|
Kansas Fishing Report
Submitted by Anglers Like You
Help keep others informed by emailing
fishing reports to us. Include your name in the message part
of your report if you'd like to receive credit for the report.
KS and OK Corps of Engineers Lake Levels
| Wichita
Lake Info
Three
Way Rig Instructions
Send in your
report or answers to questions today
See Comments and Commentary
from Kansas Anglers
Fishing opportunities
in Sedgwick County thru KW&P Urban Fishing Program
Mike Cook's Report |
Source: Kansas Anglers like you. Send us
a report.
December 30, 2005 - Kanopolis
Seep Stream - Weather conditions @ Salina @ 0918 hrs
CST: - clear below 12000
Temp: 40 F - Humidity: 65% - Dewpoint: 29 degrees - Barometric
Pressure: 29.76 rising
wind chill: 30 - wind direction / speed: WNW @ 20 MPH
Winds blew constantly all day making light line
& light lures somewhat difficult to operate. Managed to catch
my limit with no thanks to my ability to set the hook. Caught
1 (15.75 inches - 2 lbs +) on rainbow power nuggets, 1 (14 inches)
using Bomber Ultra-Lite FAT A in firetiger), caught 2 (10 inch
- size you normally get) using Berkley Sunrise Power Eggs &
1 (13.5 inches using Rapala # 5 Original Minnow in firetiger.)
Saw one gentleman using 1/100 oz jig on fly rod (had several
10 inch trout); another was using Balls of Fire Salmon eggs (had
his limit) & two others were using combination of salmon
eggs, power bait & a spinner. Not bad for the last trip of
this year.
Needless to say fresh baked trout for supper tonite
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
TIGHT LINES & SHARP HOOKS
"Per Mare, Per Terras"
walt
December 22, 2005 - Cheney
Ice Fishing Comments-ICE fishing anywhere in the MIDWEST
can be extremely tough. Because you have a bad experience ICE
fishing on any lake doesn't mean anything really. You have to
factor in the type of day you went out. Did you fish Low light
conditions? Did you have a depth finder and find shad and fish
around the shad before you cut holes? Unless you pinpoint the
area the fish are using it can be extremely tough because most
of time the fish are turned off in the winter. Even if you find
the fish they might be ignoring everything you put down the hole.
Its much easier to cover water when its open vs. chopping a few
holes and waiting for a bite. If the water is clear and your
fishing during the day then your odds just went way down. Try
fishing some tip-ups real shallow next to some deeper water during
low light conditions. Use lively bait and make sure your bait
is oriented to the water temp prior to putting them in the water.
Once the entire lake temp is about the same in all depth levels
then you can catch fish extremely shallow under the ice even
over deep water. A lot of times after the ice has been on the
lake awhile then you can start fishing up some of the channels
because fish will relocate from the winter conditions. The entire
lake becomes available once the water temps have stabilized.
Bad weather the fish will move deeper and hold tighter, nice
weather they are scattered out looking for shad to feed on. Don't
be surprised to find fish in 5 feet of water feeding during the
day. In this phase of the ice fishing season the fish should
still be holding fairly deep but probably starting to move shallow
again. It all depends on what type of fish your trying to catch.
Walleyes are definitely the hardest to catch during the day in
the winter. You must fish low light conditions for Walleye to
be successful. They will hold tight to the bottom but in shallow
areas (humps, rock piles) during feeding time. You also must
figure out what they are eating. Most likely big shad or in Cheney
probably white perch and shad. The lake probably has too much
baitfish what is the exact problem that most Kansas lakes have,
but when you hit it right you will forget about that one bad
trip.
Tom K
December 18, 2005 - Cheney
-Dec.18, 2005. Reference question on ice fishing.
Can't remember the year, 1999,2000? One of those years was the
last time i went ice fishing at Cheney. It was the year before
the white perch entered Cheney on a huge scale. Ice fishing was
excellent on White bass, Stripers, Wipers. Yes, i believe the
Perch are why ice fishing is no longer excellent. I don't go
anymore ice fishing due to the lack of catching fish thru the
ice. Our best answer to this question would be the biologist
working full time at Cheney if he would care to advise. On a
different note Fish and Game has done a excellent job on stocking
Wipers, Walleye the last several years. Now, why can't we catch
them thru the ice. Heck i don't know. But, June, July, August
is a excellent time to catch these fish at Cheney. Good luck
to you winter time fisherman. Mark.
