BradGinKC

Very true. I was raised in Sabetha and remember when the lake opened in 95. It's been a dedicated fishing lake and has been managed pretty well. With the water clarity and a good amount of rocky structure, I'd really like to see if it could support a smallmouth population. I'd be making a lot more trips home to "visit my parents" if that were the case!

Glad to hear that. It's a neat little lake, so I'm glad it's nothing to be concerned about. Thanks for the info.

Spent the week visiting my parents in Sabetha, KS (about an hour north of Topeka). Fished Pony Creek Lake on black friday. It's a 200acre CFAP lake in Sabetha. Water was pretty clear, around 7-8ft visibility. Surface temp was about 49. Threw a ned rig on some rocky points by the dam for the first hour with no luck. Then moved to the upper end of the lake and found the shad on a flat in about 6ft of water. Caught a few on a squarebill and spinnerbaits, then decided to slow down and fish a weightless fluke. The fluke was a good choice. Ended up catching about a dozen fish with the fluke, biggest being right at 4lbs. Here are a couple pics. Also, has anyone ever seen markings like the ones on the fish in the first pic? Wasn't sure if this was caused by an injury, or maybe a genetic/birth defect. I've seen small black splotches on bass before, but never to this extent. Fish seemed healthy otherwise. Just wondered if any of you had some insight on this. Regardless, it was a good day. Hope everyone had a good thanksgiving.

Great suggestion. Just bought this exact rod last weekend. Paired it with a new Shimano NASCI reel and fished it on Sunday. It's fantastic. I also have a 6'6" Premier, and I really like it, but I think I like these new mojo rods much better. At $119, it's a good buy.

Glad I could help. Post some pics if you decide to go this route. I'd like to see how it turns out. Good luck!

There are some alternatives out there, but carpet gets the job done and is probably less expensive than some of the other options. If you're looking for something to replace your carpet, you may want to check out SeaDek. Never used it myself, but the pictures look really cool and I've read good reviews about it.

While I typically target bass, I'll fish for anything that swims. I usually keep a crappie rig handy. If I'm not catching bass, or a nice school of crappie shows up on the screen, I like dropping a jig right on their nose. Several of the state fishing lakes I frequent also have a decent population of saugeye. They're fun to catch, and for me that's what it's all about: having fun.

I was going after a monster 12pt I had been seeing on the trail cam. I hunted hard for 4 days and didn't see the monster, but I saw this 9pt every single time out. I decided it was time to get out of the treestand and back to fishing, so I took the shot. I'm sure that 12pt walked right under my stand the very next morning.. Hopefully the big ones show up for you guys. The rut should be going strong. Good luck filling tags!

Congrats @Ondrejka. Great season!

Lol that's insane! No way that smallie actually thought he could eat that bait. Must have just been picking a fight. Scrappy little dude

Great show. The episode where he was catching the arapaima from a float tube was awesome. That's a tall task for any fisherman

Haha! Yep all about the fundamentals. The hook about ripped right through. Surprised I wasn't reeling in a pair of lips by the time it got to the boat. This is probably the best one I've seen! Well done. This would be a really funny topic to get more participation on. I'm sure every bass angler has experienced this many times. Smallest fish vs biggest bait.

Amazing how ambitious some of these little fish can be. This one went after a bait almost the same length as the fish. Was flippin into willows with a 3/0 trokar hook and a YUM christie craw. I was targeting a trophy bass, ended up with an oversized swimbait. Savage!

Yep, it's a unique part of the lake. My cabin is down by Ha Ha Tonka state park, near the cold spring cove beneath the "castle" ruins. It's a great area for a kayak or smaller boat. Tougher to find fish with size down here, especially compared to up by the dam. But it's a beautiful area and still fun to fish.

Yep, I definitely got my shawnees confused. Sorry, @micahthorlawson! Disregard my post. Should be a fun trip. And looking at the picture above makes me want to schedule a trip to Topeka. That's a beast.

I've never fished Shawnee, so I don't have any tips for you. But here are the trout regs for joco. Also saw on the website they will be stocking trout on Wednesday. Lake will re-open to fishing on Saturday morning. Good luck! Post some pics if you catch some trout. JCPRD Trout Fishing Permit RequirementsAll persons fishing for trout in JCPRD waters, regardless of age or residency,including children under the age of 15, must possess a valid JCPRD trout permit, in addition to applicable Kansas state fishing licenses and valid JCPRD fishing permits (see requirements above). This applies whether you intend to keep your catch (up to the posted limit of 4 trout daily) or release all trout you catch.[NOTE: A state trout stamp is not required to fish for trout in JCPRD waters and it is not a substitute for a JCPRD trout permit.]

