Bluebasser86

Only brown fish in the 'Dotte are carp!!

VMC inlines or short shanks depending on the bait.

LC 1.5 or KVD 1.5 The Little John is quickly moving up the list though.

We do it all the time. It can be tricky to avoid getting snagged or broke off but it is really effective once you get the hang of it.

Looking like April 27th is going to work for almost everyone so that's the date I have it set at as of right now.

So you both have a nonboater already or do you have a spot for a nonboater?

Is he still buying another one? Sounded like he was getting a good deal on it but wasn't sure if he was 100% on getting it yet.

I've added a list of the teams that I have already and the list of guys who I know are boats/nonboaters. If I don't have anything listed after your name either I don't know which you are or you said you have a small boat and I'm waiting to see if we can get you in a boat. Hi Salenity and Wachati if need be would you guys mind both fishing as boaters? I hate to break up the reigning champs but I'd prefer nobody have to fish from a yak or pond prowler if we can avoid it. As far as launching on the south side, I have no problem with it, especially if the wind is supposed to be like it normally is on Melvern. My suggestion would be for us to follow normal tournament trailering rules. At the time when everyone is launching you can drive to whichever ramp you'd like to launch from and then must be back at the main ramp by weigh in. The state park ramp is just nice because many guys have the state park vehicle permit so not everyone has to pay to launch and then the shelters right there by the ramp for the cookout afterwards. For those of you that haven't come to one of the previous get togethers be prepared to have fun! It's a free bragging rights paper tourny (no weigh in, just measuring fish), with food and drinks afterwards. No entry fee and no prizes for the tournament, it's just for fun and bragging rights afterwards. The only thing you'll be asked to contribute is some food or drinks if you're planning on staying and eating and some gas money for your boater if you're fishing as a nonboater, especially since it's already almost $4 a gallon. Tournament rules/regs: April 27th 2013 Start time-7am End time-3pm Standard BASS rules apply (no live bait/1 rod per person/fish must be caught following all state laws). Fish are measured with mouth closed, bumped to the front edge of the board with the tail pinched, measure to the closest 1/4". All black bass (large,small,spots) qualify. Measurements are on the honor system (it's for fun and I don't believe anyone on here has an ego big enough to feel the need to exaggerate to win nothing other than bragging rights). Feel free to take pictures of your fish to show off afterwards and/or weigh them but it isn't required for the weigh in. If you show up with 5 18-20 inch smallmouth on your card and no pictures you better be ready to answer some questions though It will be the total lengths of the longest 5 fish caught per boat/team. Doesn't matter if one person caught all of them, it's the overall length of the 5 longest combined. We're only doing measurements to prevent killing fish by carrying them around in a livewell all day. Plus there probably wouldn't be many fish brought in with the 18" length limit on smallmouth anyways. The main objective here is for everyone to catch some fish and have a good time and get to meet some of the guys from the board so remember to be courteous to everyone involved and others on the water. There's 7,000 acres for us to spread around on so if someone is catching fish please don't park on top of them unless you get the ok from them to share the spot regardless of if they're in the tournament or not.

Trout are a blast on light tackle. I don't eat them but when you can catch a 2-4 pound fish on light tackle that pulls hard and makes some of the most acrobatic jumps you'll see in freshwater, I'm in. That's what I'll be chasing Wednesday

My FIL has 2 Omegas that I helped him pick out because he wanted a couple nicer reels to fish with. The Omegas are a pretty impressive reel, cast very well and built very solidly. I've fished with them a time or two and yes they were a little slow and my accuracy was terrible with them but they cast a mile and I still was able to catch fish on them. My mom uses a Daiwa Goldcast when she fishes, she landed a 14 and 17 pound channel cat out of a pond with it so it must not be that bad.

Their EWG Magna hook is about the only hook I use for my plastics anymore. Very occasionally I'll roll a point on a snag but if I do I just throw it away. A 25 pack for 8.99 makes it so I can toss a hook and it doesn't almost make me tear up. I've never used their treble hooks though.

KVD 1.5 Green Gizzard Shad or LC 1.5 in Bull Bream, Green Copper Shad

Don't bother fishing deeper water in Perry, they just never seem to be offshore in that lake. I've never bothered fishing Clinton, a lot better options in that area than Clinton imo. Check out the KC Area thread in the Central Forum, lots of reports for lakes in your area.

Were you using all 5 of the same baits? I always use one different color bait and it seems like 75% of my fish eat the different colored bait. That could be a simple as using a different colored swimbait head or dying the tail of one of the baits.

Another option I forgot would be to rent a boat for one of the larger ponds at James A. Reed. That would be my pick because those smaller bodies of water will warm up faster than the bigger lakes so they should be more active. I know they used to rent boats out there, not sure if they still do or what time it starts but even if they don't I'd rather bank fish out there than fish one of those bigger lakes until it warms up more.

Firetiger and Mistake colored cranks are some of my favorite dirty water colors.

Well if you have very clear water then yes they will spawn in deeper water. I've caught them off beds in 15' of water at Table Rock. What I meant though was they'll be in the first deep water near their spawning areas that they'll be using once the water warms up.

If I only had those to chose from I'd go to Jacomo if I was after bass. If you don't mind fishing for something else I'd find a lake with trout and fish for those because they're much more active in colder water. Smithville would be an option if you don't mind crappie fishing. I'd go a couple weeks later if that's an option. If you don't mind driving a little further I'd certainly go to Pomme De Terre or Stockton over any of those other lakes for sure.

They're extremely sharp but I loose too many hooks to fish with them.

All our smallmouth lakes in the state have Zebra Mussels. If you've never tried to drag a jig or shakyhead through those things you don't know what you're missing. It's like trying to set the hook with your line across a razor blade.

Any idea what the water temps are? Most likely if the males are up there the females are going to be on the first little drop near deeper water where they'll be spawning at.

What lakes are you fishing in Kansas? I've fished most of them in the eastern end of the state.

He could just put my name down on the entry. I'm not quite 27 yet so statistically I've got a shot at being around long enough to collect all the winnings

If I have my jig rod in my hands I'm happy. If that jig happens to be a 1/2oz brush jig and I'm pulling fish out of laydowns or off docks, then I'm even happier.

And lots of them will never leave there