You don't need it unless pursuing them which would be a complete waste of time by this time of year. 

I decided to go ahead and check out Kill Creek this past Saturday and was not disappointed. I caught 10 LMs with the biggest being 4# (pictured). I had several 2s and the rest were various sized dinks. All came on Beavers using large and small, green pumpkin and California 420. Very pleasant day.

Kill creek is a lake that I just never seem to figure out. I can always catch a few, but they're always dinks and each one feels like an accident more than a fish I figured out and caught on purpose. I was there maybe 2 weeks ago and struggled for about 10 fish, including the smallest bass I've ever caught on a frog, pulled my frog under like a bluegill pulls a bobber under. Biggest I caught might have touched 2lbs was on an 11" worm, ate it while I was reeling it in to make another cast. 

Most of my bites, including the 4, were the softest little tap where you think, "did I just feel that?" or "that doesn't feel right". Just feels a little heavier than the bait. This was my first 4 pounder in over 12 years as I just started fishing again this year. So glad to get the feel of the soft bite back. So many fish are missed on soft bites. Also had to pull her out of a tree and my old method worked there too. So very glad to be back fishing. 

Pretty solid 4 hours on the water after work Thursday morning.

9 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Pretty solid 4 hours on the water after work Thursday morning.

Clayton, what % of the time do you find yourself taking the boat out vs the yak?

2 hours ago, pauldconyers said:

Clayton, what % of the time do you find yourself taking the boat out vs the yak?

95% of the time I'm in the kayak. Only reason I've taken the boat this year has been so family could go too.

I had two really great days of fishing this past weekend. Friday my wife and I went out to Lenexa (1^st time on the water there) and really got after them. I had 13 with 5 that would go 2 lbs. and the rest dinks. They all came on green pumpkin beavers. The best part of the day was teaching my wife to pitch. She really picked it up fast and I am so proud of her. The weed growth made it difficult for her to detect bites but she did manage to catch one at about a pound and a half. We spent about three hours there and just had the best time. Saturday I went out to Douglas for the first time. Again a great deal of weeds in the water and the bass were holding to almost any irregular feature on the edges. Caught 11 with the biggest being near 3 lbs. There were some super aggressive bites and again, all came on the green pumpkin beaver. This made my 6^th trip on my little pontoon boat and I am having a blast with it. Heading to Leavenworth Lake Friday this week looking for a few Smallies. Y’all have a great week!

4 minutes ago, geedavid said:

 Heading to Leavenworth Lake Friday this week looking for a few Smallies. Y’all have a great week!

There's very few smallmouth left in Leavenworth, but there are a few. You're much more likely to just catch a bunch of small largemouth. It does usually have clear water and weeds that those aggressive little bass like to hide in. 

Got a couple picture worthy fish from SMP Saturday morning. 1 on topwater and 1 on a Pitboss.

Anyone else just having an incredibly slow and minimally producing top water bite this year? 
 

I can count on one hand the number of fish that have succumbed to top water this year for me. 

1 hour ago, Dirtyeggroll said:

Anyone else just having an incredibly slow and minimally producing top water bite this year? 
 

I can count on one hand the number of fish that have succumbed to top water this year for me. 

It kinda depended on the lake.   There was only two good topwater bites this summer that I got on.

It's been about the same for me. Probably fewer fish but better quality really. My frog and buzzbait bites haven't been good, but the WTD and popper bites have been good.

Fished the Wyco Wednesday night last night, we caught a ton of shorts and one 14 incher.  No fish to weigh in for us.  The people who won had 7 pounds anchored by a 5 pounder.  Second place had 2 pounds.  

 

I caught one on a crank bait, flipped it in the boat and it flopped and buried a treble in my hand, then it flopped again and out came the treble.  Got lucky there.    

2 hours ago, HaydenS said:

Fished the Wyco Wednesday night last night, we caught a ton of shorts and one 14 incher.  No fish to weigh in for us.  The people who won had 7 pounds anchored by a 5 pounder.  Second place had 2 pounds.  

 

I caught one on a crank bait, flipped it in the boat and it flopped and buried a treble in my hand, then it flopped again and out came the treble.  Got lucky there.    

July and august are usually my best time for bigger fish at WYCO. This year the big girls have been hibernating lately. I was there yesterday morning caught a bunch of sublegal largemouth and this girl. she was 18.5 inches but only weighed 2.8 pounds. 

45 minutes ago, Russ E said:

July and august are usually my best time for bigger fish at WYCO. This year the big girls have been hibernating lately. I was there yesterday morning caught a bunch of sublegal largemouth and this girl. she was 18.5 inches but only weighed 2.8 pounds. 

Nice! 

Thinking about hitting some bigger water this weekend. Melvern, Hillsdale, Middle Creek, Perry, Clinton...thoughts on which to choose? 

This time of year is usually pretty tough anywhere. I'd probably be at Melvern or Clinton out of those options and be open to catching whatever was biting. I'll be beating my head against the wall at La Cygne again.

2 hours ago, KansasBassin said:

Thinking about hitting some bigger water this weekend. Melvern, Hillsdale, Middle Creek, Perry, Clinton...thoughts on which to choose? 

I'd go to Perry

5 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I'll be beating my head against the wall at La Cygne again.

Tourney? Or choosing to be there for some undisclosed reason?

1 hour ago, Dirtyeggroll said:

Tourney? Or choosing to be there for some undisclosed reason?

Guiding 

On 8/20/2021 at 3:17 PM, Bluebasser86 said:

This time of year is usually pretty tough anywhere. I'd probably be at Melvern or Clinton out of those options and be open to catching whatever was biting. I'll be beating my head against the wall at La Cygne again.

Do any good? I caught two nice keepers at Hillsdale on the Black Rock Canoe squarebilll up by that little bridge. Think I will go to Melvern tomorrow. 

50 minutes ago, KansasBassin said:

Do any good? I caught two nice keepers at Hillsdale on the Black Rock Canoe squarebilll up by that little bridge. Think I will go to Melvern tomorrow. 

Missed more than we caught but our best 5 would have been around 17-18 pounds with the 2 biggest being 4.59 and 5.12 but only caught 6 or 7 bass and a few tiny white bass.

All the Jackson County lakes and down at Pomme have a pretty typical pattern right now. Find the shad on the flats and the bass will be there. Feeding frenzies for sure in the morning and at sunset. Obviously topwaters have been a big player, but my old man and I have been catching larger than average fish by burning squarebills around isolated cover on the flats. Think shallow.

Anyone been fishing at Smithville or Truman lately? Never been and thinking of a little exploration.