefield causeway. Crappie have been fair to good in Rush, Curtis, and School creek arms near brush and rock in 5-10 feet deep on tube jigs. I hope you find time to go. Good Luck!
This is to the guy who's father received a ticket for to many Wipers. The rules are simple. If your Fishing in Kansas your supposed to know the Kansas fishing Laws.Or is that enough? I have been fishing for Whites and Wipers for years and I can spot one from the other with just looking at them?I have never had a fish I couldnt identify.But there seams to be a problem . I dont know why so many people cant tell the difference cant but my thought is this "Maybe when they cross breed them some of the Wipers have more White bass in them". Making it hard to tell the difference? If you cant tell the difference between Whites and Wipers just keep 2 that way your safe.What was the Court outcome? And what do you make of this Chuck? Am I on track with the Cross Breeding?As for my Fishing report. Whites and Wipers are doing well at Milford East side coves. Fish early morning and evening.Brrrr
I guess whites and wipers are better than catching nothing at all but this is trophy smallmouth bass time and big walleye if they can be found. Here is what I use and this is how you can make your own suspending minnowbait. I use a Smithwick rattling rogue 5 inches long. Drill a hole on top behind the head so you can put #6 or 8 lead shot through the hole. Start by putting 7-10 pieces of shot inside. Find a carpet tack and cut or file the point down to plug the hole for testing. Use superglue to hold the shot inside underneath the drilled hole. Fill up the kitchen sink with cold water and ice cubes. You want to emulate 35-36 degree water here. Install the tack head and lower the minnowbait to the bottom. You want the minnowbait to slowly start rising about an inch every 20 seconds or so. If it floats to the surface faster than that then remove the tack and add some more shot. Try to keep water from getting inside the lure to a minimum and use the glue for added pieces of lead. After a while you'll notice your modified lure will raise off the bottom of the sink ever so slowly and then stop moving in the middle of the water column in the sink. Stop there and seal the carpet tack to the lure to keep it from getting water inside. In warmer lake water this lure will raise faster. That's o.k. In water with temperarues in the thirties/low 40's this will enable you to keep a lure down for longer periods. The longer that fish looks at that minnowbait in front off them the better. This will be almost a deadstick routine but will work. Speaking of whites, I did land a 3 pound white bass at Clinton using a "doctored up" bait like this once. That fish was thinking this is to good to be true and WHAM, the fight was on. Big largemouth seem to notice these too. I don't believe store bought suspending baits work as well as this method of leadshot/superglue but they might. I noticed Milfords outlet is still running. Anyone catching anything there (in the outlet) worth mentioning?
Chuck, could you speculate about where the Unified Government gets 10-12 thousand pounds of channel cat every year for stocking Wyandotte County lake. I read where you replied about not stocking here anymore because of extra fees added. It doesn't make any sense to have a gem of a lake like Wyandotte and nobody like yourselves to manage it for us. Can KWPD claim eminate domain on the lake and take it back legally?
The WY Unified Government will on occcasion purchase channel cat through a commericial fish grower to replenish the ccf population. I am not aware of the number or the actual cost. However, this is a necessary action. Channel cat will reproduce in the lake, but their small young will not make it to harvestable size due to predation from other lake species. The question on lake ownership,the likelihood of the State of Kansas using eminent domain at this location is next to nil. However, I do wish to thank you for your support on the issue.
Do walleye and sauger/saugeye survive fall gill netting or do they die before they are sampled?
I'd like to hear about the spring walleye netting as well. I understand the netting is used to stock other lakes but it sure seems it would put a lot of stress on the fish. Is there any mortality studies on this netting and breeding procedure? I fish Hillsdale and the walleye numbers seem like they are getting worse every year... or at least they are for me.
Here's a thought for pre-spawn walleye fishing on the reservior dam faces. I haven't really paid heed to this yet but 2 fishing buddies mentioned that during netting in early spring conducted by Missouri biologists/wardens at Smithville dam, the netting/electro-shocking? of walleye was best at a distance right past the farthest cast one could make standing from the dam face. They mentioned hundreds of fish being brought up but catching them by throwing crankbaits/jigs was something they couldn't figure how to score. It must be a timing thing of sorts, I guess.
