Bluebasser86

I find dozens of Rattlin' Raps every year hanging in trees. Trap style baits are really popular in our lakes because of the high populations of white bass in most of them. I usually clean them up and give them away. I love trap style baits but I just can't buy a bait with the Rapalas.

So I'm guessing your vote goes for Melvern?

I'll take this trade. You guys saying Smith isn't a good QB must have forgotten who the Chiefs starting QB was, Matt Cassel, anyone is an upgrade at this point. They'll still get the top pick of a strong defensive class I imagine and then still have their first rounder next year where they could pick up a QB if Smith does turn out to be a bust. I finally feel like they might be headed in the right direction. They are a couple seasons away from being real competitors anyways.

Spend a few extra bucks and get 2 Avids. I fish almost all St.Croix rods but wasn't impressed by either Rage rods I owned. They felt pretty nice and I loved the handle but the pitching rod I bought broke swinging in a 2lb fish. The epoxy on the fore grip of the spinning rod I bought broke loose and the reel fell off the rod.

I'm curious about them but I'm not in any hurry to pick any up. Almost bought one at the Expo but I'm so skeptical about the durability of any Rapala bait that I decided to wait.

I usually start with 5-10 seconds with 45-48 degree water. A 5 count was the deal in 46 degree water last week.

They don't look that much different than the Meathead worm that they already make except with a little less taper. I really like the Meatheads and I'm sure I'll try a few bags.

Rapala Rattlin' Rap, just can not catch fish on them.

The smaller size crawbug is an awesome sight fishing bait. I like to fish them with a light weight so they sink slowly towards the bottom like a real craw.

Lake votes Melvern-8 Bourban-1 Ft.Scott-4 Mozingo-1

Internal weighted swimbaits like the Storm Wildeye shad are one of my favorite baits because they're cheap since tailraces are notoriously snaggy, they catch about anything that lives there, and they cast really well. Bucktails and jigging spoons are also good baits when fish are holding along the bottom. If the current isn't too fast I like crankbaits and hard jointed swimbaits also.

#1 Yes, I keep my finger on the line and watch the line both. #2 Very rarely. The only real reason to have both guys in the front is if I'm trying to parallel a bank.

If you're looking for a lake that is close that is also a challenge I'd rather go to La Cygne, at least I know there's bass in there. This is supposed to be a fun tournament, I think that kind of rules Hillsdale out Seriously, if that's where everyone wants to go then that's where we'll have it. Right now I only have two PM'd official votes, one for Bourban, one for Melvern.

Do you use braid for your mainline? I used to gut hook a lot of fish when I used a C-rig until I started using braid for my mainline. Not only did it reduce deep hooked fish but it also increased my hookup ratio.

Send me a PM with your vote for lake and date. 1 melvern 2 mozingo 3 bone creek 4 perry 5 critzer 6 mound city 7 fort scott 8 bourbon county state 9 Wabunsee We'll probably be looking at Spawn/Post spawn conditions for largemouth and post spawn conditions for smallmouth. Melvern-most of you know Melvern pretty well, pretty easy to catch fish with a mix of all three species and some big fish available Mozingo-1,000 acres with lots of standing timber and grass. Largemouth only with lots and lots of fish to be caught and it produces quite a few fish over 8lbs in tournaments every year. Mainly a flipping, cranking lake. Bone Creek-Little over 500 acres, mainly standing timber with some grass. Largemouth only with lots of little fish and few bigger ones. Can be tough to fish because of the abundance of trees. Mainly a flipping, cranking lake. Good topwater bites most mornings. Perry-11,000 acres, mainly rocks, clay, and some timber and brushpiles. Largemouth and smallmouth with a good population and great average size for largemouth and big versions of both. Can be tough at times but when it's good, it's really good. Mainly a plastics and cranking lake. Critzer-220 acres with 180 acres of standing timber, almost too thick in areas. Lots of fish with a mix of Largemouth and a few smallmouth. Biggest fish sampled from a lake came from Critzer at almost 9lbs. Plastics and jigs are about all you can fish. Mound City-180 acres with some standing timber, weeds, and rocks. Largemouth only with good numbers of fish and plenty of big ones, I've seen them over 10lbs from this lake. They will eat about anything but plastics, cranks, and chatterbaits are best. Ft.Scott-360 acres, mainly rocks, weeds, and lots of docks. Largemouth and spots with good numbers of both and some good quality largemouths. They'll eat about anything but jigs and plastics catch a majority of my fish from this lake. Bourbon State Lake- 103nacres but it fishes much larger. Weeds, laydowns, and rocks are the main cover. A good mixture of largemouth and spots with amazing numbers of fish and a few bigger ones. You can catch fish on anything you feel like catching fish on at this lake with nothing really working better than anything else. Wabunsee-216 acres with tons of docks and lots of rocks. A good mixture of largemouth and smallmouth with good numbers and great sizes of both, probably state records of both in this lake. Jigs, plastics, and cranks all work well on this lake. The main downside is the day use fee and boat inspection prior to launching a boat. If anyone has a lake they want to add to the list let me know and I'll add it on here.

