Lake Kincaid, Jackson County, Illinois May 29th 2011: Beautiful lake in the heart of the "Illinois Ozarks"

The weather in this part of the country has been so unusual.  We were just up at Coffeen Lake a couple of days ago and had a light windbreaker due to the temperatures and lack of sun.  On this trip, it got in the 90's and was very windy.


I put in at the boat launch at the National Forest Service area off Hwy 151.  If you keep going (coming in from the south) there is another boat launch that is all run down and delapidated.  I think next time I go, I am going to launch from there and see how far I can run up Kincaid Creek.  The launch traffic was fairly high due to the holiday weekend.  The one thing I do not like to do is rush getting into my kayak or getting out of my kayak..so that part was a little challenging.


Paddled from the boat launch into the creek and went about 3/4 of a mile up in the creek.  It was fun to paddle this and fish it as well.  After about an hour or so of that, I got back on the main lake.  The wind was gusty, but only provided for a couple of challenges.  Water color was brown, and I am thinking the lake is still a little high based on how the local rivers look right now.  I look forward to coming back to this lake to paddle some more in the future.

Paddle ON!

Mike

Windy kayaking adventure at Lake Kincaid, Illinois

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Coffeen Lake, Illinois Montgomery County, Ilinois: Great gem of a lake in the heart of Illinois

Kayaking Coffeen Lake, Illinois

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This was a nice paddle for the day!  I only did about 2 miles or so....started to fish and lost track of the actual kayaking.  Nice gem of a lake right in the heart of south-central Illinois.  It is interesting, Illinois is one of those states that is overlooked sometimes in regards for great places to paddle and fish, but it has some nice opportunities.  I live in the St. Louis area, so a lot of these lakes are in actuality closer than the same kind of lakes on the Missouri end.
I look forward to coming back to this lake.  This is a long, narrow power plant lake, so a person could do quite a few miles on it if they wanted to.  I may have to come back for an overnight trip sometime.  We put in on the north access, but there is another access point in the middle that has either a picnic area or a campground right on the water.

Paddle ON!

Mike

Creve Coeur Lake, St. Louis County, Missouri May 10th, 2011: Quick paddle/fishing trip in between rain storms and flood waters

The rain and water levels have been so incredibly bad in the Missouri/Arkansas/Ozarks area over the last couple of weeks.  Table Rock Lake hit a record high, and there has been rain more days than sun.  So, the paddling in this part of the country has been a bit "challenging".  One of the funniest post I saw on facebook was a kayak shop that sent a quick reminder out: "kayakers please note- Flood water is NOT whitewater".  I found that to be quite humorous.
I did get a chance, however, for a quick paddle and some fishing at Creve Coeur Lake in St. Louis County, Missouri in between out of town trips.  My original intention was to fish and paddle Lake Sherwood in Warren County, however, I got about 1/2 to the destination, and realized that I did not pack the paddle....hmm....  I am glad I just laughed at it, turned around,  got the paddle, and then went to Creve Coeur.  Life is too short to be angry!  Just had to laugh......

Paddle ON!

MLT

Lake Sherwood, Warren County, MO, April 17th 2011: Fishing a little Slow, great day for a kayak fishing trip!

Lake Sherwood- kayaking and fishing

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Lake Ft. Smith, Arkansas, April 8th, 2011: One of the more beautiful lakes in the Ozarks

I got a chance to explore this lake for just a short time in my drive between business trainings in Little Rock, AR and Bentonville, AR.  I am really glad I took just a short couple of hours to see this incredible lake.  If you look at the GPS below, it looks as if I am kayaking on land....originally, there were (2) lakes: Lake Shepard Springs and Lake Ft. Smith.  Evidently a few years ago they went ahead and knocked out the dam and doubled the size of the lake.  This is a very clear lake- used for drinking water for the city of Ft. Smith Arkansas.

What is incredible about this lake is the non development around it, and well as several incredible coves and waterfalls in those coves.  I brought my fishing pole and got on a nice little bed of crappies before I turned back and headed to shore.

Paddle ON!

MLT

Lake Ft. Smith Arkansas....one of the most beautiful lakes in the ozarks!

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Little Red River, White County, Arkansas April 5th, 2011: Nice 6 mile paddle on the Little Red

This was a nice 6 mile paddle on the Little Red River.  I put in at the Henry Gray/Hurricane Lake WMA in White County, Arkansas.  This is a bayou-like area with a lot of incredibly "fishy" looking lakes and oxbows.  I plan on coming back later and hitting some of the lakes with my Mokan fishing kayak.  However, today was all about getting up the river.  I also brought a fishing rod and fished it as well.  Caught one nice smallmouth towards the half-way point of the paddle, but he spit it out before I could get it to the boat for a photo.
If you take a look at the video, there is a really nice looking dock/dock house that had something happen to it and 1/2 of it is in the water- what a shame!  Looks like it was once a great place to hang out for the day....nothing beats a day on the river!

Paddle ON!

MLT

River Gauge (Judsonia, AR)
Height: 400 ft.
Flow: 290 (cfs)
Miles: 6
Total miles year: 36.5 miles
Goal: 800 miles

Little Red River, Arkansas: Kayaking and fishing

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Beaver Lake, Arkansas March 23rd, 2011, Table Rock Lake, Missouri March 24th 2011: Wind and big fish the story

Beaver Lake, Blue Springs Use Area, Arkansas March 23rd, 2011

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I got chance to kayak the lower arm of Beaver Lake on March 23rd.  It really got warm which means it really got windy.  If you get a chance to click on the short video, you see what I mean.  I basically kayaked and fished the cove.  The ramp had quite the pitch and a lot of traffic, so this gave me an opportunity to give my kayak cart a try (works much better with my sea kayak then my heavier, wider fishing kayak). 

The video was shot when I attempted to get up on the main channel.  The waves were just too much for me, so I turned it around and headed back towards the bridge.  The kayak was cooking!  I swear I must have been going 5 knots by the time I got to the bridge.  After that, I decided it was time to call it a day and head back to the ramp.  I am anxious to come back to this area under some calmer conditions.

The next day I had a couple of hours to paddle Table Rock Lake in Stone County, Missouri.  Conditions the next day were much nicer.  We still had a little wind, but it was more manageable.  This paddle trip was more about the fishing.  I kayaked about 2 miles, and had a lot of time to fish some of the coves.  I caught one of the biggest Largemouth Bass I have ever caught (full story at http://www.fishmissouri.org/ )  It is truly amazing how incredibly clear the water is at Table Rock Lake.  This is one incredible lake!

Paddle ON!

MLT