Bluebasser86

I caught 2 largemouth withing a shad of each other, both right around the 6 3/4lb range and both on a Ned rig. Biggest smallmouth was a hair short of 5lbs, caught on a swinging football head and a Rage Menace in Moon Juice with the tips of tail dipped in chartreuse JJ's. Caught my new PB walleye at 5.62lbs on a homemade 3/8oz underspin and a 3.8" fat impact style swimbait. Of course, my biggest fish of the year had whiskers and was right at 40lbs. Caught it on a half a shad in a creek right where it dumps into the Kansas River on a MH 7' Ugly Stick Lite and 20lb braid. I was way outgunned and the fish was about as skin hooked as it could be. A whole lot of luck went into landing it but I'm really glad I did because my boys still tell people about it all the time.

I've been using a M/F 7' casting rod but I really have no idea what I'm doing with them.

Welcome!

Welcome!

No point to fishing painfully slow unless you're certain there's fish around. I guess maybe you'll impress some crawdads or something? Only time I'm every fishing extremely slow is if I get on a concentration of fish and that's the only way they'll bite but I have to be 100% sure there's fish around before I'm counting rocks.

I've caught a record breaking fish a couple times, but I always wake up right before I get it weighed ?‍♂️

I need some of those skipjacks for big blue cats! Browns are a blast. I have to drive 3 hours to catch them, 5 hours to get on them really good but it's some of the most fun I've had and for sure the funnest trout fishing I've done.

You don't know someone with a melting pot and mold? I figured a guy like you would. I hook my good fishing buddies up when they need stuff.

We have a similar deal here. You buy a special "bass pass", to weigh 15" fish for tournaments. Just the states way of making a few extra bucks.

I don't think there's any species in Kansas that I haven't caught. Probably the closest fish to me that I haven't caught that I'd like to would be a Tiger Muskie or Lake Trout.

Find somewhere that does demos so you can go sit in some kayaks before buying one. See what you like and don't like in a kayak. I got a great deal on a nice kayak for my first one, about 1/4 of new price because my friend was moving across country and didn't want to haul it. I hated it. Hated the layout, I couldn't stand in it and fish, wind blew it like a kite, it was just not at all what I was hoping for. This past year I did a lot of research and actually figured out what I liked and wanted. I spent more than I wanted to but I love the kayak I have now. No point in having one if you don't enjoy fishing out of it.

Nah, I've got a mold for dropshot sinkers and the swivels are pretty cheap. I can't get a peg through most lead weights anyways.

I think maybe you're talking about the metal grippers? They can certainly slice up a fish's mouth pretty badly and probably do some damage. The plastic grippers that clamp down behind the jawbone aren't doing any damage and it's way better than having someone drop them hard onto a boat deck to flop around. I have some smaller Rapala grips that my wife and kids use when holding fish.

Look for the knockoff versions. I haven't spent over $3 on one.

I use the 1/4oz almost exclusively and I don't use it at all like a crankbait. Instead, I cast it out and drag it slowly along the bottom like a standard football jig. I've never been able to get the straight retrieve bite to work with them. I fish them on an Okuma TCS 7' 3" H/F with a Tatula SV 8.1 with 15lb Tatsu. Plastics are pretty wide open. Only bait I've had no luck with is tubes. Craws, creatures, and beavers are my preferred baits for them though.

Got in my first trip of the year. Had several misses I wish I'd have got in the boat, but I did put a few on the board, including one that really counted.

Gar rarely cut line as they have needle teeth for holding fish. Turtles don't cut line either. A big bowfin has some nasty chompers and they're jagged enough to make quick work of braided line though and they'll inhale a bait for sure.

Welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome!

I use to fish them frequently, both clubs and also some BASS tournaments. Won several club tournaments, qualified for a regional tournament through BASS and missed the national cut by 2.5lbs at 17 years old (pre high school and college team days). Started my career and had to stop due to scheduling. Started a weeknight jackpot series and had a lot of fun doing that until the group kind of fell apart and new faces brought in a lot of drama that nobody wanted any part of so everyone stopped showing up and we stopped doing them. This year I'm planning on doing kayak tournaments. I like the catch, measure, release format a lot. So many fish are killed by catch and weigh tournaments during the summer months (I get to see them being a weekday angler when I show up to the ramp on Monday or Tuesday and see the decomposing bass all over the place). That really soured my view of 5 fish weigh in tournament series and not real interested in fishing them again. Maybe a single event here or there, but the series that care more about their bragging rights instead of using common sense to not hold a tournament when it's triple digit air temps and high 80 degree water temps, are not something I'm interested in.

January and March for 4 of my top 5. The 1 oddball was a June bass caught in the heat of midday. Have no other bass over 7lbs in Kansas outside the cold water periods. I added another fish over 7 to my January total this past January too ?

Depends on how much you want to spend but a MS Slammer, 7" Shine Glide, or FishLab Bio Wake Gill would be good ones on the lower end.