A few more options on lakes, Mound City, Critzer, or Bone Creek. Let me know what you guys think on the lakes or if you want any more info on any of them to help make your vote.

Good deal, not sure if you had a typo or if you misread but the two dates I listed were April 27th or May 4th if that makes a difference on when you could make it. If we go to one of the smaller lakes we have several members that have smaller boats that are capable of handling just fine so if Chris can't make it I'm sure we can find someone else to pair you with. If we go to one of the smaller lakes you may end up having to be a boater depending on who all decides to show up. Sounds good, stay tuned for further details on when and where.

They can be very effective at times. I've mainly had success with jointed hard bodied baits, usually 4-6 inch versions but I'm sure they'll eat larger ones if you're willing to put in the time. Generally good spinnerbait conditions equal good swimbait conditions on the Rock.

I hate fishing a C-rig but I've caught lots of fish on them and can't deny their effectiveness. It's just a very boring way to fish for me. I normally fish a full sized brush hog on one with brass bullet weights, glass beads, and a brass clicker. I fish them on a 7' 3" MH/F LTB with a 200E7 and 50lb braid mainline with a fluoro leader.

I've caught lots of fish on a 128 pointer, not quite as long but 5" long and very tall and a full ounce it's a very large bait. The hardest part is trying to twitch a bait that large.

A few pics from the Classic. One of several keeper bass I caught on a jerkbait from Grand. Chris' 4.12lb largemouth he caught right before we went to the final weigh in. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of Jon's 6.94 pounder he caught Saturday. Edwin Evers digging rods out of his rod locker. Mike McClelland joking with the fans before launch. Randy Howell's boat. Dean Rojas giving out baits to kids at the ramp.

I know with some of us having 20+ inches of snow on the ground after today it may not seem like it but spring isn't far off, time to plan the spring KC Classic! I'm thing last week of April/first week of May (04/27, 05/04) if that works for everyone that is interested? The last 2 we've gone to Melvern and had good success, and I'm willing to go back if that's where the majority want to go but I have a few other lakes we could go to this time around including Perry, Ft. Scott, Bourban State Lake, or Mozingo. Let me know what you guys think of those dates and we'll start getting this thing planned to help us forget that all the lakes are still frozen 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 over $3 a gallon. Tournament rules/regs: April 27th 2013 Start time-6am End time-2pm We'll be launching from the East state park ramp on the north side of the lake nearest the dam. If you want to launch from another ramp you can, you'll be allowed to drive to another ramp just before launch and then you have to be back at the state park ramp at 2pm. 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. Teams Hi Salenity(Curtis)-Wachati(Peter) Kanasbassfisher08(Chris)-Ricky L CCCDrew(Drew)-partner Chris Schauer-sizzlefry(Sean) pbrussell(Blake)-boater-maybe Retro(Matt)-Mr_Scrogg RJ_986-nonboater basshunter0731(Jon)-Jared Bluebasser86(Clayton)-partner KS-Dawg(Blake)-Cbass12(Ryan) aavery-partner David H-partner Bluebasser86-cups,plates, utensils. Mr_Scrogg-burgers,chips,cookies sizzlefry-beans/potatos salad/charcoal KS-Dawg-Brunswick stew Chris Schauer-potato salad/forks CBass12-hamburger buns Wachati-cookies,baked beans,plates basshunter0731-pop Jared-hotdogs retro basser-hotdogs,condiments Hi Salenity-chips CCCDrew-burgers

Classic was a blast. Didn't spend as much money as I thought I might at the Expo and didn't bother any of the pros there, they were all pretty busy with fans as it was. Chris and I did get to meet and talk with Mr. Steve Parks a.k.a. Big O for a few minutes, real nice guy and he's got some new designs in the oven that I'm excited to see Saw a lot of guys and did get a couple good deals on some baits and a Fish Headz mask. Saw lots of guys on the water, did a little fishing and caught some nice healthy Grand Lake bass. Jon actually caught his new PB at the end of the second day right as it was getting dark, 6.94 pounds on a Pro Blue Rick Clunn RC stick. I didn't have my camera so I'll have to get the pictures from him. She was super fat, only 21.5" long and just shy of 7 and busting at the seams. Scary fight, she had one back hook through a little piece of skin on the under side of her gill cover. Chris had a 4.12 today and I had a limit on a day when 11 of the top 25 of the classic failed to catch a limit. Final weigh in was a neat deal, took quite a bit of video. Not taking the night off from work tonight was poor planning, I've been up since 7am and won't get off until 8am, going to be a long night I'll try to get some pictures and videos up tomorrow.

I wouldn't be surprised if they have to postpone the opening at least a week, maybe two or even three now. Wyco is always one of the last lakes to thaw and now with all this snow and cold it will probably freeze back up again

Pace is pretty well known for not letting anything getting him worked up, apparently winning the Bassmaster's Classic is included on that list. It will be great to see the whole show on TV to see all the stuff we couldn't catch on the water this weekend.