Kansas Fishing Report

Submitted by Anglers Like You

2002 April - June

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Copyright 1999-2002

 

 

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KS and OK Corps of Engineers Lake Levels | Wichita Lake Info

Fishing Stories by Ned Kehde

June 30, 2002 - Looking for place to fish on Neosho looking aplace to fish the neosho river just up stream from john redmond. with or without boat access. Huntingtonl@aol.com

June 30, 2002 - Cheney - Sat, June 27th, was a slow day on the lake, Fish just weren't stacked up on the deep water humps like usual. Caught 2 10lb Stripers, right off the get go, then nothing for quite awhile! Started Trolling down the middle of the lake around 3pm, and about 10 min into it, caught an 8lb Walleye! WOW what a fish! kept trolling,and caught 6 Walleye 1 8lb, 2 6lb, 1 41/2 lb, and 2 20" fish. NICE NICE Walleye! It wasn't fast and furious like Im used to, but it was great fun. The two of us, ended up cleaning the 6 Walleye, 2 Stripers, and 2 6 lb Wipers. Not bad for half a day of fishing. I had never thought of Trolling down the middle of the lake, and now am very glad I did! It was pretty Windy, with waves washing over the nose of the boat every and then, but those waves sure felt good! Try it! I started about 1/4 mi from the dam, and trolled to Wichita point. water depth around 28' Used the usual 3 way swivel, with 4" Sassy shad, and #9 ristorap Rapala. GOOD LUCK!
MIKE

June 27, 2002 - Wilson - The action on Wilson the last few days has been surfacing stripers! The fish haven't been large but the action has been excellent. Lots of fish to 5 lbs. 3 days ago I saw a school on top that was approx. one acre in size and they stayed up for 30 minutes. I wish I would have had my video camera with me. The white perch are also surfacing for those of you that want to catch allot of smaller fish. The perch are easier to catch and follow while surfacing than the stripers, and they make excellent eating. I have been having my best luck throwing 1/4 oz. bucktails with a red head and white or yellow tail. Good Luck and with the 4th of July weekend coming up be safe and look out for the other guy. Jack Hoskinson Madd Jack Striper Guide

June 27, 2002 - Cheney - Hi all, Just wondering... Am I the only one who is catching so many fish, I am willing to talk about them to you? I mean, Come on guys, start talking! Cheney has been fabulous lately! Mon june 24th thru weds 26th, have been awesome! Each day produced Many Many Wipers, and several Nice size Stripers from 6 to 10 lbs. Wipers been running from 1 to 8 lbs. Most around the 3 to 7 lb size. Its really been a blast.

I heard a couple of you caught your limits of Big Channels on Wednesday, off the rocks in the east shore of the midlake region. Using Stand up Jigs tipped with shrimp. White bass have really been schooling in huge quantities, along with the Wipers. I havent fished for Walleye much this year, but have seen many many huge stringers of them as well! Take care, and have fun! MIKE

June 23, 2002 - Marion
- We have been doing very well with flat head out at the Marion Reservoir using craw dads. Shallow water. Stripers have been hitting good on worms. --- Linda Kenney

June 20, 2002 - Cheney - These hefty Stripers were caught by my folks the Colorado Trout fishermen, on June15th. Just got em developed and better show em off.
They weighed 6.6lbs to 9.9lbs, and were just 4 of lots of fish we caught that day! These are some more caught by my brother Floyd and Brother in law Mark. NICE FISH on June 15th, at Cheney. MIKE

June 19, 2002 - Wilson - Well summer time is here with all the boat traffic and fun. We are still catching stripers over 10 lbs. fishing early and late in the day when the lake isn't as busy. The stripers are scattered from the dam to Minooka but fishing live shad 28 to 42 feet will produce fish when they are in the mood. I saw a huge school of white perch with a few stripers mixed in on top for at least 20 minutes a few evenings ago, didn't try to fish them as I was waiting for bigger fish, but I am sure a small bucktail thrown into the school would have produced a few fish. Good Luck Jack Hoskinson Madd Jack Striper Guide

June 19, 2002 - Wabaunsee - (6/18) Wind was only blowning 15-35 mph, and boat permit was $20 per day, ouch.. Caught 1 beautiful smallmouth 14" and dozen 6-8" crappie. 1 crappie was 14" long, ate him for supper. FYI: Lyon County Lake is still closed to fishing. Raydog.

June 18, 2002 - El Dorado - Went fishing from 5-7 (6/17) drifting the flats with jig and worms. We caught 2 nice walleye a white bass and a few drum. We cleaned the fish and ate them. A great way to cook whites, stripers, walleye and any scaled fish is to start fileting them like you normaly would but DON"T filet the skin off. Get the charcoal ready, put tin foil over the coals, lay your fish on the foil (skin down), put butter and lemon pepper and salt over them,
cook for 20 min. get a fork and enjoy. They are GREAT this way!!!
SNAG

June 17, 2002 - Cheney - As you can see (below) Mike my uncle had a great time at Cheney later in the day, but i chose to go home!!! How stupid of me but atleast before that at M&M Point we were able to wade out a ways with worms.Ended up catching lots of white bass and a few wipers all pretty small but fine when you can't go in the boat so consider it when you can't bring the boat.TRAVIS

June 14, 2002 - Cheney -June 14th, Went to cheney lake around 10am, fished all day didnt do any good at all till about 6pm. Started Trolling off M&M point, (my favorite place on the lake) and Started catching Nice Wipers. My folks and Brother came in the other day from Colorado, and went with me. WOW we had a great evening! Limited out on Stripers, and Wipers, biggest Striper 9.9 lbs. Caught several large Wipers in the 7 lb range as well. Mom and Dad and Bro, had a ball! Just a little different from catching all those small Trout in the Mountains of Colorado. Will show Pictures later! Have a great day, MIKE

June 13, 2002 - El Dorado - Thursday June 13th went to Eldorado for a change of pace from the big wipers and Stripers of cheney. Caught lots and lots of Walleye, and Channel cats. Honestly I dont know how many my brother and I caught, but it was alot! From the first drop of the worm, didnt take more than 10 seconds for the first fish. It was like that almost all afternoon after the pounding Rain from the morning. Of course all of our fish were shorts, but it was still great fun! If you want to catch lots of fish and have a great time, take lots and lots of worms and head to ElDorado Lake! See ya, MIKE

June 13, 2002 - Otter Creek -
Bass are biting on Texas rigged worms and grubs. Fish them slow from 18" to 12', rattling the brass and glass every 30 seconds or so. Watermelon and Avocado are the colors that seem to be working.