Walleye collection is a much needed entity for this state. Natural production is a wonderful benefit hardly collected upon in most of our reseviors. In place of this natural production we have our hatcheries which supply all of our lakes with walleye/saugeye. In reality we should be anteing up for a new super hatchery. They've done good things for these fisheries. If they bust a few eggs I hope they fry em. Have you ever watched these guys work some days, the conditions can be horrible, with a small window of oppertunity, wash this, sterilize that and we made our quota this year. My hats off to em. Thank You
Kansas would have more natural walleye reproduction if there was an ample supply of sand and rock shoal areas in the feeder creeks and rivers of our lakes. Some "holes" for daytime holding areas wouldn't hurt either. Most of it is dirt and more dirt. Assuming there are some suitable places for spawning/hatching for walleye to take place, the white bass run after walleye spawning will more than likely have male bass picking-off any newly hatched walleye fry. Our geographical location has alot to do with that- runoff from snow melt and the timing of the right water temperature for a bass spawning run. And that's during the good years. Some of the walleye fry do make it though. Optimistically speaking, maybe 5 fry out of 2 million make it to fingerling stage naturally in Kansas. How many will be females? Probably none. I wonder how many biologist reared walleye fry in a bag of a million make it to fingering stage? The numbers surely have to be better than natural spawning.
All excellent, informed points. Ironically it seems walleye production is best in the drought years, when the lakes are down. Many of our lakes have enourmous silt bars in the mouth of our rivers which impedes walleye migration up the rivers. So, I think the "Put and take" solution is whats best, it's really all we've got.
I was looking at the current Clinton reservoir fishing forecast. I read where it said something like walleye numbers weren't quite as good as expected. The 2009 walleye stocking report said that 3,550,288 fry were stocked at Clinton. I figured 10% of them living after a year or so. That number would be approximately 355,000 walleye or about 50 fish per acre. If only 5% of the fry made it a year or so, the total per acre would be something like 20-25 per acre. It's a safe assumption to say the fry/fish from the 2009 stocking are approaching 12-13 inches max. Well, they're to small to harvest at that length and at supposedly 20-60 walleye per acre at Clinton surely you would think KWPD could get decent sampling numbers. All the fry were alive when you stocked them, weren't they? Sure they were. I thought I better post something about that before I forget, but mostly I posted this because I was looking forward to fishing for walleye during April and then I read a fishing/sampling report for Clinton that should show better results but doesn't. Heck, if only 1 percent are surviving after stocking, why even bother until conditions are better for walleye? Oh,by the way-Happy New Year everyone.
Information for the fisherman not having much luck at HILLSDALE...
Come out and FISH the DAM or even just come out and sit on the rocks and watch the fish swim UP and DOWN the rocks all night long during the spawn....
Tons of 17 + inch fish last season....Lots of good fish on flats this past summer as well...
FISH FAST and HANG ON!!! Good luck!!!
"Tons of 17"+ fish" Yeah right. I saw some fish caught during the spring run but I'd hardly call it "Tons". In fact... most all the guys I talked to last spring had a lousy spring walleye wise at Hillsdale. I've fished the spawning run for a bunch of years and IMO it's gotten less productive every year for the last several. More fishermen and less fish. Maybe my timing is bad... or I just suck at fishing (which I don't) but last year was the worst yet.
