Re: Wyandotte County Lake

[joefish]

Wyco is VERY clear, most likely from the Zebra Mussels.

[gardnerjigman]

I expect to see a picture like that with a white dodge ram some day

[hobson232]

Hey guys! Just got a boat/fishing permit to Wyandotte county. The lake is about 20 mins from my house, so I figured it was worth a shot. Looks like this used to be a pretty hot conversation thread at one time. Do any of you guys still fish this lake? From the sound of things, the lake was apparently on the decline. Went out last weekend for a few hours and caught a few short LM. Any reports that you all can share would be fantastic.

[Russ E]

2 hours ago, hobson232 said:

Hey guys! Just got a boat/fishing permit to Wyandotte county. The lake is about 20 mins from my house, so I figured it was worth a shot. Looks like this used to be a pretty hot conversation thread at one time. Do any of you guys still fish this lake? From the sound of things, the lake was apparently on the decline. Went out last weekend for a few hours and caught a few short LM. Any reports that you all can share would be fantastic.

i live 5 minutes away and fish it once or twice a week.

Wyandotte is a finicky lake. Especially in the spring.  the bass fishing can be tough . There are decent fish in that lake, but they are seldom by the shoreline.

 I  caught several 4 pound plus largemouth and a few 3lb plus smallmouth last year. all of them were on offshore structure and weedbeds. usually in 10 to 20 foot of water. fishing the shoreline is usually a dinkfest.

this spring has been slow. a couple 2-3 pounders and a lot of dinks. I always do better there from spawn through November. I usually spend more time on other lakes this time of year.

 

I don't think the lake is necessarily in decline. It just changed.

A couple years ago the water was clear from the zebra mussels. Anything laying in the water was coated with them. there were defined weedbeds and the bass patrolled the edges of them.

Last year the mussels died off and the water is not near as clear. The weedbeds were less defined. The bass seemed to congregate around what weedbeds were left. With the stained water the  healthy weedbeds are harder to find.

That is one lake where the zebra mussels improve the Bass fishing.

[hobson232]

This is great information! Maybe I will see you out there this year. I will be in a green Astro and I plan to be out there on the week day evenings when I don’t have all day to be out at La Cygne or Melvern. Stop by and say hi. I  enjoy the challenge of off shore fishing, so this sound like a fun lake. 

[Bluebasser86]

I really enjoyed fishing Wyco when I lived right by it. Sometimes I still get the inclination to buy the permit but it's almost a hour drive and almost $100, that calms my urge down pretty quick. 

 

I know some guys that really know the lake that say it's as good the last couple years as it's been in a long, long time, especially for better quality fish. It's a sleeper lake for the next state record smallmouth if nothing else. It has some gigantic wipers too. 

[hobson232]

9 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I really enjoyed fishing Wyco when I lived right by it. Sometimes I still get the inclination to buy the permit but it's almost a hour drive and almost $100, that calms my urge down pretty quick. 

 

I know some guys that really know the lake that say it's as good the last couple years as it's been in a long, long time, especially for better quality fish. It's a sleeper lake for the next state record smallmouth if nothing else. It has some gigantic wipers too. 

Thanks Blue! Another promising piece of insight. The wife and I plan to go out there tomorrow evening for a few hours. The lake definitely looks the part. Probably plan to just spend a little time idling around on the graphs to find some of the structure that holds the bigger fish. I hear you guys reference Boy Scout cove and Wilson’s cove. Which one is which? I assume they are both on the east side of the lake across from the marina?

[doughboy1979]

Hmmm, maybe instead of La Cygne I should try WYCO tomorrow??? Hmmmmmmm.... It's been 2 years since I've caught a smallie, so I'm dying to get into that action again. 

 

[doughboy1979]

Wow, can't believe it's been a year for this page and I was the last post!!

 

Has anybody been up to WYCO Lake in the last couple of weeks?? Thinking about going up there this weekend but I haven't been there before...