June 12, 2002 - Cheney - It's about time the WIND quit blowing!!!  Was able to finally do some Trolling out in the Mid lake region today. Found a few schools of Wipers 3 to 8 lb size,  fished from 10:30 to 3pm, caught several Nice white bass as well.  Then went to my favorite spot off M&M, and boated these beauties.  Lake level is coming up, Fish are biting! water temp was 74deg, a beautiful day! MIKE

Striper fishing is Alive and Well at Cheney! I have heard a lot of people saying they all died last summer! NO WAY! I have caught several Very nice Stripers this spring, from 2 lbs to 20 lbs. If you have the patience to find them, your in for a lot of fun. Trolling is an excellent way to cover lots of water, find them off points, and submerged humps in 16 to 9' of water. They are schooling with the wipers and white bass, so if you hook some of these fish, your chances of a nice Striper are pretty good! Click here to see a photo of a 20 lb. striper caught at Cheney MIKE

June 12, 2002 - Cheney - Fished the river at Cheney the 9,10 and 11th using limblines and trotlines.We caught an 18 1/2 pound flathead, two 10 pound channels and several other cats.We used goldfish and used a throw net for shad,then put crawdads on the trotlines.After tuesday nights rain the river came up about three to four feet,the cats should be in there thick now.the picture is Shad Byard the owner of Olivers bait and tackle in Hutchinson.Aaron Bennett

June 12, 2002 - Cheney - Read Guide Mike Cook's report on walleye.

June 10, 2002 - Cheney - Thanks to the report on your web page, we found the wipers off M&M Point on Sunday. The walleye came from Wichita Point. Also threw back a lot of white bass. All were caught trolling No. 7 fire tiger shad raps. Click on photo to see larger image.

 

June 9, 2002 - Lovewell - Went to the lake on June 9th at 7 am but we didn't
start to catch walleye until about 12 for some reason. We caught 6 keepers and several shorts, and all of them ranged from 18 to 21 inches. We were using
nightcrawlers with a bare hook in 12 feet of water on the south side of 2 mile road. Not much boating action since the wind was out of the south at 30 mph!!! We also caught probably 40 pesky drum, the water is at 72 degrees John Brammeier

June 9, 2002 - Melvern - Fished Melvern on Saturday June 7, morning Turkey Creek points. Caught 4 Smallmouth seven Walleye and one beautiful 17" Saugeye. The Smallmouth and Walleye all were undersized. This is a first for me, I have never landed one of these. They are a wonderfully colored fish. Much more color than the grayish Walleyes. Caught these fish on a 1/8 oz roadrunner, tipped with a nightcrawler, fished very slow. Mitch Baldwin

June 7, 2002 - Cheney - Been fishing several times in the last two weeks with good success on some nice walleye. Mostly jig and worm, perch are a problem take plenty of bait. Best luck in 3-6ft of water. Also see the trollers catching white bass and a few walleye. Watch out for the jet skiers, one cut me off twice last nite. These things need to regulated and isolated. DS

June 6, 2002 - Cheney - A little harder to find fish on 6/5/02, but three of us managed three walleye, seven white bass, and a channel cat trolling south of the stumps in Graber's Cove and near the brushpile buoy using shad raps and wally divers. Click on photo to see larger image.

June 4, 2002 - Cheney - Read Guide Mike Cook's report.

June 4, 2002 - Wilson - The striper fishing this last week has been very good at times. We are catching numbers of 4 to 9 lbs stripers with 18 caught in one afternoon. The larger fish are also hitting with 8 caught this week between 10 and 14 lbs. We have been fishing live shad off the river channel in 28 to 32 feet of water in the Minooka park area. Good Luck Jack Hoskinson Madd Jack Striper Guide

Click on photographs to see larger image.

 

 

June 3, 2002 - Marion - Hi everyone. I wanted to put a new twist to this great message board and put out a question out there for anyone who can help. I plan to go to Marion Reservoir this Wed. 6/5 or Thursday 6/6 and try some of the channel cat fishing that I keep reading excellent reviews on. This will be my first time there. My question for those familiar with Marion is where, in your opinion, should I go for some channel cat action. If you could give me cove or point names or areas of the lake it would be appreciated. I don't have a boat so am only able to fish from shoreline. Thanks alot!! ---Chris

June 3, 2002 - Cheney - Saturday, June 1.  Same old thing, No. 5 fire tiger shad raps in 5 ft depth south of the stumps in Graber's Cove.  Three of us caught 12 nice walleye that afternoon.

June 2, 2002 - Melvern - Heard from a friend, that Melvern Lake was HOT! Crappie and Catfish were excellent! Went down there 6-1-02! Caught 1 small catfish! There were 6 of us - caught 1 smalll catfish, all evening! Thought I'd let you know that. Also, it's really hard to rely on fishing reports, when they are a week old. Could you possibly update these at least on weekends! Thanks!

June 2, 2002 - Cheney - Cheney Lake is going great for Walleye, the two of us had a great day Saturday 6-1-02. We were on M&M point drifting nightcrawlers and jigs with green mistertwister in start in 15' up to 6'. Had 8 fish from 19" to 23" all great fish. Several boats in the area catching keeper fish. Seen some trolling around all the boats in 15' and doing well on Walleye & White Bass.
Good Luck Fish Gregg

May 31, 2002 - Cheney - I caught these fish on the Memorial Day weekend at Cheney. Plus a Wiper and Walleye on Saturday, no picture. Click photos for enlargement.

