I am looking for multi-specie panfish producing streams. Anyone have any tips? Thanks, TC

sorry i'm on the other side of the state
NAFC Life Member 2001 NAHC Life Member 2005 Missouri Bushwacker Western Fishers Member

I don’t know if I can help you with “wadable streams” in the KC Area. 

 James A. Read Wildlife Area, located between Lee’s Summit and Greenwood, has several lakes and ponds with various species of fish, and I might add that what you can catch there is often more than respectable size, espically considering this is located in or near a large metropolitan city.  I know of at least two Missouri Master Angler Awards earned from the lakes there.

Smithville Lake, located north of the KC Metro has great Crappie fishing in the spring.  Fishing from the bank is ok there, but you almost have to have a boat to do it justice.

I’ve seen people fishing in Indian Creek, which enters Missouri at State Line Road, near I-435.  There’s a small “park” adjacent to the Watts Mill Strip Mall, just east of 103rd & State Line.  I’ve heard there’s fish to be caught there, but I’ve also seen soap suds and other “interesting” items floating by after a heavy rain storm.  (The Leawood, Kansas water treatment plant is up stream, and I think it over flows during a storm.)  If you do fish there, I would recommend Catch & Release!

Now if you enjoy wading in a cool stream, I would suggest it might be well worth the drive to Bennett Spring State Park, near Lebanon, Missouri.  The drive is about an hour and a half.  It’s stocked daily with trout that are eager to bite.  The stream empties into the Niangua River, which is also wadable, (or great for floating,) which has various species you can fish for. 

Good Luck!

PurpleSage

Don't forget Maple Leaf and Hazel Hill both of these conservation areas have some pretty respectable panfish including some nice red ears.  Using a fly rod at Hazel hill is pretty tough but Maple leaf isn't to bad.  They are both east of KC off of 70.

Purplesage, You may laugh, but I actually live about 50 feet from that deep pool at I435 and StateLine!! It is literally right outside my back door. I have practiced some fly casting there and have caught some small panfish. HOWEVER, I have seen at least one 9 lb. channel cat come out of there and many large carp. That creek holds a lot of fish. The trick is fishing the deep hole early in the spring after the big flash floods and before the locals fish it out. Once during a spring rain, my wife and I walked down to see the damage from a flash flood. I spent the next 30 minutes picking fish up from the sidewalk and tossing them back into the creek before they expired. Included were several bullhead catfish, one of which had been obviously picking up water logged worms as they were hanging out of his mouth and his belly was bloated! I also picked up a crappie although it's color was not good...didn't look very healthy. I've been wanting to do a invertebrate survey to check the overall health of the stream. I also frequent James A Reed during the spring and summer months. I wouldn't say that the fish are larger than typical though....I would say smaller than typical. The crappie are severely over stocked resulting in stunted growth. Thanks for the tips guys! TallCrane

Hey, Tallcrane!  Sounds like you and I literally reside in the same neighborhood.

Maybe we should hook up and trade some fishing stories.  Have you ever been to Dunn Brothers’ Coffee or the Daily Limit at the Red Bridge Shopping Center?

 

 

PurpleSage

I'm always willing to talk fish! I am not a coffee drinker, but I am very familiar with the Red Bridge area. Actually, I hooked up with the local flyfishing club there at the library and got some casting tips. We definately should get together though...maybe take a trip to James A Reed or Longview together once it warms up. I like to throw spinners off the rip rap dam during mid-spring for whatever hits. Keep in touch! Shane (TallCrane)

Wow!  The world is indeed getting smaller.  I’m guessing the Fly Fishing Club you mentioned was probably the Missouri Trout Fishing Association.  The president of the chapter (a lady named Carol,) is one of my wife’s best friends, going all the way back to the 70’s in Mid-Missouri.  She and her husband Dave are the people who first introduced me to Bennett Spring when we first moved here from Nebraska.

Give me a shout some time.  It would be fun to get together!

 

PurpleSage

Purplesage, Do you have a favorite spot/target species? I love warm water stream fishing. I got hooked back home in Ky fishing a tributary stream (to the Ohio River) where I could catch everything and anything. The action was unbelievable. Seems like the last couple of years before I moved to KC, I was catching often, and bigger fish. Since moving here, I have had luck at Longview and James A Reed. Otherwise, i have tried to learn more about flyfishing and have gotten addicted to fly tying. My primary interest is warm water ultralite fishing using hand tied flies on spinning hardware...like a hybrid of ultralite, stream, panfish, and flytying. However, deep inside, I will fish for anything that bites and would really like to take a shot at big river cats. I rarely use rubber baits, but LOVE topwater baits and spinners. In MO I have had much much more luck with live bait. Oddly enough, I do not eat fish. TallCrane (Shane)

Although I’ve lived in Kansas City since 1994, I have to admit that I’m not real familiar with the “local” fishing area as I should be with the type of streams you described as being in the KC Metro Area.  I too have fished James A Reed, and Longview.  I also fished in Lake Lotawana when I worked there.  We moved here from Nebraska, where we also have the Missouri River flowing by, but if it came to fishing from rivers, I’d have to say that I preferred the Platte, Elkhorn or Niobrara of Nebraska, which all held a variety of catchable fish.  I caught my first sizable fish as a kid, a big carp, out of an ox bow of the Platte in Western, Douglas County, Nebraska.