You guys are missing the point of fishing the dam during walleye spawning. Don't get me wrong here but you should attempt to catch walleye before the spawning run, not during. If the spawn at Hillsdale is going to be around the first few days of April like normal years, one would want to start trying in a more southerly part of Kansas a few weeks before April. This could take 7-8 years for one to figure but when you learn when to go pre-spawn fishing at El Dorado, Cheney, even Fall River or Elk City and start catching walleye during pre-spawn, simply start moving your fishing to the next northerly reservior/lake every 5-7 days. Example- If pre-spawn walleye are being caught March 16-19th at Melvern, then during March 21-26th I would fish Pomona for prespawn walleye. Shortly afterwards, Hillsdale would be next, then Clinton. After that it's back to the beginning for the white bass run if there's ample flow in the creeks. But for pre-spawn walleye, that would be alot of fishing and it wouldn't even be past the 1st week of April. Now IMO, you will have to go fishing more than once or twice a week to figure these fish. More like every evening until you've had enough. When you show up at the dam and you get to witness splashing walleyes within a couple feet from shore (1 female,3-6 males) you're simply too late to really having any walleye fishing success. But no matter when you decide to go, right before dark make sure you're ready for anything to happen because timing is almost everything for pre-spawn and unless you're really in tune with what's going on, you'll have your work cut out for you trying to catch a few. A legal limit would be even better. Now for post spawn fishing you'll want to find some points that resemble a flat for starters. Nightime trolling or casting are two methods. Make sure a few of these areas are within the vicinity of the dam. With-in an 1/8 mile or closer will be fine. After about 10 days (beginning of crappie spawn), go find the post spawn walleye on the bigger shallower flats because that water will be getting considerably warmer and their metabolism will be up. The end of May and the 1st 10 days of June will be the most fun fishing for walleye one could possibly have most years. There may be 5-10 people trying for post spawn walleye per lake then but only 1 or 2 of them will really be kickin' butt on them. The trick is not to get "burned out" while fishing for them. Keep in mind that quite a few rivers in Kansas have spawning runs and offer post spawn walleye fishing opportunities too. Good luck
Ok i have a question for the game warden,
Here is my question.
When I go to a lake and catch my legal limit of fish and have them in my livewell and I leave the lake do I have to drain the water out of the livewell because of the fear of transporting zebra mussels accidently? If I am headed straight home to clean my legal catch of fish I can leave the lake water in my livewell to keep my fish fresh and alive until I process them at my house right? I understand that I can not take a livewell full of one lakes water and take it to another lake for fear of accidental transporting zebra mussel to another lake, but I can take lake water home in my livewell to keep my legal limit fresh for processing at home right? After I get home and process my fish I would dump the lake water out onto the ground at my house.
Thanks in advance for your reply,
A concerned Angler who does not want to get a ticket.
To the fisherman who thinks fishing has declined at hillsdale...I agree it has been very tough for the last few years during spring summer time bite....however I used to be the guy that casted and casted along the dam face and went home empty...not anymore...what I observe is that most folks really try and fish the fish like they are lathargic or plain turned off...first mistake...Also most folks go home after about 2 hrs of casting into other folks lines and having to be pressured into fishing strait out into the lake...Its not glorious fishing by no means...But if your willing to fish during the times the fish come into the bank then its all worth your time and effort...I like to wade out about up to your knees or at least 2 ft deep...7 ft rod...CAst down the rocks....parallel...FISH FAST...you cant reel fast enough to keep them off....FISH SLOW and go home empty...good luck...
What type of lures should I use for spawning walleyes and what pound and brand of fishing line is best?
About fishing the dam at Hillsdale using parallel casting- I've found when walleye show up at the dam for spawning, they have a certain contact point they use before they venture towards the shallows at the dam. That area is the west side of the pump house within 30 ft. of the tower. The way to head'em off at the pass is to be among the first to arrive there and keep hitting the same spot until the fish show up. You could nail'em on consecutive cast's if your quick. You may start casting at 8:30 p.m. but fish #1 may not be caught until after midnite during some evenings. Fishing parallel to the dam face one wouldn't be able to touch these fish coming from the deep. And sometimes, if your out in 2 ft. of water, the walleye will swim up behind you. Pretty close to where your standing. I think the female will be trying to shed a few of the males if they get that close to you. Good luck if that happens. Using the parallel casting tactic at Hillsdale would work better if there was to be a wind working in from the west. That will rarely happen in March in Kansas. But all in all, Hillsdale is an good place to start out the fishing season, even if no fish are caught. The use of a 7 ft. rod has advantages- longer cast and a different angle on the lure retrieve for starters. A 7'6" would be a better bet in my fishing- more distance and a more different angle on retrieve while casting. Most importantly though, a longer rod changes the "hookset angle" when it's time to set the hook. There's a major difference between a 6' and a 7'6" rod.
