Without an ounce of exaggeration, there is not another place in the Kansas City area like Hartell. There are A LOT of things that make this Conservation Area unique. For one, it is a catch and release area which means there is at least the prospect for big fish. Second, the area only allows flies and artificial lures to be used in the five public fishing lakes so that means no bait fishing which means lower mortality rate for the fish. Third, each lake is managed as a trophy fishery for a specific type of species such as bass and bluegill. Finally, there is a free row boat at each lake that is available to the public on a first come, first serve basis. I usually bring a trolling motor and battery because rowing a boat is for suckers. This place is a fly fisherman's paradise and it is easy to see that this place was set up by fishermen and for fishermen and is a little slice of heaven that not many people know about.
http://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places/hartell-ronald-and-maude-ca
http://mdc7.mdc.mo.gov/applications/moatlas/AreaSummaryPage.aspx?txtAreaID=200001
Location
Here's a quick rundown that I borrowed from one of the websites listed above.
Picnic Lake- Quality Largemouth Bass
Sunfish Lake- Not open to the public. Educational use and special permit use only.
Redear Lake- Quality Panfish
Quiet Lake- No information available.
Lunker Lake- Recent fish kill- population low.
Quarry Lake- Quality Panfish
Spots to try and flies/lures to use
Up until now, I have painted a picture of a fishermen's paradise and you might be ready to load up the car and head there right now and don't let me stop you. This place is beautiful and has all of the makings to live up to the high expectations that have been created by the management and regulations. However, I would be remiss if I didn't include my own personal experiences at this time.
I used to live about 10 minutes from this area. I have fished Hartell probably 10 times because of the special regulations with the hopes for landing a trophy size fish. Now keep in mind that is a pretty small sample size and I had only been fly fishing for about 5 years and fished the lakes in the middle of summer on each occasion. With that being said, my high expectations were never met and each time the fishing proved to be difficult and challenging. That is not to call it bad, but I never landed a "trophy" bass or bluegill. Like I said, I was inexperienced and fishing during times that were slow. The best day I ever had came on Picnic Lake where I landed about a dozen fish with the biggest being a 2 pound channel catfish. With all of that being said, PLEASE do not let my experiences deter you from visiting this beautiful and unique area. I haven't fished there in years and have no idea what the fishing is like at this time. I will say that most of my fishing was done with wooly buggers and John Deeres under floats and these came with mixed results. The manager of the area has said to me and others on many occasions that he suggests going small on lures and flies because the fish get a lot of pressure and he believes they respond better to smaller baits.
I hope you get a chance to visit Hartell sometime and I hope the fishing is outstanding but regardless, I think you will be impressed by its beauty no matter what. As always, if you go and end up with a good catch or interesting story, don't hesitate to email me at showmeflyguy@gmail.com .
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