Trolling 12 to 18 feet deep, with # 5 Rapella Shad wraps. Fished off the points from the Marina to the Red Bluffs and on over to the Island. Oh there was 1 Black Bass I caught from the dock by the Marina on Tuesday morning the 28th. It was 16" long, and caught on a red and chartreuse Road Runner. It was just before 6:00 am, the water was like glass with fog in the air, and know one else around .Virgin water with all the Holiday traffic gone. Robin Taylor

May 30, 2002 - Cheney - May 22, left work 5pm, got to Cheney lake 7pm. Fished till 9pm. Left the lake with a boatload of Nice White Bass, some HUGE Wipers, and a few keeper Walleye. Finished cleaning fish @ 10:30 pm. Bagged 37lbs of filets!
May 23, Got to the lake at 6:15pm, fished till 9pm. Caught a Striper 12lbs 10oz, Kept 3 Wipers 8 to 11lbs. 36 white bass. Threw back around 20 Wipers from 2 to 8 lbs. It was a BLAST! Water temp was 77degrees. Fishing is GREAT! Fish are schooling chasing shad. Will hit almost anything! MIKE

May 28, 2002 - Wilson - With the wind and the weekend traffic the fishing was tough this weekend to say the least but today was a different story. We caught these fishing live shad in the Minooka area in 40 feet of water. The largest weighed in at 15 lbs. Jack Hoskinson Madd Jack Striper Guide - Click photo for enlarged view.

May 28, 2002 - Cheney - Fished Cheney all 3 days of mem day weekend. Sat was a slow day caught 4 keeper Walleye from 19 to 24", and a few white Bass.
Sunday was a whole different story! Two of us Trolled in 11 to 16' of water off M&M point, and a few other choice places and we loaded up! Caught Lots of Nice White Bass, and Several midrange Wipers. Of course we threw most of the wipers back, But ended up cleaning 47 fish in all with a 24" Walleye.
Monday was exciting! I use 15lb trilene line with a 3 way swivel. off one swivel, tie 1 1/2' leader with 1/4oz leadhead jig with white 3" Sassy Shad, other swivel, 3' Leader w/a bill norman lure white body green top. The fish kept breaking my line! I have caught many fish in the 8 to 11lb range, on this rig, with no problem! But 5 fish were huge! They hit with a vengeance! Ripped the leaders and lures off my swivel! I kept fishing the area and lost 5 Norman lures! Must have been some hefty Stripers in there. It was a great weekend! Cleaned 74 fish monday mostly white bass, 4 wipers, and 3 Walleye.
Fishing is GREAT at CHENEY!
MIKE

May 27, 2002 - Lovewell -  I fished at Lovewell on Memorial Day weekend, and it was very fair fishing. We only caught 2 walleyes but we caught so many of those damn drum that I lost count. One of my friends was down also and he caught 4 walleye off of 2 mile road, with one measuring 21 inches. All of the anglers we talked to were having poor success on walleye but the cats were tearing things up. John Brammeier

May 27, 2002 - Cheney - Went to Cheney on the 26th and got 2 keeper Welleye. Also had about 7 shorts. All caught drifting in about 6 to 8 feet of water. Went back on the 27th and got 3 keepers and only one short. Could not keep the perch off of your jig today. Randy.

May 26, 2002 - Watson Park - Watson Park, Wichita, KS Fished here most of the day by the bridge on the back side of the lake, didn't catch anything. had a few nibbles, think that they may have been perch or white bass as I was using worms and 1/0 hooks for catfish. Also saw a lot of fish jumping around in this area that also gave the impression that they were perch or small white bass. Jason Forbes

May 24, 2002 - Lake Afton -  Hi everyone.  Bought me a new catfishing rod and reel to replace my old one I have had for years.  Of course I had to try it out so I went today to Lake Afton.  With the cool windy and wet conditions I didn't want to make a long drive.  Using old reliable Sonny's dip bait I caught 5 channels on the north end of Lake Afton.  All were what I call stocker size.  I only stayed for 1 and a half hours.  Tommorrow will be the true test of my new gear when I make a trip to my favorite private pond outside of Kingman where the ones I caught today could be used as bait there.  Take care all and have a great Memorial Day weekend.       ------Chris

May 24, 2002 - Cheney - Cheney was hot fishing on 5/17/2002 I caught 4 keeper Walleyes ranging from 3 to 6 lbs. I also caught 17 keeper whites over a lb a piece with most being close to 2 lbs. Trolling

May 24, 2002 - Cheney - Fished Cheney Lake Tuesday 5/21/02. Too windy to fish the north end very well. Caught some white perch off of Wichita Point and this boot.

If anyone catches the matching boot please contact me.
Mike Petersen

May 23, 2002 - Wilson - A buddy and I went to Wilson Monday and caught 6 keeper walleye. One was in the 20" range. Fished the flats around the roadbed at Cedar creek. The wind was close to putting us off the lake. Vance Stirn - Tescott

May 21, 2002 - Bennington State Lake - Caught these with a buddy of mine friday night at Bennington State Lake 5/17/2002. 2 @ 2 pounds, 1 @ 3 pounds, 1 @ 7 pounds, 2 @ 8 pounds. Capped off the night with a beautiful 12 pound 3 ounce channel. Fished this lake from about 5 pm till midnight. Ken Hardesty

 