December 14, 2005 - Glen
Elder & Cheney -
12-08-05 at Glen Elder - We were the only souls out
there. We've never ice fished Glen Elder, however, we wanted
to get an early start on the ice fishing season. The ice was
4" to 4.5" west of the causeway. I must have punched
well over a 100 holes that day as we were looking for fish along
the channel. We managed to pick up one crappie. Hard for me to
guess the problems here, however, I talked to someone up there
and he said that there has to be a 100 people on the lake to
find the fish? My guess is the snow on the ice. It seems in the
past I could be catching fish 5 days in a row and it snows and
the fish go away.
12-09-05 at Cheney - This time we were greeted
with 8 other fishermen, however, the ice was much thinner. It
started with about 4" of ice on the first mile road south
of Fred's and as we progressed towards the 2nd mile road it was
only 2" or 2.5" at best. The fishing was horrible.
I didn't get a bump or see anyone catch a fish. I had no fish
show up on my vexilar. That seems to be the theme among other
fishermen is that Cheney is not the same.
I'm not sure what the problems at Cheney are. Could
it be the white perch population? or the snow? or none of the
above?
Anyone have any ideas why the fishing is brutal?
I wonder what the cost would be to drain Cheney
and start over!
Good luck,
Jeff
December 14, 2005 - Anyone fishing?
Send reports - has any anglers been catching cold
weather fish please send in more reports for cold season . its
time to get the 2 & 4lb. test fishin line out. are there
any crappie or winter walleye biting, please send any info thanks
jer
December 1, 2005 - Question
on cold weather bass fishing - Editor's
note: This is from Alabama, but this could apply in Kansas just
as well - Any suggestions? I
have a 2 acre, 40 year old pond in the heart of alabama and now
that a cold front is coming in there seems like there is no fish
in there at all. but i know there are some good 5 to 8 pound
bass in there. could you please tell me an efficient way to catch
them. i appreciate your time.
Luke A. -Elmore Al.
November 13, 2005 - Winfield
dam on the Walnut river on 12 NOV 05 - Went White
Bass fishing at the dam today and caught three Wipers (did not
know they were stocked). What a shock to my 7 ft ultra light
rod with 4lb line trying to bring in those fish out of the rolling
water! Caught them on small jigging spoons ripping them as soon
at it hit the water all fish were caught on the drop. None were
keepers the largest was 17in, but with 4lb test it was a battle.
Eddins.=^)
November 10, 2005 - Thank
You note - Just wanted to say "thanks" to
all the anglers who report, and even guides like Mr. Cook. I
enjoy the stories, and as important, the info.
Thanks again.
Ryan Stewart
November 9, 2005 - Pratt
County - caught limit of walleye 11-8 at pratt co
. they are hitting small walleye divers and rattletraps right
along the rock jetties ...
fishin pal jer
November 8, 2005 - Woodson
County - the Boat ramp is inaccessible. the lake is
drawn down about 20 feet.
why, don't know. got there about 6:30 am Tuesday and looked at
the lake.
decided to fish the dam were we caught about 10 bass the largest
about lbs..
then we went to Wilson County and fish the rest of the day.
Steve C.
<*)}}}><
 November
4, 2005 - Segwick County Park -
November 3 - Caught a nice stringer of rainbow trout,
some in Slough creek and more in Vic's Lake on spinners and salmon
eggs. We had to work for them, but eventually got our limit.
Also question to Jay where did you catch the wipers and largemouth.
See you on the water, tight lines
Jack Bob
October 31, 2005 - Fall
River - Mike
Cook - Four Lake Guides - Fished Fall River Saturday.
Had a cancellation due to a customer being sick. Poor Clark sounded
like death warmed over on the phone. So what did I do on a day
off? That's right. I went fishing. Fished the river in the morning
cause the wind was blowing hard enough to straighten a 10 foot
length of half inch log chain. It was really cool though. The
cool temperatures lately and the wind blowing like it was, I've
never seen leaves fall like they did Saturday on the river at
Fall River. I was vertical jig fishing for crappie using 8 and
10 foot B&M jig poles and every once in while a big leaf
or twig would fall and hit one of the poles and make it feel
like a bite. I did a whole lot of premature jerking. I did jerk
up a half dozen really nice crappie and I can't really say how
many real small ones. No white bass.
After eating lunch at 2 in the afternoon, I braved
the lake and wind and waves and shallow water on the north end
for cats. No luck on the flats around the river. I tried the
back of a few coves with the same results. I finally found them
on a wind blown point and man were they big channel cats. Eight
fish, 2 were 10 pounders. An 8, a couple of 6's and nothing under
4 for the rest. I decided that was enough fun for the day and
started back towards Ladd Bridge, because I had a long way to
go through some shallow water and it was getting dark fast. Going
to Missouri next weekend to see my Dad and Sister and her family.
