Fishing Journal Entry 16 - James A Reed - Coot Lake

7/29/2016

After what felt like an extremely long week at work I was able to sneak away for a few relaxing hours of fishing with my dad at James A Reed Memorial Wildlife Area located in west-central Missouri.  

Today's Weather Stats

The weather for today was very pleasant as you can see from the snapshot above.  I may begin adding the weather details for the fishing and hunting journal entries this way as it is a very simple way to record and share all of the important data that I usually include in these posts.

Dad looking impressed with a small bluegill

This little bullhead was one of three bullheads caught during our outing.

One tiny bullhead

This channel catfish was the biggest of the day measuring about seventeen inches long.  He was released unharmed at the end of the evening.

Decent little channel catfish

This little bass was hungry as anything you've ever seen and did its best to put up a good fight.

A little bass

In all we caught only six fish, but we still had a great time relaxing while waiting on the fish to bite.

- Any day in the outdoors is a good day

Fishing Journal Entry 15 - Lake of the Ozarks Truman Dam Public Access

7/23/2016

Today I took the family fishing at one of my favorite places - Lake of the Ozarks public access area below the Truman Dam.  The weather was extremely hot with a temperature of 98 degrees.

Emilee with a crappie

The wind was blowing off and on at about eight miles per hour.  The skies were clear to partly cloudy throughout the day.  Unfortunately I forgot to record the barometric pressure on this trip.

Cody with a sunfish

Having spent the entire day from noon until 11:30 at night fishing from a dock I achieved sunburned status.  We fished with all types of bait including minnows, gizzards, shrimp, night crawlers, and cut bait.

Even the baby catfish were hungry!

We managed to catch fish on everything except the chicken gizzards.  Although the fish were biting fairly steadily we didn't catch any giants.  

Some of the fish caught below the Truman Dam

The crappie were biting like crazy at a depth of about 12 feet with the biggest crappie of the day measuring eleven inches long.  

Some of the crappie caught throughout the day

We caught several catfish throughout the day. Although many were small, they were still fun to catch.

Another small catfish

I was unable to keep track of the total fish count on this trip, but we caught a lot of them!

Cody with another fish

Although we didn't catch any big fish on this trip the whole family had a blast.  In my book that's what makes any outdoor experience a successful one!

- Any day in the outdoors is a good day

Fishing Journal Entry 14 - The Turtles Win

7/22/16

Today I took my son along with a friend and his son to a small fishing pond to enjoy some fishing and relaxing.  We had a great time talking and catching fish.

A view of the pond

Having fished in many other places recently, I decided it was time to return to this beautiful pond to see how the fishing would be in the middle of the summer.

2nd view of the pond

There was an enormous amount of aquatic vegetation growing in the pond which brought with it some fishing challenges, but we were able to cope with the situation.

Another view of the pond

The weather was extremely hot with a temperature approaching 100 degrees.  The barometric pressure was 30.00 with a UV index of 9!

Catfish

The wind was blowing at twelve to fifteen miles per hour.

Largemouth Bass

We caught three decent bass.  They were just shy of being keepers.

First Crappie

We caught three crappie.

Channel Catfish

We caught six catfish.  Most were big enough to filet, but we released them all so they could get bigger.

Catfish

We used minnows, night crawlers and even some stink bait to catch these fish.

A couple of the catfish were rather small, but a fish is a fish.....right?

Catfish

As the crappie started biting I began placing them on a stringer.  Upon catching the third crappie I pulled the stringer from the water to find that the first two had been mutilated by turtles.  One was completely gone except for its lips and some of the skin around its facial area.  The other had about one half of one side destroyed.  Once I saw this, I decided we wouldn't be attempting to keep any more fish.  It is better to catch and release than to feed the turtles. 

One of many turtles

In all we caught twelve fish and two turtles, but in the end.....the turtles won.

