Newbie -- Smithville and Greater KC area -- Question

[jsawyer1987]

Hey everyone,

I know there is a newbie board and I have read through it and figured out some of the consistent contributors to the Missouri Board. I figure the Newbie board doesn't get much readin'. I thought I would introduce myself here and ask a few questions. It's a rough morning for me so bear with me here. My name's Joey, I'm a 23 year old that can't get enough of fishing. I am currently in school, I start med school the fall after next. I currently work at Stowers Medical Research Institute in downtown KC. I fish every weekend (most the time from the shore sadly enough). I'm officially hooked on crappie fishing though, so I guess I have the same bug you all do. Every year I go with the girlfriend to the Ozarks and her uncles got me hooked on crappie fishing. Caught a 15 in. crappie last weekend and have been dreamin about crappie fishing every night since.

I can say that the Ozarks produces a lot of fish above the 9 in. limit. About 3/4 of the crappie we caught were 9+ in. We fish the 72 mile marker on the lake and have great success every year (enough to feed 30 people with only 2 morning outings). All the crappie we caught were basically on tube jigs (Red and yellow of course). Caught all of them on large trees that had fallen into the water off the coast. Jigging approximately 15ft deep after casting at the logs. There are tons of holes all along the 72 mile marker.


So here I stand with many questions. The ozarks are too far for me to drive to fish for the weekend most of the time. My buddy has a boat and we only get out in it maybe 4 times a summer. We're getting out this Sunday and I really want to get him hooked on crappie fishing. I want to know a really good lake in the KC region that typically produces good crappie, and maybe whereabouts to tryout on the lake for crappie.

If anyone has any advice for hooking up with some crappie I would be grateful. I've tried smithville 3 times now (all day long) and still haven't had my line straightened by a crappie. It's very possible that I'm not fishing the right spots in Smithville but I haven't caught much of anything there.

Any help is appreciated!!

Tight lines fellahs

[old fuzzy]

Welcome to c.c
there are several members who are from your area so they may be of help
and will chime in with some info

[beagle man]

welcome to the site,, good luck on smithville, there are some spots there I have heard of, but way to far north for me to go...

[billd2626]

There are plenty of people on here who can help you out with Smithville. One of the things that helped me learn quite a bit about Smithville was reading Alex's posts (apkape). He hasn't posted much lately (I think he's pretty busy with work), but if you use the search function and go back and study some of his reports, they'll show you some great Smithville info.

Hope that helps and welcome to the board!

[moboys]

if you go to burton's in smithville they'll give you a heads up as to where on the lake you could find some fish, maybe buy some minnows for good measure.

[sevenfiftynine]

Joey, It seems like Smithville is a creature of the time of year you are fishing. By this I mean, for bank fishermen, they will do pretty well in the spring when the fish are up on the bank. This summer bite that is going on is rough. The fish are probably pretty deep right now and that may be why you aren't having any luck.

If I had any advise to give you it would be to do a couple of things. First....as much as it pains me to kill a bunch of itty bitty minners, you should pick up several dozen minnows (Camp Branch has a good bait shop). Then, head to the nearest bridge pillar and start dunking. Depending on what time of day you go, you might want to wait until evening. The reason I say this is because that is when the boat traffic on Sunday will let up just a little. The other thing you might take a look at is to get a submersible crappie fishing light to use after dark (Rogers Lures rocks). Bring that bad boy with you, after dark, drop it down about 15 - 20 feet near a bridge pillar, consume your favorite beverage and wait for the bite!!! You can either bait that minnow on a plain gold hook drop shot style or with a split shot to weight the little bugger down, or add it to a jig to sweeten the morsel up a little.

If the wind cooperates (doesnt' happen very often, but hey, we can only hope...Doh), don't be afraid to get away from the pillars a little either. Oftentimes, those bridges serve as kindof a funnel for moving crappie. They will stack outside the openings too.

Good luck....and oh....by the way.....enjoy all the dang wave runners this time of year....they should put a bounty on those dang things!!!!

The best advise I have ever read on this forum is when fishing gets tough, slow down.....then slow down some more!!!! If that doesn't work, slow down even more. If that doesn't work, then refer to the ambiguous reference to consuming beverages listed above!!!!RoflRofl

[jsawyer1987]

I appreciate all the feedback guys! My buddy and I are getting the boat out tomorrow, any lakes within 45 minutes of KC that are really hitting right now?? We are talking about going to Longview or Blue Springs Lake, any help with choosing a lake would be appreciated. Secondly, any help with locations would be appreciated as well!

[blackdogs]

We are going to Smithville in the morning. Limits the past couple weekends fishing minnows in the deep trees. We normally fish the coves off the main lake but a lot of guys go North of the bridge and do well.

[Double D]

Just follow Blackdogs around and youll do just fine, he knows what hes doing.

[red ranger]

stay away from blue springs on the weekends , long lines to launch and LOTS of boats, go to smithville and get above the bridges where the skiers cant go....