My Grandmother there is wanting me to bring some fish to fry
and my Sister , her family and Brother and his family will meet
there for a good ol' fashion family fish fry. So no report next
weekend. But I'll talk to you when I get back.
Mike Cook
October 27, 2005 - Sedgwick
County Park - This morning my wife witnessed the KDWP
restocking trout in Slough Creek at Sedgwick County Park. Since
trout season began, I could post three fishing reports, but no
catching reports, not counting bluegill. I'm using spinners and
small crankbaits. If you're catching them, please share some
tips.
Dean B.
Wichita, KS
   October 26,
2005 - Sedgwick County Park - Oct
26, 2005 Caught very nice Wipers 7 to 8 pounds at Sedgewick County
Park and approximately 50 largemouth bass. Very good fishing
day
Jay Southern
October 24, 2005 - Cheney
- Monday Oct 24, 2005 fished north end of cheney nothing
happeneing went up to dam caught 2 white perch very poor day
of fishing at Cheney Res
Jay Southern
    October 24,
2005 - Marion - Mike
Cook, Four Lake Guides - Saturday
fishing at Marion was very slow to get started. We had four fish
in the boat at 1:00 o'clock. Then the bite happened or we found
the fish or God only knows what happened. But Terry and Bob limited
out by 4:00 and that was good enough for them. Water temp dropped
to 58 degrees. (Photographs from left Scott Bull, Bob Gutshenritter,
Jim Bull, Lynn Bull)
Mike Cook
October 24, 2005 - Kanapolis
- Went to Kanapolis lake today and had fun. Brother
and I really got into the wipers on the south beach. By 11:00a
we had caught at least 30 a piece. All fish were good 2 - 7 lbs.
October 22,
2005 - Marion - The Walleyes
have been slow on the bite from the lake front, but have caught
a few towards evening time on large plugs at the spill way...Green
or perch color seems to be the ticket with a very slow retrieve...not
to many anglers to fight with a spot right now at the spill way.
Also have caught some nice catfish off of the plugs at night...some
ranging to 10lbs. Good fishing, Andy
October 19, 2005 - Followup question
on answer to McPherson State Lake question --do they
have to let so much out a year, and why did they let so much
out at one time
October 18, 2005 - Answer
to McPherson State Lake question --They let the water
out of McPherson State Fishing Lake because of downstream water
rights for watering cattle.
October 18, 2005 - Cheney
-- Well the great fishing could'nt continue forever.
Finally had a real slow day. Four fish all day long. And it was
a 12 year old birthday present. Bummer! Talked to a couple of
Wiper fishermen. Same story with them. A couple of small fish
and that was it. No wind. Need some wind for a chop on the water
at Cheney To get the fish active. But it was a beautiful fall
day. A little warm maybe. Well it will be better fishing this
coming weekend. Gotta think possitive.
Mike Cook
October 17, 2005 - Miami
County Lake -- Hi again , just fished Miami co. lake
today. Caught a bunch of small bass 1-2 # mostly around the dock
and boat ramp, but the water looks really funny again. I was
down there twice this year during the algea bloom and the water
is looking like that again. It's got this green powdery silt
in it. But I am by no means and expert but the water looks like
its full of green powder. There were alot of people out there
fishing. Mostly for catfish.. tight lines to all !
October 17, 2005 - McPherson
State Lake question -- anybody know why they let out
so much water at mcpherson sate fishing lake
October 16, 2005 - Marion
-- Saturday 10/15/05 Got to lake at 8 am. Trolled
beach, cottonwood, flats. We caught absolutely nothing. Then
the wind picked up at about ten am to at least 20 miles per hour
and had to get off the lake. Winds were from the northeast. Scott
S
October 14, 2005 - Milford
Lake Spillway -- Oct 13 -
Conditions @ Salina @ 1408 hrs CDT:
clear below 12000
Temp: 75 F / Humidity: 36% / Dewpoint: 46 F
Barometric Pressure: 30.12 steady / Wind Direction / Speed: calm
Corps releasing 400 cfs through the spillway. Used Gulp 3 inch
white minnow grub, Gulp 3 inch chartreuse minnow grub, Rat-L-Trap®
Tiny Trap for 3 under-size smallmouths, 1 wiper & 2 whites.