- Any day in the outdoors is a good day (even when the turtles are stealing your fish)

Fishing Journal Entry 13 - Lone Jack Lake

7/10/2016

After working late all week I finally managed to sneak in a little fishing time today.  My son and I decided to try fishing at a Lone Jack Lake.  Having never fished at this lake before, we weren't sure what to expect.  

While out fishing, the skies were partly cloudy and the sun was blazing down.  It was partly cloudy and hot with a temperature of 90 degrees (the weather monitor on my phone said it felt like 96 degrees).  The barometric pressure of 29.90 and holding steady with a UV index of 3.

A View Of The Sky

This lake is in a beautiful area surrounded by trees and some cropland.  The lake itself is not overly large, but it is big enough that several people can fish there without feeling crowded.

A View Of The Lake

Here are a couple of pictures of Lone Jack Lake from the area where we were fishing.

Another View Of Lone Jack Lake

We fished with minnows about three feet below our bobbers.  We also fished with shrimp on the bottom in an attempt to catch some catfish.  Cody was having a good time, but the fish refused to bite for him.

My Son Enjoying This Little Fishing Trip

About half an hour before we packed it up to head home, I managed to catch a tiny bass.  I was almost surprised that he could even get the minnow in his mouth; however, bass do have big appetites.

The First Catch Of The Day

Not long after reeling in the baby fish I managed to hook into a decent one.  I had a blast reeling this one in!

The Second Fish Of The Day

I released both fish after photographing them.  Perhaps they will get bigger and I'll have a chance to hook into them again (especially the bigger one).

At least I was able to catch a couple of fish today, for a while I thought I was going to get skunked for the first time this year.  I know it's bound to happen sooner or later, but it ended up not happening today.

- Any day in the outdoors is a good day

Fishing Journal Entry 12 At James A. Reed CA Missouri

Saturday June 25th 2016

I had a blast today fishing with my daughter, son and dad.  We spent about three hours fishing and caught upwards of 40 fish between the four of us.  For bait we used mainly minnows.

A beautiful day for fishing!

The temperature was about 92 degrees with the barometric pressure at 30.00 and holding steady (for the most part).  The pressure actually fell to 29.90 and then rose back to 30.00.  The sun was shining with a few clouds in the sky. 

Emilee's first fish of the day

The four of us had a lot of fun during this little outing.

Cody's first fish of the day

Cody loved catching the little bluegill.

Dad's first fish of the day

Dad was in need of some R&R and I hoped he would find it while we were out fishing for a while.

Another fish for Emilee

Even with her broken hand Emilee finds a way to catch fish!

Cody's 2nd fish of the day

Cody's found his favorite way to fish....Without a fishing pole.

Dads 2nd fish of the day

Dad keeps reeling in the small fish, but he is having a blast!

My 1st fish of the day

I could barely hold this little thing by its mouth.

Dads 3rd fish of the day

After losing a rather large fish, dad reels in another one for the tiny record books.

The big fish of the day

Using shrimp for bait, I finally had a bite from a respectable fish and managed to land it!

We managed to bring home two keepers today

Overall it was an excellent day filled with a lot of fun!  The weather was really nice, although it would have felt much hotter if it wasn't for the sustained 16 mile per hour winds blowing out of the south.  The dock we were fishing on was also covered which helped us out with its shade.

- Any day in the outdoors is a good day

Fishing Journal Entry 11 - Chased From The River

Disclosure:

Any links to merchants in this post are affiliate links.  If you click on a link and purchase a product mentioned in this post I may earn a commission.  This will not add to the price you pay for that product.

June 20th 2016

After work this afternoon I decided to take my son to the river for a bit of fishing.  Being the first day of summer I figured there was no better way to welcome the season.  I drove down to the parking area  and my son and I began the half mile walk to one of our fishing places.  Upon arriving at the waters edge the day seemed perfect....well almost. Thank goodness I had my ThermaCELL Other than the mosquitos, the scene was picture perfect.

