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Four Lake
Guides - Mike Cook's
Fishing Report
Learn About Mike Cook's Four Lake Guides
Mike Cook - Four Lake Guides
May 26, 2008
- 5-19-08
Howdy folks. It's been awhile. Lot 's of stuff going on with
me right now that I won't get into just yet but I have been doing
an awful lot of fishing. I had a chance to enjoy a day on the
water with a family of boys from out west, mostly, and I would
like to share that.
Once a year these guys get out and fish together and I was the
lucky one this year to take them out. Two of them were not strangers
to me as I had fished with them once before. Merton and Miles
Veeder. Father and son. Both from Dodge City . On a previous
trip they caught back to back eight pound walleyes. Now how many
times do you think that happens? On this trip though they were
joined by Mert's other son Mace from Lawrence , Kansas and son
in-law Sean Powell from Lenexa , Kansas. The target species for
this day was channel cat.
Marion Reservoir was about a foot high and releasing 91 CFM.
The wind was from the north at 10-15 in the morning increasing
as noon approached and dropping as the 4 pm hour came.
We baited up our dip bait worms with Team Catfish Secret 7 dip
bait. If ya'll haven't heard of this yet let me tell you just
a little bit about it real quick. I've been using it since June
of last year and can't say enough good things about it. It's
real consistent in texture from one batch to the next. You don't
have to worry about thinning it down or thickening it up. Just
go fish. And boy does it catch fish.
My step on Chris Decker and I fished with it at a tournament
at Texoma last month and took 8th place out of 116 boats. And
1st and 2nd place were using the Secret 7 as well. A few weeks
back I had a group out at Cheney and one of them caught a channel
catfish that was at least 20 pounds. So the old saying that says
stink bait won't catch big fish is just that an old saying. I
can't count the fish over 10 pounds I've caught on dip bait.
Well back to the fishing trip.
Our first anchor position was on a little secondary point with
a little bit of brush on it. The wind was blowing in on it and
Mert was the first to bring a fish to the boat. Fact is smoked
those boys about all day long. Miles caught the next one and
then Mert caught his second which weighed in at 10 and half pounds.
Don't know how it disappeard of my camera. It was a dandy of
a fish.
We headed to a rock pile where I have been catching them pretty
good lately and man did they keep me busy huffing and puffing.
We stopped for lunch about noon and dressed the fish before heading
into Hillsboro for a bite to eat. 26 fish and 14 more would make
their limit. We decided to fish the upper end on the mud flats
and see if we could find some mere big ones. We didn't find one
to beat the 10 and a half but caught some really nice channels.
All on Team Catfish Secret 7.
It was another great day on the lake. Spent with great company
and a lot of ribbing and laughter. It's nice to see families
make a special effort to get together for an annual event. I'm
glad in this case I was able to share the experience.
Mike Cook - Four Lake Guides - fourlake@cox.net - 316-655-1541
January 1,
2008 - New Years
Day at Kaw reservoir. Wellllllllll, it started real good, once
I chiseled the ice from my drain hole for the boat and lubed
the steering shaft with w-d-40 cause the grease was so stiff.
The wind was
up too much for me to anchor at the first spot I wanted to fish.
Pulling those cold wet icy anchor ropes in was, well should have
hired a guide. The second spot I caught 6 nice crappie before
the wind blew me off the brush pile that was in 25 foot of water.
The third spot produced no fish. The fourth spot, despite the
cold water I decided to set out 3 anchors in hopes of holding
me over the brush pile without getting blown off. It worked but
I still had to contend with the boat moving a lot more than I
wanted it to and the crappie rods having an east west bend in
them like they had 8 ounce sinkers on them. I caught several
more nice crappie under these less than ideal conditions before
crying uncle.
Also in attendance
sailing the currents overhead at Sarge Creek were three mature
bald eagles that were beautiful to observe on the blustery day.
So all in all and to put it in a nutshell and all that. IT WAS
COLD AND WINDY! See ya soon.
Mike
November
25, 2007 - Despite
the lack of fishing reports and short stories it has been a great
year of fishing on the local reservoirs. That is if you throw
out the high waters that we had during summer. For now though
the channel cat is over for me unless I can get an ice out pattern
going. The flathead is over until we get some warmer water in
April. But there are always those big blues at Kaw which is what
I'll be doing and the jig fishing for let's just call them scaled
fish. Since you never know if it's going to be a crappie, wiper,
white bass or walleye that you are going to reel up at this time
of year while fishing a jig or spoon.
