by Mary Rupert
Hundreds of residents went out to enjoy beautiful and windy spring weather at the opening day of fishing at Wyandotte County Lake, 91st and Leavenworth Road, Kansas City, Kansas.
People lined the banks of the lake near the administrative area after the lake opened around 6 a.m., according to Michael Mallard, a Kansas City, Kansas, resident who hadn’t caught any fish yet at mid-morning, but thought he might catch some fish later.
Mallard and Chuck Abbott were grilling sausages and hamburgers and having a little picnic along the lake not far from the administration area.
Some fishing poles were placed in the ground at an angle along the banks, waiting for fish to bite.
Anthony Davis, Kansas City, Kansas, said he caught four trout on Saturday morning at the lake.
He said he used a Road Runner, and it works well for him every year.
Another angler, Tim Mitchell from Basehor, Kansas, said he had caught some trout using Powerbait. Fishing was pretty good, he said.
State and local permits are required for most people who fish at the lake. Those who are younger than 15 or older than 75 do not need a fishing permit.
Lou Braswell, executive director of the Leavenworth Road Association, said today’s opening day and LRA breakfast at the marina was very well attended.
There were lines waiting to get into the breakfast and they ran out of food about 9:30 a.m., even though they had brought some extra food, she said. Usually, LRA has some food left over, she added.
She estimated that 75 to 100 people were served breakfast on Saturday. Last year, they had about 40 people who attended the breakfast, she said.
“The weather had to bring them all out,” she said. Temperatures were about 60 degrees at 11 a.m., and were 42 degrees about 6 a.m. Saturday.
“Even people we had to turn away because we ran out of food were very polite and said we’ll be back next year,” Braswell said.
When she got to the lake around 6:30 a.m. Saturday, she saw hundreds, and perhaps even a thousand, people at the lake, lined up shoulder-to-shoulder, and cars were bumper-to-bumper, she said.
