Liberty Lake.

I am being forced by age and circumstance to change free time activity. I moved down from Montana a couple of years ago. My retirement free time was spent out on the prairies hunting gophers.

Not many gophers around here, but there are fishing ponds and lakes. My wife says I should take up Fishing.


Liberty lake is close and not busy. Arcadia lake is nearby also, but pretty busy and a little larges for me, to start, so my question are on Liberty Lake

I have fished a little through out my life, but have relied mostly on charters/guides fully furnished.

Right now I have no fishing gear. If my intuition is correct that long tube over there by the Christmas tree is a fishing pole. Or former son in law up in Montana is a guide and has made recommendations to my wife.

So what do I fish for in Libert lake? Crappie, Bass, Catfish?

Is bank fishing any good on Liberty Lake. Is a boat necessary?

Where on the lake to fish, for what and when.

X-SnL says he has had good results along the dam for Bass in April and crappie there in May.

Can the Dam be fished from the bank?

Any suggestions of what to fish for and where on Liberty Lake in January.

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Originally Posted by The Double D

I am being forced by age and circumstance to change free time activity. I moved down from Montana a couple of years ago. My retirement free time was spent out on the prairies hunting gophers.

Not many gophers around here, but there are fishing ponds and lakes. My wife says I should take up Fishing.

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You could give Prairie Dogs a try when you get a break from learning the fishing spots. Hunting season is year round for them here in Oklahoma.

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Originally Posted by 4lber

You could give Prairie Dogs a try when you get a break from learning the fishing spots. Hunting season is year round for them here in Oklahoma.

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(Douglas responds, salivating) Where?

(To stay on topic and keep the Moderator happy,) do they have Crappie?

I am a local and I cant justify driving an hour and a half everytime to kaw where the thump is more exciting than lets say liberty, but liberty is a decent lake. There's an old boat ramp directly west of the entrance and that is a good spot to bank fish. White bass, largemouth, and crappie can be caught there. I use a kayak and the last handful of times out there I will limit out. You won't load up with 12 inchers but trying to keep 10 inchers you can fill the freezer on crappie. I am actually considering playing in the snow tomorrow at liberty in the kayak. Never fished in the snow before!

And yes, you can bank fish the dam. Park on the east side of the dam, south side of the road and just walk the road to your spot. Might be hard to get much action from the bank in the winter but the dam may be your best bet. Also, the warden likes to drive that road so be up to date. And the 3 dollars a day is well worth it. It could be a $185 ticket, i know from experience. Ha. I paid $40 for the year and that is good for both city lakes

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Double D

(Douglas responds, salivating) Where?

(To stay on topic and keep the Moderator happy,) do they have Crappie?

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Just Google Prairie dog hunting in Oklahoma, it'll pull up a couple of guides and there are farmers down around Lindsay that may be open to letting you hunt them, among other places around the state. There is a hunting forum on here if you want to give that a try.

Speaking of fishing :), there is a nice little lake north of Maysville, which is on the way to Lindsay, that has a good population of crappie, or did back then, and some nice sized ones, haven't fished it in years though because I moved. Has a boat ramp and decent little dock with tons of brush around it, I caught my big one off of it. When I lived down there I fished it a lot and very rarely saw a boat on it, it's kinda outta the way.

Welcome, Double D. By my handle, you can tell I came from Montana too, but about 40 years ago. Liberty is a good lake to fish from a kayak or float tube. I've only fished for crappie there. The little tower in front of the dam can be pretty good sometimes.
Re the gopher hunting: there are lots of gophers around Dillon, which is our home town. We shot about 8,000 of them off my brother's place on Anderson Lane two years ago. Unfortunately, he got tired of raising gophers instead of hay, and sold the place for more than ten times what he paid for it.
If you see a blue Ford Escape, stop and say Hi.

You only shot 8,000, what was the problem, slow day or you run out of ammo? :) We use to buy a Case of Bulk .22's from Walmart in January and another end of May. You tell people this about gopher shooting and they don't believe you.

