UseUrHeadFred

Very impressive! Some people have made thousands of casts over years trying to catch a fish like that. Congratulations!

For those who missed it, they dropped over 1000 channel cats into O'fallon Park Lake due to an equipment malfunction. Can't imagine the look on their faces when they had to call the boss. The recording was something like "Suson Park 94. Bee Tree Park 80. O'fallon Park 1200." Funny stuff.

Call the fish stock hotline (636) 300-9651 for an interesting anecdote about O'fallon Park's urban fishing program catfish.

Fished Prairie Lake last night with minnows. Tore up the crappie, one after another, 10" down. Saw a fellow bring in a 5 lb largemouth on the far side. Most active during the 6 o'clock hour.

Lake 33 from 6:30-8:00. Tried dipping the north bank with a long pole and jig. Caught two 5" crappies. Saw quite a few hitting bugs on the surface, would probably be a great time to use a fly rod. I expected a least a few of the larger crappie to be in tight, but apparently not yet. I've had more luck with bluegill lately than crappie.

Fished Prairie Lake in Weldon Spring CA from 6-7:30. Nightcrawlers (gifted from another angler - thanks!) under an EZ Trout bobber. Many, many good sized bluegill between 6 and 6:45, only one after that. They were hitting like trucks. 6 fow 2 ft down. It's a strange lake, that one. It's very deep, has very good fishing, but it's trash city. I only ever see one or two other anglers out there at any given time, and lots of the trash is food/beverage containers for products that haven't been made in years. Lots of pull tabs(!) from old-type cans. It's also one of those lakes whose level changes up and down on a day to day basis, sometimes dramatically. And they don't allow boats. Not that that seems to stop anybody, heh.

Did more research on google. allows fishing... and kayaks/canoes! http://greatriversgreenway.org/greenway/dardenne-greenway-barathaven/

Anyone have any information about this? I happened to notice it on a map when I was looking at Lake 34.

I only had a few moments on my way through. Here's what I could get. Water temp was about 53F. Not sure what gate you're asking about, but I could drive right up to the bank.

Also, I'll try to hit Rabbit Run with my castable sonar soon. I'll post the results.

I don't wade or use a fly rod, but another good spot to try would be Schote Creek at the headwaters of Lake 35. Go to Lake 35, take the first right, at the parking lot follow (back into!) the little road to the right. That was a county road a long, long time ago. The old bridge is still there, along with a newer foot bridge, and a retaining wall follows the creek to the right. Looks like it gets dicey after the retaining wall, but my depth finder couldn't find water deeper than 5 feet, so it seems like it would be a good candidate for wading. Foot Bridge I'm happy to give what little I have out, I figure there's plenty for all of us.

I went last weekend to lake 35. It was at an intermediate state. The water was very high over the winter, which just so happened to be when they dropped christmas trees at the crappie bed signs. Now there are hundreds of christmas trees piled up right on the bank. I bet by this fall they're way up out of the water. It appears people fish those pretty heavily over the winter; several of the christmas trees are "decorated" with lost bobbers! If anyone's wondering how deep it is right off the dam, I was able to find some 22' water within casting range about 2/3 of the way to the spillway. The spillway itself was actually a little bit shallower. It gets deep quite fast off the dam, about 9' deep within easy reach of a dipping pole. I didn't go past the dam around to the peninsula and cove, I hear it's VERY deep off that point.

Lake 38 is one of those lakes that just looks absolutely killer. I have exactly zero experience using a boat; I only picked up fishing again about a year ago since going with my grandpa when I was a kid, and 38 has very little bank to fish from, so I haven't fished it much. It looks like it could be really deep. I did bank fish it last year looking for redear beds from the gravel boat ramp, had zero luck but saw a very, very large flathead patrolling the bank. Was very creepy seeing such a big fish swimming right at my feet. 35 is one of the most variable lakes I've ever seen as far as the lake level goes. I think it's built on top of a cave system, loses water very very fast, but fills up just as fast out of Schote(?) creek. The creek channel is very steep in the area to the right of the boat ramp, it becomes visible when the lake level is low. The whole eastern area of Busch is prone to sinkholes. Back in the 50s, when they were building all those ponds, they actually did build a Lake 13. It shared a bank with Lake 12's dam. They apparently filled it over a few weeks, then one day they came back and it was gone. Sinkhole had formed right in the middle. If you look on Google Earth you can see where it used to be. Lake 8 has a similar problem, that's why it's dogs only. Completely drains out every three or four years, so the fish all die off.

Lake 36: Fished 6-7:30. Minnows under a bobber. Three crappie, one big bluegill, one channel catfish. Fish seem to be spread out and at various depths. No bass activity... strange considering I've been cleaning up on them lately. I've noticed on some lakes some crappie are already within inches of the bank. Lake 36 doesn't seem to be one of them, yet. I haven't tried 33 in the last few days, I wonder if they're turning on yet. Despite their small size, it's always fun just ripping one after another out of the lake faster than you can bait up.

Took some castable sonar readings today. Water temps are around 50F all over, the tiny ponds a little higher. Some of those ponds are a lot deeper than I expected... Fire Lake has a 14.5 foot spot.