I'll try and
get more postings next year. It was a difficult year for me off
the water for many reasons. Hopefully those issues are left in
2007. 2008 is promising a brand new year with a lot more time
on my hands which means more time to spend on the water and at
this keyboard. So I'll see some of you on the water in December
and January and see you at the shows in February. By the way
, if you fished with me and liked my boat, it's for sale. I'll
be buying a Weld Pro.
See ya'll soon,
Mike Cook
October 16,
2007 - Fall Fishing - Summer fishing was trying at best for me. I just
couldn't pattern anything with all the high water. The last few
weeks has been back to the wonderful fishing that one expects
from south central Kansas.
The channel
cat has been fantastic. The crappie fair and improving. The wipers
good. But the walleye have still been pretty tough for me. Things
should continue to improve with the cooling weather. I'm still
seeing a lot of fishermen out there.
More than in
the past years, so word is getting out on fall fishing. It's
the best.
Talk to ya''l
soon.
Mike Cook
September
5, 2007 - Trip with winner of Zeiner's Bass Shop drawing - Do ya'll remember Ron Smyth? He
was the winner of the drawing for the fishing trip with me back
in the spring held at Zeiner's. Well we got our trip in on Sunday,
June 11th. Our day started about 6:30 am on Cheney Reservoir
for channel cats. Ron brought his good friend, John Soileaux
to join in on the fun. It was a beautifully cool Kansas summer
morning with mostly cloudy skies and a slight southeast wind.
But we knew the heat was coming and decided to start and finish
early.
Our first anchored
position was off of a bank where the waves were gently rolling
into several big cottonwood trees that had been blown over and
the branches were lying in about 2 foot of water. It was a great
looking spot with perfect conditions. Six lines in the water
and it wasn't long before a rod in front of me bounced once.
I took it out of the rod holder and the fish gave it a hard pull
before I could get it into John's hands so I set the hook and
handed it to him and the fight was on with the first fish of
the day. John clearly had the upper hand on this fish until it
neared the boat. The heavy, fast action rod took a serious bend
then as the 30 pound test line sang as it sliced through the
water. The fish obviously didn't like what was happening. It
stayed down the whole time, never once coming to the surface
until it was played out. The sign of a good size channel cat.
I slipped the net under the cat as it started its' last fight
signature channel cat spin on top of the water. A super nice
six pound channel cat to start the day.
Hoops and hollers
and out came the camera for some quick photos and just as quickly,
back to fishing. That was the only fish to come out of that spot
which was very surprising as good as it looked. The next spot
was a big goose egg. The rest of the day was a fish here 2 fish
there a fish here and so on. Except for one spot where a creek
channel dumped into the river. There in about 8 foot of water
we caught 6 or 7 fish real quick for the fastest action of the
day.
It was a great
morning of Kansas summertime channel cat fishing. But the Kansas
summertime heat forced us to call it an early day. 16 very nice
Cheney cats was the end tally. Everyone agreed, it was an excellent
day spent fishing and with great company. So Ron and John, thank
you both and I look forward to fishing with ya'll again real
soon.
Mike Cook
Four Lake Guides
October 5,
2006 - Fall Fishing - Mike Cook - Four Lake Guides - Fall fishing is back. For the past
6 weeks, limits of channels have come easy and big fish are showing
up more and more. I did have one slow trip to Kaw a couple of
weeks ago. Fish are shallow now and I can't stress that enough.
I caught a channel over ten pounds last week out of water less
than a foot. It mildly surprised even me. You have to remember
that shallow water heats and cools quicker than the main lake
water. I like the secondary points and the main lake points over
the coves this time of year. Especially right now with the lake
levels as low as they are now.
Yes, I'm still
using the Cattracker line of dip baits. Any bait will work though.
I've used shrimp, worms, grasshoppers and the list goes on and
on. The cheesebaits just seem to produce a lot faster than anything
else does. Think about this. A catfish is basically a big sensory
organ. And like it or not, their job is clean the bottom of the
lake. When you hit that fish with a big cloud of cheese smell
it can't help but react. Now not all fish are the same just as
not all people or dogs are the same. What I mean is that some
cats may have more of a taste for shad or white perch or this
or that. But I've caught 20 pound channels with their stomachs
packed with white perch and they still hit that little cheese
bait worm. I've caught 40 pound blues packed with shad and did
the same. Unless those fish are in a totally negative mood they
will react to the dipbait.
