Boulder Lake, Pyramid SP in Southern Illinois- an AWESOME place to kayak fish!

I had an awesome time kayak fishing Pyramid SP in Southern Illinois on May 12th.  This area is an old strip mine that was converted in the early 60's for recreational use.  There is an older section and a newer section.  I went ahead and fished the newer section, choosing the larger Boulder Lake as the place I would fish for the day.

The water is gin clear and varies in depth within a matter of feet.  Like its name would imply, there are quite a few boulders and rock piles, which is AWESOME!

It took me a few hours to figure out what they were biting on.  I eventually caught a huge bass on a texas rigged Senko worm, but lost it about 5' from the yak.  I started to throw what has become my "go to", the Wiggle Wart (never thought a crank bait would be my go to LOL).  SMACK!  thought it was a bass a first, but ended up being a nice sized channel catfish.  Took me about 1/2 hour to the get the lure untangled from the net!  After that caught several smaller bass and bluegill on the Wiggle Wart.

Looking forward to coming back to this place soon!

Fish ON!

Mike

 

 

Boulder Lake, Pyramid SP, Illinois- Kayak fishing at it\'s best!

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Palarm Creek/Arkansas River and Maumelle River/Arkansas river- first kayak fishing trips of the year

Palarm Creek close to the Arkansas River near Little Rock

Here are the first (2) kayak fishing trips of the year. Did not have a lot of success, the kayaking was excellent. Was using the Feelfree 14' Atlantis sea kayak (yes, you can fish off it!) First stop of Palarm Creek/Arkansas river. This is the water that comes from Lake Conway and drains in to the Arkansas. The current is fairly swift with a lot of "shubbery" in the water. Bummer thing happened on this trip- my rudder snapped in two! Ended up cutting it of, stowing it away, and kayaking the rest of the trip. Have to debate if the get a new kit to install or not. Fishing was not good, but the weather (85 degrees) was way better than STL (43 degrees) Second trip was the Maumelle River at the confluence of the Arkansas River. I did manage to catch a small bass on a small spinner outfit. Slow fishing, but we had just had a cold front move through, and it still had a ton of wind behind it

Kayak the Maumelle River by the Arkansas River confluence

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Arkansas River-Palarm Creek Arkansas

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Best of fishing and kayaking- 2012

What an incredible year 2012 was!  We suffered a drought across the Ozarks, but the fishing was outstanding!  I fell a little short on the smallmouth fishing and trout fishing this year, however, I think we will be able to make up for that in 2013.

Here is to an incredible 2013 in angling and kayaking to you and your family!  Enjoy the video :)

Fish ON!

Mike

July kayak fishing at Lake Sherwood, Warren County, MO: Heat does not always stop fish

This is a combined report from (2) trips I took to the always wonderful Lake Sherwood, MO.  Sherwood is a private, gated community with several lakes.  I prefer to fish the main lake for bass and monster bluegill.  Both times I fished the lake, the temperatures were about 100 degrees, with very warm water temps.
The first trip I had a ton of success on Largemouth bass (which is what I was fishing for).  I had a fire tiger bright colored Rapala medium diving crank bait.  There were a lot of casts involved, but caught over (8) that day, as well as a catfish that I was unable to land (I knew if was a catfish due to the fight and the slime left all over the line when he spit the lure out).  Most people I spoke with that are familiar with the waters said that the fishing was slow, but I think I figured out what the deal was.  The bass were laying at the bottom of the lake, in the middle of the arms in about 15' of water in the heavy vegetation.  When that lure when by, they jumped up to hit it (hence having to cast a ton of times before a bite).

The second trip the conditions seemed very similar, but no such luck.  A storm front was getting ready to move in, and I started to throw a Rebel topwater plug.  What was interesting was the fact that no bass were caught, however, I caught several good sized bluegills off my efforts.  Makes me think I should come back with a fly rod and a bunch of smaller sized poppers....hmm.....

Fish ON!

Mike

Best of July kayak bass fishing: Stockton, Beaver, Dardenelle, Sherwood

Mark Twain Lake, Monroe County, Missouri: fishing was so slow, just had to write about it

Kayaking Mark Twain Lake, Missouri

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This is the path I took with the kayak on beautiful Mark Twain lake in northern Missouri.  I think this lake can be one of the more challenging lakes out there (I have caught nice sized bass in the past).  The lake is very low, just like all of the lakes in the Midwest.  I was throwing deep diving Wiggle Warts, 10" Mann's Jelly Worms, Chartreuse spinners, white spinners, Zoom trick worms, Red worms, almost everything I can imagine...it just goes to show, sometimes you "O-fer"...and that is alright.

I am looking forward to coming back in the fall to explore the lake even more....I love Mark Twain for its remote location.  It is chock full of structure, and reminds me of an undeveloped Lake of the Ozarks..

Fish ON!

Mike

Beaver Lake, Prarie Creek Access, Benton County, Arkansas: Water low, clear, and productive!

I got a chance to kayak fish Beaver Lake in Northwest Arkansas.  This was about the 3rd time I have fished this lake, and the experience was awesome.  The lake reminds me of my "home water" lake of Table Rock.  Nice rocky bottom with deep drop offs and clear water.

My strategy was to take (4) rods...(2) spinner rods with a topwater plug on one, and a Wiggle Wart on the other, with the two baitcasters rigged with a texas rig and a white spinner.  I got out about 5:00 pm., but the bite did not really start until 6:30 or so.  I got a little interest on the plug, but I started to catch them on my "go to" bait for summer: texas rigged with watermelon Zoom trick worm on the end.  I was catching them about 6' off shore. 

Before I headed in (I saw lightning in the distance.....time to get off the water!) I fished the cliffs that were right across the put in point.  These deep cliffs are really, really productive.  The bass like to lay towards the bottom against the cliff waiting for either things to go past or things to drop.  I dropped the worm in a couple of times, and the third cast I caught the pig.  I could have fished another couple of hours, but I really need to rig my kayak with some lights and night fishing stuff....maybe that will be what I work on for the rest of the weekend :)
I cannot wait to get back to Beaver Lake to do some more bass fishing.  It is an incredible lake with some awesome angling opportunities!

Fish ON!

Mike

Kayak fishing Beaver Lake, Arkansas

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