Bluebasser86

Largemouth 10lbs 2ozs Smallmouth 5lbs Brown trout 18.5" Muskie 15lbs Flathead catfish 50+lbs Blue catfish 50+lbs

A couple really nice browns in that video! Were they eating sculpins? I've got about a month and a half and I'll be back down there after them

I mainly use the 1.5. I like the 1.0 in clear water on spinning gear and for smallmouth. I don't own any bigger KVD baits but I do have some 2.0 sized Lucky Craft and some SK 4S that I'll toss when I'm looking for bigger fish or in dirty water.

I'm assuming red means a decrease in size/numbers? These forecasts are always interesting to read but I'm never really sure what to make of them. Like Melvern is rated only fair for smallmouth and the biggest fish they sampled was only 2.79 pounds? I think weather/time of year/areas checked probably have a lot to do with their samples. Since the electrofishing gear only works to about 15 feet deep it always seems like shallower lakes have truer numbers. If they happen to sample a deeper lake on a post cold front day when all the fish drop off into deeper water I couldn't see them getting a very accurate look at the true population of a lake.

It's the best open water line you can get. I haven't had the fraying issues others have had. It isn't good for bottom contact baits but other than that it has been great. Tie your knots carefully and check them before you fish with them. I caught a lot of fish last year that I wouldn't have because I was using Nanofil. It isn't a braid so if you try to use it like one you'll be disappointed.

I won't be able to get out there until the 6th.

That's a really nice spinning rod and a not so nice casting reel. I'd hold onto the rod for those times you really need a spinning set up.

Football head, standup head, T-rigged, or C-rigged are my most productive ways to fish them.

They'll all have some sort of snap that runs through the center of the blade to tie your line to.

Flicker shads and Shad Raps both can produce lots of smallmouth. Like others said this isn't the best time of year for them. You can weight them so they suspend and they can be really good in cold water though.

I don't know where you are in Kansas with 40 degree water temps, it was 36-38 at the pond I was at in Northeast Kansas today. If your pond has good water clarity and the banks aren't too gradual, I'd be fishing a jerkbait.

I caught a large, flat rock on a crankbait that I thought was new state record smallmouth. I hooked it off a steep point and when I set the hook it lifted up and glided out into deeper, open water pulling drag like a big smallie. When I'd lift I'd gain some line and then it would shoot back down towards the bottom, just like a big smallmouth. I'm glad I was by myself and nobody saw me fighting this rock, never have I been so fooled by something that wasn't a fish.

I've seen lots of ponds and small lakes with a large population of stunted bass. Usually there isn't much forage to go around so that combined with the crowded conditions just doesn't allow the fish to get larger and thinning them out is the best way for them grow larger. It will help the overall population of the pond/lake also when the bass population is kept in check. I don't personally keep them but I've filleted plenty of bass for land owners who granted me permission to fish their ponds as long as I'd give them a few fish to keep. The smaller ones taste way better than the big ones. I remember trying a piece of a larger bass my dad caught when I was little and any keeper sized fish we caught came home with us, it could have been a plate of moss and mud and I wouldn't have been able to taste the difference.

They float up very quickly and come through cover really well. Running them into standing and laid down timber is my favorite way to fish them.

I've looked all over and everything I've seen says that it's free to get into the Expo and weigh in but I just want to make sure I'm not missing something?

I used the 7' MH Mojo for pitching for a couple years before up grading to a LTB and it worked just fine for pitching. The longer rod will help you lift the fish up out of the weeds faster and picks up more line when you set the hook.

I'd suggest a couple 78 points also in your line up. Chartreuse shad, American shad, Tennessee shad, crack, and Skeet's magic are some of my favorite colors.

Not even the dynamite worked today 2 dinks and I had to use a live shad to catch one of those. Had a couple short strikes on a crankbait and missed 4 on a shakyhead. Had one chase a jig back to the boat and Jon lost one on a spinnerbait that wrapped him up and came off. The other one I caught was on a swimbait.

20 or 25 pound P-line XXtra strong for me for big baits. I usually fish the 4" weedless shads on 15 or 17lb fluoro or copoly. Not only is it more forgiving if you get a backlash, it's more forgiving when a big fish surges by the boat on a short line.

That good huh? I've got everything rigged up for tomorrow, I guess I'll put a couple extra sticks of dynamite in the boat too.

The BPS Carbonlite is a very nice rod in the $100 range also. The hard thing about getting an answer to this question is not everyone likes the same feel as others do. I'm apparently less sensitive to the weight of my rod as I have a few Mojos that have a bad rep for being extremely tip heavy and have no problem feeling or catching fish on them. Best thing is if you can get to a tackle shop and see what one feels best in your hand. Some stores will even let you put a reel on them so you can really see how they'll feel in your hand.

The one with the little spinner in front of it? I used to catch a ton of crappie on that thing when I was a kid, lots of bass and catfish too.

I use a 7' 8" Mojo "Big Crankster" for my cranks once they get past the 10' range. That long, powerful rod paired with a slower cranking reel makes it very easy to fish deeper running baits. If I try to fish them on my 7' MH/M I use for most the rest of my cranks my wrist gets sore very quickly. The extra length seems to make a huge difference.

The stick o is my go to stick bait. They are much more durable than the original but still have good action. Can't beat them for the price, allows you experiment with them a little more. Lately I've been having a lot of luck fishing 2/3 of one of the 5 3/8" versions as a jig trailer.

I found an old Natural Ike walking the bank last week, haven't seen one of those in a long time. I have and still fish with some original wiggle warts and thin fins. I have some old metal lipped mud bugs too. Those old baits certainly still catch fish too.