May 21, 2002 - Clinton - Jim, I fished Clinton , Monday the 20th. Caught three walleye that were 14 inchers, all the same size. Caught a drum that may have weighed close to five pounds. I thought I had hooked a large walleye till he came to the boat, Ha! Caught a crappie that was over eleven inches. Also caught a few white bass. I brought home 27 and threw back the smaller fish. The bite was good until around 11:00 then the fish moved off the hump I was working. I wish someone will tell me where the whites go when they head to "deeper " water. I was using jigs with plastic bodies. I also caught a few using a " blade bait ". I was told by other fishermen that the crappie are still near the bank Six to eight foot deep. The few fishermen I spoke with had 20 or so average sized crappie. I'm sending a photo with my catch (Photo will be posted later). I enjoy your web sight . The reports are a real help, thanks

May 21, 2002 - Cheney - Fished Cheney the PM of 5/18/02.  Had no luck with Walleye on jigs and worms, worm harnesses, nor on crank baits.  Tried 2'-20' of water off all the usual points and drop offs, drifting, trolling, and even anchored.  The white perch were lousy at all depths, too, but seem to be the worst in the shallower water.  Funny how that seems to be exactly where you need to be to catch any walleye this time of year.  I fileted one of those perch and stuck a thin strip of the side on a jig and fished that way for a while.  Seems the fish in Cheney like white perch about as much as I do... those sides didn't work either.

May 20, 2002 - Cheney - Saturday afternoon from about 2 PM to 5:30 PM we caught these three walleye and about eighteen white bass trolling No 5 fire tiger shad raps in about 5 or 6 ft depth south of the stumps in Graber's Cove. Click on photo for larger view.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 20, 2002 - Clinton - Jim , Arrived at Clinton Lake at 10:00. The rain had moved on to the south. The wind was about 5 mph. out of the west. I found the white bass along the channel in 20 to 25 foot . I used jigs fished vertically . The orange head with white plastic body worked well. I also caught a few on a chrome rattle trap. As the sun came out the fish seemed to move into deeper water. I caught a few small males in 15 foot of water. The larger fish were deeper.
Here is a photo of the 93 I kept. We will have a fish fry at church with the proceeds going to help the homeless............lew Click on photo for larger view.

May 20, 2002 - Hillsdale - Got out on lake fairly early (Saturday), fishing very slow , lot of small crappie. Fishing small jig ended up with only six around 11 to 12" . All caught 2 to 3 feet of water. Unlike the paper reported I would say lake was at least 5' high if not more.If weather holds,  this should be the week, talked with several who say the ones they have cleaned still have eggs.Have a safe and great holiday of weekend fishing. Dont forget catch and release Chris Shriver lenexa

May 18, 2002 - Perry/Clinton - Hello all at kansas angler, Saturday 18, 2002.
We tried perry spillway in the morning a little too much water coming out 6,000cfs.
We caught about 50 Crappies all about 6"-8", and a couple gar that went 20lbs or 4 ft long. Next we went up on the lake in the marina cove, we caught 15 male crappie that were all about 9.5inches long and 1 Largemouth bass that was 14 inches. We were using 1/16 oz jigs Chartruce was best. Then we went to Clinton Spillway 500cfs we caught a couple small walleyes about 14inches and 1 buffalo that was about 20lbs or 36 inches. We used 3 inch Power Grubs Chartruce and Orange were best. We Drove over the dam and saw people catching crappies from the bank. We stopped there and Caught 30 keeper Crappies all about 10 to 12 inches. We used 1/16 oz tube jigs again Chartruce was best. Caught about 15 White Bass near dark all were nice about 15 inches or better. Thanks

May 18, 2002 - Perry/Clinton - Hello all at kansas angler, Saturday 18, 2002.
We tried perry spillway in the morning a little too much water coming out 6,000cfs.
We caught about 50 Crappies all about 6"-8", and a couple gar that went 20lbs or 4 ft long. Next we went up on the lake in the marina cove, we caught 15 male crappie that were all about 9.5inches long and 1 Largemouth bass that was 14 inches. We were using 1/16 oz jigs Chartruce was best. Then we went to Clinton Spillway 500cfs we caught a couple small walleyes about 14inches and 1 buffalo that was about 20lbs or 36 inches. We used 3 inch Power Grubs Chartruce and Orange were best. We Drove over the dam and saw people catching crappies from the bank. We stopped there and Caught 30 keeper Crappies all about 10 to 12 inches. We used 1/16 oz tube jigs again Chartruce was best. Caught about 15 White Bass near dark all were nice about 15 inches or better. Thanks

 

May 18, 2002 - Shawnee Mission Park Johnson County - Here's a wiper I pulled out of Shawnee Mission Park Lake on
May 18, 2002. 8 lbs, 26 inches

Thanks,
Scott Beyer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 19, 2002 - Cheney - Both photographs are of fish taken during the week at Cheney. Click on the photo to see a larger view.

 

May 15, 2002 - Cheney - Took a day off to fish Cheny. Should have stayed working. Fished the Island and several of the popular points. Came home with one walleye. Jig and nightcrawler works for 5 seconds then you need to re-bait due to
white perch. Nothing on plugs either. Some guys at the ramp had caught 9 fish in 2-5 feet of water. That must have been the key because 8-12 didn't work for me. Hamburgers again!!

May 14, 2002 - Shawnee Mission Park Johnson County - We caught 5 channels in a 2 hour time span. All caught on chicken liver, about 6 - 8 ft of water. Smallest was 1lb, biggest 2.3lbs.

May 14, 2002 - Wilson - The striper fishing to say the least has been tough this last week. Constant wind shifts and storm fronts make it difficult to stay on the fish. We have however been still catching a few 4 to 7 lbs. stripers with a 10 and 18 lber. as the largest so far this week. I have been fishing the Lucas park and Minooka area with live shad, fished between 5 and 30 feet. Good Luck Jack Hoskinson Madd Jack Striper Guide

May 14, 2002 - Shawnee Mission Park Johnson County - We caught 5 channels in a 2 hour time span. All caught on chicken liver, about 6 - 8 ft of water. Smallest was 1lb, biggest 2.3lbs.

