The Kansas City Star from Kansas City, Missouri • 196

105 THE KANSAS CITY STAR For Short Trips Short Casts but Long Stringers Try Farm Pond Fishing Major lakes fishing streams and access sites 1 rtt By Ray Heady (The Star's Outdoor Editor) THIS spring we have been on a delightful lark Somehow our piscatorial record player got stuck on pond fishing-and the needle jump the and kept play ing ponds lovely farm ponds ponds ponds willow-draped As a result we have been fishing nearby farm ponds all spring We have enjoyed every minute of it ponds ponds willow-draped ponds Ponds so close to the metropolitan area that we drove to them in the afternoon fished until dark and were back home in 30 minutes ponds with fertile water yielding crappie so dark they looked black with big jut-jawed bass in them up to 9 and 10 pounds with yellow-bellied bluegill bigger than a hand with black perch that weigh a quarter of a pound and hit like a quarter of a ton of dynamite But while the record player kept playing ponds ponds we wish to state here and now that we have not written off stream fishing lake fishing impoundment fishing Not at all We love float fishing down a winding river under a canopy of sycamore trees listening to the language of moving water We like lake fishing too which is nothing more than grown-up pond fishing In fact this weekend we will be drifting the current of Taneycomo and casting the shoreline of upper Bull Shoals Before the summer is over we will be fishing lakes from Great Slave in the Northwest territories to bassy pools in Ontario to lunker sloughs in Georgia Nope we are not sour on lake and stream fishing just that we got started on pond fishing this spring and the needle stuck in the groove The weather probably had a lot to do with it We hate fishing in a strong or cold wind We had lots of windy days in March and early April Rather than have a 3-day 400-mile trip to one of the big lakes spoiled by high winds we just stayed in the city waited out the weather and when a nice afternoon showed up climbed into the station wagon and drove to a nearby pond On most trips we scored on nice bass lots of big bluegill and quite a few crappie The metropolitan area is- ringed with ponds and small NEW LOCATION FOR DICK Lidi 4 Clark 4tti Park A1 1 eji Dm lakes A flight in a light plane over Kansas City reveals an astonishing number of them some tucked back in groves of trees others hidden behind hills Some are within half a mile of busy highways but land-bound motorists are not aware of them On an evening flight over the perimeter the setting sun glints on the ponds and the landscape has a thousand eyes shining in the dusk WE LIKE these soaring tours over the city and county For one thing we discover new ponds and lakes that we know existed Some are so bassy looking we drool and our pipe stem becomes waterlogged with saliva going gurgle gurgle Song birds nest in the border of ponds ponds We also see old fa-i trees Waterfowl use the shallow vorites we have fished in years end Racoons search the grassy past We nudge the pilot who banks for crayfish Frogs croak also is a fisherman: in the dusky borders Turtles we say that is- cleanse the bottom Such a pond He nods caught a 5-1 has sunlight and shadow cool pounder off that north The i depths and warm plane drones on We spot anoth- Cattle are not neglected but er pond that dead tree they are not allowed in the pond lying in the The pilot They drink outside the fence nods caught a 4-pounder from a tank filled by a pipe that outta that The plane penetrates the dam Properly drones on stocked with a balanced popula- The pilot grins and points down tion of fish such a pond will proto a rock-rimmed lake Jackson duce prodigious amounts of OFFICE The Kansas City office of the Missouri Conservation department located at 1535 Grand avenue for the past 11 years will move Thursday to the new Missouri state office building 615 East Thirteenth street The new telephone number will be 274-6578 Dick Rotsch manager says there will be underground parking space at the new location for hunters and fishermen who want to drive in and buy their annual permits The room number in the new building is 425 a bass bluegill and channel catfish a swimming hole for youngsters a shady picnic spot for their elders a free skating rink in winter a blessing to County has more than rocks It has boulders and ledges which make scenic lake shores did you catch he asks We wince the lake where we got a Lazy Ike barb in our man an oasis to nature finger and had to quit fishing and go to town where a doctor cut it out Man that hurt Not the barb the fact that we had to quit fishing just when they were starting to hit WE APPROACH this of this yarn with because we like owners of good farm the spot Revealing the of LAKE BULL SHOALS Shepherd of the Hills Ison Rock sttte Park THE ABOVE MAP showing the major fishing spots in Missouri is a companion piece to a similar map of Kansas printed April 14 The two maps are designed to aid fishermen in locating the many impoundments lakes and streams which are designated in The weekly fishing outlook report each Thursday afternoon during spring and summer months This map also shows main access points (arrows) at which Missouri streams can be entered for floating or fishing next section temerity to put the ponds on location a good bass pond is