New Member From Washington State

[Bushmanj85]

Hi Everyone, I have been looking for a fishing forum in Kansas and finally stumbuled across this one

My name is Jason, and I am planning to move to south east kansas in the next month or so as my spouse is attending nursing school in parsons kansas. Im a big time salmon/steelhead angler and I am sure as hell going to miss my salt water fishing, but I am excited to make the move to Kansas, however the past few times i visited, i couldnt really find any rivers to fish.

I was hoping to connect with a few members and learn how to fish kansas. from what i seeing it seems like a lot of people fish catfish, but is there any good river/fly fising for trout? river fishing for trout will be the closest thing to my knowedge of fishing for steelhead and i would love to get back into fly fishing in kansas.

Also bass fishing......havent done that in probably 15 years or longer, so im planning on buying all new gear, since im sure i would get laughed at if i showed up to a fishing hole with salmon gear haha.

anyways, any help would be amazing! Im excited to relocate and start a new chapter in life. The hunting also looks phenomenal!

[Wayne SW/MO]

Sounds like you will be a candidate for the striper/wiper fishing in Kansas. It probably won't be like steelhead, but close to bay and big river salmon, even salmon in the salt.

[mic]

Welcome to Kansas..... blizzards, tornadoes, and thunderstorms storms; it will be just like home. At least your in a good part of the state. I'm from the NE side. Hopefully you will be around the strip pit area. There is some great bass fishing there.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Welcome to Kansas..... blizzards, tornadoes, and thunderstorms storms; it will be just like home.

They also has Dorthy and Toto.

[Bushmanj85]

Sounds like you will be a candidate for the striper/wiper fishing in Kansas. It probably won't be like steelhead, but close to bay and big river salmon, even salmon in the salt.

That would be awesome if its comparable! So im moving to the Parsons/Coffeyville area. Does anyone know where I can get maps of where to go fish?

Welcome to Kansas..... blizzards, tornadoes, and thunderstorms storms; it will be just like home. At least your in a good part of the state. I'm from the NE side. Hopefully you will be around the strip pit area. There is some great bass fishing there.

sorry totall newbie, so what is the strip pit area?

They also has Dorthy and Toto.

i bought my spouse a pair or dorthy red slipper ear rings as a joke......now she wears them haha

[Quillback]

Welcome Bushman - I lived in North Bend for close to 20 years before moving here and I also miss the salmon and steelhead fishing, but I like the bass fishing down here. I can't help you out with any Kansas fishing advice, but if you're ever down here in NW Arkansas give me a holler and maybe we can get out and fish for some of the bass around here.

[mic]

The strip pit area is an area in SE Kansas where coal was found and mined on the surface. The strip pits filled in with water and are stocked. Some pits are better than others, but for the most part they are good fishing. I don't know the area very well, but I know they are around the Pittsburg Kansas area where my family is orginally from (in Kansas at least). Pits are great for small craft like two man boats, canoes, and kayaks.

[ness]

Welcome BushmanJ85,

These other guys have given you pretty good advice, but I'll try to add some.

An awful lot of the fishing in KS is in reservoirs. The streams are mostly mud-bottomed and warm water.

Mic mentioned 'strip pits'. Those are pretty unique and fun places to fish. Coal miners would start digging until they found coal, then dig in a line creating a 'strip'. Often they'd just stop and start another, or make a turn and continue on, depending of course on what they were finding. Some are shallow, some are deep -- each is different. There are lots of them around SE KS and SW MO. Just looked and there's a "Mined Land Wild Life Area" just east of you and "Strip Pits State Wildlife Area" NE too.

I love to fly fish for trout, and do it in the cold water streams of the Ozarks in MO. For me, those are 3-1/2 to 5 hour drives so it doesn't happen often enough. There is some trout fishing down in OK, but I don't know much about it.

Our fearless leader, Phil Lilley, was born and raised in Parsons. He could probably add to this if he notices the thread. He owns a resort on Lake Taneycomo (a tailwater fishery) near Branson, MO that has large rainbow and brown trout swimming in it.

