I was fortunate to receive the invitation to fish the Lakewood Lakes earlier this week. Lakewood is a private lake, but there are quite a few Lee’s Summit Area Fishing members that live there or have the opportunity to fish it with family and friends.
Our trip was on a pontoon boat, which is what we saw a majority of on the water. No electronics were used, just good old fishing experience. I assume the water temp was in the upper 70s/low 80s like most area lakes nearby.
The clarity was very good. Visibility was at least 3-5 feet in most places. Banks were mostly rocky and ranged from gradual to sudden drop offs. There was no grass really to speak of. Interestingly, I learned there are Kentucky bass in the lake, which don’t grow as big as largemouth, but fight very hard.
During our trip, I had an encounter with the largest Kentucky I’ve ever seen as it came up from the deep chasing a bluegill I had hooked. Sadly, he lost interest.
We all started off throwing crawdad, ned rig, jig and pig, and other finesse style baits. The other two guys in the boat with me were using garlic spray on their baits. I was not. This would prove to be a major difference maker.
They were getting bit fairly consistently and catching nice fish from the time we started while I struggled to get a fish in the boat from lack of bites. There wasn’t any reason the fish shouldn’t be hitting my baits because I was throwing basically the same thing.
The only difference was the garlic scent.
My fishing partners kept encouraging me to try it, but I just couldn’t believe that would really make an impact. I had never used it before, and always thought it was a bit gimmicky. Finally, at about 8:15pm, I still hadn’t caught any bass, so I decided to give it a try.
The results were instant! Within the first few casts, I had two keeper-sized bass in the boat. It was that instant! Another 45 minutes of a ton of action had me convinced the garlic scent really was the difference maker.
The fish not only were hitting more, but they were also hitting significantly harder. The bite did seem to get a little better from 8:30-9:15pm in general as well.
There wasn’t a super defined pattern on where the fish were at in the lake. We caught them along the main lake, steep bluff banks, and inside of coves.
Overall, It was an absolute blast the whole night. The lake is very nice and everyone is extremely friendly. If you get a chance to fish Lakewood with family or friends, I highly recommend it.
And don’t forget the garlic scent!
If you are on Facebook, be sure to join the Lee’s Summit Area Fishing group for daily fishing and community updates around Lee’s Summit, MO. Don’t forget to subscribe to our website for other great info!
Lee’s Summit Area Fishing stickers are also available so check them out!