Well get out
there and enjoy some beautiful fall weather and chase some channel
cats. Remember to fish shallow and you will put more cats in
your boat right now.
July 3, 2006
- Cheney & Marion - Fishing
was fair to good over the July fourth weekend for channel cats.
Marion is still slow due to the lake turning over.
Mike Cook
  June
15, 2006 - Cheney - Mike Cook - Four Lake Guides - - Do ya'll remember Ron Smyth? He was the winner
of the drawing for the fishing trip with me back in the spring
held at Zeiner's. Well we got our trip in on Sunday, June 11th.
Our day started about 6:30 am on Cheney Reservoir for channel
cats. Ron brought his good friend, John Soileaux to join in on
the fun. It was a beautifully cool Kansas summer morning with
mostly cloudy skies and a slight southeast wind. But we knew
the heat was coming and decided to start and finish early.
Our first anchored
position was off of a bank where the waves were gently rolling
into several big cottonwood trees that had been blown over and
the branches were lying in about 2 foot of water. It was a great
looking spot with perfect conditions. Six lines in the water
and it wasn't long before a rod in front of me bounced once.
I took it out of the rod holder and the fish gave it a hard pull
before I could get it into John's hands so I set the hook and
handed it to him and the fight was on with the first fish of
the day. John clearly had the upper hand on this fish until it
neared the boat. The heavy, fast action rod took a serious bend
then as the 30 pound test line sang as it sliced through the
water. The fish obviously didn't like what was happening. It
stayed down the whole time, never once coming to the surface
until it was played out. The sign of a good size channel cat.
I slipped the net under the cat as it started its' last fight
signature channel cat spin on top of the water. A super nice
six pound channel cat to start the day.
Hoops and hollers
and out came the camera for some quick photos and just as quickly,
back to fishing. That was the only fish to come out of that spot
which was very surprising as good as it looked. The next spot
was a big goose egg. The rest of the day was a fish here 2 fish
there a fish here and so on. Except for one spot where a creek
channel dumped into the river. There in about 8 foot of water
we caught 6 or 7 fish real quick for the fastest action of the
day.
It was a great
morning of Kansas summertime channel cat fishing. But the Kansas
summertime heat forced us to call it an early day. 16 very nice
Cheney cats was the end tally. Everyone agreed, it was an excellent
day spent fishing and with great company. So Ron and John, thank
you both and I look forward to fishing with ya'll again real
soon.
Mike Cook
- Four Lake Guides
June 7, 2006
- Cheney - El Dorado - Marion - I need more hours in the day. I'm sure some of
ya'll know exactly what I mean. Anyway I'll get right to the
fishing. Walleye has been excellent at El Dorado this
past month. Boating 30-40 fish a day. Seem to have 4 different
year classes for the most part. Every once in a while we will
get that 30 inch fish but not often enough. 10 keeper fish a
day are common but you have to work for them. Flatheads are active
and moving around a bunch!
Cheney and
Marion are consistantly
allowing 40 fish days with fish ranging from littltle bitty to
14 pound monsters. No 20's this year yet. But still trying.
Well that is
it in a nut shell. Thanks to all of you who used me this year
and look forward to seeing some of you again real soon.
Mike Cook
 May 19, 2006 - Cheney - Mike
Cook - Four Lake Guides - Great fish, wish I had taken my sunglasses off.
Linh Lenszuk fought this big ol' girl to the boat on Mother's
day, May 14th ,06 while fishing with me and her husband Steve.
We quickly weighed her and released her back into Cheney.
February
27, 2006 - Kaw - Mike Cook - Four Lake Guides - Fishing February 25th at Kaw. Spent
the morning fishing for crappie because the wind was up to high
for me to fish for the big bad blues where I wanted to fish for
them. Did pretty good. I caught 25 crappie and 6 or 8 big white
bass. Kept a dozen of the bigger crappie for the tabble and a
couple of the smaller ones for bait for the blues which I started
fishing for them about 2 o'clock. Caught and released a half
dozen of them between 3 and 15 pounds. All in all a fun trip
although I should a fished longer for the blues.
