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2K views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  arky 
#1 ·
New member needing some lake advice. Not asking for your secret fishing hole here , but what are the best catfishing lakes/locations for someone trying to get more serious from the Lawrence area? Especially from the bank or small fishing boat with low hp motor. As always, thanks for the advice!
 
#2 ·
You can hit the Clinton reservoir outlet thats on the opposite side of the dam and near the dog park. I landed a 20lbs blue catfish on a 5wt fly rod on accident. Currently there is little outflow so I dont think its very good now, but when they let it out some big fish get stuck there. You can check the flow here http://www.nwd-mr.usace.army.mil/rcc/nwk/lakepool.txt

Currently its 7. Thats the winter flow rate. When it bumps up to around 200 it starts to get good. When its raging, wait until they turn it down and its all good. Ive caught a wide variety of fish there like asian carp, crappie, walleye/saugeye, wiper/white bass, cats, buffalo etc...

There are also some decent fish down the way at the waterfall.

There is also Marys Lake, Pat Dawson-Billings and the Sandra Shaw park near the hospital behind the old VFW. Those are the stingiest fish Ive faced though. The Kansas river at the Bowersock dam produces some big catfish as well (but dont eat them from there).

Im sure a proper catfisherman here can tell you more. Im just a fly fisherman who got lost on the internet lol. Good luck!
 
#3 ·
I fish below the outlet at Perry. I have been catching some pretty good channel there -5-9 lb range. The blues should be picking up, if we get some rain, and they start releasing again. I fish from the bank on the west side. Last spring around the middle of April I caught about 400 lbs in 4 days, some in the 4 in the 40 lb range, but most 10-20's. Whole shad on about an 18 inch dropper with a 3 oz sinker should do the trick.
 
#4 ·
Im a bank and small boat fisherman too. Idk your area but I like to follow the banks and look for a spot that has lots of variation. Like structure, shallow dropping off to deep water, bait nearby and to me a spot that isn't fished often is more promising than anything. Then most of the time I just pull the boat on shore and setup camp. Im also fishing a small river and that helps locating prime spots. And I'm also only fishing for flatheads, we don't have blues here.
 
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