Cuivre

Yep- same here. I did a Google search, found the site that way, opened it and put in that as my new bookmark.

I always liked to fish solo. Some guys at work said they also fish, but are either alcoholics and start to drink at 7 AM or want to eat everything they catch. I won't share a boat with either of those types. I used to fish with my older brother for a tournament or 2 every year but lately that has dropped off, despite me asking him to fish with me for some charity tournaments. I honestly don't know what is going on with him, especially since he is now retired and has more time to fish. I've been kayak fishing the last 9 years and fish with a club where everyone gets along great, and has social events at the camp grounds or hotels before and after the tournaments. I've improved my fishing tremendously and won money since getting into the kayaks and relying on myself alone, and no one else. That may be part of the reason why my brother doesn't want to fish with me- he realizes I've eclipsed him and have integrated much more techniques than he has- he only throws T-rigs and rarely anything else.

I would definitely join the Kansas Kayak Angler club. I used to fish with NEKKA (North East Kansas Kayak Anglers-not active any more since they merged into one club) and it is good to learn the lakes and meet folks, since I live in the St. Joseph, MO area close to the KS state line. I fished a lot of great lakes in KS, since a 2 hour drive isn't an issue for me to fish a good lake or to just explore. Find the KS fish and game website- they have all the lakes listed on their map- it is a great resource! Lakes / Channel Catfish / Fishing Forecast / Fishing / KDWP - KDWP (ksoutdoors.com) Where to Fish in Kansas / Fishing / KDWP - KDWP (ksoutdoors.com)

Behrens is the lower end- it is close to the dam. Midlake is around where the south, middle and north forks branch off from the main lake. I think the fish are at the mouths of the creeks now- like Spaulding area, Indian Creeks, etc. I'll fish a brushpile if I run across one, but I key on points and lay-downs along the bank- and shade when the sun is out.

First off- War Eagle! (M.S. 1990). I fish Twain some from a kayak and bass boat. There is no substitute for time on the water, of course and getting to know specific arms over time and fishing them. The lake rises and falls a lot, so keep track of the water levels closely for safety and how deep key structure/cover that you find is. I just fished a kayak tournament this past weekend and did well- the top finisher was about 80" for 5 fish and the big fish of the tourney was 19". I believe he uses shaky heads quite a bit, but others during the cloudy pre-fishing days (Thurs-Fri) were catching them on crankbaits in the mid-lower end of the lake. I saw shad migrating to a shallow cove Sat and caught several on top water and soft plastic jerk baits. I was catching about 30 bass/day Thursday-Friday, but I only caught about 15-20 on Saturday, but they were better size. You can't go wrong hitting the windy points first-that was my key for this tournament.

I skin hook the hook point but it is ready to pop out and catch fish when I set the hook. EWG hooks simple slip out between the bass' lips. Like I said though, if you still want to use EWG hooks, kick the part of the hook to the side with some pliers- but not too much or it will affect the swimming action due to being out of balance.

One of the biggest problems is the EWG style hook on that rig. I fish flukes a lot and stopped using EWG style hooks due to the number of lost fish- the hook simply doesn't grab flesh when it is parallel to the line. Some folks bent the point to the side so it can grab flesh in the side of the mouth, hopefully. I still lost some this past weekend in a tournament, but this was due to needing a stiffer backbone rod, as was mentioned (I use spinning gear for flukes and small swim baits). If you can find a weighted conventional round bend hook, I would definitely try that route.

Favorite- topwater. Least favorite-Ball and chain!

I downsize ad use smaller soft platics. I also just change parts of the lake- I'm a firm believer that on larger bodies of water, they are always biting SOMEWHERE!

What part of MO are you looking? I moved to the St. Joseph area a couple years ago and had a blast searching out and fishing new waters. The waters over on the west side is much better than the St. Louis side, where I moved from. Message me it you're on this side (or even the east side) and I might be able to give you a few ideas.

I don't know about "honey holes", but Busch Wildlife Area has a bunch of lakes. The stock some with trout int he winter- some are C&R and some are catch and keep. They also have rental boats, so check it out if you're close.