The month of April should keep you outdoors

It's no wonder that April is the favorite month of many outdoorsmen. This week, anglers were catching limits of white bass and crappie as well as some good strings of black bass. The annual youth turkey hunt the past weekend was a success and the mushroom hunters are starting to find their favorite fungi.

Case in point, Kent Marshall, Springfield, took the entire week off work so he could enjoy what April has to offer and was handsomely rewarded.

The week started off with Marshall taking his grandson for his first turkey hunt. Minutes into the season a big tom gobbled within 40 yards of where the hunters had set up. A soft hen call caused the big gobbler to approach withing 20 yards when a shot from the youngster's 20 gauge ended the season for an excited 11-year-old.

After the excitement of his grandson bagging his first tom, Marshall set out on Table Rock in search of crappie. Although the lake is low, a favorite cove still had enough water to cover a brush pile where Marshall had caught lots of crappie in the past. After hooking up his trolling motor, he moved into the back of the cove and on his first cast with a smoke color Swimming Minnow, an 11 inch crappie hit the lure and in less than an hour the angler had a limit of 15 nice crappie. To make the day even better, Marshall spotted a feeding school of white bass on his way back to the dock. He grabbed a rod with a spoon on the business end of the line and proceeded to catch five whites before they disappeared. "What a way to start off the week," he said.

Before the week was half over, Marshall also found 38 morel mushrooms, caught more crappie and found more white bass. For sure April is this anglers favorite month.

In lakes across the state crappie and white bass are hitting as this weeks fishing report shows. The white bass run that started early, is going full blast and crappie are moving closer to the banks as their spawning run gets under way.

Fishing for crappie this week at Truman, James Davis, Sedalia, walked the shoreline using a crappie slider in just a few feet from the bank and caught a limit of crappie. "When the fishing is this good, it's the time you would like to see the limit 50 fish," he said.

In other big impoundments crappie fishermen are finding the fish in four to ten feet deep. Davis went on to say, "The good fishing for crappie should last a couple weeks. I remember last year the fishing was tough, but its starting out great this season."

The weekly fishing report also showed anglers are finding bass, walleye and catfish are hitting and float fishermen are catching some smallmouth bass while they enjoy the beauty of spring while floating down a stream.

Even farm pond anglers are having success catching bluegill, bass, catfish and crappie. Fishing in a low Vernon County farm pond, Dave Hodges, Harrisonville, caught his largest bass ever. The lunker hit a plastic work and when Hodges had the big bass weighed, it tipped the scales at just over eight pounds. "This fish is going on the wall," he said. "After more than 20 years of fishing, I doubt if I will ever catch a bigger one."

With all the good fishing, morel hunting, flowers and trees blooming and turkey season yet to open, It's no wonder that April is the favorite month of outdoor minded people.