Lake Elkhorn

[bassguy84]

Took the little guy out 1-1 for his first kayak outing. We drove out to centennial in Columbia but the boat ramp was closed. Super bummed because I know I can get him on fish there. We decided to go to Elkhorn. I have never been there before so it was a learning experience. There was a boat on the water when we got there tearing up the hydrilla. The launch is a little different it's a wooden deck kinda thing. It is a little slippery so be careful. We put in and headed away from the dam. I turned on the Garmin and the deepest we got was 10ft with the hydrilla coming all the way up to about 3 ft or started matting on top. I'm typically not for getting rid of hydrilla but it was choking the lake up. Sadly the wind picked up a little and my little guy was struggling a bit with getting good boat position. We casted at the shore with weightless worms. We both got small taps but most likely were really small bass or bluegill nipping at the tail. Despite the frustration of the wind, trying to cast on a kayak and just still learning the how to use a weightless worm he had a great attitude and didn't want to give up. I just worked on standing. I am just now getting comfortable standing and now am able to cast and fish standing with confidence. So all and all rough day when it came to fishing but we both got good practice in and spent some good time together. We also did some clean up and got a good amount of trash and line cleaned up. Hopefully this will give us some good karma the next time we come here. Overall the day was a plus since he had fun and we learned some things. Hope everyone else has better luck then us.

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[bignose]

I'm glad that you and the youngster were able to get out.

A couple of things about Lake Elkhorn:

Like all of the Columbia area ponds, they require registration (free, and you do not have to be a resident) with the Columbia Association. Unfortunately, due to COVID,
the offices are temporarily closed.

I have raised the issue of the "launch ramp" several times with the CA management. It is difficult to use, as mentioned, but I get the feeling that they are indifferent to this fact. I have been shore launching because of this.

Hard to believe that several million dollars were spent a few years ago dredging the lake for "weed control." The lake gets heavily matted by early June. CA uses a motorized weed eater, seen in the background of your photo, to scoop and clear the surface. When they run this, the fishing is poor.

The one nice thing about Elkhorn is the neighbors do not give you grief like you get at Wilde Lake.

[Mark]

That's too bad about the hydrilla.

I was in a DE pond last year that was treated with a herbicide. Whatever was used did not harm fish. There were still pads and spatterdock but hydrilla was not choking the surface. There was a sign posted to not let your dog swim in the water due to the treatment.