Bluebasser86

I'm not willing to sell any of mine but if you're willing to pay shipping there and back I'll loan them to you for awhile. Send me a PM if you're interested.

I'd guess that you're right about it being a bait designed to be slow rolled in deep water. The Ledgebuster spinnerbaits that I have are all around an ounce and have very large #7 or #8 willowleaf blades like that bait but the wire form is much larger to give the blade room to spin.

We make it a point to play pranks on each other during the fishing day. One of my favorites is to try to cast a sinking bait across the area my buddy is fishing without him noticing. Then next time he casts he crosses my line and all I have to do is wait until my line starts to move and give it a big jerk The reaction to the huge bite they just missed is always awesome.

You can catch both pretty much anywhere on the lake, the closest ramp is probably going to be Drake Harbor though. Never tried crappie fishing the river but we did well for bass there last fall. Lots of good lakes within that distance of you. What kind of fishing techniques do you prefer? I'd certainly try Mozingo up by Marysville, Pomme De Terre, and Stockton.

It's a power plant lake the isn't supposed to open until 30 minutes after sunrise and closes 30 minutes before sunset. However, it it's clear and the weather is good they'll often let you on the water early depending on whose there. Wasn't the case Saturday, despite the conditions being perfect. There's a guard shack you have to check in at where you fill out a page of information, and then they give you a pager that you have to keep on you and they page you off the lake if the wind gets too strong. You're also required to wear a lifejacket the entire time you're on the water.

Got to love those football spots on the Rock this time of year!

1.I don't like them because different bodies of water have to be managed differently. 2.NO

Going to depend a lot on where and what kind of sturgeon. I catch the shovelnose sturgeon around here on medium spinning gear with 20lb braid and cut shad. If you're going to the Columbia River or something after giant white sturgeon, that gear wouldn't lift the weight they use to anchor the large baits they use to the bottom in the fast, deep current.

I've heard perch taste good but I always figured you filleted and cooked them first?? Looks like a good time, except for the whole being cold part.

I've seen bass with all kinds of injuries and deformities that were still feeding successfully, a little hole isn't going to slow him down.

I like the gulp minnows on a jighead or dropshot but I haven't been impressed by the other baits. They're not any more effective that I've noticed and if you don't leave them in the water or in the tub they dry up like a piece of leather. I also didn't like the worms because the fish really do eat them, resulting in more deep hooked fish than regular plastics. If you like catching catfish on artificial baits though, Gulp baits are the way to go for sure.

We probably caught 25-30 bass up to 3lbs, a 5 pound catfish, and a keeper saugeye out there the one time I fished it last year. All we did was flip pit bosses at the docks and water willow for the most part.

That's about 1/2 the keeper walleyes/saugeyes I catch in an entire year... pretty much anytime I catch one I have someone with me who has already laid claim to it also. You should try saugeye fishing at Paola City Lake/Miola Lake, I always catch a keeper or two out there and we've limited out a time or two.

No just the one, the rest of them ate a 3" power minnow on a 3/16oz jighead.

Brother in law Chris, and I hit one of the power plant lakes for our first trip of the year. We were the first boat there but we had to wait 45 minutes to launch so we fished from the bank while we waited. I managed to catch 1 largemouth and 3 large crappie, one of which that thought it was a bass. Once we got on the water and went to the outlet we caught smallmouth largemouth, and Chris caught this ugly thing Before we left we hit the spot I'd caught the crappie from the bank earlier and I put 5 crappie from 13 to 14 inches in the livewell. Good start to the year for sure.

Chris and I got out today at Coffey County for both of our first days on the water for the new year. I feel like a broken record saying the wind was stronger than they said it would be and that it wasn't out of the direction they said it would b because that's the way it's been every time I've been there towards the end of last year and today was no exception, but they let us stay on the lake despite the fact that the waves were so big my trolling motor was coming out of the water every wave by about noon. Spinnerbaits and swimbaits were best but we caught fish on jerkbaits, traps, shakyheads, jigs, and beavers. We actually had to wait around the ramp for 45 minutes before they'd let us put in for some reason but I managed to catch a bass and 3 crappie right off the dock, the crappie were typical Coffey County monsters, big enough to eat a spinnerbait. Once we got on the water it was pretty fast fishing the first couple times up and down the riprap. We caught smallies Largemouth and Chris caught a monster drum Once the boats got packed into the outlet and the waves were really rolling we went hunting for fish in more protected areas with colder water, we didn't find hardly any. Before we left we went to try for some more of the crappie that I'd caught from the bank. I caught 6, 5 keepers from 13-14 inches that all came home with me so Cbass could have a fresh crappie dinner.

I like the idea of the trout tourney at Lake Shawnee, then it could be earlier in the year also. I probably can't do something end of March/beginning of April because I'll probably be at Table Rock the first weekend of April for the Elite series tournament. If you did have any thoughts of doing it at Wabaunsee better wait until April, since it doesn't open until then. They close it for mandatory maintenance every year, usually lasts around a month it seems like but by the end of February other places are starting to become an option.

Mainly the 2 day so we can get it set in stone in plenty of time for everyone wanting to attend. The single day I think I already know where everyone wants to go...

Do we want to do like last spring and vote on the body of water or do you want me to just set one and whoever wants to go and just go?

Fish swipe at the bait way too often for me to use a single hook with a flutter spoon. Also, I would think a single hook would tangle on the line very badly. If you get snagged with a flutter spoon you can usually lift and drop the rod tip several inches (don't pull up hard and bury the hook worse) and the weight of the spoon will often pop it loose. If that doesn't work a plug knocker will get it a majority of the time. For the larger sizes of flutter spoons I like a #1 or 1/0 treble hook, sharp hooks are a must because of the tendency for fish to swipe at the bait.

I use my home made round heads with a screw lock. I find the round heads, while they may not stand straight up, they stand up much better than the "stand up" heads. Unless a stand up head is really heavy and the worm is pretty buoyant and it still has to land perfectly flat, otherwise they fall over right on their sides versus a round head that will often at least stand at a 45 degree angle off the bottom. Just my observations from fishing with lots of different kinds of shakyheads.

At least you got one in the boat, I haven't even got to go fishing yet this year.

<<<The fish in my avatar ate my crankbait off a rock while it was snagged and I was trying to get it unstuck, all skill right??

31st is the week after, which is something else we might want to consider. Do we want to be on the water the weekend after the lake has been pounded? There will be plenty of fish to be caught still but just something to consider.