Shore-birds catch lunkers, too

Have you watched televised fishing shows lately? Most would have you believe that you can only catch fish with a $25,000 fishing boat.

Don't sell the cane pole at a garage sale just yet. Bank fishermen can and will experience success like boat anglers, but with a slightly different approach.

We are at or near some of the best bank fishing of the year. On many south Missouri streams, walleye, white bass and crappie are ready to make their runs upstream and fishing from the shore is the best way to catch them in many places.

Not only are the streams good for fishing from the bank, but the hundreds of farm ponds across the area can produce excellent fishing for bass, catfish and panfish as well.

Some of my best catches have come from the bank, including a 10-pound walleye, several 3-pound white bass, an 11-pound largemouth bass and several 2-pound crappie.

Jim Keyser, Springfield, spends a lot more time fishing from the bank than he does in a boat. He said, "Fishing from the bank has many advantages, including the fact that your bank account won't suffer when contemplating the purchase of a new boat."

Keyser offered some tips for the bank angler.

Fish the bank habitat fairly early in the morning and late in the afternoon for best results. There are times later in the season when many game fish will be feeding on insects and will be active at midday, so act accordingly.

Get permission to fish private property, look for natural habitat like overhanging branches, fallen trees, submerged timber and flooded brush. Check out man-made structures that provide good fish habitat, including docks and spillways. Rig your equipment to match the species of fish you are after.

Keyser started fishing from the shore as a 7-year-old and still finds it is the best way to bring home fish.

He said, "My first fish was a big bluegill from a creek near home. That got me started. Now, 63 years later, I still catch a lot of fish from the bank.

"Never did own a boat and I guess I never will. I get a kick out of those TV fishing shows when every fish the host catches is 'a nice one.'"

Last year, Keyser fished with a friend below the dam at Truman Lake and said, "It was like opening day at Bennett Spring. There were fishermen standing shoulder to shoulder and nearly everyone was catching fish.

"One angler from nearby Warsaw had a mixed string of fish from walleye to white bass. He told me that if I come back and don't see a lot of cars in the parking lot, I might as well keep going, but if the lot was full, I had better get ready to catch fish. He said the spring fishing from the bank is as good as it gets."

Even on the big impoundments across the state, shoreline anglers can catch their share of fish, especially in the spring.

Tom Davis, Joplin, said, "You need to scout the shoreline for clues to the location of shoreline fish. Everything from natural vegetation to man-made structures can attract fish, so look for them when fishing from the bank.

"I catch my share of crappie, white bass, catfish and bluegill on the big lakes and I never use a boat. The secret is to know where and how to fish from the bank."

Another good place to catch fish without using a boat is off of boat docks. Recently, I fished off of a dock on a lake and pulled in some nice sized crappie and the first bluegill of the season. Bill Franklin, Bolivar, was also fishing off the dock and in 2 hours of fishing, he had 15 big crappie and a dozen or more nice bluegill in his bucket and had released others, including some small bass.

Gary Martin, Joplin, walked the bank along the Marmaton River northeast of Nevada and had his best fish-catching days of the year last year.

He said. "I ran into some white bass and crappie and caught a limit of both species, including several 3-pound whites. I had 30 crappie, plus the limit of whites and it was all I could carry back to my truck."

I remember when Harry Martin, Jefferson City, a 76 year-old angler, had a hard time fishing from a boat, so he had a dock built on a small lake where he catches crappie, bluegill, bass, carp and catfish.

"I wasn't about to quit fishing, so I built a place I could fish any time I wanted to. It has worked out great. I catch as many fish as my son-in-law does in his $20,000 bass boat," he said.

From fishing for trout at one of the four state trout parks to catching spawning crappie near the shore, bank anglers can and will experience success.