Lost my only silver Rat-L-Trap® Tiny Trap when the O-ring
cut the line w/ a fish on. Used a gold colored one to catch the
small wiper and 2 little white bass. Everything returned to the
water as none were big enough to keep.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tight Lines & Sharp Hooks
"Per Mare, Per Terras"
walt
October 13, 2005 - Answer to Question
for Scott S on Marion 10/1 - Inches, I wish it was
pounds, sorry for misleading you and getting your hopes up! Scott
S
October 13, 2005 - Marion
-- Sorry for the lateness in this report. Saturday,
we hammered them again at Marion. Using Cat Trackers Jo Jo's
Poles Snatcher Bait. Water temp had dropped to 64 degrees. Sunday
was a tough day. Caught a dozen. But all were really nice fish.
Don't know why things were so slow. Picked up a fish here and
there, but could not find that big school where we could bend
one pole after the other. Water temp Sunday at Cheney was 62
degrees.
Mike Cook
October 11, 2005 - Nebo
-hi i do a ton of fishing around this area , just
wanted to let you know a report from nebo . we fished oct. 9-11th.
the lake is very high and very stained. we were catching catfish
around the feeder as fast as we could bait up but we didnt even
get a sniff from anything else . we literally didnt get a bite
from another fish and we threw everything we had at them . i
fish alot and would love to help you with reports. i think you
do a good service here .
thanks .. john woods.. kansas city kansas
October 3, 2005 - Question
for Scott S on Marion 10/1 - Scott S.: Inches or pounds?
Bill
October 3, 2005 - Marion
- Saturday 10-1 was quite slow for jig fishing on
crappie and white bass in the river at Marion. Caught a few nice
fish though. Maybe it was the fronts coming through, but it sure
was slow. We switched to channel cat after lunch and had a grand
ol' time until the rain and lightning made us make a run to the
boat ramp. Lots and lots of shad. you all know what that means.
Oh boy , oh boy. Fall and winter fish should be fat and sassy.
Mike Cook
October 2, 2005 - Marion
- October 1, 05 started fishing about 10 am. Trolled
the drop off next to the flats, one pass, nothing. Decided to
try cottonwood point and the beach area for some wipers. First
pass was nothing but then a friendly boater told us they were
catching them close to the beach and edge of the dam. So we decided
to stay in the area and in our next ten passes caught 5 wipers;16,16,18,18,18.
Trolling using Shad Rap- Shad color. Left lake at 1:30 pm. Scott
S
September 28, 2005 - Cheney
- September 27, 2005. Tuesday. Got the the lake at
noon. What a nice day. Light south winds. Hit many hot spots.
Came up with three 23" wipers close to the entrance to sail
boat cove area. That's it. Kept 2 to clean. Was hoping the Marina
was open to get some ice to get the fish home. They were closed.
So backed the boat up to the water and released my catch. Left
the lake at 3:30pm. Mark.
September 26, 2005 - Marion
- This was another great weekend of catfishing. Three
of us limited out on channels at Marion Reservoir on Saturday.
Even releasing a few smaller ones. No big fish. Two to six pounds.
All really nice healthy looking fish. Same story on Sunday. We
were through fishing by 2 oclock in the afternoon on both days.
I just love fall fishing.
Mike Cook
 September
25, 2005 - Cheney - Sunday
we started fishing about 10am, No wind and plenty of warmth made
for quite an eventful day. I caught plenty of Wipers, Most of
them small in the 2 to 3 lb range, 3 in the 22 to 24 inch size,
2 Very nice fat White Bass, and this magnificent Flathead I caught
trolling my 3 way rig out in 19' of water along an underwater
terrace. He hit with a vengeance, and almost cleaned my reel
of line! I ended up following him for a ways, then it took all
my energy to lift him off the bottom. It was like pulling up
a fighting LOG! WHat a fish. His gut was almost as big as mine!
( I said almost!) all in all it was a good day. A little bit
too HOT, it was supposed to be like..85, but turned out to be
97! Yeah it was downright HOT. We decided to quit about 4:30,
cleaned fish and headed home.
MIKE E.
September 24, 2005 - El
Dorado Question - I've heard reports of smallmouth
fishing being pretty good at ElDorado this year. I've tried bass
fishing a few times on ElDorado, but all I can catch are whites
and walleyes. There seems to be excellent cover and structure
for both largemouth and smallmouth on ElDorado, but I can't locate
the fish. Could someone provide some good general areas, depth
to fish, etc. for smallmouth (and largemouth) or are bass in
ElDo just "urban legend"??? Keep your worm in the water-
Don.
   
September 20, 2005 - Marion
Hi Mike
Thanks again for a great day on Marion. You sure
know how to put us onto the cats. And special thanks for giving
my brother the best day of fishing he's ever had.
