The white bass are another draw at Smithville, and the action can be fast and furious. “During the daytime, white bass can be caught on the main lake points, humps and old pond dams,” said Allman. “Schooling fish may be on the surface chasing shad in the morning and in the late afternoon, but some of the best catches are made when the fish are located in deep water.”

Smithville’s whites -- which average 12 to 13 inches -- don’t move around much, said Allman, and if you can find them, you can take one on nearly every cast for an hour or so. Troll Rat-L-Traps or Cicadas until you find a school, and then use jigging spoons to put a lot of them on the stringer.

The daily bag limit on white bass is 15; no more than four over 18 inches may be kept.

Boasting 175 miles of shoreline and lots of public access, 7,190-acre Smithville sprawls through Clinton and Clay counties. Ramps are available off 240th, W Road and Little Platte, Camp Branch and Crow’s Creek parks.

Additional information is available from the MDC’s Kansas City Region, (816) 792-8662.

HUNNEWELL LAKE
“Hunnewell Lake is one of our better catfishing lakes in the Northeast Region,” said fisheries management biologist Chris Williamson. “Hunnewell receives annual stockings of both channel and blue catfish. The blues grow to some nice sizes in this lake and several fish over 50 pounds are taken every year.”

One reason that the blues tip the scales as much as they do is the presence in the lake of Asian clams, said Williamson. Local anglers aren’t complaining.

The panfish bite is also good. Redears, bluegills and crappie all run large, and fishing for them can be fast and furious. The lake is well known for its redear sunfish and bluegills, noted Williamson. A 10-inch redear may not even turn another angler’s head. Bluegills and crappies up to 9 inches aren’t uncommon.

“Hunnewell is one of the better bluegill lakes around the area,” said Vince Smith of Nemo Bait Inc. in Perry. “There’s a lot of larger fish, which may be due in part to the fact you have to rent a park boat and can’t use your own.”

Most of the catfish and panfishing is in the north end of the lake. A lot of anglers never get on the water and do well right off the bank.

Brushpiles have been added near the covered dock to attract the panfish. Fish attractors have been scattered around the lake.

Part of the Hunnewell Conservation Area, the lake covers 220 acres in Shelby County. Special regulations are in effect: Only rod-and-line fishing is allowed, and anglers are required to maintain their own stringers. The daily bag limit is four catfish with an eight-fish possession limit; the daily limit on crappie is 30, with 60 in possession.

Owing to concerns about the zebra mussel invasion, private boats have been banned from the lake. Boat rentals are available.

For more information, contact the Northeast Region in Hannibal, (573) 248-2530, or Nemo Bait, (573) 565-3271.

PERRY COUNTY LAKE
“All of our public lakes are stocked annually with channel catfish,” said Mark Haas, fisheries biologist with the Southeast Region, “so a good catfish bite at night in August is possible anywhere. I’d recommend Perry County Lake near Perryville. The lake has a good population of largemouth bass for a backup bite. A third of the bass are greater than 15 inches, which is very good.”

The lake’s aeration system helps keep the lake well oxygenated, making the bass are a little more active than they’d otherwise be in the middle of summer.