May 14, 2002 - Wilson - The striper fishing to say the least has been tough this last week. Constant wind shifts and storm fronts make it difficult to stay on the fish. We have however been still catching a few 4 to 7 lbs. stripers with a 10 and 18 lber. as the largest so far this week. I have been fishing the Lucas park and Minooka area with live shad, fished between 5 and 30 feet. Good Luck Jack Hoskinson Madd Jack Striper Guide


May 14, 2002 - Bennington State Lake - These first pics are from 5/10/2002 at Bennington State lake. 3 cats in the 2 poiund range and 4 in the 4 to 5 pound range. Bennington Ks. Caught on shad gizzards Friday evening while it was drizziling and only about 57 degrees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May 14, 2002 - Smokey Hill - the second 2 pics are mine. i caught out of the smokey hill river East of Salina. the one went a little over 3 pounds, the other right at 5 pounds. Ken Hardesty

 

 

May 13, 2002 - Cheney - Fished Cheney on May 4. We tried all kinds of jigs and crawlers with very little luck. The wife did catch a 16.25" Crappie in 18' of water just outside sailboat cove after the wind came up around 2:30 PM. This was the largest crappie I have ever seen. The white perch made fishing live bait in
shallow water a nightmare. You just can get the bait past those little
devils long enough to give a walleye a decent chance. We tried all our
usual spots with similar lack of success. In all, we caught 4 drum, umpteen
white perch, and the one crappie.

May 13, 2002 - Hillsdale - Fished bass tourny at Hilsdale - myself 0 fish 0 bites - 46 boats entered - 4 fish caught total - Big bass and First place 5.8 lbs - Second place 5.6 - Fish were being caught in shallow water on a little bit of everything - lot of shorts reported being caught. Saw a lot of crappie fisherman doing well close to bank. Have a great week of work and a better week of fishing These next two weeks should be prime at Hillsdale See ya on the water Chris Shriver Lenexa

May 12, 2002 - Clinton - See other photos from the same anglers in Fish Pix Photo Gallery.

May 11, 2002 - Tuttle Creek, Milford - Hello. Me and a friend fished Rocky Ford below Tuttle Creek Reservoir on Sunday May 5, right after the storm broke. Unlike most of the year, the weather was muggy and warm after the rain and the fishing was dynamite from 11 pm till about 3 am. Landed a 16lb channel at about 230 am. We caught 8 keepers in all and in addition to the 16 pounder we had a couple in the 3-4 lb range. They were hitting hard and hooking themselves. Rocky Ford is running only about 500 cfs so you can throw your bait right into the rips behind rocks where they are holding. We were using shad guts. also, I have had some luck at Madison Creek in Milford Reservoir. There is a steep drop about 20 yards out that you can get to from the shore. A bouy marks the area. There is some really good Blue Cat action there. No Whoppers but steady 5-10 lbs when they decide to feed in the early evening. The channels are mixed in with them. No Flatheads yet but usually when the water reaches 60 degrees they come come out very hungry at Madison and Rocky Ford. Find where the bait fish are holding and the Flatheads will be lurking close by. I use a cast net and use 6 to 8 inch shad on a 8/0 Gamakatsu circle hook. The cast net is the key. When you find a spot where you can get bait fish, get about a dozen and dont throw in the area anymore cause it will spook the Flatheads. Hope this helps, and if the water release is 500-1000 Rocky Ford will reward you. Hope this helps out. Thanks. Sean Kirley
kansask@flinthills.com

May 6, 2002 - Cheney - We've been doing very well on walleye in the upper end in five foot depth trolling No. 5 Fire Tiger Shad Raps. Some are really nice 25-26 inch fish. Use whatever pictures you want. Thanks for the great web page. (All three pictures go with this report

 

May 6, 2002 - Kirwin - I just found this site and thought I'd share my weekend trip at Kirwin Reservoir.
First of all, many, many boats. And, I'm afraid, quite a few disappointed first-time Kirwin fishermen. Their hopes had been stoked by Jimmy Houston, et al., who have basically called it the greatest lake in the world. . .oh, my! Shifting winds to 20-plus mph may have contributed to the fair to tough fishing conditions.
Saturday: my partner I kept 6 walleye between 15 and 22 inches--released a 24-inch spawned out female. Also boated two 14-inch crappie, a couple 16-inch largemouth, and a dozen or so white bass and wipers. Nothing worked great, but we trolled and still-fished about 12 hours and had a good day.
Sunday: picked up two 17-inch walleye on crawlers in 15-18 feet of water by 9:45 a.m., and little else until we left for home about 4:00 p.m. Saw a few crappie caught in trees.

May 6, 2002 - Cheney - Two of us fished Cheney last Saturday (May 4) for walleyes from about 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. with absolutely no luck at all. All we could catch every where we went on the lake were those pesky little, bait-stealing, white perch. We tried everything we could think of; drifting crawlers with a drift sock,
drifting without a drift sock, anchoring, and trolling. There were a lot of boats out, after the morning fog finally burnt off, but only saw a couple trollers catch a walleye. There were a ton of boats drifting or anchored off of M&M point, but nobody was catching anything, at least that we could see. We tried about 7 or 8 different areas of the lake that had been good for me last year, plus a couple new ones, with the only thing to show for it was one nice white bass. We worked water from just several feet deep out to as much as 20'. I was hoping this wind would let up some in the next few days so I can get out again and figure out what I was doing wrong. Well, it's early in the season yet and there's a lot of walleye fishing days left, so maybe I will have better luck next time out.

