A river runs through it Winter Waterfowl Open-Water Hot Spots

The late season brings grain-fattened mallards, the hardiest of divers and heavyweight Canada geese. It also brings frozen water to most of my favorite ponds, marshes and lakes. Some hunters move decoys to the fields. For those like me who prefer to hunt over water, rivers provide another option. Faster current keeps the water open longer.

- Ron Peach

That faster water may not deter diver ducks that routinely feed in current, but puddle ducks and Canada geese need open areas with milder current to rest and loaf. Such areas may be found around small islands and sandbars that create side channels, affording ducks and geese a place to drink after feeding in the fields.

Duck season was closed in Missouri when I packed up and headed to northeastern Kansas for that state’s late January duck split opener. The drive through a frozen landscape was bleak, and I saw nothing in the air.

Following a couple of weeks of temperatures dipping into single digits at night and barely reaching freezing during the day, all of the ponds, marshes and lakes I passed were still frozen. Only the hardiest of ducks and geese remained, some staying on energy plant cooling lakes, others working hard to keep small holes open out on the larger lakes.

While crossing the Kansas River, I saw mostly ice. The little open water I did see had chunks of ice floating in it. When I pulled into a field drive that provided access to the river, expectations were low. As I donned waders, grabbed my shotgun, backpack and a small bag of decoys, I was not sure I would find hunt-able water along that stretch of river. After picking my way through the trees to the bank, I pulled up binoculars and began scanning the icy river. Upstream, I saw a  bit of blue, open water reflecting a clear and cold bluebird sky.

The faster flow around a small island was keeping a bit of water open. I hiked to it, set a very modest spread of six mallard blocks, and nestled into the willows on the downriver side of the island as the sun began to drift away in the western sky.