South Farm R-1 Lake, Boone County

Last night I visited A. Perry Phillips Park in Boone County. Phillips Lake looks like it could have some decent fishing, but the shallows were choked with algae and I didn't fancy removing algae from my lure after every cast, so I moved on to South Farm R-1 Lake.

I spent about an hour catching nothing. At one point I had something on the line, but when I went to tighten my drag (it was almost all the way open to start with) the fish got off the hook. Then, all of a sudden, fish started biting!

I caught two small Largemouth Bass and a decent (8 1/8") Bluegill before it was time to go home.

Little Dixie Lake CA, Callaway County

On Friday, I went to Little Dixie Lake Conservation Area in Callaway County, which is about 10 miles east of Columbia. Little Dixie Lake has a surface area of 205 acres and is my favorite fishing spot around our home.

It was raining Friday, but Diana was out of town so I headed to the north side of lake to try fishing in the rain for the first time. My goal was to catch a catfish, so I threw a nightcrawler on a hook, tossed it in and waited. I'm not a big fan of just sitting and waiting, so I also put a buzzbait on another rod and quickly pulled in a small (9 1/4") Largemouth Bass. After going 20 minutes without a nibble I moved to the disabled access jetty on the east side.

I started out the same way as on the north side and caught another little (9 1/4" again) Largemouth Bass right away. As I was putting it back in the water I thought, "Where did my bobber go?" Right then it popped back up! I reeled it in and my worm was gone.

I put another worm on, watched the bobber and tried for the next 20 minutes to set the hook in whatever was eating my worm without luck. Since I was running out of worms I switched to shrimp and crossed my fingers that the fish would take the shrimp. Sure enough, the bobber started bobbing and the next thing I knew there was no shrimp on the hook. I was positive I had a catfish down there messing with my hook, so I added more shrimp and waited.

After another 40 minutes of playing with me, I finally hooked the fish and got it to shore. To my bewilderment it was a 6" long Green Sunfish! Still no catfish for me.

This morning I was at Little Dixie Lake around 6:15am, armed with my favorite rod and reel combo. In about 2 1/2 hours I managed to catch seven Largemouth Bass, two Bluegill and a Green Sunfish. I lost several bass when they shook my lures loose on some fairly decent jumps. I had never seen Largemouth Bass jump clear of the water until this week.

Toward the end of my trip I caught my largest Largemouth Bass yet at Little Dixie Lake:  13 1/2" long, 1 lb. 5 oz. On the very next cast, with the exact same lure (a chartreuse 1/4 oz. rooster tail) I caught one of my smallest Largemouth Bass: 5 1/16" I couldn't believe such a little fish would try to eat something so large!

Grindstone Creek, Boone County

The South Fork of Grindstone Creek flows just behind our home in Boone County. It's not very big, but it has a few decent-sized pools. My favorite pool is about 250 meters away from the house. I'd guess it's about 20m long, maybe 10m wide and probably about 3m deep at best.

I took my 7' 6" 4 wt. fly rod with a self-tied chartreuse and white Clouser minnow (size 10) to see what might be around this Spring. In the past I've found ~12" Largemouth Bass, a smattering of panfish and some medium-sized Creek Chubs in the pool.

The Creek Chubs were there tonight. I only brought one all the way in, but I could see about a dozen or so swimming around the murky water. I also caught two of the smallest bass I've ever brought in on a hook. The first is estimated to have weighed only 0.8 ounces!

Weather

62°F

7 mph NE wind

Clear

Time Fishing: 5:40pm-6:00pm

South Farm R-1 Lake, Boone County

This evening I fished at South Farm R-1 Lake near Columbia in Boone County. This little lake is owned by the University of Missouri, but stocked by the Department of Conservation and open to the public for fishing.

The south end of the lake is rocky, the east side is mowed grass, and the rest gets pretty weedy by the end of the summer. The "lake" is also already filling up with algae, so it may not be a fun place to fish in a few weeks.

Yesterday, I was able to pull out a few 8+ inch Bluegill, but today was pretty slow.

 

This evening I used my MicroLite with 4 lb. mono-filament and I brought in a 9 1/4" (~6 oz.) Largemouth Bass on an orange 1/16 oz. rooster tail on my third cast, then went the next 70 minutes without landing anything. I had bites on a pink 1/16 oz. rooster tail, a 1 1/2" Rattlin' Rapala, and mini hopper crank bait, but couldn't bring anything in.

I also had a line with a Carolina rig trying for catfish, but had no luck with cheese scented Catfish Charlie dip bait. I think the big problem with this rig was that it was smothered in algae every time I brought it back to shore to re-cast. 

South Farm R-1 Lake might have some decent fish in it, but the excessive amounts of algae (already!) were enough to make me not want to head back any time soon.

Weather

55°F

12 mph NW wind

Clear

Time Fishing: 6:45pm-8:10pm (Sunset 8:15pm)