Bluebasser86

The 8 point in the first picture is a nice looking deer. He'd be really nice deer in a year or two but like you said he'd be hard to pass up if he gave you a shot.

Went to Olathe Lake Thursday morning after work and fished from the bank for about an hour to an hour and a half. Just walked the dam and caught 9 fat, healthy looking bass. None real big, had one probably 16 1/2 to 17 inches was the biggest. 7 on a buzzbait, 1 on a shakeyhead, 1 on a squarebill. This cooler weather seems to be getting them going pretty well. Fished Wyandotte Wednesday night and thought the cold front would kill the bite. We caught fish steady and even fast a couple times all night on buzzbaits and shakeyheads. Hoping to get to Melvern Monday and Tuesday.

Can I order just the heads and add my own skirts?

7lbs 2oz Redeye shad, Kansas 7lbs 1/2oz Black/blue Strike King jig, Kansas 7lbs 4oz Xcalibur Erratic shad, Kansas 7lbs Strike King King shad, Kansas 8lbs 2oz 3/4 jewel PB&J football jig, Missouri 7lbs 2oz 8" Zoom Lizard, Mexico 7lbs 14oz 8" Zoom lizard, Mexico 7lbs 8oz Rapala Skitter pop, Mexico 8lbs 8oz 8" Zoom Lizard, Mexico 8lbs 8oz 8" Zoom Lizard, Mexico 10lbs 2oz 8" Zoom Lizard, Mexico

They will be cruising the weeds. I fish several small lakes with no shad and fish in those lakes are probably easier to catch on a daily basis. Bluegills and crappie will hide in the weeds along with crawdads and other prey items, so that's where the bass will be. Look for edges or holes in the weeds. Fish baits like spinnerbaits, wakebaits, chatterbaits, and swim jigs over the top of the weeds and along the edges. Flip tubes or beaver baits into holes in the weeds and along the edges and you should be able to find some fish. Since they aren't chasing schooling shad around open water, these fish will usually be much easier to find and won't tend to roam around as much.

It was pretty tough. Lots of little fish and WAY more wind than they called for. The highest I saw was 14mph before I left, I only saw winds under 20mph for about an hour Monday night before the cold front blew in and it didn't slow down from there. I did enjoy the break in the wind Monday night and caught a bunch of little smallmouth off the dam. Tuesday the wind was blowing when I woke up but I knew I would be a little protected at the dam so I fought my way back to it. Started catching little smallies and whites right away again. About halfway down I hooked a heavy fish and on 6lb test and light action dropshot rod I fought it for probably 5 minutes before I saw color. It hit a grub and I thought for sure it was a cat, wiper, or drum because it was staying down and not trying to jump at all. When I saw goldish brown I eliminated wipers and was hoping it was a cat. Then I got a good look and saw it was a smallmouth and it got way more serious in the boat. I finally got the net under her and put her on the scale. She bounced back and forth between 4 even and 4lbs 1 oz so I called her 4. Only 19 inches long and very fat! This was the ONLY fish that made the drive worthwhile. Only caught 1 walleye all weekend, no big wipers, TONS of 4-8 inch whites, and the water is still 14 feet high and stinks to high heaven from the blue-green algae. I didn't catch another smallmouth over 12" even and probably only 3 or 4 fish in general that weighed more than a pound. Fished everything I could in 3 and 4 foot waves and a grub was the only consistent producer. I'm hoping the water comes down enough for dad and I to make one more trip out before the water gets hard.

The strip pits are about your best option, as far as I know they allow camping at all of the pits. Bourban State Lake and both Bourban County lakes have pretty good fishing and I believe camping is allowed at all of them also. Bone Creek Lake is another good option. Go to Wal Mart and get a F.I.S.H. atlas to help you out or go to Kansas Department of Wildlifes website and click Where to fish in Kansas and Region 5 for your area.

200e7

I've had pretty good success with small 2 1/2 and 3 inch Luck E Strike bass magic paddletails on scrounger heads, pretty good durability too.

Some of the lakes I fish that have dirty water they'll eat a loud bait like a baby 1- or a R.C. 1.5 with rattles. One of the lakes I fish a lot they love a Xcalibur CS100, until the sun starts to come up, then I can't buy a strike. They won't touch one with rattles though, I'm guessing because of the heavy fishing pressure and clear water. Bandit and some other companies make solid black colored cranks if you buy into the "it has to be black to work at night" thing

I like to fish them pretty slowly but sometimes I use a heavy bullet weight to get a reaction strike with the craws. You can fish the andacondas like any plastic worm, it's the swimming action of the tail that gets them.