Inlet To The Missouri River

The temperature was 92 degrees with mostly sunny skies.

Mouth of the Inlet to the Missouri

The barometric pressure was 30.20 and slowly falling. 

Missouri River

The wind was blowing SSE at eleven miles per hour.

The river was up more than I had expected as it has been rather dry and hot around here for a while now.  I baited each of my lines with a minnow which resulted in one missed gar about 18 inches long.  My son also missed a gar that was similar sized. After fishing for about 15 minutes or so my brother arrived.  Sneaking up on us he decided it would be funny to scare the life out of me by reaching out with the tip of his fishing pole and poking me in the shoulder blade.  Yep....It caught me off guard!  I thought he was going to fall over from laughing so hard.  I have to admit...It was pretty funny.

My son enjoying fishing time on the Missouri River

Once the excitement of missing the gar had passed, I decided to bait one line with shrimp which seems to be an off-and-on favorite meal for the catfish in this particular spot.  It worked.  Not long after sending this morsel upstream I was helping my brother out and noticed my line had a lot of slack in it.  I began reeling and by the time I had the slack line back on the spool I noticed that the business end had moved quite a ways downstream.  I pulled the rod up and set the hook on a channel catfish that would make a couple of good filets.

Perfect eating size in my book

After catching this one I managed to reel in a soft-shelled turtle that was about ten inches long.  I should have taken a picture of it but I was too busy removing the hook from its mouth while trying to keep from getting bit.  When my brother and I were much younger I watched as my pet turtle bit into his knuckle and decided right then that was something I could live without experiencing.

I re-baited my hook and the weather began to change in a hurry.  A storm was moving in.  We attempted to wait it out as the wind began to push through, but when the lightning began to flash on the other side of the river it didn't take us long to decide to pack up our gear and head for the trail leading back to our vehicles.

The storm began to arrive

The Storm Arrives

Another view of the storm's arrival

Although we found it necessary to head for the hills before we were ready to leave, the time spent with my son and brother was a lot of fun.  We decided we'd rather head out than to take a chance on being struck by a stray bolt of lightning.  There will surely be another day to head back down to the river and pick up where we left off.

- Any day in the outdoors is a good day.... Even when mother nature chases you from the river.

Fishing Journal Entry 10

June 18th 2006

Today I took the family on a fishing trip to Warsaw, Missouri.  We fished below Truman Lake on the Osage Arm of Lake of the Ozarks.

The weather was a bit on the hot side, but in my book that is perfect fishing weather.  The sky was mostly sunny with a easterly wind of five to ten miles per hour.  The barometric pressure was 30.10 and holding steady.  

A beautiful day at Lake of the Ozarks

We fished with minnows the entire time we were out there and caught enough fish that I lost count of the total.  I did however catch the biggest fish I've ever caught in my life.  

Huge Spoonbill

The spoonbill pictured above was about four feet long and a very conservative guess on the weight is about 50 - 60 pounds.  It was an old fish and I didn't remove it from the water to release it.  I simply knelt down on the dock and let it go.  I didn't want to injure it as it looked like this thing had lived a rough life.  There were scars on it's body (probably from having been snagged at some point in the past) and it's paddle was broken.  No sense in taking a chance on adding any more wounds.

Cody having a blast

A tiny bass

A little crappie

Cody and the rest of the family had a ball catching and releasing fish all day!

Blue Catfish

Channel Catfish

Tiny Channel Catfish

Above are some pictures of a few of the catfish we had the privilege of catching on this outing.

One of several crappie

Another Crappie

A small crappie

Above are a few pictures of some of the crappie we caught throughout the day.

We even had the opportunity to observe some deer while fishing.  Below is a video of them running back into the woods after being spooked by a passing car.

Overall we had a great day of fishing as a family.  This post is a little late being posted as we didn't arrive back home until a bit after midnight.  Needless to say I was a bit too tired to write a post....But it was worth it!

- Any day in the outdoors is a good day