about as BUT PROXIMITY to the city risky as telling the location of a is not the only reason we like quail covert because pond fishing The main reason is there are hunters and fishermen that a good pond produces fish who forget their manners and go in abundant numbers and of ade- barging into places without per-quate size We seldom get mission because a few skunked when we fish a good such non-sportsmen whom you farm pond take hunting or fishing with you Furthermore we can really through the front doof one day fish a farm pond thoroughly I Wl11 shaking in the back door a farm pond the next 50LUNAR TABLES ft a 4uttt THIS schedule of solunar periods computed from sun-moon phases shows the daily periods of maximum fish and wildlife activity There are usually four activity periods each 24 hours when fish and game are most active usually feeding The major periods begin at the time shown and continue U2 to 2 hours the minor periods are briefer The schedule applies to the Kansas City area only daylight from shore to shore from top to bottom We can probe every nook and cranny If the fish are hitting we are going to find it or try to Such non-sportsmen are a liability in several ways They not only make the farmer or pond-owner angry they may close the pond OPEN Outdoor Calendar Today Missouri Outdoor Writers association convention Branson Missouri Brittany club fun trial Reed area Kansas Ornithological society convention Lawrence Burroughs Nature club field trip Taberville prairie Missouri River Boating association river cruise Paddle and Sail club Missouri river float trip Ozark Wilderness Waterways club float trip Jacks Fork nver American Youth Hostel open house Westport community center Missouri Trout Fishermen derby Bennett Spring Root Days Silver Dollar City another membership deal but you might get invited as a prospective member LAKE CITY ARSENAL East of Independence on M-58 is the sprawling Lake City arsenal At the eastern edge of the fenced grounds is an old lake that reportedly produces some good bass fishing We have seen it only from the air and it looks good Military red tape being what it is you might get a permit and you might not REED AREA are nine ponds here four miles southeast of Summit Four of five of them are worth fishing for 50 cents a day They opened May 1 for fishing and out quickly if not sooner This is fishermen including their not true of big impoundments 0 have to the place Furthermore they are law-breakers where the guide motors five SEE IT NOW AT SOUTH 71 TRAILER SALES INC 14815 71 Hwy Grandview Mo Closed Sunday for Fishing HORSE SHOE LAKE 20226 MIZE ROAD INDEPENDENCE MO "TAKE YOUR BOY HUNTING INSTEAD OF HUNTING YOUR BOY" miles to fish one point four more miles to cast a bluff and eight miles more to probe some submerged timber We always have the feeling on impoundments that we are passing up more good fishing water than we are fishing This sets up a futility complex that the whole thing is bigger than we are with our mere 100-foot pasting range We always have the feeling the fish are hitting down yonder where we ain't We approach farm pond fishing slowly easily We make ev- There are a few ponds and small lakes close to Kansas Citv that are gems Every one of them is posted That means unless you have permission to enter But if you are ever invited to fish any of the following places pass it up You will be surprised at these sudden bursts of willow-draped beauty plus fish: SCHELLCREST -This lovely pair of ponds is in Claycomo not more than a half mile from the bustling Ford plant a quarter Guns Exclusively Not A Sideline excellent fishing and brooding solitude UNITY FARM a mile if north of Unity Farm which is on I them They 50 between Kansas City sloping edges which makes it and Summit is a boulder-studded lake formed by a high will remain open until Labor day They have bass bluegill you can catch are shallow with safe- for children and elderly persons VISIT OUR NEW PLANT SALES ROOMS East Side of 1-35 on Frontage Road Just South of 150 Highway Phone ST 2-3131 MAIL ADDRESS: 700 Rogars Rd Olathe Kas 66061 PLEASANT ACRES leave out George dozen ponds on his farm east of the Trimble Wildlife area We go there each spring to test the bluegill and photograph the big Canada geese that nest their location We know sunny ponds brooding ponds sad ponds proud ponds dying ponds Its been a great spring renewing acquaintance with old friend ponds and meeting some new ones erv cast as perfect as possible I mile from rOaring 1-35 yet when dam across a ravine A winding road leads to it It has several arms coves giant boulders wooded perimeter and lots of remoteness It is full of bass but the big ones are finicky They hit every day but when is probably not the rule Most farm ponds are under-fished They could stand a much larger harvest of big fish than they get We like pond fishing mainly because we catch fish from them But beyond the fishing ponds are interesting to get acquainted with Each has its own identity In fact we tend to identify them in our memory file by their characteristics rather than presenting the lure the way it ought to be presented We refuse to hurry which in itself is the essence of good fishing On impoundments we give it a hit and a lick before zooming off somewhere into the far horizon they do hold the horses It is jn washtubs on his place All his