Got a chance to fish La Cygne this week. I really like this lake, but it can be a fickle beast. I've had some great days and some terrible days. Never know what to expect. Fortunately, this trip went well. Fought a 15-20mph N wind, plus an hour of cold rain from about 10:30-11:30am, but the fish were active. Water temp was around 68. I spent the day in the north part of the lake. I started out north of the bridge throwing my new WP90. This was my first time using a plopper, and while I didn't catch anything with it, I can definitely see why it's so popular. Really versatile and fun to fish. I also tried a spook and a buzzbait, but the topwater bite just wasn't happening. I switched to shad colored squarebills and spinnerbaits. I caught four on the squarebill and two on the spinnerbait, all 12-15" length. And these fish were fat. The baitfish are plentiful and the bass have been feasting. I anchored under the bridge for about 30min during the heaviest part of the rain. I actually caught about a dozen small white crappie vertical jigging under the bridge while I waited out the rain. So at least it wasn't wasted time. The sun came out around noon and I was struggling to get bites on my crankbaits and spinnerbaits, so I started pitching a black & blue soft plastic craw. I caught my biggest fish of the day around 1pm down where the river starts to widen into the main lake. I caught it, along with several others, pitching that craw right up to the bank into a mixture fallen trees and water willow. Here are a couple pics. Measured 19.25" and 3.75lbs. Not big by La Cygne standards, but big by my standards! Fun day. Hope everyone had a good weekend.

I spend most of my time on the southern part of the lake. My wife and I have a small place just outside of Camdenton on the Niangua arm. How about you? Which areas have you found most productive? I really don't know the rest of the lake very well at all. We just inherited the house last year, so this is my first season really fishing the lake. I'm always interested to hear from people who know the lake.

Depends on how much time I have. I typically stick to lakes that are within an hour or so drive (I'm in Olathe, KS). La Cygnes and Melvern are a couple bigger lakes that I like. There are also a bunch of smaller lakes close by that work if I only have a couple hours to fish. Lake Olathe, Kill Creek, Lonestar, Miami County, just to name a few. I'm really not picky! If I'm fishing, I'm happy.

Welcome! I'm a newer member too and it's amazing the amount of information on these forums. You've definitely come to the right place. I'm in the KC area, but I have a cabin on LOZ and fish it regularly. Maybe I'll see you on the water!

Not sure if you've tried this yet, or if this would even help your particular ailment, but there are a lot of different wrist/hand braces that might help you continue using some of your spinning gear. There are places that specialize in making custom braces that are actually comfortable and less bulky than generic ones. My dad fought the same issue for years until he found the right brace. Might be worth looking into it, if you haven't already. Sounds like you put in a lot of work building some nice spinning rods, and I'd hate for them to just be collecting dust!

My favorite topwater is probably a good old-fashioned Zara Spook. Right now I have it on a curado 200i and st croix mojo 7ft MF, with 13lb Sunline Shooter Defier mono. I also have good luck in the Fall with a black buzzbait. I actually tend to catch bigger fish with a buzzbait, but the spook is still my favorite. It's just fun taking that bait for a walk.

^^ I second the Smith suggestion. I've worn Smith Optics for years. My profile pic I'm wearing the Smith Turnkey with Chromapop lenses. They were stupid expensive, but they are amazing. By far my favorite sunglasses. I also have the Parallel Max by Smith, and they came with three sets of interchangeable lenses (clear, gray, and black). Smith's lifetime warranty is also great. I submitted a warranty claim on a pair that were almost 10 years old. I used them really hard over the years and the paint was starting to wear off around the temple areas. They immediately replaced them with the newest model of my choosing, no questions asked. I feel it's worth paying a little extra up front for that service. But, of course, that warranty won't help if they end up at the bottom of the lake! Another hazard of the hobby.

It's always a good idea to stay within the ratings on the rod. You would probably be ok with the 5/8oz lure. I've done that before and never had a problem. But, do so at your own risk. This topic has come up on here a few times before. Here's a link to one of the previous discussions.

For something a little nicer than Kershaw, check out the Benchmade 940 series. Should be a good starting point for you.