Friday night I met up with some old friends to chase Crappie at Clinton Lake. While we did find Crappie, we ended up finding so much more. Winds upwards of 15mph forced the boat to seek shelter for most of the day near the protection of the dam face, but we graphed and caught lots of fish just off shore in 15-20 ft of water. The day started mostly with Crappie but as the day progressed we started catching loads of small Wiper. Often with these fish we would catch them casting towards shore and we would hook up with them in only a few feet of water. Shad were busting on the shore itself and it was evident that these Wiper were pushing shad hard and in feeding mode. Not only that but they were not boat shy at all, as we caught several within feet of the boat. 

This was the average size of Wiper caught that evening. Not huge but still provided plenty of fight. 

A month ago I returned to Kanapolis State Park in Kansas to hike Horsethief Canyon. I attempted last year but was unable to go too far due to high water. This time with lower water and higher temperatures my girlfriend, her dog Chance, and I were able to hike the trail for 7 hours and still only covered a portion. Truly one of my favorite places in Kansas. I highly recommend Kanapolis to anyone looking for some quality hiking in the area. Two notes for those considering hiking the trail. First, overnight camping is not allowed, unfortunately, though I am sure you could easily spend a few days hiking all it has to offer. Camping is available at the state park, however. Secondly, the trail is not marked especially well so be sure to be keen of your surroundings so you are able to navigate your way back to your origin. Here are the pictures, credit belongs jointly between myself and my girlfriend. 

Went to Clinton Lake hoping for some Crappie fishing today, however after a few hours I had only caught one, which is far more than I saw anyone else catch so it was a fairly frustrating day, that is until I was leaving and I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye. Sure enough it was a large school or Carp feeding on the surface. The problem... I only had a few flies with me and those that I did have were deep diving streamer patterns. However, I can't just pass Carp without throwing some line. I mean honestly, what fly angler with any integrity can. So I planned my strategy. Since they were feeding on the surface and it about 5 feet of water I knew my opportunity to catch them was going to be slim. These flies were sinking fast. If I had any chance I was going to have to cast a few inches in front of their noses and hope they took on the drop, the worst that could happen was I was going to spook them. With winds past 15 mph precision casting was a little hard, but on my fourth cast I landed my obnoxiously bright chartreuse minnow pattern in front of one and he took it like a rockstar. Game on. Not a big guy and in the ensuing battle he scared away all his friends. But first Carp of the year and it made an otherwise unproductive trip worth it. As I headed back to my car, I couldn't help but think, that will do.