Wallace State Park

Last Monday I got to hit the water with my long-time friend Jim and fish some water that I've never hit up before.  The location was Lake Allaman at Wallace State Park near Cameron, Missouri.  First off, this place is BEAUTIFUL!  It's located about two miles off of Interstate 35 and easy to get to.  Second, this place is pretty small.  The park isn't very big and the lake itself is somewhere between five and six acres.  However, it just looks fishy and my hope was that maybe it was some sort of under appreciated fishery.  That ended up being somewhat true!

We hit the water a little later in the morning that the conditions were not ideal.  The clouds were gone and it had rained earlier that morning.  The sky was blue, the sun was out, and temperatures were rising.  However, we still saw fish working in the middle of the lake and in the vegetation near the shore.  My hope was to coax some (hopefully big) bass or (maybe monster) bluegill out of the cabbage.  I didn't know if those things were there but the optimism (and a little intimidation) you feel on a new body of water can only be compared to the feeling you get when you are on the road traveling to said location.

To make a long story short, things were slow!  I only caught a six inch bluegill and a small green sunfish.  I missed quite a few other fish but they were sips and spits that you would expect from smaller fish so I wasn't exactly heart broken.  We were about to call it quits.  Jim reminded me a little later that my exact words were "Shut 'er down boys and let's get out of here."  But that reminder came after the unexpected took place.

I decided to give it a couple more casts before taking the boat out.  I was still shocked that I wasn't getting more hits by dragging my wooly in front of the vegetation.  Then, out of nowhere, I felt a solid thud!  At first, I thought I was snagged on a log but then the "log" started to swim across the lake.  I quickly realized that I finally had a decent fish on the line as my 6 weight goose-necked.  The fish spun my boat around and then pulled us across the lake.  I thought that it might have been a really nice bass but then when it didn't come to the surface and seemed to hug the bottom instead, I knew what I had on the line.  The undeniable sight of a forked tail confirmed what I thought I had hooked.  After about five minutes of me hoping that the fish wouldn't come unhooked, I finally got the 2-3 pound channel cat up to the surface.  It wasn't a monster but holy cow was it fun to hook, fight, and finally land.  The fact that it came on a new body of water, especially one that I thought had some promise, was rewarding.  Couple that with the fact that a technique that I had so much faith in finally paid off in the end and well, those are the ingredients of a good fish story in my opinion.

Thanks Jimbo for running the boat, snapping some pictures, and all of the words of encouragement buddy.  That's why you're my brother and a few of the reasons we are lifelong friends.  And thank you Lake Allaman at Wallace State Park.  Just as that catfish was returned to the water to fight another day, so will I!