Good Fishing Everyone!
Tony Cook

May 6, 2002 - Clinton - Sat. Sun. Fished everywhere Sat looking for pattern with crappie found a few in 18' water main lake north side trees everyone I talked with said very slow hard to find bite. Sun. had good ole boy crappie tourny about 13 boats. Tried spots I tried Sat. but nothing went up the river and finally ended up with 12 of all sizes, biggest was 1 1/16 lb was not enough to win any moeny. Guys that won had 20 but caught them here and there. Fish were scattered do not believe spawn has happened. Will be bass fishin Sat. Let you know nnext week of findings Good fishin to all Chris Shriver

May 5, 2002 - Cheney - Drifted and trolled caught walleye both way's, in about six feet of water. using nightcrawers on floating jigheads  and walleye diver troling. caught my limit on 5\3\02.

May 5, 2002 - Coffey County (Wolf Creek) - Coffey County lake opened for boat activity @ sunrise on Sat. May 4th..fishing was great.....Best, Clyde the Guide

May 5, 2002 - Glen Elder, Lovewell -
The fishing at Glen Elder was poor to say the least. We fished there for 5 hours with only a couple of bites. So we then headed down to Lovewell thinking the walleyes were biting there, but we were wrong again. But at least we managed to get a wiper and some drum. The walleye fishing is a good week away from getting hot at these two lakes.

May 3, 2002 - Perry - Caught 25 keepers on the shore at Perry in about 2 hours Thursday evening. Try small rocky coves with a small yellow twister below a small float in about 2-3 feet of water. I think its getting close for the spawn at Perry.  I was able to return to the same spot Friday morning and only caught 2.  Maybe the evenings are more productive or the cold front sent them back to deeper water.  Thanks Valerie for your report at Clinton.  I plan on trying Clinton back waters Saturday afternoon.  Will post my results for every body.  Brownie

May 3, 2002 - Kingman - Got ot the lake about 10:00am and was fishing out of a little 2 man scamp did pretty good cought a bunch of small fish on baby 1- switched to a white spinner bait and cought one about 16" and several small ones then went to a manns augertail and cought 4keepers with one scaling a little over 4lbs. I had to leave about 2:30 because I was out of battery. Water temp was 63.

May 3, 2002 - Potwin #2 - went to Pottw #2 and had a field day with crappie. They were hitting white sassy shad like no tomorrow.I had a dozen minnows and got two bites. The sassy shad worked great. Brought home some very nice fish. (12) I am new to the area in Manhattan so could someone please tell me where to go for channel cats, Bass, I know where to go now for Crappie. Good luck, all

May 1, 2002 - Potwin #2 - Went out yesterday evening to Pott. #2. Started trolling the dam for some crappies did catch one but not much happening there. Went around to some of the downed trees in search of the crappies, did not catch any crappies but did catch some nice largemouths. Fairly large size for that lake two 2 pounders and another good one. Caught them all on a small beetle spin. Caught them all off some different laydowns along the bank. I don't know if they were up getting ready to spawn or not but they were shallow. Was suprised to see the fish take such a small bait but it worked out well. Hopefully get out some more these next few days. Anybody fishing around Manhattan, post your reports, there are lots of lakes to fish around here and a little info would be great when trying to figure out where to go. thanks

May 1, 2002 - Clinton -April 30 Returned from the backwaters of Clinton and did very well. Caught 58 nice sized crappie and a 5lb large mouth bass on minnows.....didn't even matter if you used a dead minnow! they were still hitting hard. My husband caught a 3+ pound crappie, not the record I know but it was really nice. Needless to say, we are going back today! Good luck everybody, Valerie

May 1, 2002 - Atchison State Lake - Fish for catfish on the west side of the lake by the feeder. Use catfish bait or worms. Best time is right before dark between 8-9 p.m. The blue gill are slow but getting some decent bites off the bottom on worms.

April 30, 2002 - El Dorado - Fished El Dorado Lake on 4/28.  Water temp. was 58F and the wind was 5-10 mph out of the N-NE.  Caught one 20" flat head in 16' of water on a break near a point using a jig and crawler.  Drift-fished the points and drop-offs from 6'-30' of water and had very little luck.

April 29, 2002 - Cheney -Fished from 2:30 to 4 PM between Heimerman and M&M points, trolling Shad Raps. Caught a small flathead, lost a wiper, and got a 19-inch wiper and 22-inch walleye, all right in the midst of the walleye tournament and jet ski traffic. See Photo > >

April 29, 2002 - Clinton - Just returned from Clinton and I would say the crappie catching had slowed down considerably. I took my cousin from Illinois to show how good the crappie fishing is this time of year in Kansas, but I had to eat my words. We only caught 2 small crappie after 8 hrs. on the water. We tried the shallows and 15-20 feet. Not even the trusty chartruese twister or skirt worked. Last week I did bring in 27 nice slabs from the shore in the marina cove. Today the cove didn't bring in one fish. After talking with several boaters they also agreed today was a very very slow day on the water at Clinton Lake. I just hope the spawn is not over at Clinton. Does anybody know if the crappie at Perry Lake have moved into the shallows?

April 29, 2002 - Pomona - went back to pomona sat. just after rain end with in half hour had five 14" crappie caught on minnows about two feet off the bank The day kept getting windier and the fish slowed their bite Lake appeared to be back up to full pool and rising after all the rain was becoming very muddy. these fish were caught in the rock quarry area . Fished around vaser state park caught alot of small crappie one keeper if I would of reeled it in was letting my five yr old experience the thrill of catching fish and it got off No better time in life then fishing with your kids Heading to Clinton lake next sat. and sun will let you know what happened next mon. HAVE A GREAT DAY FISHING OR WORKING CHRIS SHRIVER LENEXA

April 27, 2002 - Lakewood Community Lake - Salina -Just stocked. Catching 1 1/2 to 3 pound channels on doughbaits and nightcrawlwers. caught my limit in 2 hours 4-22-2002.

