Bluebasser86

Your buddies fish looks like a meanmouth with those colors on it. Looks like if you closed the mouth, the jawline would be almost past the eye also. Makes me think it's a smallmouth/largemouth mix, which would also explain the size of the fish a little.

Electric shad

I buy some tungsten sinkers and my wacky rig hooks there. I get some of the discount YUM plastics and occasionally some TRDs because they carry my favorite color. I also grab some nightcrawlers occasionally to catch bait for catfish or to take my boys out after bluegills or creek fishing.

Nobody comes to Kansas to fish? Shocked, I really am 😂 Missouri-great fishing, really frustrating. Why is it the state next to us and the fishing is so much better? Oklahoma-Also great with a variety of fisheries like MO. Arkansas-Love the variety of species available. I'd chase bass a lot less if I lived here. Texas-A lot tougher than I expected but the chance at a monster is very exciting. Florida- Water everywhere and there's a fish bigger than any I've caught in Kansas in every puddle it seems like. Minnesota- I could live here if the water wasn't hard for half the year. An endless supply of lakes and huge variety of fish. Bass would probably take a backseat to muskie if I lived by them. Indiana- I'm still not convinced there's bass in this state. South Carolina- Really enjoyed fishing here and probably some of the nicest people I've encountered. Everyone I ran into was friendly.

The big one was a beautiful specimen. I'd love to run into her again when she's 24". I've caught one that was 24" from this lake, but unfortunately, it wasn't built anything like they usually are. 24.5" long and only 14" around.

I like big bass and I cannot lie. Huge cold front hit and our temps dropped down into the high 30's with 10-15mph north winds and off and on rain Saturday, beautiful fishing weather if you ask me. I was hoping they'd eat the big balsa crank, and my first bite didn't disappoint. 19" and a touch over 5lbs. I wouldn't see another that big all day, but I did catch a bunch more with some quality players in the mix. This guy had found a great place to hide from the bow hunters.

I like winter fishing because it keeps a lot of the fair weather fishermen at home. It's not the numbers game of the summer months, but I've lipped most of fish over 7lbs with numbed up fingers.

They're in there. Haven't been there in a few years now. I wish it wasn't so expensive, I can't do $100+ to fish 1 lake.

The Jig box is my favorite. I use it for bladed jigs though. I have way too many jigs to use it for regular jigs.

Kind of by default because I didn't fish a lot of new baits this year but it's without a doubt the Yamatanuki unfortunately. The price and fragility of them keeps me from using them for anything other than tournaments, but the effectiveness of them is undeniable. Just need Yamamoto to sponsor me and then it wouldn't hurt to fish those one fish fish wonders.

For a bladed jig I like a Berkley Pit Boss or Devil's Spear (Discontinued), or a Strike King Rage Menace. Spinnerbaits I like a split tail trailer or Fat Impact style swimbait in the 3.8-4.8 inch size range.

Low 60's to mid 40's. Turnover in our lakes seems to happen once the water temps are in the 70-65 range which always makes fishing difficult. The biggest factor for me is big rain. If the water gets muddy, the bite will really get tough. Cold water months is one of the only times I prefer cleaner water.

Jigs are historically not a good winter option for me. We get too much snot moss on the rocks to make them a good option. A few hours south in the Ozarks, one of the best options.

My biggest was a around 6.25lbs on a Big Bite Baits Craw Tube. Still a couple months left so maybe I'll beat it still. Haven't caught any smallmouth big enough to be worth mentioning.

Thought my tournament season was over for the year but I got invited to fish in the championship for the little weeknight circuit I fished with a few times this year. It was on the same lake that I'd just fished the weekend before for my main tournament circuits championship. Unfortunately, a huge cold front moved through and changed the bite pretty drastically but I boated enough fish to take 3rd. I had the bites to win, but my lost and missed fish issues continued from last week. Don't think I'm doing anything wrong, just a run of bad luck.

I use a 5" fast sink for smallmouth in the lakes I fish. It works great fishes similar to a spinnerbait.

I've had them hit my line many times when night fishing, but never actually hooked one thankfully. I've caught plenty of birds though.

You need a rounded tank and good aerators along with some cool water/weather and plenty of water. Even with all that, you're still going to lose a lot of them.