 

Any advice? 

[Bluebasser86]

11 hours ago, doughboy1979 said:

Wow, can't believe it's been a year for this page and I was the last post!!

 

Has anybody been up to WYCO Lake in the last couple of weeks?? Thinking about going up there this weekend but I haven't been there before...

 

Any advice? 

My buddy that fishes it often has been doing really well with a popper early and then switching to a wacky rig or swimbait when the stop biting that. 

[senile1]

On 4/17/2019 at 11:45 PM, Bluebasser86 said:

I really enjoyed fishing Wyco when I lived right by it. Sometimes I still get the inclination to buy the permit but it's almost a hour drive and almost $100, that calms my urge down pretty quick. 

 

I know some guys that really know the lake that say it's as good the last couple years as it's been in a long, long time, especially for better quality fish. It's a sleeper lake for the next state record smallmouth if nothing else. It has some gigantic wipers too. 

 

In the past I was looking into coming over from Missouri to fish this, but permits are a bit high for my tastes:

• Non-resident Wyandotte County season fishing permit - $40
• Non-resident boat season permit - $50
• Non-resident KS fishing permit - $52.50

I already pay $130 a year to fish Smithville in addition to my Missouri hunting and fishing permit for $19 dollars.  

[Russ E]

49 minutes ago, senile1 said:

 

In the past I was looking into coming over from Missouri to fish this, but permits are a bit high for my tastes:

• Non-resident Wyandotte County season fishing permit - $40
• Non-resident boat season permit - $50
• Non-resident KS fishing permit - $52.50

I already pay $130 a year to fish Smithville in addition to my Missouri hunting and fishing permit for $19 dollars.  

I feel the same way about Smithville. I have to pay all the fees and buy an out of state license.

The only reason I paid the Smithville fees this year is the reservoirs in eastern Kansas have been closed to boating for a while.

I live 5 miles from  Wyandotte. It is a great numbers lake. I was there this morning and caught 20 bass in 2 hours. Largest fish was 16 inches long.

Bigger fish have been a little scarce this year. I think that is due to the increased pressure, from the reservoirs being closed.

[senile1]

18 hours ago, Russ E said:

I feel the same way about Smithville. I have to pay all the fees and buy an out of state license.

The only reason I paid the Smithville fees this year is the reservoirs in eastern Kansas have been closed to boating for a while.

I live 5 miles from  Wyandotte. It is a great numbers lake. I was there this morning and caught 20 bass in 2 hours. Largest fish was 16 inches long.

Bigger fish have been a little scarce this year. I think that is due to the increased pressure, from the reservoirs being closed.

 

I suspected it worked both ways.  Non-resident permits are always higher and counties like Wyandotte in Kansas and Clay in Missouri charge high fees, even for residents.  

 

I fish Table Rock quite a bit, but I wanted to go to Wyandotte to get a smallmouth fix close to home.  There aren't any smallmouth waters in Missouri's northwest so I always have to travel a few hours if I want to fish for them.

[Bluebasser86]

16 hours ago, senile1 said:

 

I suspected it worked both ways.  Non-resident permits are always higher and counties like Wyandotte in Kansas and Clay in Missouri charge high fees, even for residents.  

 

I fish Table Rock quite a bit, but I wanted to go to Wyandotte to get a smallmouth fix close to home.  There aren't any smallmouth waters in Missouri's northwest so I always have to travel a few hours if I want to fish for them.

Melvern has a good population of smallmouth, and the population is getting better at Clinton. There's a bunch of them in Wabaunsee but that's probably getting to be not much closer than just driving to Table Rock for you. It does have huge smallies and largemouth both though. 

[senile1]

8 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Melvern has a good population of smallmouth, and the population is getting better at Clinton. There's a bunch of them in Wabaunsee but that's probably getting to be not much closer than just driving to Table Rock for you. It does have huge smallies and largemouth both though. 

