Bluebasser86

Very healthy looking, solid Perry lake bass! I still think that is one of the most underrated bass lakes in the state.

How near KC are you wanting to stay? For really good wiper fishing on lakes that also offer guide service about the closest 2 I can think of are Milford and Truman, both about a 2 hour drive but both have pretty good wiper fishing. There really isn't much closer than that though.

Perry tends to be pretty dirty. That may change with the zebra mussels in there but that is still to be seen. What did that first largemouth weigh? Hard to tell by the camera angle. Perry is tough in the spring, I like it a lot better once it gets hot out. There is tons of drum in that lake and they aren't hard to catch. They slam a jig though don't they? Really gets your blood pumping until you see the ugly thing you've just hooked.

Yeah, because having to worry about one folding up while I'm in it isn't bad enough, now you have to worry about punching a hole in it too!

Got to have some Xcalibur XR50 and XRK50 baits, foxy momma, ghost, gold black back, and rayburn red are my favorites. If you have an Academy close by I would check out the H20 line of baits, great baits and you could really expand your selection without breaking the bank. Bandit and Normans baits are both great baits that aren't too expensive. I love the the Bandit 100 and 200 series baits.

Use a small hook, like a #6 or even an 8. Use light tackle and make it interesting. You can fill the whole hook but if the water is very clear you'll get less bites with a big hook covered up with corn, just doesn't look right. A few kernals is all it takes.

Fiberglass is heavy and less sensitive, not a good combo in a buisness where everyone is trying to make their products lighter and more sensitive than the other guys. Most of the higher end componies make very few two piece rods at all. Eagle Claw and Shakespeare each make 2 piece fiberglass rods, only two I can think of off the top of my head. I own a couple 2 piece fiberglass rods for catfishing and for hybrids but I never take them apart, no reason to with a full sized truck. Even my 12' surf rods stay together and just stick out the back of the truck a long ways.

That's exciting news for you. It's always nice when they'll share that info with you so you know what lakes actually have big fish in them.

If you only fish halfway to the boat then chances are most of your fish will be on the initial drop or first couple lifts like you said. Chances are you casted at a target on the bank so if there isn't a fish there and you only move it a couple times it probably never gets to anything else that is holding fish. I've found a lot of cover and structure by carefully fishing my bait back to the boat and feeling for what it's doing. Like others have said, I've caught lots of big fish under the boat doing this.

She was 7lbs 14ozs that time. It's the last time I caught her but I've seen her in pictures on KDWP's website since then when they shocked it. She'd be a great replica if you get her measurements, I think she was close to 25 inches long, don't know the girth. They like big, heavy, dark colored jigs that make lots of noise, brush hogs, and beaver style baits. I've done well with a square bill also but be careful running them through brush, they're all full of fishing line since they can pretty much all be reached from the shore. On a side note, I'll be on Melvern Monday if the forecasted winds don't go up too much. I need some wind for a good bite this kind of year, but there's a fine line between some and too much on that lake.

I had an e21 for a year before it broke while I was sweeping a 'trap off the bottom. No fish, no snag, no resistance, no reason it should have folded in half like it did. I know lots of guys love them and I really liked mine before it broke. Any rod you buy has the potential to break, anything made in mass is going to have it's duds. If you like it, buy it. My suggestion is if you get it at BPS or somewhere that offers the insurance plan you could get that so if it breaks you can bring it back to the store no questions asked.

As long as it's a good strong running motor and the hull has no problems it should be a good boat it sounds like.

As long as they're dry it shouldn't be a problem it doesn't sound like. I usually don't unhook before it's in the water because all the weight is in the back of my aluminum boat and I get pretty worried because the nose bounces a lot if it's unhooked. It only takes a couple seconds to unhook the front, a lot less time than it takes to find enough people to pick it up and put it back on the trailer.

Soft bags expand out a little and don't take up as much room if you take some stuff out. Plastic boxes are pretty heavy to start with so when you start loading them up they get really heavy. It's nice to be able to have several Plano boxes with different baits that you can change out quickly also if you need something for one trip you don't need for the next.

If you're more worried about the bass than the bait just keep wire cutters in the boat and cut the hook next time. Even an expensive jig is $5 or so, it can takes years for a bass to grow to it's full potential.

Hopefully he has everything squared away so this one doesn't go down like Arkansas' record did.

My wife cuts my hair, toenails, plucks my eyebrows, and goes crazy on my backacne. The hair is to save money, it's just a buzzcut anyways and a cheap pair of clippers is $30 instead of paying $14 every 2 weeks. I'd forget I have toenails if she wasn't always wanting to see if they need trimmed. I hate the other two. Unless I have a big one on my back that hurts when my uniform hits it I don't really worry about it. She attacks my back with no remorse, digging and pinching and squeezing. Sometimes I'm not sure if shes trying to pop back acne or get me to tap out.

It only takes one person dumping a bucket of shiners in a pond for it to get a permanant population of them. They jump out of the water a lot like shad and are similar colors/shapes but if you can net a couple you'll be able to tell what you're dealing with.

Had the same thing happen to me with a buddy at Table Rock last year but it was a combination of things. Both fishing almost the same jig but he was getting bites, I wasn't getting touched. I starting paying attention to him and noticed not only was he dragging his instead of hopping it like I was, his trailer had very little action while I was fishing a twin tail grub because it usually works there. I made the adjustments and starting catching fish immediately. While I like to think that the little things aren't that big of a deal most of the time, sometimes they are a huge deal and if you don't adjust the little things you may not get bit.

I like to watch my buddies fishing "feel" baits because I can usually tell by their body language if they have a bite or not. A lot of time I can tell before they do that they have a bite by watching their line

I caught one that was 6 1/2 on a chatterbait in the marina cove and and a smallmouth that was 4lbs 3ozs on a shakeyhead off the bank to the the southeast of the marina cove. Unfortunately the big largemouth was before my camera carrying days. Jerkbaits are good for smallies in the spring but they head deep fast when the temps heat up.

Don't bother going to Nebo, they're making that stuff up about 8lb bass in that tiny lake Acutally if you catch her she'll look something like this. That's from a couple years ago out there. Don't expect to catch many but there are some big ones swimming in there. It's a shallow, muddy little lake with several brush piles and lots of lilly pads in the north end. That one ate a red shad Yum wolley bug in a brushpile straight across from the boat ramp. If you do catch her or one of her sisters, please put them back. Those fish are my Kansas version of Dottie. That one is missing part of the bottom of her tail and I've caught her a couple times and watched her get bigger from catching her and from pictures of when KDWP shocks that lake and rolls her up. I'd be heartbroken to know she went on someone's wall

There are several spots on that lake that I can consistantly catch smallmouth but I think the baits you use are probably more important on if you're catching brown fish or green. Shakeyhead plastics catch most of my brown fish, jigs, chatterbaits, and topwaters catch most of my green fish.

I doubt it is in a big lake like that. I haven't seen any beds in the ponds yet and a friend of mine said Melvern was 55-58 a couple days ago. But the big females should be feeding up and getting ready to move up soon.

I would guess that it's going to take at least a 20 to get you on plane with anything other than you in the boat. My 60hp on my 16' semi V has to work when it's loaded down with lots of gear and one of my 300+ pound friendsl. I guess one of the things that would really help here is the size of the bodies of water you're going to be using it on. If it's only going to be on small lakes that you aren't running far on then you'd be fine with the little motor. If you're going to be going to bigger bodies of water you'll want a bigger motor. The gas you save by getting a motor large enough to get your motor on plane will make up for the difference in orginal cost, maybe really quickly with the way gas prices are going.