Mike Cook
February
4, 2006 - El
Dorado and Marion - Mike Cook - Four Lake Guides - El Dorado and Marion have been
giving up some really nice crappie to me lately. Not so good
on the numbers, but 8 to 14 inch fish.I have had a couple of
fishless days over the past month, but that is fishing.And if
you are fishing Marion and can come across a bunch of shad, rig
up a sassy shad and hold on for some wipers. I've been catching
5 to 8 pound fish on 8 foot fly rods with 6 pound line. Talk
about fun.El Dorado is about a foot and half low and Marion is
around a foot low maybe. The water is in great shape and you
can't beat the weather. The wind has been a bit strong most times
but it usually is. Good luck.
Mike Cook
Four Lake Guides
October 31,
2005 - Fall
River - Fished Fall River Saturday. Had a cancellation due
to a customer being sick. Poor Clark sounded like death warmed
over on the phone. So what did I do on a day off? That's right.
I went fishing. Fished the river in the morning cause the wind
was blowing hard enough to straighten a 10 foot length of half
inch log chain. It was really cool though. The cool temperatures
lately and the wind blowing like it was, I've never seen leaves
fall like they did Saturday on the river at Fall River. I was
vertical jig fishing for crappie using 8 and 10 foot B&M
jig poles and every once in while a big leaf or twig would fall
and hit one of the poles and make it feel like a bite. I did
a whole lot of premature jerking. I did jerk up a half dozen
really nice crappie and I can't really say how many real small
ones. No white bass.
After eating
lunch at 2 in the afternoon, I braved the lake and wind and waves
and shallow water on the north end for cats. No luck on the flats
around the river. I tried the back of a few coves with the same
results. I finally found them on a wind blown point and man were
they big channel cats. Eight fish, 2 were 10 pounders. An 8,
a couple of 6's and nothing under 4 for the rest. I decided that
was enough fun for the day and started back towards Ladd Bridge,
because I had a long way to go through some shallow water and
it was getting dark fast. Going to Missouri next weekend to see
my Dad and Sister and her family. My Grandmother there is wanting
me to bring some fish to fry and my Sister , her family and Brother
and his family will meet there for a good ol' fashion family
fish fry. So no report next weekend. But I'll talk to you when
I get back.
Mike Cook
October 27, 2005 -
Marion -
Hi Mike
 Thanks
again for a great day on Marion. You sure know how to put us
onto the cats. And special thanks for giving my brother the best
day of fishing he's ever had.
Here are a few
photos of a happy man and his best catches of the day. For your
notes, he's Jan Groves, my younger brother and one of my favorite
people.
We were thinking
back on the day. The last stop, on the south shore cove, was
no more than half an hour. With 11 fish kept including all of
the largest of the day, and two released. It's as close to a
catfish feeding frenzy as we've ever seen.
it was a blast.
Take care and
thanks again.
Russell Groves
    October
24, 2005 - Marion
- Saturday fishing at Marion was very slow to get started.
We had four fish in the boat at 1:00 o'clock. Then the bite happened
or we found the fish or God only knows what happened. But Terry
and Bob limited out by 4:00 and that was good enough for them.
Water temp dropped to 58 degrees. I'll send pics on a seperate
e-mail. (Photographs from left Scott Bull, Bob Gutshenritter,
Jim Bull, Lynn Bull)
Mike Cook
October 18,
2005 - Cheney
-- Well the great fishing could'nt continue forever. Finally
had a real slow day. Four fish all day long. And it was a 12
year old birthday present. Bummer! Talked to a couple of Wiper
fishermen. Same story with them. A couple of small fish and that
was it. No wind. Need some wind for a chop on the water at Cheney
To get the fish active. But it was a beautiful fall day. A little
warm maybe. Well it will be better fishing this coming weekend.
Gotta think possitive.
Mike Cook
A note from
a happy customer that fished with me a couple of times at Marion.
Mike
HELLO MIKE
HAVE NOT HAD A CHANCE TO ORDER FROM CATTRACKER BUT I WILL
POP WANTS TO KNOW WHEN DO YOU START GOING OUT IN 06 I THINK HE
WANTS TO GO AT LEAST 4 TIMES A YEAR OR MORE .
YA MADE A BIG IMPRESSION ON POP AND HE CANT STOP TALKING ABOUT
THE FISHING TRIPS.I WAS IMPRESSED ALSO.WE TRIED SOME OF THE STINK
BAIT AT THE HERINGTON RESIVOIR BUT JUST CAUGHT SOME REAL SMALL
CATS THEY WERE ABOUT 6IN LONG BUT HIT THE BAIT LIKE CHARLIE TUNA.