Only fishing I did in Montana was a couple of fishing trip on Fort Peck with guides. My dad died at age 93 this year and one of my favorite memories is of us fishing for Walleye and pike. Dad was 87 then and drove the 1000 miles from Florence Oregon to Cut Bank, Montana by himself for the trip. What a trip. We had never fished Walleye or pike before. My wife went on the trip also. She was my Girlfriend from Oklahoman back then. We were like little kids catching their first fish, every time.

http://www.fototime.com/D37B18666732E94/standard.jpg

We shot .22's for many years, then got some .17's. Lot longer range, and no wounded gophers running down the hole to die. Never got up to Ft. Peck to fish, but had some of the best trout fishing (rivers, creeks, reservoirs, and mountain lakes) near Dillon.

Oh yes the 17HMR, relined a couple of my .22's to 17HMR and 17 HM2. But in the end it was the 17 Hornady Hornet that was the king.

You were just down the street from me (I-15) in Dillion, me in Cut bank.

Looks like I drifted this topic right off fishing, so let me bring it back to fishing Liberty lake.

Wife did get carried away for Christmas, she got everything the Ex-SnL said to get and them some. Any bass or crappie fishing kit Cabela's advertised she bought. I already commented some on this.

The Bait caster has been a disaster for me. I will keep trying. I bought the wife and Ugly stik rod and reel combo for Christmas and it works quite well, so I ordered up one for me.

The only real aggravation has been the line the wife bought. Spider wire. Nasty stuff. With my 73 year arthritic hands it is near impossible for me work that line-knot tying especially, snarls, tangles even on spinning reel. I called the Ex-SnL and talked to him. He said he had suggested Trilene XT monofilament for us beginners. So I have ordered some up. Don't know how she came up with spider wire. I don't like the stuff.


Wife has suggested a boat. That idea kind of got slowed up when the transmission on 20 year old F-150 went out and only after 243, 000 miles. We will have to get a new truck. $4000 repair of a $5000 truck doesn't seem reasonable to me. She wants new and when we combine our separate investments, that seems realistic. I buy new and keep them until they wear out. 82 Toyota 4WD298,000 miles replaced in 95 with 95 F-150 4WD with 260,000 mile replace with this 2002 4WD in 2002. That 95 is still running around Montana and last I her it had 370,000 miles on it.

We have been looking a 10 foot Basshunter/Pelican Bass raider type for Liberty Lake. I would like to hear you guys thoughts on that Idea.

I have never been to liberty so I’m no help.
Keep at it.


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

I am interested in Liberty Lake because it is close by where I live. Google earth says it is 6.5 miles from straight line. It doesn't seem to have high traffic or lots of people.

Seems perfect for a guy with a small boat who wants get out for a couple of hours. Me and the Wife. She is fun to fish with.

I have been reading old post here on this board and watching Youtube videos. Learning. I see one guy on you tube Realistic Fishing who fishes more like I do. Lots casting, catching nothing, snarls hang ups, hook in the finger. fish getting away, my style of fishing.

But what I would like to do is to learn her is Liberty Lake. Right now it is a cold January. I am more inclined to stay home and do something else. But if I were inclined to go fishing at Liberty right now, what do I need? What fish might be biting now? What what rigging should i use? Where on the lake should I fish right now?

This old guy is very willing to learn new tricks.

Was on Liberty Lake 10 or 15 yrs ago a couple of times. Wasn't impressed and not been back. I have heard it's decent for catfish from the bank if you enjoy that.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

My wife bought me a 10 foot bass buster mainly for small lakes, liberty to be specific. I loved it but it was hard to handle on any kind of wind and since I fish solo most of the time, I sold that birthday present for a kayak. I should've gave her a heads up. HAHAHA
I fished liberty a week ago and went to my for sure brush pile for some crappie and I couldn't believe it but not a single bite. I found another pile though and it produced over 50 crappie between 2 of us. If you don't mind keeping 9 inch crappie, you can do real well there.
When the water is low like it has been, you can park on the west side of the dam and walk the west side of the lake for a new spot but this time of year, getting on the water helps alot
If you get that boat and want to know a couple brush piles, id usher you to them anytime. I live in Guthrie and liberty is better than Guthrie lake so keep focusing on liberty. Also, summer time you will see 10 boats out there which may not seem like alot, but half of them are pleasure boaters