Tenkiller in Oklahoma

Championship tournament day 2. At the conclusion of day 1, I was happy to be in second, but I wasn't real happy with my spot. I hadn't even seen any bigger fish, and several people had caught at least a couple 16-17 inch fish, while I was struggling to find 15's. I took the same route as the night before and pondered the idea while watching catfish rods. Caught another pretty nice one and came to the conclusion, I'd rather hope some bigger fish moved in than try to find bigger fish in new water I hadn't fished. The morning of day 2 was much calmer than day 1, almost no wind at all, not really ideal for smallmouth fishing. And after 30 minutes of fishing with no bites, I was getting concerned. I got to the same pillar I'd caught 3 of my 5 off of the day before and fired my tube. While I was watching my line, I never saw any movement, but it seemed to not sink long enough. When I tightened the line, sure enough, it was moving for deeper water. The hookset was nice and solid with lots of weight, and to my surprise, a good largemouth wallowed on the surface. After a much calmer battle than my fish the day before, I scooped a 17" largemouth in the net. I continued working the pillar and nabbed 2 more small keepers off of it, but nothing I wanted to have by the end of the day. The previous 2 days, I'd had somewhat of a trailing boat, a deep V that seemed to follow me everywhere and fish right on top of me, today proved to start out no different. The arrived shortly after I caught my 3rd keeper and jumped right in front of me shortly after. I had 1 real nice one practically lick a jerkbait right next to the kayak but not hookup, but I had very little action for a while after that. I got tired of following the boat and dealing with their antics, so I made the tough decisions to make a long move. I fished a few quick spots along my move and caught a couple tiny keepers, but again, nothing I wanted at the end of the day. My tube bite from the day before seemed to have evaporated, so I was switching between rods trying to get bit. I finally caught a 15.5" in the back of a nearly dry pocket to make a decent cull. Then, despite the sun and calm conditions, I started fishing a spook on a shallow rock bank. I had a good fish blast it and miss it, then the next cast, it connected. I fought the fish to the boat, reached with the net, and my line broke. I'm guessing the 20lb braid must have contacted a rock with zebra mussels when the fish dove, but my favorite spook and the fish was gone. I made a switch to one of the only other topwater walkers I had, and first cast had an even bigger fish swipe and miss, then hook up, only to come off just as fast. It was like getting punched in the gut, but I had something going at least. Around the point, I had another big smallmouth chase my bait all the way to the boat last minute but not eat, then caught a largemouth that was a small cull. A little further down that same bank there was 1 little tree in about 3' of water. I pitched a Yamatanuki at it and caught a smallmouth that was a little over 14" that gave me a decent cull. Next pitch to the same tree, I caught a 15.75" smallmouth. There was at least one more in that tree that wanted to eat, but all it did was chase the Yamatanuki to the boat, and swirl on a topwater. At this point, I figured I had the exact same length as what I had the day before (77"). Not bad, but I knew I had to make up 6.5" to catch first and then some extra to pass him. It seemed like every tree I passed had fish on them and the next cove over, I knew had a few trees, so I started pedaling hard since I only had about a hour left. I rounded the point and there is a transition in the rock on the bank a quick drop. I was going to cruise by, but for some reason, I grabbed a rod and made a cast. My bait barely hit the water when a big smallmouth ate it. Didn't even have my Gopro running, that's how committed I was to skipping this bank. I did the unsmart thing and turned the camera on during the fight though. I was shaking so bad by the time I got that fish in the net, I couldn't hardly unhook it. It wasn't a monster by normal standards, but an 18.25" fish in the conditions we had, was a giant. Now I was over 80", I was given myself a chance, especially if I could get another good one. Maybe 50' down the bank, I saw a big one tracking my topwater, I worked it carefully, watching her close, then nab the bait. She shook her head a couple times, and was gone. Put my head back down and kept casting. I got to my area with the trees, a few trees and a beaver dam, I was going to cull here. 15 minutes later, I hadn't had a bite and time was running out fast. I turned around and headed back to the bank I'd caught the big one and lost the other. Halfway down that bank, a fish nipped at my bait but got stuck. I could tell by the swirl and pull, it was a good fish. With less than 30 minutes left, I slid the net under a 17.50" smallmouth. I caught 2 more fish that didn't help before the finally buzzer sounded. I had given it everything I had. I know I could have culled out those 2 15's with a little more time, or a little better luck, but it just didn't happen this day. I ended with 161" for 2 days, 84" on the day. It turned out to be good enough to put me in 2nd for the tournament, sending me to the Bassmaster Kayak Classic in March next year. It also was the final solid finish I needed to secure the AOY race, and my big smallmouth was the big fish of the day Sunday, which won me a Hobie inflatable lifevest. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed when I found out all I needed was another 2.50" for first place. I know I had that hooked or nearly hooked many times during the day. I told the guy that won to make sure he watches the video whenever I get it done so he can see how many close calls he had ?

