Fishing KC continued...

Many small ponds in the area are open for bank fishing only and have good fish populations. From April through October, the Conservation Department stocks eight Kansas City Parks and Recreation ponds with channel catfish. Most of the stocked channel catfish average a pound apiece.

Stocked ponds include Blue Valley, Chaumiere, Englewood, Lake of the Woods, Lakewood, North Terrace, Penn Valley and Troost. In addition, the Department stocks trout in Chaumiere Lake from November through March.

The Department also manages the fish populations in five Jackson County park lakes that are open for public fishing. These include Alex George, Bergan, Bowlin Road, Scherer and Wyatt lakes.

Alex George Lake is stocked with channel catfish from April to October and with trout November to March. The other Jackson County lakes receive channel catfish every other year. Catfishing in these lakes can be exceptional at times.

Big Water Fishing

Anglers can find lots of reservoirs within a short drive of downtown Kansas City. Blue Springs, Jacomo, Longview, Prairie Lee (Jackson County) and Smithville lakes (Clay County) provide great fishing from shore or boat.

County boating permits are required for each of these lakes, and fishing by pole and line only is permitted at Blue Springs, Jacomo, Prairie Lee and Longview lakes. At Lake Jacomo you can also take carp and buffalo by gig, longbow or crossbow during statewide seasons. At Prairie Lee Lake, longbows and crossbows are not allowed for these species during statewide seasons, but you can use a gig.

Blue Springs Lake provides some of the fastest action for decent-sized carp. Anglers may find success off the dam, in the upper ends of coves and near the north boat ramp as carp congregate on shallow flats to spawn.

Carp in both Lake Jacomo and Prairie Lee Lake aren’t as numerous, but they are large. Fish nearly 3 feet long have been pulled into boats during sampling runs.

Channel catfish are abundant in all of these lakes. Blue catfish and flathead catfish can be found in Jacomo and Smithville lakes.

These lakes also contain plenty of largemouth bass, crappie and bluegill. In fact, bass fishing in Lake Jacomo could rival some of the best bass lakes in the state.

In addition to good bass fishing, Smithville Lake provides Kansas City-based anglers a solid walleye fishery. Longview and Jacomo also have walleye populations.

White bass are present in all of these lakes as well. Smithville and Jacomo both have excellent numbers of these hard fighters. Blue Springs Lake also contains hybrid striped bass. They are extremely fun to catch on topwater lures during summer months.

Novice or pro, local or visitor, if you’re looking for angling excitement, don’t miss fishing Kansas City. end of article

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Outdoor Recreation

About This Article

Authors

author TODD GEMEINHARDT is a fisheries management biologist in the Kansas City region and has been with the Missouri Department of Conservation since 1999. In his free time, he enjoys hunting and fishing as well as spending time with his wife, Nicole, and his 15-month- old daughter, Madelyn.

author PAM LANIGAN is a fisheries management biologist who has been with the Department of Conservation for more than 15 years. She and her husband, Tim, live in Independence with their two young children, Luke and Logan. Pam and her family like to fish, hunt and spend time outside with their dogs.

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