Some good and interesting takes on spring walleye fishing from the dams... Hillsdale specifically. The different tactics are pretty telling... fish fast... fish slow... fish early... fish all night... fish from shore... fish from a boat (which leads me to another question)... fish by the tower... fish where you can find room. Truth is.. it's all correct (except maybe the "from a boat" part). I've caught keeper males jig fishing sloooow... and caught them ripping crank baits... caught 'em in REAL close and also about as far as one can cast. IMO the key is just being there at the right time... and that seems to be about half 75% dumb luck... for me at least. The last couple years have been tough but that may have as much to do about inconsistent weather. Seams the last couple years that spring run has been broken up by a lot of widely varying wind (or lack of) and temp changes. We'll all be able to give it a go pretty soon... good luck. Sooo... now for my "leads me to another question". You guys boat fishing ever catch any of these pre-spawn and spawn fish off the dam. Every year they'll show up in droves (and kill the fishing) but I very really see or hear of them catching a thing. I like to get my Lund out as much as any boat owner but it just doesn't seam to be an effective way to fish this pattern... I' leave it at home. Just curious and... and tired of the snow... ready for spring. Good luck guys and be safe!
One advantage for using a boat is you can do the same type of fishing that the people on the dam are doing. You'll have the ability to move without walking. The only difference being you casting right up against the rocks and retrieving back. Unless the boat spooks the fish, I think that would be an advantage. The good thing about fishing from the dam is you can walk back to the truck/car to rest or warm up and try fishing later without leaving.
After thinking a bit about using a boat at Hillsdale for pre spawn walleye I would get there in the afternoon and use the electronics to find where the fish hold during the day. These spots may not be even close to the dam but during daytime hours after the walleye are found, you'll find out the time when they start migrating towards shore. There's a chance they might not even be using the dam. If there's no success in finding or catching fish, I guess I'd try my future efforts on post spawn walleye or make a different body of water my new home after giving determined efforts at Hillsdale. Somethings got to give eventually but if year in and year out it just doesn't happen for you or me, why beat a busted drum- try a different lake.
If you come out to Hillsdale to fish during the spawn...Yes the fishing technique does vary based on time of day your fishing and wind ...WIND is KEY...Last year when the wind blew out of the WEST or NORTHWEST...fish seemed to be active towards the EAST side....then when the WIND blew out of the EAST the COLD water upwelled into the EAST side and basically you couldnt BUY a fish....Parallel fishing is done at specific times when the fish are shallow...this fishing isnt really easy either...Your constantly getting snagged on other lines and continously moving around to get your snag out...I noticed two specific patterns that work best..equally as good as one another with two completely different lures...I do notice bigger fish being caught casting out further from the bank...but they dont always hit way out either....they follow...the one comment about being out there at the right time was exactly true...you may have to cast 1,000 times and then during a 1 hr period or even 15 minutes a herd of walleye will come crusing along and if your home sleeping then you lose...A great tip for new fisherman to the sport is to always use brand new super sharp needle point trebles...most lures you want to throw away the hooks they give you...or use them for catfish...you may hook 10 walleyes in one night but you may not land one of them...Does anyone who fishes Clinton during the spawn observe the Game and parks using nets ??? or is this strictly a burden to Hillsdale fisherman..?
The hooks on any brand name minnowbait or crankbait will suffice. Using a quality graphite composite fishing rod and spooling the reel with a non-stretch line will be good for starters. Sorting out the reel collection for the prefered gear ratio/speed is something that comes into play. Using a superior built rod and Fireline, enables you to be able to actually feel the minnowbait/crankbait moving side to side when retrieving. When a walleye decides to strike the lure you can feel the fish stop the lure "in it's tracks" for a split second by inhaling or nipping on a rear point of the treble hook before attacking. I've found the Owner brand of replacement trebles to be good enough when it's time to replace. Carefull use of a small honing stone will work too. I have a Rebel minnowbait that had the baby bass pattern on it when it was new (1999). That lure has caught so many walleye for me that they have worn it down to an all white plastic body over the years. That is still my #1 lure for walleye for spawning and mid-late fall fishing.
I don't fish hillsdale but I do fish Milford during the spawn and have been doing so for about 17 years. i have done it both on a boat and off. I prefer to fish from the boat. to me it has alot of advantages. You cover the whole damn instead of one specific spot which means you more likely to run into a crusing fish. Its easier to retrieve your lures and i dont have to worry about falling and breaking an ankle. Best bait for me at milford is a shallow shad rap in firetiger. Its the number one producer here. Keep in mind the fish aren't there to eat so you really just have to reel it right infront of them and get a reaction.
