Hello, I'm planning on trying to fish (by foot) a little silt basin by Maple Leaf Lake in Missouri. It's about 5 acres and I have no idea if there's fish in there. I was thinking about just packing light and using a spinnerbait to cover alot of water, so I can see if there's even fish in there. What would you do in this situation?

 

Thanks,

Spinners, senkos rigged wacky.... I'm sure there's fish.. find some.cover on shore.. and u never no unless you fish it

If it is still grassy I would use a swim jig. If the grass is cleared up then I would try a lipless crank or a square bill crank bait. You could also try a tube. Had good success with all the above.

A little warning if you havent walked around there and fished watch for the Copperheads and Water Moccasins. They are pretty thick out there and can be aggressive.

Alrighty thank you

I agree with both of those guys.

 

I would use a white spinnerbait, a swim jig and a Senko.

 

If there are fish in it, you should know pretty quickly.

Hit all the likely spots with a senko. And if youre worried about snakes, make sure you have a beating stick and your boots on

Senkos don't really cover water so I'd stick with the spinner bait or a swim bait and cover water looking for reaction strikes. Once you find bass holding an area wear out what lure got you there, then throw some finesse to attract the more finicky ones.

The agricultural land close to Maple Leaf Lake is the reason those silt basins are there.  They are there to catch silt that would otherwise flow on down the hill into the lake.  If not for those silt basins, the east & west arms of Maple Leaf Lake would be much shallower than they currently are.  The last time I was at Maple Leaf Lake, I noticed some siltation on the extreme west end, despite the presence of the silt basins.

 

Anyway, I would expect those silt basins to be pretty shallow.  They might be worth trying, but I wouldn't get my hopes up.  Fish wise, I would expect more sunfish/ carp presence and not a whole lot of bass, but I don't know.

 

Once upon a time (circa 2002, 03, 04) Maple Leaf was a hot lake.  You could go there, count on having a 30+ fish day and roughly a third of those would be 15" to 20" keepers.  There was a healthy population of slot fish (12 to 15") as well.   And that was the problem, over the course of several years, the lake got popular and many people kept the keepers, so over time the quality and numbers went down.  It got to where there were 6 to 10 boats during the middle of the week and the parking lot was crowded during the weekend.  For me, that was another issue, in that I heard a few reports of trucks being pilfered, so I stopped going there.  I'd be interested in hearing if fishing at Maple Leaf has improved any over the  past few years, but I still probably wouldn't go there.

live bait like night crawlers or minnows will be the quickest way to see if there are fish in there. or you could spend hours possibly casting a lure into dead water that isnt holding any fish...

The agricultural land close to Maple Leaf Lake is the reason those silt basins are there.  They are there to catch silt that would otherwise flow on down the hill into the lake.  If not for those silt basins, the east & west arms of Maple Leaf Lake would be much shallower than they currently are.  The last time I was at Maple Leaf Lake, I noticed some siltation on the extreme west end, despite the presence of the silt basins.

 

Anyway, I would expect those silt basins to be pretty shallow.  They might be worth trying, but I wouldn't get my hopes up.  Fish wise, I would expect more sunfish/ carp presence and not a whole lot of bass, but I don't know.

 

Once upon a time (circa 2002, 03, 04) Maple Leaf was a hot lake.  You could go there, count on having a 30+ fish day and roughly a third of those would be 15" to 20" keepers.  There was a healthy population of slot fish (12 to 15") as well.   And that was the problem, over the course of several years, the lake got popular and many people kept the keepers, so over time the quality and numbers went down.  It got to where there were 6 to 10 boats during the middle of the week and the parking lot was crowded during the weekend.  For me, that was another issue, in that I heard a few reports of trucks being pilfered, so I stopped going there.  I'd be interested in hearing if fishing at Maple Leaf has improved any over the  past few years, but I still probably wouldn't go there.

Okay, well I figure it's worth a shot.

live bait like night crawlers or minnows will be the quickest way to see if there are fish in there. or you could spend hours possibly casting a lure into dead water that isnt holding any fish...

Yeah, I'm going to have a buddy fish with worms, while I fish with artificials. It'll probably be the fastest way to figure out if there's fish in there.