WELL THANKS AGAIN
JOHN & POP
721 N.D. STREET
HERINGTON,KS 67449
October 13,
2005 - Marion
-- Sorry for the lateness in this report. Saturday, we hammered
them again at Marion. Using Cat Trackers Jo Jo's Poles Snatcher
Bait. Water temp had dropped to 64 degrees. Sunday was a tough
day. Caught a dozen. But all were really nice fish. Don't know
why things were so slow. Picked up a fish here and there, but
could not find that big school where we could bend one pole after
the other. Water temp Sunday at Cheney was 62 degrees.
Mike Cook
October 3,
2005 - Marion
- Saturday 10-1 was quite slow for jig fishing on crappie
and white bass in the river at Marion. Caught a few nice fish
though. Maybe it was the fronts coming through, but it sure was
slow. We switched to channel cat after lunch and had a grand
ol' time until the rain and lightning made us make a run to the
boat ramp. Lots and lots of shad. you all know what that means.
Oh boy , oh boy. Fall and winter fish should be fat and sassy.
Mike Cook
September
26, 2005 - Marion
- This was another great weekend of catfishing. Three of
us limited out on channels at Marion Reservoir on Saturday. Even
releasing a few smaller ones. No big fish. Two to six pounds.
All really nice healthy looking fish. Same story on Sunday. We
were through fishing by 2 oclock in the afternoon on both days.
I just love fall fishing.
Mike Cook
 
September 20, 2005 - Marion
Hi Mike
Thanks again
for a great day on Marion. You sure know how to put us onto the
cats. And special thanks for giving my brother the best day of
fishing he's ever had.
 Here are a few photos of a happy man and his best
catches of the day. For your notes, he's Jan Groves, my younger
brother and one of my favorite people.
 We were thinking back on the day. The last stop,
on the south shore cove, was no more than half an hour. With
11 fish kept including all of the largest of the day, and two
released. It's as close to a catfish feeding frenzy as we've
ever seen.
it was a blast.
Take care and
thanks again.
Russell Groves
1065 140th
Hillsboro, KS 67063
620-947-5664
rpgroves1954@yahoo.com
September
11, 2005 - Windy
Weather - Too windy to fish. Rescheduled my trips for October
dates. Don't want anyone
to die. Especially me.
Mike
July 16,
2005 - Cheney -
Ishika informed me on the phone that her husband Dan and herself
have been enjoying the great sport of fishing for about 3 years,
but with little success. I told her my customers were doing very
well this year and with the high water, I saw no reason for things
to be any different. We scheduled a date for later in the week
with high hopes of having a great trip for channel cats at Cheney
Reservoir.
On June 16th
we met at the east shore boat ramp in the late afternoon, due
to them not being able to get away from their busy business.
The water was up into the parking lot and I would guess it to
be 5 or 6 feet high. I told Dan that with the high water the
fish should be up in the grass feasting on worms.
Our first stop
way back in a cove didn't produce a bite. So after 15 minutes
of no action we reeled them in and headed to the north end where
the river dumps into the lake. We anchored just off of some willows
that were flooded and after 2 or 3 minutes, Ishika got one on
that took her into the trees. We reeled in once again and moved
into the trees to try and free the hung up fish. It didn't take
long and we had had our first fish in the boat. A nice 3 pounder
by my guess. We changed anchor positions after making all the
comotion freeing our first fish from the brush.
 We anchored about 100 feet from where we caught
the first fish and started baiting and casting our Wicked Sticky.
The third bait hit the water and Ishika screamed she had on another
one. The second bait got hammered. The rod was doubled over and
the water exploded 30 feet away from the boat at the edge of
the willows. Nice fish I told her. She pumped the fish in not
at all easy for that 30 feet. When it got to the boat, it broke
water and took out that 30 feet she had just fought so hard to
recover. When the fish finally came to net it was a monstrous
12 pound 34 inch beauty. After the congratulations I told her
we needed to release the fish. She asked if that was the law
and I told and explained that I release all my channels over
about 8 pounds because they are not that good to eat once they
grow that big and every one wants to catch a big fish and if
we take them home our chances of catching a big one gets slimmer
with each one we take home. And lastly, a big fish like that
makes lots of babies. She agreed and we quickly took some photos
and slid the big trophy back into the water to thrill someone
on another day.