Here are a few photos of a happy man and his best
catches of the day. For your notes, he's Jan Groves, my younger
brother and one of my favorite people.
We were thinking back on the day. The last stop,
on the south shore cove, was no more than half an hour. With
11 fish kept including all of the largest of the day, and two
released. It's as close to a catfish feeding frenzy as we've
ever seen.
it was a blast.
Take care and thanks again.
Russell Groves
1065 140th
Hillsboro, KS 67063
620-947-5664
rpgroves1954@yahoo.com
September 20, 2005 - Cheney
- September fishing at Cheney seems to be really slow.
Has anyone taken note of any, if at all, wiper/white schooling
activity on the surface chasing shad?
Have I missed it or has it not yet started?
Mr. "T"
September 13, 2005 - Marion
Reservoir - Sunday September 12th, forecast was 15-30
winds from the south gusty. Was 15-20 when we put on, do-able.
As soon as we trolled through the edge of the flats-drop off,
we had two fish on. One wiper and one white bass. We looked around
gave high fives and said today is going to be a good day. Trolled
a ways further down before turning around and guess what, the
wind had picked up . We didn't really notice it because we were
going with the wind until then. We were in a 17 foot bass boat.
The waves coming at us now were from 3- 6 feet. It sucked. It
took us an hour to get back to Marion cove where we put in at
and took on a lot of water. The engine was overheating for some
reason as well, so we thought we could sink the boat pretty easily
but we made it back, extremely wet! Had a flat tire on the way
there on the trailer. Last week the engine wouldn't start. Our
luck this year has been horrible. Hope you all are doing better
than us!
Scott S
September 11, 2005 - Elk
County Watershed - I took my wife and kids to a watershed
Thursday evening. The crappie and bass were biting like crazy.
We caught 25 nice crappie and to many bass to count. I spent
most of my time helping them, it was a lot of fun. I went back
Saturday by myself and caught 31 crappie before I realized how
many I was going to have to clean. They were still biting when
I left. We were using an assortment of different crappie jigs.
It seemed like just about every color was working. Shawn
September 7, 2005 - Cheney
- September 06, 2005 beautiful morning. Very little wind at 8am.
Forecast was for light south wind with high pressure overhead.
Seen hundreds of schools of shad on top and underneath of water.
Shad hatch must have been very good this year. Seen many, many
huge fish on the screen. Not a bite till noon. Had two big fish
on and both got off. My hooks must have not been sharp. Very
slow. Nothing like last year. Mark.
September 6, 2005 - Cheney
- Labor day at Cheney was tough. Had a couple of brothers from
the Wichita area. Had to use thrwe anchors and that wouldn't
even hold the boat most times. Godd mornong bite, and fair late
afternoon bite. Tough in between. One channel cat short of filling
there limit. Really, really nice fish though. 6,7,8 pounders.
Had fun.
Mike Cook
September 5, 2005 - Cheney
question - I'm planning a trip to Cheney sometime
in the next couple of weeks. I have waded there in the past,
but have never fished it from a boat until now. Can anyone point
me in the right direction as far as where to go and what types
of baits work the best? I'll be fishing for wiper/striper and
walleye. Thanks for the help. Shawn
September 3, 2005 - Cedar
Bluff - We spent two days and nights at this lake
this past week, and had no results on white bass or wipers. We
fished late into the evening and early morning until afternoon.
We did not really give channel cat a good chance, but did try
for several hours, but did not use trotlines, so wont rate them,
but all other species were nil. We talked to several other groups,
and the results were the same.
Our only catch was a 18 inch carp caught on a bass plug.
Mel Pfau
 September
3, 2005 - Cheney - My
wife and I got to Cheney about 4:30 and just started trolling
the 3 way rig around Wichita Point, when she hooked up with a
7 and a half pound, 27 inch walleye. Of course we worked that
same area for another hour and nothing but small perch. Other
than her walleye it was kind of slow. Since last weekend the
water temp has droped about 5 degrees. Randy and Martha.
Back to Current
Reports
Reports for 2005
September - December | July
- August | April
- June | January
- March
Reports for 2004
September - December
| July - August |
April - June | January - March
Reports for 2003
September - December
| July - August |
April - June | January - March
Reports for 2002
September - December
| July - August | April - June | January
- March
Reports for 2001
October - December
| July - September
| April - July |
January - March
Reports for 2000
October - December
| July - September
| April - June |
January - March
Back to Current
Reports | Kansas
Angler Home Page
Reports for
Kansas | Colorado
| Missouri | Nebraska
| Oklahoma | Texas
|