You ain't missing anything by not fishing Hillsdale for spawning walleye. It's just a decent sized reservoir in eastern Kansas that looks good enough for a lot of fishermen to try after a long winter.
What is the farthest distance the walleye have run up the Republican river in past years? Or which is the closest town they make it to while running?
I agree with the gentelmens comment above on 1/21/2011 at 4:20 p.m....Lots of bigger reservoirs in KANSAS to try ...CLINTON...MILFORD...GLEN ELDER...WILSON...MELVERN...KANAPOLIS...ALL GOOD...EL DORADO...CHENEY...the list goes on..and on....KANSAS RULES...BEST STOCKING PROGRAM BAR NONE...
The walleye can run along wau up stream. I have fished just a couple miles downstream of clay center and caught good numbers. you just have to fish the right areas. look for areas where people have dumped concrete and rock to keep the bank from eroding. also look for logs stumps and trees. all favorite areas for them when they are making the run upstream. good luck!
Has anyone fish for (stripers) striped Bass at clinton and had any luck
Fished teh Milford spillway this weekend. Sat did good while the water was on, caught 4 from 16-19" on jerkbaits. Didn't witness anyone else having much luck though. Fished Sunday night when water was off and reeled in a zebra mussel that was about .5" long. I didn't think they'd be that big as per the report of them being in Milford lake last summer. Anyway, ice is off the lakes....good fishing everyone.
going crappie fishing at perry next weekend, any good spots to try? bankfishing
Walleye spawning at Milford Dam yet? Tried Rocky Ford today with no luck.
WALLEYES are on the Rocks at Hillsdale and flowing right out of the LAKE THANKS to VERY POOR MANAGMENT AND COORDINATION EFFORTS WITH ARMY CORP OF ENGINEERS DEPT...EVERYONE CALL (816)389-3545
AND TELL THEM TO SHUT OFF THE WATER FLOW TO SAVE WHAT FEW FISH ARE PROBABLY LEFT IN THE LAKE THAT MANAGES ALL THE REST OF THE LAKES IN THE STATE OF KANSAS...NO BIG DEAL REALLY ....WHAT IS GOING ON WITH WATER MANAGEMENT??? PLEASE DONT TELL ME THE FISH ARE NOT THERE YET...ALREADY CAUGHT SEVERAL AND TALKED TO FOLKS SNAGGIN THEM OUT OF THE SPILLWAY...DONT HURRY OR NOTHING BECAUSE YOU MAY NOT NEED YOUR DEATH NETS OUT THIS SPRING IF YOU LEAVE THE GATES OPEN MUCH LONGER...!!!!!
PS : ALL FISHERMAN FEEL THIS EXACT WAY...PLEASE DONT SUGAR COAT THIS COMMUNICATION ISSUE..
Yea that will work, you guys have COE's offices that answer their phones. Ours are all voice data systems. And the outflowing water issue-- your DEAD WRONG!!!!!!! and it's really to complex for people like you. Perhaps you ought to read the KDWP's former walleye guru's studies. He's the father of the modern day walleye programs here in KS. Bruce Zamalza's (msp)studies concluded that res. outflows actually increased natural reproduction, and the benefit far outweighed the losses. The new water management plans are in place to apeas people who just don't know any different. So, if your so concerned, release your fish when caught, it'll make the same difference!!!!
ok so i know this is kansas fishing but i couldnt find anything o n the missouri conservation site but does any body know how to and were to fish stockton lake this time of year i really wanna go there right now and catch some bigger fish if yall could help me i would greatly appriciate it thank you.
i was talking about how to and were to catch bigger bass at stockton lakethis is the same person from the comment above.
