Whetstone Creek CA, Callaway Co.

Back on 04 June I decided to stop at Whetstone Creek Conservation Area in Callaway County on my way home from St. Louis. I hadn't really gone fishing at all since May 2013, and I hadn't gone microfishing since early April 2013! Whetstone Creek CA has a nice stream (Whetstone Creek) flowing through it, so I thought I'd stop there and see what I might turn up.

Unfortunately, Missouri was just starting its rainy period that week and Whetstone Creek was a raging flow of very muddy water. I had to abandon my microfishing hopes and instead focus on trying to catch a few fish in Horseshoe Lake, one of the small lakes in the area.

I pulled out the fly rod Diana's uncle gave me last Christmas and started throwing surface flies into the wind. I had a few hits on the fly right away, but nothing was really grabbing it. After about 20 minutes I switched to a smaller fly and landed a small Bluegill, my first fish in over a year!

I forget what this fly is called, but it works with sunfish whenever I'm getting skunked on everything else!

Late season herping

On Oct 30, my friends Nick and Jenna texted me to see if I'd be interested in a run over to Callaway County to look for some salamanders in the balmy (~62F), wet evening. Was I ever! Luckily, it was my night to wash bottles rather than put my son to bed, so I was able to meet them.

We started out by watching a Gray Treefrog hop across the trail near the parking lot, then a bit later we encountered an American Toad (at least one other toad was singing) on the trail.

There were a lot of logs to flip, but they were scattered and generally devoid of anything interesting. Most of them had earthworms and cockroaches, a few had a couple moths, and almost none of them hid herps.

After awhile, I separated from Nick and Jenna, but I was pulled back when they announced they had a Smooth Earth Snake! I had never seen a Smooth Earth Snake before! I took a lot of photos of its head to make sure I could cement the ID for myself back home with some books (it checked out!).

Western Smooth Earth Snake
Virginia valeriae elegans

Western Smooth Earth Snake
Virginia valeriae elegans

A little later, Nick turned up a second Smooth Earth Snake! It was a bit larger than the first one (photographed above), but I didn't feel like taking my camera out in the rain again.

By this point, I had just about reached my turnaround time, so I headed back to the car. When I reached the main trail I thought, "Just a few more logs won't make me late." Well, they made me late. Under the third log I checked was a Spotted Salamander! This was only the second time I'd seen this species...the first was at the same location in the snow back in early March.

Spotted Salamander
Ambystoma maculatum

Herp Species Encountered:

1. Pickerel Frog (Nick and Jenna only)
2. Gray Tree Frog
3. American Toad
4. Northern Cricket Frog (Jenna only)
5. Redbelly Snake (Nick and Jenna only)
6. Northern Water Snake
7. Western Smooth Earth Snake ***Lifer***
8. Spotted Salamander

Northern Water Snake
Nerodia sipedon sipedon

Little Dixie Lake CA, Callaway County

This afternoon I was back at Little Dixie Lake with the kayak! The weather was still warm (~80°F) and sunny, but today featured a 15 mph SSE wind. A wind from that direction means that the kayak can be blown the length of the lake, south-to-north, without paddling. It makes it very easy to get to the fishing spots, but it sure made it tough to get back to the car!

Ordinarily, a stiff wind would make it impossible to hold in a fishing area, but today I bought a 12 lb. river anchor and 50 ft. rope! It took a few tries to figure out how to best attach the anchor to the kayak (hint: it's not a good idea to wrap the rope around your ankle), but once I worked it out I was able to sit stationary in a steady series of waves. The only problem with the anchor is that it got stuck in the mud a few times, and when it was ~25 ft. deep it was very difficult to retrieve. I may look into replacing it with an 8 lb. mushroom anchor next Spring.

Since I was able to fish anywhere I wanted (thanks, anchor!) I was able to park the kayak just off one of the main jetties and pull out an 11 7/8" Largemouth Bass!

The water level at Little Dixie Lake is still about three feet low. In the picture below you can see where the water level usually is...right up to the top of the rocks. I can't wait for the lake to refill over the winter!

Little Dixie Lake CA, Callaway County

This evening I went back to Little Dixie Lake to try my luck with catfish one last time in 2011. I was using all three rods to try for catfish until sunset, when I switched one rod to a silver rooster tail. It turned out to be a good move, as I quickly landed a 9 1/8" Largemouth Bass!

The sun faded into twilight just a few moments later.

I planned to leave around 7:30pm, but when the time came I had just started to read an article on my phone. I decided I would reel in my last two lines when I finished the article and head home. So, I finished reading and wasn't surprised to see both of my bobbers still floating on the water's surface. I grabbed the rod on the right, reeled it in, stripped the chicken off the hook and prepared it for the walk back to the car.

When it was time to put the second rod away I couldn't see the bobber. It was underwater! I grabbed the rod, cranked the reel a few times and pulled in an 11 1/8" (11 oz.) Yellow Bullhead! I love ending a fishing trip with a fish!

Little Dixie Lake CA, Callaway County

It took me over nine months, but I finally took the kayak out in 2011! I've been reading about a guy in Singapore who outfitted his inflatable kayak for marine fishing expeditions, so I thought I could try something similar in a more tame environment.

All I've managed to do so far is make the kayak easier to control by myself (it's a two-seater) and I used some PVC pipe to make one fishing rod holder (I hope to add two more very soon).

Since Little Dixie Lake Conservation Area (Callaway County, Missouri) is the closest lake to our house, that's where I headed this morning. It was sunny, about 70°F and there was almost no wind. I paddled across the lake in about five minutes and was ready to start fishing.

I started out using a silver/white rooster tail. After about a dozen casts I landed a Largemouth Bass, my first ever kayak-based fish! It measured a whopping 7 1/2".

 

I decided to paddle over to the jetties on the north side of the lake. I've only fished there once or twice, but after today I think I'll stop by that area more often. After switching to a chrome Rapala lipless crankbait I hooked what turned out to be a 14 7/8" (1 lb. 5 oz.) Largemouth Bass! This is the largest fish I've caught at Little Dixie Lake to date. Since I was very close to shore when I caught him I decided to beach the boat and take a few pictures on land.

I paddled back to the east side of the lake and managed to catch my very first mussel.

After today I'm really wishing I had started fishing from the kayak about six months ago rather than waiting for the onset of Autumn.

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!