Ondrejka

Good problem to have!

Awww Van that's not true. Somehow you always manage to find any given SFL's biggest Saugeyes.

We caught plenty of those too. It's pretty standard to run into a ton of Smallmouth during the Crappie spawn. But I've never seen you with anything but a largemouth in your hand, so you may not know that.

I took that photo yesterday. Don't bother. It'll be at LEAST another month before lone star is on the mend. Fished the annual Special Olympics of Kansas Crappie tournament today at Clinton. Ran across my biggest Clinton Smallie to date first thing in the morning. The incidental brown fish are my favorite part of the spawn.

So gnarly!

Welcome to the madness.

I feel like with even with the smallest of changes made now, after 4378 changes already, my credibility is slowwwwwly dwindling...lol

Always a pleasure Cootie. I still wish it was a weekly thing....

KBN just had their Mr. Bass 2016 tournament there last weekend. Two day winning weight was 32 lbs, with big bass being almost 7. Lots of good ones weighed in, green and brown ones. So yeah I'd say there's some good fish in there. I only know the lake for it's Walleye fishing, couldn't tell you anything about where to start on the bass side of things.

Start at the warm water outlet, fish both sides all the way out, and then pick any spot on the rip rap on the mainlake and then pick a direction and fish it. Warm water throughout the entire lake, anyone's guess on what they'll eat. Let them tell you what they want. Never a bad idea to go flip the trees either. He needs to get some of them there Luna Cush-Its like ole' boy Shaw.

Yes

With the high, muddy waters virtually everywhere, I'd recommend just going to Wolf Creek (Coffey County). That's usually a go-to with the conditions the way they are, as the lake level doesn't fluctuate much and can usually have pretty consistent success.

Packed weekend of guide trips as always grinding out Crappie, but wanted to share this one. Ran into a giant Clinton Smallie during one of my trips this weekend. Jig/plastic tipped with a minnow, almost took the guy's rod over the side as he set it down to take a drink. Jumped about 3-4 times, last one she could have easily jumped over one of us standing in the boat, probably 4-5 feet. Really fun one for this guy on ultralight gear. Biggest brown fish from Clinton I've had in my boat for about two years now. This was one of five accidental Smallies we had yesterday, among tons of green ones too.

If I can't put them in my livewell for pictures at the end of the day when I'm fun fishing I wouldn't consider them keepers. I want five 18+ in the box not two 15s. Although five brown fish over 18 at Melvern is possible, would be extremely rare.

I read your text out loud to DJ and then you guys blew right past us. A few points down from Alhonna. I was hurtin for ya, but the upside to that story is you at least freed that poor fella from all of the line and stuff, haha.

Well, back to reality after an awesome four days at LOZ. Got in Wednesday evening and pre-fished all day Thursday and Friday. Thursday was...epic. I think by 9am DJ had already caught 4-5 respectable fish. With the conditions how they were then, we targeted mostly the backs of pockets we knew from last year. Came up to one mid-morning in the same cove as the resort we stayed at last year. DJ and I were both throwing beavers on a swing head. Pitched up shallow in the pocket and all of the sudden there was a little weight and my line slowly started moving to the right away from the bank. Swung on her and it was on, first big girl in the net. 6 lbs. 13 oz. 22 1/2" Also my new PB. My first fish of the trip and it's a toad. I was ecstatic and sat back and enjoyed that fish for about an hour. The rest of the day was steady and knew we had a pattern. We went in around 1:30 for lunch, had some drinks (and by some drinks I mean I was pretty buzzed), and headed back out around 4:30. Fished some newer water in the evening and was still steady. Around 6, DJ hooked up with another pig. 5 lbs. 15 oz. Couldn't believe we saw two fish that caliber the first day. High hopes? I think so. Fast forward to our second day of pre fishing on Friday. Conditions totally changed. Pressure skyrocketed. Not the day we'd had on Thursday at all. We hoped the pressure would settle a little bit for the tournament on Saturday and Sunday, but boy were we wrong. Fish either moved out or locked up. We couldn't even get half the Spots we saw on beds to eat. Nothing changed for the weekend. Sunday we fished all deep mainlake and secondary points figuring big fish were on the move, but only had dinks on a C rig. Pressure still through the roof, not to mention the immense boat pressure. It was a rough tournament, especially considering I would have been in some serious money with my fish (top 6), and DJ would have been in the money as well. Guys obviously found big fish, but hey that's just how it goes. All I wanted on this trip was a new PB and good times with my buddies, and that's what we got. Can't wait to get back as always.

You're going to find 10x more small males up shallow right now anyhow. Won't be long before the big girls move up.

You get any takers on the Plopper?

The blur had me dying

I wouldn't recommend fishing it until next week.

Took bradco to Melvern yesterday and it was tough. Well, tougher/slower than what we're used to at least. We grinded it out though. There was, as per usual, a big tournament going on. What can ya do. On another note.............ONLY TWO DAYS UNTIL WE LEAVE FOR LOZ FOR THE BASH!!! I'm on pins and needles. Bradco and I have a similar story about some tournament turds we crossed paths with yesterday. They were a real treat.

As far as moving baits, it's hard to beat a spinnerbait this time of year. Jerkbait will probably do the trick too given the temps. Had good success on a 3.8 or 4.3" Speed Shad two weeks ago. Otherwise my go to's are always dragging a tube, or the Ned. There's really not a bad spot on Melvern, to be honest. Fish everywhere. Short of giving away my milk run where we'll be on Sunday.

Usually when a full moon coincides with upper 50s is when they'll start. I have a guide trip there Sunday, expecting to have a pretty solid day. Will be targeting bigger fish a bit deeper, because generally speaking the bigger the bass, the deeper and earlier they may spawn. But it's still very early on Melvern yet, just the beginning.

Let me know if you run into any big Northerns. I'm making a trip out there ASAP for sure.