Fairly new to bass fishing and live around the Wichita area.  I can't seem to find any fish over 3 pounds anywhere on public waters.  Seems like they are all fished hard or they have large numbers of 15" and under.  Biggest fish so far was caught at Butler last summer and was 18.5" and biggest this year 17".  So just curious what other Kansans have caught on public waters.

I believe Hi Salenity blows everyone out of the water there with the 9.25 he caught last winter.

Mine is 7lb 14oz.

Yeah where are some local honey holes and what are you guys pulling out of them 

Just need to start taking what you catch and fill up your pond 

Mine is 7.2 from a south east kansas lake.

Just need to start taking what you catch and fill up your pond

Horrible suggestion unless you want a big fine from KDWP. Also not a good way to get bigger fish in a pond and a good way to end up with unwanted plants or animals in your pond. There's much more to it than just adding big fish in a pond. More than likely you'll be better off taking fish out of a pond instead of putting more fish into it. Fish grow to their environment, the less room and food per fish, the smaller your average size will be generally.

I believe Hi Salenity blows everyone out of the water there with the 9.25 he caught last winter.

Mine is 7lb 14oz.

What lakes were these caught in Bluebasser?  Wondering how far away from Wichita these lakes are.  Thanks for the response glad to see there are big ones out in public waters here in Kansas. 

La Cygne and Nebo. Neither is close to Wichita. Butler and McPherson both have big fish in them. 

Need to make the trip to SE Kansas.  Bone Creek, Cedar Creek, Big Hill, Hillsdale, and most of the county State Lakes are really good.  My Kansas pb on public waters is 7.50# from Bone Creek.  The good thing is that most of these lakes you have to drive on gravel roads to get to them.  Keeps the 'pretty boys' away.

 

SE Kansas grass grower

Need to make the trip to SE Kansas.  Bone Creek, Cedar Creek, Big Hill, Hillsdale, and most of the county State Lakes are really good.  My Kansas pb on public waters is 7.50# from Bone Creek.  The good thing is that most of these lakes you have to drive on gravel roads to get to them.  Keeps the 'pretty boys' away.

 

SE Kansas grass grower

 

Bone is mine as well. 

Need to make the trip to SE Kansas.  Bone Creek, Cedar Creek, Big Hill, Hillsdale, and most of the county State Lakes are really good.  My Kansas pb on public waters is 7.50# from Bone Creek.  The good thing is that most of these lakes you have to drive on gravel roads to get to them.  Keeps the 'pretty boys' away.

 

SE Kansas grass grower

He said Hillsdale

hahahaha

He said Hillsdale

Had to wait for someone else to say it. Lol.

Horrible suggestion unless you want a big fine from KDWP. Also not a good way to get bigger fish in a pond and a good way to end up with unwanted plants or animals in your pond. There's much more to it than just adding big fish in a pond. More than likely you'll be better off taking fish out of a pond instead of putting more fish into it. Fish grow to their environment, the less room and food per fish, the smaller your average size will be generally.

 

 

I was just kidding with that comment I know its more than that haha 

I was just kidding with that comment I know its more than that haha 

Good deal. Sorry to take it so literal but there's a lot of folks out there that see no problem with moving fish from one body of water to the next. I'm sure we'll have zebra mussels in every lake in the state before too long anyways but no reason to speed the process up for them. 

 

To the OP, if you haven't checked out the KDWPT's website and looked at the fishing forecast you may want to do that. It gives you a good idea where to start looking for big bass. The lunker rating and biggest fish sampled is about the only thing I pay attention to but it's helped me find some of my favorite lakes. 

I second (or third, or fourth...) the SE Kansas suggestion. La Cygne, Bone Creek, Tanglewood (private, but if you know someone, the lakes there offer very good bass fishing) they're really good.

 

I have caught some good fish, over 5lbs, out of Bourbon SFL as well, and that's a little closer. Really cool lake with stuff to do around it when it's too hot to fish, like walk up to the waterfall at the north end of the lake or check out all the wildlife around there. Excellent channel catfishing at night is a nice bonus.

I second (or third, or fourth...) the SE Kansas suggestion. La Cygne, Bone Creek, Tanglewood (private, but if you know someone, the lakes there offer very good bass fishing) they're really good.

 

I have caught some good fish, over 5lbs, out of Bourbon SFL as well, and that's a little closer. Really cool lake with stuff to do around it when it's too hot to fish, like walk up to the waterfall at the north end of the lake or check out all the wildlife around there. Excellent channel catfishing at night is a nice bonus.

Does Tanglewood have some good fish in it? I have access to it but have always heard it only has small fish.

Does Tanglewood have some good fish in it? I have access to it but have always heard it only has small fish.

I'd fish La Cynge, Bone Creek, or Bourbon if I were going strictly after bigger fish. I can't speak to some of the other lakes on here like Nebo, but they probably have similar offerings. 

 

Tanglewood has several lakes. They all have good numbers, but like you said, they're mostly smaller. The biggest lake, however, has some good sized fish. I've caught many 3-4 pounders out of there using more aggressive tackle, actively trying to avoid catching the smaller fish. Large buzzbaits, big plastics, ect.

I believe Hi Salenity blows everyone out of the water there with the 9.25 he caught last winter.

Mine is 7lb 14oz.

Didnt we all just have this discussion on text messaging the other night LOL!! 

This is my 7lb14oz Kansas PB.

 

I fish almost strictly public waters in Kansas and have caught a couple pretty nice fish through the years. 

And since Hi Salenity hasn't posted it yet, here's what 9 1/4 pounds of Kansas bass looks like.

Awesome fish! I wish I could find the time to get out more often. Really cool that your dog goes out with you. My lab would love that. What lake is the first picture, the one with your pb?

Awesome fish! I wish I could find the time to get out more often. Really cool that your dog goes out with you. My lab would love that. What lake is the first picture, the one with your pb?

Cassidee has been going with me since she was a puppy and now I can't go without her or she pouts for a week.

 

That's Nebo, one of the most difficult lakes in the state to even get a bite but it also has some of the biggest fish in the state and almost certainly the biggest fish swimming in a state lake. 

Never fished it, but I'd love to give it a shot. The lakes that are more sparsely populated to me are often more rewarding. I need to plan a day to get down there...

Another PB fell on a public lake in KS, this time for 2003stratos, 6lb 15oz. Jared has been working hard and had a lot of frustrating days trying for that fish, glad he finally got a big one.