Bluebasser86

I also fish the strip pits in Kansas, some of them sound very similar to what you're describing. One of the best baits I've found to just catch fish is a wacky rigged senko. Jigs seem to catch most of my bigger fish but swimbaits run along the drop offs can really work well also. Early and late or during low light conditions topwater along the edge and around the laydowns can be really good. I've never done well on cranks or traps at all with the clear water and fast drops but the same might night be true where you're fishing.

Cbass12 and I did some duck hunting Thursday morning on a public reservoir. I've never really done much duck hunting and the times I've been it's been less than spectacular. We got out and set up right as the sun was starting to put light in the sky and the ducks started coming and didn't stop the whole time we were there. I bet we didn't have a whole 2 minutes go by when we didn't have ducks in the sky around us, it was really incredible. We'd barely got the decoys set out when a flock of widgeons came over the trees and dropped in. Ryan didn't even have his gun loaded yet but I had just grabbed my gun and got one shell in and cycled in time to drop a drake out of that group. The birds came flew over in the hundreds and lots of singles, doubles and some groups peeled off and dropped in, just beautiful. We had 3 birds in 7 minutes, including my first mallard drake that I was really excited to get. The cold temps really messed with Ryan's gun and it kept failing to cycle properly so he was having a rough time. Thankfully my pump was having no such problems If either one of us had been shooting very well we could have limited out in under an hour, instead it took us an hour and 15 minutes for us to drop 10 mallard drakes, a wigeon drake, and a gadwall. We even had enough time to go catch a bunch of fish afterwards! Now I just have to find some recipes for them so I can cook up some duck dinners

Welcome back

We've been catching them pretty good at the power plant lakes when the weather lets us get out.

I have E7's on all my jig/plastic rods.

The newer ones don't have a problem getting on plane, but I've been in several older Nitro's (early 2000's-late 1990's) and they were all dogs! Just not balanced out well for planing out but they ran just fine once they got there. I'd love to have a new Nitro, or an old one with a motor that ran well for that matter.

I fish the one knocker spook a lot here in KS, we rarely have bass over 10lbs caught either but I catch a ton of fish on that bait. Fish in the 8-12 inch range are not afraid to slam it and neither are bigger fish.

I really hate nothing about fishing. Only thing I really dislike are the negative things that some PEOPLE do. They've all been listed; trashy people, people who elbow in on fishing spots, people who keep everything they catch, people who hound you for spots with no intention of sharing any of their own, people who don't fish who complain about fishing. Even a bad day of fishing is pretty good, but if I leave the lake with any negative thoughts beyond what I could have done to catch more or bigger fish, chances are some knucklehead is the reason behind it.

Went to one of the power plant lakes for the first time this winter on Tuesday. Wasn't expecting much as the reports have been poor at best and when I saw no smoke coming from the stacks my hopes sank even lower, they were dragging behind the boat after I saw the main ramp was frozen in! Drove down to the little, shallow ramp straight across from the outlet and found it was open and just deep enough to float the boat so I launched and ran across to the outlet real quick. What little bit of hope I had pretty much disappeared when I saw the water temp was barely 50 degrees when it's normally close to 70 One of my first cast I caught about a 10" bass, at least I caught something is all I could think. Nothing else on a variety of baits after that so I switched to a big jigging spoon and started hopping it along the bottom through the washout. One of my first casts it got jacked right under the boat by this 15 1/2 pound flathead. Next drop it got popped again by a 4 pound wiper. After that all I could do was snag 8" shad every cast. I figured I'd try the jerkbait a bit more since it at least got me one bite. Turned around fired a cast at the point behind me and as soon as my bait left the slack water and hit the current it got slammed by a 5 pound wiper. After that it was about every cast I was at least getting a bite from a wiper or big white bass. No idea how many I caught but it was well over 50. I had to change the hooks on my jerkbait 3 times because they were getting so bent up and twisted, even my front hook hanger got twisted and bent. Most of them were in the 3-5 pound range but I got some bigger ones like this pair of 6 pounders. My biggest and one of my last fish of the day was a 7 pounder that about set my thumb on fire she was peeling drag so fast. I had a blast and had to leave them biting unfortunately by I'm not sure how much more my wrists could have taken after fighting all those big, hard pulling fish

I was hesitant to even post my weight estimate because I know how small it looks in the picture but when I picked it up I had to hold it above my waist or it's tail was touching the ground, so it was probably in the 36-38 inch range.