April 23, 2002 - Cheney - Hey Jim. Clark and I fished Cheney today and caught a nice mess of super sized crappie. Found them real shallow and most are still males. Had some big 13 and 14 inchers. Walleye anglers everywhere prefishing before the tournament this coming Saturday. Water temp is 62 in the shallows and high 50's on the main lake. Thanks Mike Cook - Four Lake Guides

April 25, 2002 - Atchison State Lake - Just finished fishing Atchison State Lake, a little windy, but the largemouth's favorite bait was a Blue fox Vibrax.  This bait was catching anything from largemouth bass to large bluegill.  Give a try next time your out.  Most fish were caught close to land.  Good luck.

April 25, 2002 - Winfield City Lake - crappie have been hot at winfield past 2 weeks.  have limited nearly every day.  best is in mornings.  afternoon bite slowing down.  south shore, any of the first 5 coves, back along the rocks in 2-6 feet of water.  we've primarily been jigging with chartreuse tubes and yellow feather jigs, but minnows are working well too.  have caught a nice number of 1 1/2 pound sand
bass, a 2 pound wiper, and 2 nice flatheads while jigging.  walleye seems
slow but we've caught 5 from 20-22 inches along cowley four cove banks. randy hall

April 25, 2002 - Pomona & Melvern - 20th April  bank fishing at pomona with son got out at 11:00 am  caught 3 crappie right at 10" lenght one was  nice looking black male water still real low due to repairs of dam. Rain moved in around noon . Drove over to melvern fished off docks caught a lot of small crappie and a few keepers  saw quite a  few baskets half full of crappie all nice size if weather holds the slabs should be moving in to spawn . Pomona water was dirty. Melvern very clear . Next two weeks should be full blown spawn. Have a great day fishing   Chris Shriver avid fisherman

April 24, 2002 - El Dorado -
This is my first time reporting. I have fished Eldorado Lake exclusively for three years now. This is by far the best year I have seen for crappie I have been the last seven days in a row and have caught an excellent number of fish. All have been taken in the 4 to 6 feet deep,and on minnows of color. Silver minnows have not worked well for me. Try North of the railroad tracks along the rocks and in the trees or the rock Quarry after dark. Love your site! James

April 24, 2002 - Wilson - Fished the Minooka area this afternoon and caught 13 stripers up to 18 lbs. The stripers hit real good prior to a wind shift then shut off. I was fishing a fast breaking point near the river channel with live shad fished between 14 and 28 feet Good Luck. Jack Hoskinson Madd Jack Striper Guide

April 23, 2002 - Marion, Fall River, El Dorado - Short report for you. The rain really mudded up the river and white bass fishing on the Cottonwood up at Marion. But the channel cat are up in the shallows and blasting the Junnies Dip Bait. Doing good for channels at Fall River and Kaw. The crappie bite at El Dorado continues to be good when the wind doesn't howl. Catching them in the river at Fall River too. Mike Cook - Four Lake Guides

April 20, 2002 - Wilson Short report for you. The rain really mudded up the river and white bass fishing on the Cottonwood up at Marion. But the channel cat are up in the shallows and blasting the Junnies Dip Bait. Doing good for channels at Fall
River and Kaw. The crappie bite at El Dorado continues to be good when the
wind doesn't howl. Catching them in the river at Fall River too. Mike Cook Four Lakes Guide

April 20, 2002 - Wilson - Fishing this week has been a little up and down with the winds being the big factor. But despite it we managed to catch quite a few 4 to 5 # stripers, a few walleye and smallmouth. The weather today was cold and rainy and it took awhile to get on the fish but when I did I caught 10 stripers up to 15 lbs. I have been fishing the upper end of Wilson from Minooka west on the shallow water breaks with live shad. I am still getting reports of the whites being in the river at least until this cold front hit. Sure hope the weather settles down this week, Good Luck. Jack Hoskinson Madd Jack Striper Guide

April 18, 2002 - Winfield City Lake - Thursday April 18 2002 Went to Winfield city lake the three of us limited out on crappie. Had to throw several nice ones back. ended up with 1 nice walleye also.

April 16, 2002 - Leavenworth SFL - We just got back from Leavenworth State Lake, we marked alot of fish on the fish finder about 3ft deep over 6-10 ft of water near the boat ramp. we caught several crappie on white jigs. weather was bad early in the day but the fish did'nt seem to mind

April 15, 2002 - Kingman SFL - The pressure at Kingman is increasing everyday.  Saturday, had at least 5 boats on it just in the 2 hours I was there.  Caught 3 largemouth 20+ inches on white roadrunners and small spinnerbaits.  Caught 2 pike on the same baits but they were less than 18" not than impresive for pike.  Fish appear to be coming out of the deepest water to cruise the shallows-reeds.  Trash is everyone's responsibility, good luck. Raydog

April 15, 2002 - Wilson - (4/11-15)
The stripers are still on the bite in the west end of Wilson producing fish up to 11 lbs. and lots of 4 to 5 lb. stripers. The last 4 days I have caught them using a variety of methods with live shad as bait. The wind kept us from getting on the fish today but with the warmer weather I would expect the fish to start moving back up the lake. I have heard reports of white bass being caught in the smokey and the saline. A recent report from Webster was the crappie, cats and wipers are also on the prowl. Good Luck. Jack Hoskinson Madd Jack Striper Guide

April 15, 2002 - Cheney - We caught five nice white bass up to 16 inches long and this 22 inch walleye Saturday trolling No. 5 Fire Tiger Shad Raps near the river channel out from Graber's Cove on Cheney Reservoir. Not real fast action, but nice quality fish.

April 14, 2002 - Big Hill - I fished big Hill From about 4:30 until dark 30 on the 13 day of April.. I caught a few fish on jerk baits in the upper end of the lake fishing is still slow.. The water temp is 46 and the water is clear.. ( Everyone remember to practice CPR Catch Picture and release) Big hill is getting a lot of pressure and it is starting too show in the creel limits of nice size large mouth... remeber the bass are not only competing us, they are also competing the white bass now.

