i will be taking a trip down to KC/Liberty area from 7/20 - 7/24. just wondering if there are any parks along the river that you can fish for catfish. i just need some general locations for areas you can fish. i will look around for the honey holes. also, how much is a short non-resident license cost?

http://www.mdc.mo.gov/regs/permits.htm
This will tell you about permits. I wish I could help you with fishing the KC area, but that's on the other side of the state!

either way thanks for the link!

Check out the two Kansas City trips (?).

http://www.missouririvertrips.com/

Shows boat ramps etc.

Finns.

i did some checking for parks in the area and saw some on that link. good pictures and stuff, thanks a lot.

Hey Finns, do you get any decent flathead action during the earlier evening hours into sunset? I will staying with my girlfriend and her family in Liberty July 20-24 and we were gonna give fishing a shot. I figure if we are gonna be in big flathead country we would give that a shot. I was eyeing some of the parks along the river near KC to try. Will I find good waters here if I search or should we venture closer to St. Joseph? Thanks for your help.

Flatheads?

Shoot... If I'm driving that far, I'm fishing for Blues.

And that is good blue cat country from what I understand.

We have good flats in this stretch of the river but blues that I have caught have been closer to KC. If you're afoot check the eddys around ramps and wing dikes. In a boat look for snags and other brush.

Finns.

I have heard blues take cut bait and live bait. Which do you prefer? I was thinking of flatheads because I thought the better blue fishing was further east, but we might have to try them. Also, do you get many blues during the day like you can channels, or are they primarily a night feeder like flatheads? I believe the only opportunity we will get to fish will be in the morning or mid-day hours. It is a trip to visit my girlfriend's relatives, but I told her if we are going to Missouri I want to target some cats for at least a little while. Last question, what's a good bait shop to get some chubs and do they sell green sunfish, or do you need to catch them for use as bait? Thanks a lot for everyone's help, the info is very useful.

Probably too late to help but sunnies or goldfish do well. Can't help down there with bait shop though.

Finns.

well the only bait we could get a hold of was liver, because we only had time on sunday to fish and most of the bait shops we closed by the time we were gonna go out. we were going to try by the english landing park, but after a tip we went to smithville lake. this was a mistake because it was getting dark and we had no idea where to go out there especially shore fishing. the guy told us crows creek, but we couldnt actually find the creek mouth, so it was a big bust. the guy that told us about smithville lake had said that english landing park wasnt a good spot. i may have to talk to more experienced missouri fisherman and plan a trip where we can take a couple days to search for good spots. now its back to the minnesota river, or by now its probably down to a stream since we havent had decent rainfall up there since may.