As promised, my fish from La Cygne on Tuesday. I lost a few of my pictures, including all my bass pictures from Tuesday, when my phone went swimming on the ramp when we were launching to go duck hunting Thursday Like I said the water was cold and after catching one really small bass on a jerkbait, I decided to try a jigging spoon in the washout hole a little bit. It got whacked pretty hard right under the boat by this 15 1/2 pound flathead. Next drop got smacked by a 4 pound wiper. After that all I could do was snag big shad every drop so I tried a jerkbait again, it was on after that. Every cast was getting pounded by wipers or big white bass. No idea how many I caught but it was enough I had to change the hooks on my jerkbait 3 times because they were getting so twisted up and bent out, even my front hook hanger is twisted and bent. Lots of them like this in the 5 pound range. A pair of 6's. My biggest and one of the last ones of the day right at 7 pounds. This one burnt my thumb she was peeling drag so fast.

It really was a great day when it just seemed like everything came together and worked out great! It's what makes you get up at 3am, knowing you're going to be going out into the cold, because you never know when the next day like that will come around!

No, I put in at the shallow ramp straight across from the outlet. I didn't catch many whites, mainly wipers. They were eating jerkbaits and not much else. Color didn't matter, brand didn't matter, location and retrieve were the only important parts.

Made it to La Cygne today. Main ramp was frozen, I was the only boat on the water, not a puff of smoke, cold water, and I knocked their lights out. Water was only 51 at the outlet, 48 at the southernmost point of the rocks to the west. Not a ton of bass, half a dozen on a jerkbait, few on a hula grub, and one on a shakyhead.. The whites and wipers were on fire though. Didn't keep count, well over 50 for sure, mostly wipers from 3-5 pounds up to 7. Also had a 15 1/2 pound flathead. I'll have to. Add some of the pictures I took later.

I'm a couple inches taller than you and also prefer longer rods, except for jerkbaits. I'm with JFrancho, 6' 2" M/XF Avid with a Curado 50E. The short, light rod makes it easier on your wrist when you're twitching a jerkbait all day, and it's short enough you don't have to worry about slapping the water. The extra fast tip recovers very quickly so I can really make my bait do what I want it to do. I have no problem with casting distance or hook ups with the short rod and no more trouble with hooks pulling out while fighting a fish than I do with any other rod I've tried. I have a couple 6' 6" rods I've fished jerkbaits on, and they work pretty well also, but I wouldn't want a much longer rod and none of them are as easy for me to fish a jerkbait with as that little Avid is.

When did a 3/8oz crank become a small bait? I can cast a KVD 1.0 (1/4oz) a mile on my super tuned E7 Curado but if that Lew's cast anything like my Speed Spool does, it will launch a 3/8oz bait a mile I'm sure. The rod will effect the casting distance about as much as the reel will with cranks IMO. As long as you have one that loads well with the baits you're planning on casting, you'll get a lot more distance out of your casts.

A flat worm will glide a little bit on the fall instead of falling straight to the bottom. No idea why one mold would be more expensive than the other though unless maybe one just is easier to pour than the other?

Not many of our lakes are even clear enough to see bedding fish in the spring. I've done it a couple times in tournaments on Table Rock and other clear water lakes but it's often easier to target fish that haven't moved up yet or have already finished spawning. In very few instances can I remember a spawning bass being the slam dunk easy catch that they're so often reported to be. More often than not, I'll end up spending 10-30 minutes minutes working a single fish before I get it to bite, and sometimes it may not bite at all. I try to avoid doing it if possible though.

I caught an old throw net this summer while fishing a crankbait along a rocky shoreline. Weird thing was it had 2 dead snakes in it (I'm assuming they got tangled in it while swimming under the surface and drown), along with 3 crankbaits, a couple spinnerbaits, and a ton of crappie jigs. It was snagged up pretty bad in the rocks but I was able to get it to the surface with my lure retriever and managed to get it to pop free after pulling on it pretty hard. The snakes smelled terrible but I cut the baits I wanted out then tossed the rest on the bank.

+1 for hauling it in the truck of your car!

Homemade ice cream blows store bought stuff out of the water. It isn't easy or cheaper but it is so much better.

I guess I don't fully understand your question. Are you saying he could keep them in a different container? That it gets cold enough he could keep them outside? or that he should get rid of them over the winter and just catch more shad in the spring? I keep large gizzard shad in the deep freeze at all times for whenever I want to go catfishing but I wouldn't want them in there without being in some kind of container.

Early spring and late fall are king on the Rock. Summer is good but you have to get out early in the morning before all the water fleas do.

Going to try to get to La Cygne on Wednesday I think. Going to depend on my schedule though, my wife's grandpa passed away Saturday night so I may not get a chance to get out.

I'd have to hide those well or the next thing I'd be getting would be my walking papers from my wife!