April 11, 2002 - Louisburg-Middle Creek - HAVE BEEN STEAM FISHING. DO NOT HAVE BOAT. HAVE BEEN TO LOUISBURG-MIDDLECREEK, FISHING ALONG THE STREAM. ANY POINTERS, OTHER STREAMS/RIVERS THAT ARE GOOD. ANY HELP WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. THANKS, DON BASLER, DB10114837@AOL.COM

April 11, 2002 - Cheney - I am the fisheries biologist for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks at Cheney Reservoir.  I just noticed the report posted April 1 by Mitch B. about the dead walleye in our traps.  I wasn't too happy about it either.  The wind was forecast to be NE at 5 mph on the morning of 3/29, but instead it was NW at 30 mph.  The National Weather Service is not wrong on the wind direction and speed very often, but they were that day.  We killed about 30 or so walleye, and had a fair amount of damage to traps.
 
The traps were not set wrong.  I've been doing this 28 years, and you can't set a trap to stand in that kind of wind.  To answer your question, this does happen occasionally.  It has happened to me twice.  It is part of the cost of doing business.  The only ways to prevent it happening in the future is to find an iron-clad, 100% correct wind forecast or to quit taking eggs.  All of the walleye caught in the fantastic fishing we had last year were stocked fish, so not taking eggs is probably a bad idea.
 
By the way, we will stock 9.5 million walleye fry again this year at Cheney.  They come from operations similar to this.  I'm sorry we killed a few fish.  I can't promise it won't happen again.  I can promise I'm doing the best I can to manage a pretty good walleye fishery at Cheney.
 
Gordon Schneider

April 9, 2002 - Tuttle Creek -
Fished the River Pond this weekend up at Tuttle.  Not much happening.  Friday evening went out.  Hooked a good one thought it was a nice walleye as i got it close to shore.  Crazy thing turned out to be a 3 lb. largemouth.  I didn't even figure there were much largemouth in the river pond but oh well it was a good battle, i let it go in hopes it might put some more black bass in the river pond but who knows.  Went out Saturday also to the river pond with no luck.  I don't know if i have missed the walleye spawn or not but havn't caught a walleye yet this year.  Anybody else fish Rocky Ford or Tuttle Lake or River Pond post some reports for us here in Manhattan.  Good Luck  Eric

April 9, 2002 - Ottawa State Lake - went out at 1:30 pm on 4/09/02 fishing with minnows caught 35 crappie mostly on the small size,also cuught small to med size bass on purple 8" worms lake is stained lake level is up from last week. good luck Tim putman

April 7, 2002 - Wilson - Well the weather this weekend has kept most of us off the water but Friday afternoons fishing was pretty good. Fishing the river end of Wilson with live shad we managed to put 6 in the boat and missed at least that many more. I have been fishing in 20 to 3 feet of water. The fish have been scattered and you just have to look until you find them. Good Luck Jack Hoskinson Madd Jack Striper Guide

April 7, 2002 - Water Shed east of Burden - Went fishing Friday April 5, 15 Miles east of Burden, at a water shed. caught 16 Bass biggest 5.12 lbs. lost 3 other that were also big. Used Baby -1 Crawfish 1/4 oz. lure. Fish were full of eggs. John

April 5, 2002 - Middle Creek State Fishing -I was on it 3/29 & 3/30. The water temp was about 47F. I saw fish on my depthfinder between 16' & 27' always on drop offs, but couldn't get them to bite. Crappie were supposedly being taken on each side of the damn in the transitional areas turning from rock to dirt. I caught none. The wind was ferocious.  No one I talked with had caught anything. I would try E of the boat ramp for bass. Mark Morash 4800 Rainbow Blvd Ste 102
Westwood KS 66205

April 4, 2002 - Pomona - Just a little fishing report. The water temp is ranging from 42 to about 50 depending on where you are on the lake. We have been catching crappie at Pomona in 18 to 20 feet of water with the fish suspended about 12 to 15 feet. Mostly on green and char. tube jigs. Good Fishing Mike Hawkins

April 4, 2002 - Kaw River below Bowersock - I am not very computer literate, but in bowersock mill with old men that taught me well. Swede Johnsson , yes 2sss, Elvis Burger , Tom Burns. My dad took me out of school many a day to help dress fish when we still fished commercially fish almost 99.9 catch & release channel cats still biting consistent on shad guts, flatheads starting to move out of they are starting to move up out of the wintering holes to feed when the weather is right. Blue suckers are starting to spawn sturgeon are just moving up shallow and starting to bite consistent. I'll try to keep you updated, but work cuts my fishing time very short [4 or 5 nights] a week. Working on the typing skills. I'll try to update 2 & 3 times a week. below Bowersock northeast K. S Kaw river. Thanks for the reply last time 4/3/02 good fishing all. Take a trash bag lets leave it better than when we get there. thank you for your support.

April 3, 2002 - Big Hill - White Bass in the 2 to 3lb. size are being on crank baits & small spinner baits at Big Hill Res.My son in law & I & two grand sons caught & released 32 white bass in the two to 3lb. class. EARL Huffman Parsons Ks.

April 1, 2002 - Cheney - I fished the north end of the Cheney Dam on 3/30/02 from 4:00 - 8:30 AM. I caught one 3lb. 20" male on a suspending Smithwick Rouge. I also witnessed a terrible and depressing site. The KDWP biologists were trapping Walleyes for reproduction. I saw at least three traps where all the fish that had been caught had died. My guess is that the traps were not set properly. They were set to shallow for the high wind condition from the day before. I saw at least 25-30 fish dead in the traps. All of the fish were huge 18" plus, some as large as 5-6lbs. I hope I never witness this terrible mistake again. I wonder how often this happens on our Kansas waters?

I know the biologists did not do this on purpose and it is ironic, that in trying to increase the Walleye population, they affected it negatively. I just wanted to bring attention to this so that it might be prevented in the future if possible. I as well as all Kansas anglers appreciate the great job that our state biologists are doing.

Mitch B.

 

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