Bluebasser86

The day I lose my last pre Rapala WW will be a sad day

I've been to Smithville twice. That one fish is one more than I've ever caught out of there. Great looking fish!

Not a reaction strike but the fish in my avatar ate my crankbait off a rock while I was snagged and trying to pop it loose. Popped the line a couple times then went to do it again and it was moving, heck of a way to catch the second biggest fish I've ever caught in KS.

Mine has been going with me since she wasn't much more than a ball of fluff.

I've heard lots of crazy noises at night, but I'm usually in my boat so they don't bother me too bad. Raccoons make a heck of a noise when they fight with each other. I heard a bobcat killing a raccoon one night, would have been nerve wracking had I been on the bank. One time I really had my knees go weak on me I never heard a thing. I was night fishing a semi private lake when someone bumped the side of the boat and saw something large in the water next to the boat. When I hit my headlight and saw a big alligator head I about screamed like a little girl. We don't have many critters you have to worry about eating you in Kansas, so I was not mentally prepared to see something like that. I'm sure whoever put the plastic alligator head off the end of the dock thinks their a real comedian.

One of my favorite pictures of my wife. We were fishing a Bassresource KC area get together as a team when she caught her PB smallmouth that weighed 3.96 pounds on a tiny Luck E Strike crankbait with a light action rod and 6lb test. It fought forever and jumped so many times I never thought we'd get that fish in the boat. She was so excited and happy to catch it she spent the next 10 minutes calling everyone and sending pictures to them.

Why would it be illegal? Lots of trout guys do it around here, don't know if it helps but they still catch trout and occasionally bass on spinners and spoons.

8" Hudd

Put them in some Coke for about a week, they won't be shiny anymore.

Fishing a tournament and a fish is coming up towards the boat. The faster I can get them in the faster I can get back to fishing and the less time they spend in the water the less time they have to get off. I don't bounce them though, I flip them towards me and grab the line before they hit the deck. I fish out of a small aluminum too and it's always windy around here, sometimes it's the only option or the boat will be on the bank by the time I get a fish wrangled and lipped. Also, I don't like treble hooks tangled in a net or buried in myself.

JIgs and plastics, swimbaits are coming up the list fast though.

I use Sharpies to modify baits often, don't worry about the scent putting fish off, they don't care. If you're really worried about it, any kind of spray scent will knock the marker smell down.

X2. I prefer the 1/8oz if I can get away with it but will go up to a 3/8oz and down to a 1/16 depending on conditions, depth, and the bait I'm fishing. A bait like a 5" stick worm will get to the bottom easily with a 1/16oz head in calm conditions, where it takes forever for a finesse worm to get to the bottom in the same conditions.

My buddy has tried several of them, the fish have tried very few of them

They don't keep track of fish numbers like that at any lake around here except 1. We were at that lake a couple weeks ago and there had been over 1,300 smallmouth caught in the previous week, none kept , they don't keep track of size.

Smaller bass are okay, but I'm not going out of my way to keep them. They taste very much like moss or dirty pond water to me, no matter how they're prepared. I wish I liked to eat them, there's some lakes around that are overpopulated with dinks that could stand to lose a few thousand or so.

See the false lateral line on the side? Smallies don't have that. They're a cross between a smallmouth and a spot so they do look somewhat like a smallmouth. They happen pretty often in Table Rock Lake. I've only ever caught one there though, on an A rig, about jerked the rod out of my hands when it hit it. The picture is terrible, but you can make out the stripe down the side. I checked with a long time guide that was fishing the other side of the point and he confirmed for me that it was for sure a meanmouth.

Bluegills and sunfish tear tails off pretty often. If it is bass though, you might try adding some JJ's or Megastrike to give them that little extra to make them commit.

You left right when it was about to get really good. Perry is a great night fishing lake, and that's when the big girls come out to play during the summer out there. My uncle eats about everything that swims in the lakes in Kansas and he swears that drum are the best eating of all of them, even above walleye and crappie. I'm not a fish eater but if you like fish I'd certainly suggest trying it. They eat mostly craws, clams, and mussels and very little junk so there's no reason why they shouldn't be good eating. If you find a taste for them you're in luck, there's probably no less than a few thousand of them on the rip rap by Rock Creek Marina on any given day. Not many of the reservoirs (or lakes for that matter), in Kansas that don't have healthy drum populations either.

It's all about money to the Unified Government, and they aren't going to put any extra into the lake. The lake would have to be an exponentially better bass fishery to truly attract enough bass fishermen to make the county much money. I've worked for the UG, trying to get money for something that is going to take a lot of man hours and money to get any return is a futile battle. I'd suggest enjoying it for what it is, a place you can go that's close to home where you can catch a few fish. I'd still fish it if it were closer, just for the shot at catching a big smallmouth if nothing else. Get out there right as the gates are opening or an hour before dark and fish until the lake closes, you'll catch more fish in those few hours than you will in a whole day of fishing when it's hot out.

Sure, under the right conditions.

I've grabbed 2 Vendettas for $30 each. They had the Wright & Mcgill Skeet Reese rods for the same price.

I use a #2 snap on mine, they slide right on no bending involved.

PB&J

I've had very little success with an A rig during the warmer months. I have more confidence in a swimbait on a jighead or swarming hornet than I do an A rig during the summer months. Not saying don't try it though, because they will work this time of year in the right conditions.