Do you do any hunting? KS has a Walk-In Hunting program where farmers grant permission for people to hunt their land in return for a payment from the state. It opens up hundreds of thousands of acres to you. Lots of duck hunting northeast of you. SE KS used to be a quail hunting mecca, but the last couple decades it has declined significantly. There are quail around the state though, and of course KS is known as a premier pheasant hunting spot.

Anyhoo -- good luck. You've found a great resource here.

[Bushmanj85]

The strip pit area is an area in SE Kansas where coal was found and mined on the surface. The strip pits filled in with water and are stocked. Some pits are better than others, but for the most part they are good fishing. I don't know the area very well, but I know they are around the Pittsburg Kansas area where my family is orginally from (in Kansas at least). Pits are great for small craft like two man boats, canoes, and kayaks.

Thats awesome! My spouse apparently has more family in Pittsburg so I will deffintly check out those areas. Im kind of intrigued and want to learn about the coal mining now that you mention it. Seems something worth reading up on

Welcome Bushman - I lived in North Bend for close to 20 years before moving here and I also miss the salmon and steelhead fishing, but I like the bass fishing down here. I can't help you out with any Kansas fishing advice, but if you're ever down here in NW Arkansas give me a holler and maybe we can get out and fish for some of the bass around here.

sounds great! i bet you miss the Tripple X drive in. Totally had one of thier root beer floats on monday night , but I will keep you in mind, as im also looking for jobs in Tulsa.

Welcome BushmanJ85,

These other guys have given you pretty good advice, but I'll try to add some.

An awful lot of the fishing in KS is in reservoirs. The streams are mostly mud-bottomed and warm water.

Mic mentioned 'strip pits'. Those are pretty unique and fun places to fish. Coal miners would start digging until they found coal, then dig in a line creating a 'strip'. Often they'd just stop and start another, or make a turn and continue on, depending of course on what they were finding. Some are shallow, some are deep -- each is different. There are lots of them around SE KS and SW MO. Just looked and there's a "Mined Land Wild Life Area" just east of you and "Strip Pits State Wildlife Area" NE too.

I love to fly fish for trout, and do it in the cold water streams of the Ozarks in MO. For me, those are 3-1/2 to 5 hour drives so it doesn't happen often enough. There is some trout fishing down in OK, but I don't know much about it.

Our fearless leader, Phil Lilley, was born and raised in Parsons. He could probably add to this if he notices the thread. He owns a resort on Lake Taneycomo (a tailwater fishery) near Branson, MO that has large rainbow and brown trout swimming in it.

Do you do any hunting? KS has a Walk-In Hunting program where farmers grant permission for people to hunt their land in return for a payment from the state. It opens up hundreds of thousands of acres to you. Lots of duck hunting northeast of you. SE KS used to be a quail hunting mecca, but the last couple decades it has declined significantly. There are quail around the state though, and of course KS is known as a premier pheasant hunting spot.

Anyhoo -- good luck. You've found a great resource here.

wow 3.5 to 5 hour drives......dang, but i guess i drive 3 hours some days out to our costal rivers up in forks (yes the place where that crappy vampire film was based out of) they have amazing steelhead waters, but it would be a good weekend trip to drive that far and sleep in the truck.

I do enjoy hunting. My spouses mom just re-married and her new husband does soybean farming, he has tons of plots of lands, and i think is the largerst soy bean farmer in thayer kansas. They told me to come hunting out there, so I am really excited for that. I did try cat fishing in some of the small ponds they have throughout thier land, and it was ok....ended up catching nothing but snapping turtles and no catfish.

anyways, i really appreciate all the advice on here. Ill make sure to make this website one of my "go to" sites now

[Quillback]

Tulsa - Not a bad place to live for a fisherman, quite a few reservoirs within an hour or two. Stripers in the Arkansas river also.