The worst you can come across is a nest of seed ticks. I walked through one a few weeks ago setting my trail camera out. I kept feeling like something was crawling on me but couldn't see what. I finally looked really close at my legs and I was covered with ticks the size of pin heads I hurried home and got in the shower and scrubbed like crazy. After I finally felt like I got them all I made sure none of them were still alive and trying to climb back out. Just from what I saw there was no less than 50 of them on me and probably a lot more. Took a couple days before I got over the feeling of something crawling on me.

I feel your pain. My Chiefs got stomped and I'm pretty sure that the Bills just aren't that good like some are trying to say

There's lots of good beginner bow setups but it's going to depend a lot on what feels good to you and your price range. If you go to an archery store, Cabela's, or Bass Pro you can buy a bow package deal usually. This is probably the cheapest way to go and will save you a lot of hassle with choosing and mounting each piece that you need on the bow. Lots of entry level bows are pretty nice bows. If you have a place nearby that sells bows and has an archery range so you can shoot a few bows and get a feel for which on you like best that would be the best way to go. I probably shot 15 or 20 bows before I bought my first one, it wasn't the nicest one they had but it just felt right in my hand and I shot it well. Plus if you start shooting and decide you don't like shooting a bow as much as you thought you would you won't have to spend hundreds of dollars to find that out

I would but I'm leaving for Milford as soon as I get off work in the morning I'd like to get out there or to Killcreek with you whenever you go out next though.

That sucks Cliff! I can understand how you feel losing gear! I thought I'd lost my entire tacklebag the other day. My buddy met me at my work after I got off and I threw all my gear in his truck and we took off. It wasn't until we were 30 minutes down the road that he noticed my tackle bag was not in the back of his truck . I realized I'd forgotten it on the tailgate of my truck in the visitors parking lot. He asked if I wanted to go back and get it Being that when our, ahem, customers, inmates, are released they walk through that parking lot, I wasn't real hopeful that it would still be there but it was. It really is a sickening feeling when you work so hard to get the stuff and then it's gone just like that.

Bouncing a 1 ounce football jig off the side of a boat will get someones attention. My dad and I were on a good walleye bite one time when a guy in another boat came roaring up and parked 20 feet away. Not really a big deal because the fish were on top of a rockpile about the size of the boat so he would only be picking up the fish that might be cruising the side. Well after us catching a few more keepers and him getting nothing he actually casts and bouned his jig off the side of my boat! He let his line out and started slowly fishing his jig back like nothing had happened. When he reeled in and looked like he was about to make another cast I yelled at him and promised that not so nice things would happen if that jig hit the side of my boat again He still kept flipping his jig at the rockpile we were on but I guess they didn't want anything but a vertical retrieve and he left. I've had a few other times were someone was being inconsiderate but that one was by far the worst. Some people out there just have no sense of respect for anyone. Unfortunately the more time you spend on the water the more likely you are to meet them.

Depends a lot on the time of year, body of water, and other factors. Just to be general, if I'm on a clear lake with warm water and the fishing is tough I pick up a shakeyhead with a trick worm. I can cover shallow or deep water and fish it really slow. Doesn't matter what species of bass I'm after I can catch them on a shakeyhead. The only time I wouldn't go to the shakeyhead is if there is lots of brush cover and in that case I'd go to a finesse jig in a natural color. If the water is cooler I'd also fish a small jerkbait with long pauses. In warm, dirty water I will either fish a small, dark colored jig or a squarebill crankbait and try to cover water. If the water is a little cooler I'll fish a double colorado bladed spinnerbait, rattlebait, or finesse jig. In cold, dirty water I'd probably stay home but if I have to fish it I'd fish the finesse jig.

Bluegill beds for sure. The first time I saw them I thought they were a bunch of tires on the bottom of the lake. If you can find them on beds like that they are a blast on a popping bug and a flyrod! A U2 bluegill swam around the edges of the beds can catch some really big bass looking for a wandering bluegill too.

My wife works in insurance and if I ever even mentioned buying a KIA she'd probably divorce me! She says they're pieces of junk that don't hold their value at all and most people end up upside down on payments.

I think I'd rather take my chances with the lightning than with my wife during her time of the month! At least with lightning death comes quickly!

Good story and pictures!

Don't do it! It's a trap! We went there Tuesday afternoon and fished the river. We worked our butts off for 3 fish! None of them keepers. That lake changes so fast thought you guys will probably kill them! I'm probably going to head to either Melvern or Milford Monday morning and stay until Tuesday night, providing the wind looks good.

4/0 EWG superline Gamakatsu for me for the regular craws.

If I had to pick one bait it would be a Missouri Craw Eakins jig with a GP twin tail trailer.