Kayak fishing the beautiful Flat Creek in Barry County, Missouri....outstanding ozark stream!

Flat Creek in Barry County, Missouri is a place I have wanted to kayak for sometime now, so I was grateful to get a chance to explore it over the weekend.  I had a feeling that the water was fairly skinny, so I knew I would most likely have to portage and fish upstream, then kayak back, which is exactly what I did.

This would be an excellent float with several parties to make it a one way float....real challenging going up stream, then back down, but we were able to make it happen.  The water is nice and cool (due to several springs along the way) and is a prime environment for smallmouth bass.
Fishing wise, the Chomper hula grub on the stand up jig was what they were really hitting on (orange colored).  A lot of times when I am smallmouth fishing, I like to throw a texas-rigged zoom trick worm, but they were not liking these on Flat Creek...they like the hula grubs!

I would say we caught approx. 10-12 fish (all caught and released), most being of a smaller size.  There were a couple that were not bad sized (as you can see in the video).
The Missouri Ozarks have some of the most incredibly beautiful waters in the U.S.....worth it to get out and explore!

Click HERE for a map of the trip

Paddle ON!

Mike

Kayak fishing the BEAUTIFUL Kings River in Northern Arkansas- August 18th, 2013

Nice Largmouth- last fish of the day!

This is one of my favorite rivers to kayak fish on. The scenery, not only getting there, but once you put in is incredible. I put in at the Romp Hole access just south of the Missouri border. If you paddle from this point downstream, the water starts to get "wide and fat" due to going from river to becoming Table Rock Lake. I think this transition makes the fishing potential at this point incredible, especially for large bass and white bass that come in from the lake in the spring.

When I am kayaking I like to paddle up stream, then drift fish down. Due to the rains a couple of weeks ago, the river still had a fairly good flow (unlike last year when it was in drought conditions). Due to the flow, there were several points I got out and portaged, wade fishing the whole time. The biggest surprise of the trip was catching a walleye mid stream. He hit the lure (orange hula grub on standup jig)on the retrieve, so when I got him in, I was very surprised.

I know that Table Rock Lake has a good fishery of walleye (at least that is what I have been told), so I figure he came upstream for some of the cool fast water. I am glad I had enough foresight to not lip him when I brought him in...that would have been a painful surprise. I spent the entire day out there, met some really cool canoe folk and could have spent even more time there....even saw a roadrunner when in the car on the way out.

 

Click HERE to see the map of the trip

 

"Life is better on a kayak"

 

Mike 

 

Kayak fishing Table Rock Lake in the summer: topwater plugs work VERY WELL!

In this short video, we are fishing Rebel topwater plugs early in the morning.  In the summer time, especially on Table Rock Lake in southern Missouri, early morning and evenings on topwaters with structure fish very well.  With the heat and sun, and with the water temperature higher this time of year, a lot of the big fish stay deep, and then come up on structure to forage before and after the heat of the day.

"Life is better on a kayak"

Mike

Our very first "Kayak Fishing The Midwest Podcast" with lifetime kayaker Ray Schroeder

Our very first podcast turned out to be a great conversation with lifetime kayaker, Ray Schroeder. A ton of great tips from the guy who taught me how to kayak, "Captain" Ray. You will enjoy this podcast- if you get a chance, give it a listen. We are planning our next podcast as we speak

Listen to internet radio with Kayak fishing the midwest on BlogTalkRadio