 Our next few stops were fruitless. It was starting
to get dark and a storm was building way out to the west. So
with the wind picking up and lightning flashing in the far away
western sky we set up in the back of a cove with the waves rolling
in from the lake. It wasn't long and Ishika again pulled in the
first fish. I told Dan, It looks like she is going to be the
only one of us to catch any fish today. Then Dan's rod bent.
Then his other rod bent and I was busy unhooking fish and rebaiting
lines. Just the way I like it.
 As the fishing slowed down and with the storm getting
closer, we decided to call it a day. With a nice mess of channels,
we raced back to the boat ramp with lightning and rain closing
in on us fast. Bringing to an end of another great day of channel
cat fishing on Cheney Reservoir.
June 19,
2005 - Cheney and Marion
With all the
high water , fishing has been fabulas at Cheney and Marion
reservoirs for the past couple of weeks. Been to busy to write
about all of
them but I will get you one with photos real soon. Thanks
Mike
May 10, 2005
El Dorado
Walleye
Walleye fishing has been improving steadily for the past several
weeks as
the spawn is winding down. Numbers of fish should make most anyone
happy but you'll still have to catch quite a few fish before
you get you're legal
limit of 18" keepers. So take plenty of crawlers. We are
catching fish on
the post spawn sites now. Sites such as the flats, points, lower
sections of
the creeks and the river and still some around the dam.
Catfish
Catfishing is good and bad. I've had some great trips over the
past several
weeksd at Cheney, Marion and Kaw. But due to the weather patterns,
I've had some prewtty tough days too. Last week I found 70 degree
water on the upper end of Marion with spawning carp activity
and hungry channnel cats. With the cold nights this past week,
water temps are back down to the low 60s. Mothers day night thunder
storms and forecast highs in the 80s should
drastically improve the catfishing.
Cheney Hybrids
The Wiper fishing at Cheney is so good it is hard to put into
words, but
I'll try. We have been catching and releasing fish up to 27'
long with
girths about the same and these fish know how to use those inches.
First
catch you some white perch then use a 5/0 or 6/0 tru turn hook
and fish the
points or the upper end the lake and hold on. These fish are
real tackle
busters and light tackle is not the way to go.
So get out and
stretch a line and let us at the Kansas Angler know how you
do.
December 16, 2004 - El Dorado - Can't seem to get the
writing juices flowing. Sorry. I fishing E.D. thursday and couldn't
get the walleye to bite. The crappie were real slow also but
there was a great bite on big white bass. Look for them in 15-25
feet of water in the upper end of the lake. Slab spoon with a
jig tied a foot or so above it has been doing the trick for me.
Mike Cook
December
13, 2004 - El Dorado - The
fishing is really hot right now for big walleye. Lots of white
bass and the crappie fishing is starting to pick up.
January 29,
2003 - New regulations in place for Cheney Reservoier
I hope everyone caught Mr. Pierce's newspiece in the paper last
week. For
those of you who didn't here goes.I contacted Gordon Scheider,
the Reno
County fisheries bioligist for the Kansas Dept. of Wildlife and
Parks. He
happily informed me that the legislature acted promptly in passing
his
suggestions of the new regs. concerning walleye and wipers at
Cheney
reservoir. He is busy gathering up signs to be posted at Cheney
on these new regs. They will go into effect as soon as the signs
are posted, so ya'll payattention and look for them. Any way
the new regs will be like this. Two
walleye per person a day and they have to be 21 inches or longer.
Also two
wipers a day and they too must be 21 inches or longer. Let's
all support
these efforts cause if you don't we will continue to have to
deal with the
white perch problem. And you might find yourself in a world of
*&#%. I do
wish they would include stocking some blues with their plans
of battle
against the white perch. But these are probably purely selfish
reasons. If
anyone feels the same, take a minute and post it on this site.
For or
against. Thanks.
Mike Cook
Nov. 5, 2002 - Whew, what a summer. I guess
an update is long overdue. I haven't guided since back in June.
I have done some fishing here and there, but most of my time
and energy has been devoted to my fight with cancer for those
of you who didn't know. Chemotherapy followed by surgery a couple
of weeks ago and things are looking real good. I think I'll go
fishing tomorrow.
Thanks to all
for your prayers, cards, plants and well wishes. There were some
tough times and your thoughtfulness was appreciated more than
ya'll can know.
What I really
want to do is talk about fishing though, so let me jump right
in. We should have another 3-4 weeks of good channel cat fishing.