 

@Bluebasser86, thanks for the info.  There is also Stockton Lake in Missouri though it is still a pretty good drive for me.

[Russ E]

43 minutes ago, senile1 said:

 

@Bluebasser86, thanks for the info.  There is also Stockton Lake in Missouri though it is still a pretty good drive for me.

One other lake that has smallies is Shawnee lake in Topeka. It is an hour west of kck.

There are no boating or fishing fees. Roughly the same size as wyco. It is a fun lake to fish. Sometimes the smallmouth are hard to find, but it also has a decent population of largemouth.

 

 

[senile1]

Regarding Melvern and Shawnee Lake what is the population analysis of the smallmouth, and any other bass, in the lake (i.e. what percentage are above 15 inches, etc.)?  

 

Thanks for the recommendations.  I see that all corp boat ramps are $5.00 a day at Melvern so that is definitely acceptable and I think I could handle no fees at Shawnee Lake.  ?  Perry isn't much further than an hour either.  I see there are daily vehicle fees there.  Is there anything I am missing about Perry regarding fees, other than a non-resident Kansas license?

[Russ E]

1 hour ago, senile1 said:

Regarding Melvern and Shawnee Lake what is the population analysis of the smallmouth, and any other bass, in the lake (i.e. what percentage are above 15 inches, etc.)?  

 

Thanks for the recommendations.  I see that all corp boat ramps are $5.00 a day at Melvern so that is definitely acceptable and I think I could handle no fees at Shawnee Lake.  ?  Perry isn't much further than an hour either.  I see there are daily vehicle fees there.  Is there anything I am missing about Perry regarding fees, other than a non-resident Kansas license?

With Perry it depends on the boat ramp. There are daily fees for the Army Corp ramps. The state park ramps require an annual state park tag for your vehicle, which is good anywhere in Kansas.

I believe the marina ramps are free, but can get pretty busy.

Old town ramp by Ozawkie has a daily fee also. That is on the very North end of the lake.

Perry is still around 20 feet high and all ramps are still closed. 

I am anxious to get out there, when it opens up. With no fishing pressure this summer it could be really good.

Fishing was pretty good for smallmouth and largemouth there last summer.

[Bluebasser86]

14 hours ago, senile1 said:

Regarding Melvern and Shawnee Lake what is the population analysis of the smallmouth, and any other bass, in the lake (i.e. what percentage are above 15 inches, etc.)?  

 

Thanks for the recommendations.  I see that all corp boat ramps are $5.00 a day at Melvern so that is definitely acceptable and I think I could handle no fees at Shawnee Lake.  ?  Perry isn't much further than an hour either.  I see there are daily vehicle fees there.  Is there anything I am missing about Perry regarding fees, other than a non-resident Kansas license?

Melvern has a high population of smallmouth with a decent number of fish over 15" and some reaching over 5 pounds. Shawnee has a much lower density, fewer fish over 15", but has produced several over 6 pounds to nearly 7. Perry doesn't have any free ramps that I'm aware of other than way up the Delaware. It doesn't have a great population of smallmouth but it does have some big ones. Wabaunsee has a bunch of smaller ones and has some really big ones but not many in between. 

[joefish]

Perry Lake Rock Creek Marina ramp does not cost to launch.

[Bluebasser86]

First time at the Dotte in a couple months. Numbers were plentiful, keepers were not. Water was very clear and lots of weeds. Lots more wind and way fewer clouds than expected. Caught 2 keepers, both off the boat ramp, one right when I got there and one right before I left.

[roadwarrior]

[Dirtyeggroll]

I didn’t even know this thread existed!

[Bluebasser86]

3 hours ago, Dirtyeggroll said:

I didn’t even know this thread existed!

Use to be pretty active but it died off to almost nothing so the very occasional post just got put in the KC area thread but not that there's a few people fishing out there again that post here, I thought I'd bump it back up.

[joefish]

any one been on Wyco lately?   Water is pretty murky and junk floating all over.  Is it in Turnover?