Russ E

Mostly black or white depending on water clarity. A bluegill pattern works well on a couple small lakes around here.

I can't compete with the southern guys, but it was a good year for me. my largest 5 were all largemouth. 7 lb. 11 oz. 6 lb. 10 oz. (can't find a pic for proof) 6 lb. 6 oz. 6 lb. 4 oz. 5 lb 12 oz. 5 lb. 4 oz. 7lb 11oz 6lb 6oz 6lb 4oz 5lb 12oz could not find a picture of the 6lb 10oz. so here is a 5lb 4oz. I caught this summer. Was not a good year for smallmouth. did not catch any smallies over 3lb. this year. I decided to add some pictures

I have 2 helx 7 G2's they are not networkable. you have to get the G2N.

This was my backyard in Kansas City this morning. Supposed to be cold for next 5 days, then warm back up to normal temps. This weather is disrupting my fall fishing.

I replaced three pflueger presidents with 2 Kastking sharky 3 and 1 speed demon spinning reel this year. They preformed flawlessly all summer and fall. the sharky 3 is $52.00 on amazon. the speed demon is $90.00. they are both very nice reels. I use 2000 size in both I use the speed demon for shakyheads and the sharky 3 for everything else that I need a spinning outfit for.

Just a heads up for anyone planning to fish Wyandotte this weekend. I was out there today for about 4 hours. All I caught was 5 small bass and a crappie on a ned rig. They were all in less than 2 foot of water. water is very dirty with floating debris everywhere. Looks like turnover just happened. surface temp was 54 degrees at 11:00 am. Ned Kahde indicated the same thing yesterday on the finesse news network. From his description of the lake, I assume this is where he was fishing.

Growing up in eastern Iowa, I would get a kick out of the guys that will not fish when it gets around freezing, but will stand out in 10 below zero weather trying to call in a coyote.

Have not heard discombobulated for a long time. 2 things i noticed about getting old is, 1:the small hiccups in life, that I would have ignored 20 years ago, now become major issues. 2: things that used to really bother me, are now a mere nuisance.

welcome. here is a thread that gets updated often for us Kc Area guys.

i have fishing gloves with hand warmer pouches that help. can't cast without exposing my thumb or forefinger. depends on if I am using a baitcaster or spinning rod. those are the two fingers I can't keep warm.

winter fishing can be boom or bust here. it seems the nastier the weather, the better the fishing is on the one power plant lake I fish. the one caveat is, they have to be generating electricity. the cold water lakes often get ice on them. usually not thick enough to safely ice fish. the main problem I have with winter fishing is, as I have aged, my hands can't tolerate the cold for long. my arthritis starts acting up and my hands get sore and stiff. cold weather is a good reminder, that you are not young anymore.

@Bluebasser86 mentioned here he was using them. I found some on e-bay, they are not cheap but pretty nice baits. I have always used smaller husky jerks, but they are hard to cast far, with a baitcaster. the rozantes are heavier and cast a lot easier.

got a couple new Duo Realis rozante 77sp jerkbaits, they did well on largemouth last week at Wyandotte. they have an awesome action for a small jerkbait. hoping to entice a couple smallies at Shawnee this week with them.

thanks. I don't care for trout. I am hoping to hook into a big smallmouth.

Does anyone know if Shawnee lake is open. I heard it temporarily closed to let the trout Acclimate

That's great that it was all covered. I have owned Minn kotas for 30 years. I have hit trees with the trolling motor head so hard, it nearly threw me out of the boat. Without damaging the shaft. It usually just bows and snaps back. A little off topic but I am curious. How do you bend the shaft of a Minn Kota trolling motor? Nevermind I see you explained it in a different thread

I am 55 years old. previously I had a long hour, high stress job. Finances made it possible to retire at 53 years old. I jumped at the oppurtunity I contracted part time with the company for a year. Training their new hires. then I was out. Don't regret it for a minute. I have fished more this last 2 years, than I have in the previous 20 years. Kansas city has plenty of things for the wife and I to do when I am not fishing. spent most of my life in a factory. Don't plan on ever going back.

My first dobyns fury was a gamble, since I never held one before ordering. I now own three. They are hard to beat in the $110.00-$120.00 range. to me theiir action run a little lighter than most rods. a medium heavy fury is similar to a medium action in most other brands. I have a 7ft 3in medium heavy, a 7ft 3in heavy, and a 7ft medium action cranking rod. love them all Another rod I took a gamble on after several reviews here was the Kastking speed demon pro rod. they are also in the $110.00 dollar range. It's action tends to run a little heavier than most other rods. I now own 3 of them also. I have a medium action jig.worm casting rod, a medium light spinning shakyhead rod, and a medium action 6ft 10in casting jerkbait rod. love all of them also. These 6 rods are used for 90% of my bass fishing.

My 2 favorite reels are abu garcia gen4 revo's and Diawa tatula's. the tatula is a little better at casting light lures. The revo is a little more comfortable in my hand. They are both good reels. the lews mach 1 is an ok reel, but it takes a lot of thumb control to prevent backlashes. In my opinion there are a lot better reels for the price. The best thing to do is go to a sporting goods store and handle the reels. See what feels better in your hand.

Windy and cold seemed like the perfect time to go after a huge coal burner bass. the stack was smoking and anticipation was high. Making the last 5 miles seem like an eternity. say what you will about burning coal to produce electricity. to an eastern Kansas bass fisherman, this is a vision of beauty. Water was warmer than I expected. Still hovering around 59 degrees on the cold side of the lake. Morning started off decent with a light west wind. caught several smaller fish topped off with this 3 pounder on a swimbait. not the trophy I was after, but better than getting skunked. Late morning a strong cold wind started blowing from the north and I did not get another bite. although the big fish did not bite, it was a good morning of fishing. Maybe the trophy will come next time.

Like some people have already stated, I use the leader more for abrasion resistance and the ability to break off in a snag. I use 10lb braid with an 8lb leader on my Ned rig rod. Last week I forgot the leader material and had to use straight braid. Did not notice any lack of bites, from using straight braid. Did have to retie more often, because 10lb braid is not very forgiving if it gets nicks in the line.

I use the salty super fluke most of the time. Shad color gets used the most. Followed by pearl, and green pumpkin. Usually fish it weightless on a 3/0 or 4/0 heavy wire ewg hook.

I was at La Cygne today. Fished a bladed jig, a jerkbait and a squarebill. Caught several small bass, a couple catfish, and several white bass. Could not get any big fish to bite. Like you mentioned it is loaded with shad.

I use several different brands, but the smokin shad super fluke catches me the most fish. I fish it weightless with a heavy wire hook most o the time. especially in the fall. In summer I will fish it on a mojo rig, when fish are a little deeper. I put a 1/8 oz weight 2 foot up the line. let it sink, then give a couple hard jerks, then let it settle back down to the bottom. If a fish bites it usually just feels heavy when you pick it up off of bottom. caught my personal best this summer on the mojo rigged smokin shad fluke.

one good thing is you have the 1 in 7 twist, so it should stabilize the heavier 77 grain hunting bullets. You can use the lower power scopes, I used to hunt with a 1X4X20 scope. my old eyes prefer the 3X9X40 I have never had a problem finding a deer with my scopes set at 3X. Shot a doe at 10 yards at 3X with a muzzleloader. I suggest going to a sporting goods store and looking through a few scopes. Some of the 20mm low power scopes have a small field of view.