Fishing picks up at Cheney, El Dorado, Marion and area lakes

Hello,

Without question the big news of the week — aside from Andrew Wiggins heading to KU — has been the often great fishing at most area lakes.

Jeff Koch, Cheney’s fisheries biologist, said nice crappie have been caught in good numbers around the marina area. He also said the best spots have been drawing a lot of anglers, too.

Similar reports have come from many areas at El Dorado Reservoir and along the dam and some coves at Marion Reservoir. The latter has been providing nice mixed-bag fishing for white bass, crappie and some wipers, especially along the dam.

Friends trolling at Marion earlier this week did well with wipers, white bass, a few crappie and a nice walleye, too.

Oh, the walleye are showing up well on the flats at El Dorado, too. Friends caught about 20 Monday evening, including a few over the lake’s 21-inch minimum length limit.

Good crappie reports have also come from Milford, Clinton, Perry and Glen Elder, too.

MORE UPDATES

Audubon of Kansas has forwarded news that the public comment period for future management at the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge has been extended through the rest of the month, rather than ending on May 20.

The final stocking of tiny northern pike into Kingman State Fishing Lake should about wrap-up that project. It’s already gotten small bass and bluegill, and some of the channel catfish added are brood fish of several pounds.

Crappie will not be stocked into the lake by Wildlife and Parks.

Word has it some kayakers are enjoying the fish ladder set up at the Lincoln Street dam. As well as letting fish head up the Arkansas, a trough down the middle of the ladder should let kayaks and canoes float downstream.

Warbler reports have been pretty good from local birders, including some nice populations in some pockets of public timber in Wichita.

UPCOMING COVERAGE

Friday’s Eagle should have an article about the possible dangers boaters face at several local lakes. El Dorado Reservoir is especially dangerous, with water less than knee deep 400 yards or more from shore in several places.

Saturday’s newspaper should have a feature on the annual spring gathering of turkey vultures in Marion. That was a fun story to research, write and photograph.

Sunday’s Outdoors page should have an article on the literal highs and lows of fishing at Tuttle Creek Reservoir over the past year.

Not that long ago the lake was about as low as it’s been in decades because of the drought. Now it’s at full conservation pool.

Through it all, though, the fishing has been some of the best ever for local anglers.

Sunday’s Outdoors page should also have a collection of news items presented in an outdoors notes form.

Included could be more details on the comment extension for Quivira, a special bowfishing tournament, a fun outdoors camp for kids and a very talented woodchuck in Marion County.

Down the road I’m hoping to get some comments about the possible sale of El Dorado Reservoir water to Wichita, and what it could mean for recreation, and the economy based around it, at the lake.

I’m also lining up a long-awaited float trip down the Kansas River.

MICHAEL’S WORLD

First, my sincere apologies to all other crappie anglers at El Dorado on Wednesday afternoon and evening.

Yes, the fishing was the slowest it has been in several days.

Yes, I showed up and am probably to blame for shutting it down.

Friend Sherry Chisenhall and I showed up and fished the evening with Shane Eustice, one of the best anglers at the lake. We ended up with a total of two keepers, and tossed back two dink crappie. I won’t be out there, or any other public water, this weekend, so have fun.

Last weekend Kathy and I put up the vinyl picket fence she’s been hoping for the past several years.

Anytime I do anything with a construction element there are going to be problems, This time, not so much.

The materials cost about twice as much as I’d figured, which seems to be common, but came with all of the components, which seems to be uncommon.

The post hole digger I bought for the project seemed to work equally well in my hands and Kathy’s.

Saturday we got hit by a couple of heavy rain showers.

Kathy hoped it wouldn’t be the same for Sunday, Mother’s Day.

About noon that day I felt a few drops of rain, and said something like, “I hoped it wouldn’t do this,” as I looked skyward to check the clouds.

Well, it didn’t rain any more…but I got splattered in the face by a blast of BB-sized hail.

Seriously, rather than starting gradually it came down all at once as if fired from a shotgun.

And of course we’d just mixed a fresh batch of concrete in our wheelbarrow so we had to work through the storm.

The hail didn’t hurt too much, but it was danged cold going down the back of my collar as I poured concrete into a post hole.

“Well, at least it’s not raining,” my largely optimistic wife laughed and yelled over the noise of the hail.

Compared to some of my past construction disasters, Mother Nature’s cool down was not a problem.

Go fishing, it’s that time of the year.

Michael Pearce

mpearce@wichitaeagle.com