Marion and Cheney Reservoirs provided some outstanding channel
cat fishing this past year. I fished Marion right before I went
in for surgery. A wet cold front
was forcasts for that morning and they were right on the money.
The wind was howling from the north at 25-30 mph, so I stayed
on the some what protected flats on the upper end. I couldn't
escape the wind, but at least I didn't have to contend with big
waves. Fishing was as slow as the rise in
temperature. By noon, I had tangled with only three fish. It
was just one of
those tough days.
I was enjoying
myself though, just being out on the water. I had the whole
lake to myself and despite being tired and beat up by a wet and
windy mother nature I decided to hang around and see what the
afternoon had to offer. I did feel a break from the wind and
a little lunch would go a lond way. A trip up the river was easier
said than done though due to the low water
level and having to maake my way into the wind with the outboard
drastically
tilted up. With a little persistance and some careful navigating,
I was
finally able to make my way across the stump ridden shallow flats
and into
the murky, wind protected waters of the cottonwood river.
Things looked
better already. I waved at the only pair of anglers I saw all
day as I slowly idled by. I enjoyed watching hundreds of big
pelicans having
an easy time with the abundant shad as I continued up the river
for a couple
of miles. I finally beached the boat on the outside of a sharp
bend in the
river where the shad seemed to be thicker thean anyplace downriver.
I dipped a worm in my bucket of Cat Tracker and tossed it out
the back of the boat into 4 1/2 feet of water. I followed that
with a second and dug out the cold bisquets and gravy I brought
from the cafe that morning. I poured a cup of hot coffee and
wouldn't you know that first pole bounced.
I sat there
for the next several hours and caught and released channel cats
at about 1 evey 3-4 minutes. The bisquets and gravy was a little
slow in
getting down. But a hookset is more important than a cold 6 hour
old
breakfast. Even after 50 fish.
Mike Cook,
Four Lake Guides
June 12,
2002 - I was in
Zeiners yesterday afternnon picking up my replacement pair of
Solar Bat Sunglasses. The first pair blew off the dash of my
boat at Cheney. So if you hook um and bring them up, wear them
in good health, they are fine eyewear.
Anyway, Steve
and I decided to try for some walleye before the storms blew
in. Steve Ryan is the manager of Zeiners Bass Shop for those
of you who
don't know. Stop in and ask him about the details of the trip.
We had a lot
of fun. He'll be happy to bend your ear. But for now I'll cover
the
highlights.
We started fishing
about 7:30 and lightning ran us off at 9:30. In that
short time he caught his largest walleye ever. A fat 22"
fish. Way to go
Steve. We also caught and released 14 other nice walleye. All
but a few
keeper fish. He did keep his limit of 5 to take home to his Dad.
But who can
blame him.
We also caught
a number of white bass, White perch and drum. At one point
we had four walleye on at one time. That was pretty exciting!
Like I said
stop and and see him and he'll give you all the details.
I can't say
enough good things about this walleye fishery. And the channel
cat fishing is even better. So come on out to the lake and join
in the fun.
I'll see you there.
Mike Cook
Four Lake Guides
June 10,
2002 - June 7th
02 - Clark brought a friend Gary. The morning was pretty uneventful,
light south wind blowing only allowed us to put one keeper in
the live-well. But I explained that the afternoon had been producing
the better bite lately and we should do well after lunch.
 So with full bellies and a renewed
confidence we hit the water again and found hungry walleyes!
We had a lot of fun until we needed one more fish to fill our
limit. That last fish was a real bugger to get to the net. Click
photograph for larger image.
Twice , Clark
had a nice fish on, only to have them come loose before getting
them on to the boat. Then I set the hook on a heavy fish that
took some drag and came off. Finally, Gary showed us how it was
done by boating a nice 20 incher. A fine end to a fine day!
June 9th, 02
- This trip almost didn't happen. Kevin McDaniels should have
been at the hospital with the delivery of his first grandbaby!
But he braved the wrath of his wife and fishing partner Art Hartshorn
to try his hand at Cheney's walleye.
 Unlike the Friday before, This
Sunday found the wind howling and the skies overcast. I speculated
that this morning would likely be slow while the afternoon would
likely provide a better bite. The fish proved I didn't know what
I was talking about! The first drift gave up 4 fish over 20"!
Gotta love that wind! Click photograph for larger image.