So not to argue with the fellow fishermans argument about releasing water .....You must be the guy that fishes down below Hillsdale ? Am I wrong about that? For those folks this is a dream situation...Its all in how you look at the situation...Id prefer the fish stay in the LAKE itself...As for natural re-production...Why do they put out nets each year to stock all the lakes in KANSAS if natural reproduction existed ??? Worrying about a few feet of water for 4 weeks time frame is not worth discussion...Simply turn the water flow off during the pre-spawn and spawn period...OR have KDWP pick another lake to use for stocking all other lakes...PEOPLE MUST COMMUNICATE to folks in Control so that the PEOPLE can speak...This LAKE is for the PEOPLE that use it...The PEOPLE are allowed to help the folks controlling the lake because they are never at the lake figuring out when to do what...HENCE the reason the fishin reports are never even close to being current or accurate...Most of the fisherman believe the NETS contribute to a massive LOSS in walleye each year...But how would we know actually ....Does anyone publish the results of fish that dont make it after they are squeezed or milked ? I would guess they try their best to not hurt the fish...But if they have to leave their nets out longer because most fish already went south out the GATE then this problem only becomes worse for the angler...The last two years the nets were not out very long and I thought that was great and a very quick and efficient netting effort by KDWP..BECAUSE the water was shut off...My best guess in Hillsdale that most LARGE walleye die of old age ... With the stocking program being so excellent you will never see a decline in FISH in that lake as long as the stocking continues ...Just fish the flats in early JUNE or LATE may and if you think that there is a shortage of walleye then we have a problem houston...
They show 500cfs going out of Hillsdale, I don't think it'll hurt the lake that much. And if your that "informed" on netting walleyes then anything else would be a MOOT point to you Commander. I strongly suggest that you become informed first hand before making second hand statements. Of course, there's people who do, and people who think they do. The water management plan for Hillsdale and many other lakes has changed, look and see for yourself if it correlates with decline in walleye populations. One good year of natural reproduction will smoke 5yrs of stocking. But hey, let's leave it to mission control.
The blog has been getting a lot of comments concerning Hillsdale walleye, reservoir releases and the State walleye spawning project. It is true the release at Hillsdale is higher than normal, walleye do tend to migrate from the reservoir with higher releases, but in comparison to other impoundments in eastern Kansas this is not a high release. Regardless, the State has and will continue discussions with the U.S. Corps of Engineers, the operating authority, to improve walleye habitat in the Reservoir. The Corps is also interested in walleye habitat, but also must meet other goals associated with the operation of the Reservoir.
The walleye spawning project will initiate next week at Hillsdale. This project is critical to the State's effort to meet goals for maintaining walleye populations on a statewide basis. Walleye are starting to arrive on the dam, but the peak of the spawn is yet to arrive. We appreciate the historical cooperation of local anglers during this period. We will do our best to meet egg collection goals in a timely fashion prior to the end of the spawning season. Hillsdale also benefits from the project with the maintenance stocking of fry and small fingerlings on a annual basis. I will not say that we have never caused the mortality of any spawners, but it is rare. In the past, we have marked and released collected broodfish. These marked fish were commonly recaptured in the same season or in the following years.
In general, a few of our better walleye lakes in Kansas are selected for the project in efforts to maintain and improve walleye fishing opportunities statewide. Thanks for your cooperation and continued support of the Kansas Fisheries Programs.
Good Luck and good fishing in 2011.
for KDWP folks who are collecting the eggs and sperm from the walleyes at HILLSDALE. Can you post how good is the effort going so far this week? Doesnt have to give out too much info but fishing hasnt been good so far and hope to find you are catching lots of fish for future stocking efforts. Witness very few fish being caught so far....Or currently the fish are in full spawn mode which seems too early but its hard to tell. Any info would be appreciated.
If certain people in "THE KNOW" suggest that outflow doesn't hurt a fish population, then explain why lakes such as Lovewell that get heavy irrigation draw are looking into an electrical system that discourages fish from approaching the irrigation gates?
Hey Chuck,why all the brush piles in LV.State Lake? There isn't any crappie in there and the bass and BG have plenty of habitat.It makes it hard to fish on the bottom for channel cat with a tree or two all overthe lake like you see now with the water being down.Iwould like to see bigger,but fewer piles.Any plans on putting crappie in this lake?This lake has good Bass,BG,and channel,but very few Walleye,Wiper and Crappie.I have fished this lake for 7 yr,sometimes 2-3 days a week.when is the work on the dam going to be done? Thanks
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