open to Unity employees We ponds are fenced stocked and OPEN EVES 'TIL 9 Johnson Motors produce fish He allows dozens of his friends to fish you put a boat on them and start casting you are far away from civilization They have peace beauty quietness and giant bass crappie and bluegill How big? Well bass to 9 pounds crappie to 4 and bluegill as big as a hand The lower pond is within fifty feet of the Schell barn where thoroughbred horses were raised and trained JOHNSON MOTOR MIRRO CRAFT BOATS O-DAY SAILBOATS have fished it twice by invitation and a gem really a small lake in size RISS LAKE nearPark ville north of the river is a private lake built a few years ago by the trucking magnate It is loaded with big bass It open to members only who can take a and Palm Beach pontoons fishing equipment Schrader's Marine 1023 Central Kat DR 1-3112 everything ter Sportsmen WH MAYBE WE SHOULD define what we mean by a good pond are not speaking of hog wallows where pigs warm days to cool snooze on off and the THESE ARE SOME of the nearby gem ponds But for every pond named there are scores that carry no name They are simply designated by the loca-tion on a particular farm such guest pass it up in case as the north pond the middle you are invited I pond or the old home place Farther north pond They are anonymous as east of the new airport is Bass- i far as fishing fame is concerned wood which is owned by A Jj except to those anglers who Stephens who now divides his know them and understa time between Kansas City and them Then they become care- water is stale muddy stagnant for decades before Mr Nor are we speaking of shallow death one of those places stock ponds where cattle are allowed to trample down the banks and graze bare the apron where on every cast you hold your ready for a lunker to take it We fished it once this 'JOIN THE SWINGERS" NEAL MINNOWS-WORMS Complete Line of Tackle Nite Crawlers "WE NEVER CLOSE" MO-KAN BAIT TACKLE 908 11th Betw'n Minn Ave ft Armstrong on 11th BOATS and MOTORS 6021 TROOST EM 1-3(51 KANSAS CITY MO spring by invitation That evening we read that the ponds were in the area of a 100-million dollar suburban development that would include shopping center apartments houses We wept in our coffee wondering if those lovely ponds would be bulldozed in and covered over with asphalt We know of no other ponds so close to the city yet so in natural beauty fully guarded secrets And rightly so A pond will stand just so much intrusion and fishing It can be over-fished although this leaving it wide open to erosion We are speaking of fenced ponds filled by clear water running off a sodded watershed planted with willows or multiflora to stabilize the clear sweet cool ponds that are an ecological commumty within a pasture Such ponds are self sustaining in their biological structure a meeting place of the wildlife and fish life of the area Phoenix It is fed by spring water and is crystal clear A few years ago weed growth made fishing difficult but I hear the moss has been cleaned out ROCK OAKS LAKES Fishing Is Good We Guarantee You Fish! Liva Fish For Sale Wholesale Retail Catfish Buffalo Carp Vj Mila East of 71 By-Pass on 39th St SY 6-3847 BE4VEC SHORES ON BEAUTIFUL BEAVER LAKE Swimming J' BEAVER SHORES OFFERS A FULL RANGE OF ACTIVITIES FOR THE ENTIRE FAMILY CITY WATER MANY CABINS ALREADY BUILT end still othsrt are under construction SCENIC LAKE SHORE LOTS Beginning at only $895 Instant Financing LOW DOWN PAYMENT UP TO 4 YEARS TO PAY Located 7 miles east of Rogers Arkansas Highway 12 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION MAIL COUPON TO: BEAVER 8HORE8 INC HARRY McCOY PRESIDENT BOX 147 ROGERS ARKANSAS 72768 BOAT LOANS MARK TWAIN STARCRAFT SEA-RAY BOATS BLUE SPRINGS MARINE BLUE SPRINGS MO AC 9-3366 RICHLINE JOHNSON BOATS JOHNSON MOTORS A11 Open Season on Roeks MIRROR LAKES Just Restocked Moy 2 WITH NICE BULLHEADS Well Stocked With Carp also NOW OPEN for Night Fishing FRI AND SAT NIGHTS (Caro Lake Only) 40 HIWAY 71 BY PASS HEADQUARTERS FOR CAMPERS FISHING BOATS FISHING TACKLE er Fred Bolwahnn advised visitors to wear rubber boots or bare feet as the salt on the ground will destroy leather shoes Dining facilities are available in nearby Jet and Cherokee and camping areas are available at the Salt Plains State park A map of the area and further information can be obtained from the Refuge Manager Salt Plains National Wildlife Refuge Jet Okla Salt Plains National Selenite crystal hunters began the 1968 season here last month in quest of unique buried treasure The season April 6 through October 13 allows hunting only on weekends and holidays from 8 a to 5 The selenite (gypsum) crystal found nowhere else in the world is formed when impurities within I he crystal form the shape of an hour glass The Salt Plains refuge manag Now'i the time to go Sooting and there' no better woy to get that new boat than with a loan from First State Bank See one of our friendly loan counselors today First State Bank 650 Kansas Ave DR 1-1242 Member I GOOD NEIGHBOR S2MS BIRO DOOS BOARDED Year-Round Boarding Par Mo 15 Training Rates Per Mo 45 (includes Board) Escape-Proof Ce ment Modern Kennels Plant' Good Food Care Vacation 75c Per Day CALL FOR RE VATIONS PL 8-2345 BAIER'S DEN KENNELS SHOOTING PRESERVE HIGHWAY SO GREGORY RAYTOWN 6001 TRUMAN ROAD KANSAS CITY PHONE NUMBER- Ptcullar Mo IS Ml So.