04-17-2005, 04:10 PM
I made a visit to Lake Stella (out by Hutchinson) for the first time yesterday while it was raining here in the south. Nice lake. Didn't get any pictures taken but then again, the size of the fish wasn't really worth it. My guide put me on a large flat with a creek running from there into the lake on the other side of the road.
While slowly heading toward the chosen spot, you could look down into the water and see the bottom which was 3-4 feet throughout the area. Saw a few good sized largemouth bass and a couple hammerhandles (Northern Pike) while weaving our way through the bulrushes to the end of the flat.
My guide uses waxies as his primary bait for panfish. I guess he should since he raises and sells them to support his outdoorsman addiction. I started with the waxies and was catching nothing more than 4 inches long. So I gave up on the waxies and threw in just my jig which has a fish shaped head on it. Those little guys didn't care if there was bait or not. If it was there, they attacked it. Caught several without bait.
Then I put on a Berkeley PowerNymph, orange/red in color with glitter. The little guys were attacking it but they weren't getting hooked. Suddenly I was catching perch. Nothing worth keeping but did get a good 8 incher in the boat. Eventually I started hooking into the larger sunnies. Just large enough to keep. I'm talking 7-8 inches. Worthy of someone's frying pan. Then the thunder started. Time to leave the lake. Go figure, just when I find the larger fish.
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While slowly heading toward the chosen spot, you could look down into the water and see the bottom which was 3-4 feet throughout the area. Saw a few good sized largemouth bass and a couple hammerhandles (Northern Pike) while weaving our way through the bulrushes to the end of the flat.
My guide uses waxies as his primary bait for panfish. I guess he should since he raises and sells them to support his outdoorsman addiction. I started with the waxies and was catching nothing more than 4 inches long. So I gave up on the waxies and threw in just my jig which has a fish shaped head on it. Those little guys didn't care if there was bait or not. If it was there, they attacked it. Caught several without bait.
Then I put on a Berkeley PowerNymph, orange/red in color with glitter. The little guys were attacking it but they weren't getting hooked. Suddenly I was catching perch. Nothing worth keeping but did get a good 8 incher in the boat. Eventually I started hooking into the larger sunnies. Just large enough to keep. I'm talking 7-8 inches. Worthy of someone's frying pan. Then the thunder started. Time to leave the lake. Go figure, just when I find the larger fish.
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