About 9:00am
Kevin received a phone call informing him of the delivery of
a 8 1/2 POUND BABY BOY!!! CONGRATULATIONS GRANDPA!! At 9:30am
I dropped the 10th fish into the live-well and it was catch and
release for the rest of the day. but fishing was so good I had
to take 5 for myself. I'll say we caught & released 40-50
fish this day! I'm sure they will be back to ply the waters of
Cheney for some more hog eyes!
A little safety
note to pass along, When the wind is howling at 30mph plus,
USE CAUTION!. Some of the boats we saw Sunday should not have
been on the water. If you are like me and just have to fish,
go see the folk's at
Wichita Marine for a big Sea Ark boat that will handle mother
nature's
worse! Some of the smaller 12-16 foot boats we saw Sunday would
just
disappear behind waves from time to time.
A 20' Bayfisher
from Sea Ark will let you concentrate on fishing and not
worry as much about how big the waves are getting. Happy Fishing
to all of
you and bless the wind in Kansas. - Mike Cook, Four Lake Guides
June 4, 2002 I guided a couple of parties over
the weekend at Cheney. Our target species for both days was Walleye.
Saturday offered a nice 20 mph wind that allowed us to boat 4
nice keeper fish with a few shorts by 10:00am. The fish fell
to swimming jigs tipped with half a crawler. We switched to trolling
tactics till noon hoping to get away from the white perch but
didn't produce any more fish.
After taking
a break for lunch, we returned to drifting jigs and crawlers
and found a great afternoon big fish bite. We easily filled our
limit. Then
caught and released a few more before giving in from being beat
by the wind and waves.
Sunday found
us arriving at Cheney to white caps rolling across the lake.
The south wind was blowing 20-30 mph with higher gusts. But that's
just what big walleyes like. My guests this day was a father
and son team of avid
anglers with a lot of experience on a multitude of different
species. Steve
and Seth Woolson, both of Wichita, were excited about trying
for Cheney
Walleye. Clark fished with me the day before by the way.
Of course, I
informed them about the excellent bite that was occurring. So
it was show time. Our first three drifts across the point only
produced a
few white perch bites. These fish have a jack hammer type bite
which is far
different from the way a walleye sucks in a jig and crawler.
I explained how
to point the rod tip at the fish, giving it a couple of feet
of line. As the
line tightens and you feel the weight of the fish, then set the
hook. They
got it real quick and we enjoyed a fine morning of catching big
walleye.
After lunch
and a rough ride back across the lake, we picked up where we
left off. I can't believe Seth didn't lose his lunch. He ate
a double
cheeseburger from Creations. Those are huge burgers if you haven't
ate
there. He's the man! Anyway, you know you have a great fishery
when you are catching and releasing fat 24 inch walleye. And
thats what we did. Late in the afternoon we finally succumbed
to the wind, waves, sun and arm fatigue from battling hog walleyes
on fly tackle. One last wet ride across the now 4 footers and
it was the perfect end to a perfect day spent with great people.
Thanks guys.
I had as much fun as ya'll did.
If you would
like some of these swimming jigs or the fly rods, see Steve
at Zeiner's Bass Shop. He knows what I use and the advantages
this tackle
offers. Good fishing to all of you and I'll see you at the lake.
Mike Cook
Four Lake Guides
June 1, 2002
Hi Folks,
Sorry it has been so long! I've been busy with a lot of FISHING.So
many fish
so little time! Just wrapped up a fun shoot for Cabela's. Cat
fishing with
the PRO'S,a how to video to be released this fall. We were using
WICKED
STICKY by Cat Tracker. It's a bait they have been developing
over the past
year and I have had the privilege of using during that time.
Well It's available
to the public now and you got to try this one! I can't
say enough about this bait! See for yourself on the video, but
don't wait
till then to try it! It has out-produced everything I've fished
side by side
with it. The fish hit hard and run!
It works great
at all the lakes I fish and a couple county lakes I've tried
it at. It was really hard fishing with this bait over the past
year and not
being able to talk about it. But Zeiner's Bass Shop has it in
stock now, so
stop by and pick up a case before it is all gone.
This has been
a great year of fishing so far. The winter crappie fishing was
excellent and has continued thru the spawn which is going on
now. The cat
fishing is always great and the walleye hasn't held up to last
years
fishing but Cheney is still probably the best in the state
So if you've
been out this year, Hope you have done well. If you haven't,
you are missing out on a very good year of FISHING.
P.S e-mail address change to fourlake@cox.net
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