Greg, Jeff and Scott: Marion Kansas - 4/11

I went to visit my brother in Kansas. He has recently moved to the small town of Hillsboro in north central Kansas. We tried a lake that was new to us called Marion Reservoir. On Saturday, we had great success with bottom bouncers, chartreuse spinners, and a half of a night crawler. We caught 15 wipers (white bass/striped bass hybrids), 2 small walleyes, several white bass, and a drum (sheephead). The wipers averaged 3.5 to 5 pounds. They are hard pulling fish that make strong runs similar to a steelhead without the jumping. I caught a wiper on a blade bait, and as we brought it to the net, it broke the split ring holding the treble hook to the bait.

The walleyes we caught were 12 inches long and fat compared to fish of similar length in Washington. My brother is a fish biologist and claims that the walleyes in Kansas are 12 inches on their first birthday, 16 inches on their second birthday, 19 inches on their 3rd, 22 inches on their 4th. Nearly all Kansas walleyes are dead by age 6. Marion Reservoir has the only self sustaining walleye population in Kansas. All other Kansas lakes rely on stoking to supplement the walleye population.

Click on the picture below to see a few of the fish we caught.

Click of the map below to see where Marion Reservoir in Kansas is located.