Duck Creek Conservation Area

Every year, I look forward to the Fishing Prospects publication released by the Missouri Department of Conservation. I usually read through the description of every lake or river within a few hours of home, and dream of visiting all of them in the coming year. Of course I never get out fishing as much as I plan to or would like, but there are always a few that tempt me more than others. One such place that has always intrigued me is Duck Creek Conservation Area near Puxico.

Duck Creek CA is over 6,000 acres in size and consists of a mix of bottomland hardwood forest, marshes, and waterways. The main water feature is 1,800 acre Pool 1, a man made reservoir created to help regulate the water flow for managing waterfowl habitat on the remainder of the conservation area. The lake is very shallow, I believe no deeper than 7′ and maintains a fairly consistent depth between 5′ and 7′. The lake is also full of vegetation, making navigation difficult during much of the season. Therefore, I figured I would go visit the lake in early spring before the vegetation takes off and try my hand at catching some of the many Chain Pickerel in the lake.

Billy and I set out early on this Sunday, and arrived at Duck Creek right at daybreak. As we pulled up to the lake, we were both a little intimidated by the sheer size of the unfamiliar water. Our plan was to kayak through the flooded timber with hopes of catching Chain Pickerel as well as some of the large crappie reported by the Missouri Department of Conservation. After surveying the lake from the road that runs along side over half of the shoreline, we settled on one of the several boat ramps to launch our kayaks. The temperatures were in the upper 30’s to lower 40’s, with only a light breeze. The lake, though very boxy and clearly man-made, was rather beautiful. Several Cypress trees grow through the middle of the lake, and one of them houses a large Bald Eagle nest. Several eagles were present today, as were many species of ducks in scattered flocks. There were also numerous cormorants roosting in the trees as well as fishing in groups.

The fishing started very slow for us, as really everything looked the same and it was difficult to even get a grasp on any one place to hone onto. We fished some apparently fairly new docks, as well as several small groves of flooded Cypress with nothing to show for it. The water is incredibly clear, and even on this cloudy day we could see for several feet under the water. There were 10-12 other boats on the lake, but they were as scattered as the timber and really none of them seemed to be fishing the same water. Finally after fishing for over 3 hours, we came upon a large area full of old lotus stems, remnants from last year’s plants. Casting a 1/16″ beetle spin through the old weed bed finally yielded the first fish of the day, a small but feisty Chain Pickerel.  A first for me in Missouri or anywhere for that matter.

Feeling energized having caught at least one of our targets for the day, we kept casting to the same general weedbed and managed to hook into 3 more pickerel in the next few minutes, each of these with better size and each provided some excitement as they jumped out of the water trying to spit the hooks. Here is Billy with his first fish of the day.

Things slowed down after we worked through that weedbed and fell back into flooded timber. I kept trying to locate crappie in the timber, while Billy just kept throwing everything he could think of at the same weed bed. We were running out of time for the day and knew we would not be able to find the next honey hole. The student has become the teacher, as his stategy worked and he hooked into a healthy Largemouth Bass. After posing for a few photos, it was released back into the clear water to fight another day

We worked our way back to the boat ramp without any more action, but certainly felt like we had a successful day even if we weren’t going to be having fish for dinner. We caught our fish on light line and small beetlespins and in-line spinners. The lake is worth a visit, and I actually can’t wait to return in early summer once there is some vegetation. The fishing prospects book insists that the lake is home to many large Bluegill, Redear Sunfish, and Warmouth, so might as well go after some of those fish while kayaking around the beautiful lake. Also look forward to seeing the lake on a sunny day to see really how far I can see through the clear water. For what it is worth, our little hotspot was near this tree marked as #8.

I also should mention that there are some primitive campsites located right by the lake. The area is managed primarily for waterfowl and therefore is closed to fishing and other recreational activities from October 15th until the end of duck season. For more information, check out:

https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places/duck-creek-ca

Feel free to tell us about your fishing experience at Duck Creek in the comments below.

Thanks,

PJ McCaslin

For the birders here, this is an absolute fantastic hot spot worth a look if in the area. We saw Bald Eagles, Turkey and Black Vultures, Ruddy Ducks, Ring-necked Ducks, Hooded Mergansers, Canada Geese, Ross Goose, Coots, Buffleheads, Wood Ducks, Mallards, Shovelers, Great Blue Herons, Tree Swallows, Cardinals, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Fish Crows, American Crows, Carolina Wrens, Double-crested cormorants, and Bluejays all without trying very hard. The variety of habitat on the area would provide a pretty good list on a day dedicated to bird watching.