Sheriff deputy for over 16 years now. Part of my current assignment is transporting inmates to and from court and also sitting in plains clothes with them during their trials. Unfortunately "plain clothes", translates to a suit and tie ?. As someone who selects clothes almost completely based off comfort, it is not my favorite thing at all.

Neither ?

I hope the boys appreciate me giving up such a sweet spot to be able to move on to state. So this past weekend was my championship tournament for Kansas Kayak Anglers. Going into the tournament, the AOY race was as tight as it could get. 1st had 795 points, second had 794 points, 3rd has 793 points, I was in 3rd. The tournament was on a lake I have fished a lot, but not nearly as much as normal this summer and the times I've fished it have been tough. I went down early Friday morning to prefish with no real gameplan, just go fishing. One of my first cast, I got a 17" largemouth out from under the docks by the ramp. I didn't catch another bass for probably an hour, a small spot on a spinnerbait. 30 minutes later, a 15" largemouth out of a laydown. Probably an hour later, a 16" largemouth out of another brushpile. Doesn't sound bad right? Problem is, this is a smallmouth lake, those largemouth are few, and far between and not something I was comfortable depending on, and I hadn't had a bite from a smallmouth. In fact, I moved 3 more ramps, and after launching at 0630, I finally caught my first smallmouth, an 8 incher, at 1630 (4:30pm). That was the first bass I had caught since the 16" largemouth I'd caught in the morning, I was feeling pretty down. I finally pedaled over to where I normally start when I take the family out to this lake because it's usually loaded with little ones. I got several bites, caught a few, including a 15 and 16 inch smallmouth. It wasn't much, it wasn't at all the plan I wanted, but it was better than nothing. That night I was still torn on what to do. There was a pretty big boat tournament the next day, and 20+mph winds forecast that were going to shrink the lake even more. I rigged my rods and did like I often do, sat out and fished for catfish to relax a little bit. They seemed to be biting like crazy. I had a triple on at one time, landing 2 of them and getting spooled by the 3rd. It felt good to relax and calm my nerves a little. It got my head right and I decided the next day, I was just going fishing again where I caught them to end the day. Next morning, the wind was howling when we launched. I pedaled across pretty stout waves. Anther kayak with a motor blew past me, straight to where I was headed. I thought he was going to sit where I wanted to go, but instead he drove right over the top of it and seemed to just be graphing or something, because he kept driving all over where I'd planned to fish. I pedaled to my spot and just set up on it. It took a little bit to get one to bite, but I finally got a 15.25" on a Ned rig. I kept getting sunfish bites on the Ned, so I switched to a tube. It was pretty instant with me catching 3 more small keepers, to go along with one other small keeper I'd caught on the Ned, to make a very small limit. It wasn't much, but it let me settle down and fish. A little down the bank, I pitched the tube to a concrete pillar and caught a 14.75" fish. I fished down the bank a long ways, catching lots of fish, but they were all very small. The wind was howling at this point, straight into where I was fishing. I had to make the safety call and pedal back against the wind. I pulled up to a calmer spot and tried to get bit but they weren't having it. I noticed some offshore rocks I'd never fished and dropped my tube on them and got a little tap. It wouldn't have weighed much in a boat tournament, but it was still 16.25" on my board. I moved around a lot, got stepped on by a lot of tournament boats, and with an hour to go, pedaled back to my started spot. I went back to the same concrete pillar, and caught a 15.25" and 15.50" smallmouth, both on the tube, to give me 77" on the day, good enough to be in second going into day 2. To be continued...?

Prime spots always reload. This stump is the the biggest, nastiest stump, on a channel edge, and in a choke/funnel area that is directly between 2 feeding flats. I wouldn't be surprised if there are always a few big fish by that stump. Another lake I fish has a beaver dam that extends into 10' of water on a prime spot. I've caught over 2 dozen bass out of that dam in less than and hour, including several big ones, because it's such a desirable location for the fish. Then came back a few hours later and caught several more. Less than prime spots may take much longer to reload.

I'm in a week long murder trial so not sure when I'll have time to do updates on all this, but more good news from the weekend. The boys that I boat captain for, that I took out prefishing for their tournament the weekend before last instead of prefishing for my own, they smashed them and are now qualified to fish the state tournament. Gavin caught their big one off the same stump I caught my big one off while we were prefishing, the one I made sure to emphasis "Always has a big one on it, just a matter of whether you get her to bite or not". Looks like they got her to bite ?