I know the Missouri River and the Kansas River, (aka the Kaw,) reportedly hold some big cats in the area of Kansas City.  I believe a world record size Blue Catfish was landed by hook and line near the convergence of the Missouri and Nodaway Rivers, north of St. Joseph.  (The fish died on the way to the aquarium.)   I have some friends who are catfish catchers that I can ask about cat fishing in the area.

Now, light rods, reels, and line?  Take a look at my web site at http://purplesage.biz  Click on Fishing from the left side menu.  The main page consists mainly of my point of view on catching Trout with light, spin-casting tackle.  As it says on my sight, I respect the fly fisherman, with all his expensive equipment, but I can be just as successful, and have a whole lot of fun, using less expensive, light, spin-casting equipment.  And yes, I fish with flies with my spin-casting tackle, although I have not had a lot of experience with tying yet.  One of my good friends has gotten hooked on fly tying, and he fishes for trout with either spin-casting equipment or fly-fishing equipment, depending on his mood at the time.  On my web site, if you click the link to the Trophy Page, you’ll find some photos of one of my best friends, who landed a huge, red ear sun fish, using a home tide mini-jig and a fly rod!

You might recall that I mentioned Bennett Springs State Park in one of my previous posts.  I really enjoy that place as one of my favorite fishing holes in the State of Missouri, but it’s not the only place I fish nor is Trout the only thing I fish for.  I get a kick out of pan fish, like crappie, blue gill, or sun fish.  Sometimes, when I visit Nebraska, I will fish specifically for carp, just because it’s fun!  I’ve had better luck catching crappie in Nebraska, but the only crappie fishing I know of in the area are in lakes, like Longview, Jacomo, J.A. Reed, Smithville, or from ponds.

I’ve often wondered what the Blue River holds…  I know there’s a county fishing area along Blue River Road, just south of the I-435 Bridge that I’ve seen people at, but I’ve often wondered about the Blue River itself.  The fish you talked about in Indian Creek most likely swam upstream from the Blue River to get there.  Do you know anything about the Blue?

PurpleSage

Hmmm, I briefly checked out your web page. I got the impression that you are an engineer?? I am a geologist and work closely with both civil and geotechnical engineers (aka civil engineers with enough geology knowledge to get themselves into trouble). Yep, I have wondered about the Blue River myself. I know that it gets deep and fast enough to get paddlers in trouble in the spring, but that's about it. It should have great potential. As I previously mentioned, I live between Wornall and State Line on Indian Creek. Because the downstream side of "the hole" is literally a couple of inches deep for long stretches, I never considered fish swimming this far up from Blue River, but it is possible I suppose. Like I said, have seen one very nice channel cat, but mostly large carp here at the hole. But that's okay...there are plenty of good folks that dig the carp too! I really appreciate the snakes and other odds and ends that wind up in my backyard because of the water. YEP, looks like we are absolutely, definitely, certainly going to have to make a trip to one of the local spots this spring! Later, Shane (TallCrane)

At the time this web site was built, all of the guys mentioned worked for the same company as Software Engineers, or Telecommunications Engineers.  If you’ve lived in the KC area long, you can probably guess the employer.  Due to several “reorganizations,” only one of us, (not me,) are employed for that same company today, but most of us are still in the same field.  Amazingly, most of the same guys all continue to get together to fish!  Myself, I was a Software Engineer, which is a glorified way of saying I wrote or developed software.  Today, I’m an Application Development Coordinator, which is a glorified way of saying I’m a Project Manager with other supervisory and management duties added on.  (“Those that can, program.  Those that can’t, manage!)

Anyway, one of these days we’ll need to meet, and talk about the local fishing opportunities.

PurpleSage

purpsage and tallcrane1, if you guys are ever headed east on 70 stop and check out Maple leaf, use the exit for H which is between Odessa and Higginsville.  The conservation department keeps it up pretty good and there are some pretty good spots that you can fly fish from.  I have caught more than my fair share of large gills, red ear, crappie and bass.  Trout are fun but there is something about catching a bass on a deer hair plug and a fly rod that will get you going :)

Thanks for the heads up!  I’ll definitely have to try that out!

PurpleSage

Sweet! Thanks for the tip Lon. I am familiar with the exit. Maybe the Sage and I should plan a trip this spring/summer??? Lon, maybe you could get some guide practice?? How's about it Sage? I'm all about slaying some panfish with some of my hand tied creations. TC

I would most definitely be up for that!  C’Mon Spring Weather!!!

 

PurpleSage

Westwood KS 66205

I'd like to get togeather some time.  I think it would be alot of fun!

 

Send me a message some time, I'll set it up!

 

 

PurpleSage

Westwood KS 66205