Thread: Kaw lake archives

Lake has been up and down with the recent rains but fishing is still good. Catfishing is phenomenal right now and the crappie bite is good just have to work to find the bigger fish. Spider rigging is still the best way to put any numbers of bigger fish in the boat. Got to fish with my buddy Kris and his dad yesterday for a little while before it got hot and the boat traffic got bad. Had a pretty good morning catchin blues.

Nice report TimY


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I appreciate the mercy from COE (or whomever it was) at Sarge Creek ramp today. I usually launch and recover solo, but today I had help, which historically means I'm gonna miss something. Well, today that something was paying my launch fee. I remembered about the time we were headed back to the ramp. I assumed I'd have a ticket waiting for me, but instead found a partially completed self-pay slip, which I gladly completed and deposited on my way out.

Now if I could just figure out how to catch some dang fish out of Kaw! I'm having horrible luck figuring out the blue cats over there, it's just down right embarrassing! I'm using fresh cut shad, I'm drifting various depths in the Arkansas River arm all around Coon Creek, but the last two trips I've caught one little old 2lb fish. I'll take any advice anyone's willing to share, because I'm pretty frustrated right now, and the 80 mile drive each way gives me plenty of time to stew on it.

I have seen a lot of people attempt drifting over the years with little success. The key is knowing where to fish and at what depths different times of the year. This will vary due to weather patterns and water levels. Also not all drift rigs are created equal. There are days when the fish want the bait closer to the bottom and days they want it 6 or 7 ft off the bottom. You have to set poles at different depths to see what works best that day. Finally what size bait do they want. I will use shad from 3 inches to 9 inches and also cut bait on different poles to determine what they want. Knowing a lake well is the biggest asset no matter what the conditions. Doesn't happen overnight and takes a lot of time on the water. I took some clients out last weekend and rigged multiple poles with different baits. I tried big shad, shad chunks and smaller shad with little success. I finally put two smaller shad on hooked through the nose with their sides sliced and they killed it. Never know from 1 day to the next. Last spend some time using your locator. Hard to catch if they are not there. Drifting is a great way to put fish in the boat but there is some technique to it. Not many guides drift but may be worth getting one with a buddy or 2 to learn the technique. Good luck.

I appreciate the insight, TimY. I've always enjoyed our conversations, both on the phone and the one time we met at the ramp. Yesterday was especially frustrating (personal reasons) but I'm not about to give up...thanks to you and a few others, I know Kaw has some great potential, and as you said, I know it's a matter of putting in time before I crack the code. If I can ever get my buddies to commit to some dates, I'll come spend the day with you and learn some of your techniques. Thanks again!

any one fishing the Kaw thinking about a trip down there for some crappies and cats, any info appreciated

Is this Catfish.com? I thought I logged into Crappie.com ��

Is this Catfish.com? I thought I logged into Crappie.com 😂