Bluebasser86

I wish I could be a muskie guy, but the closest ones are 3 hours away from me 😔I love chasing them, I'd fish bass a lot less if I had them closer. I still make time to go chase them at some of the stocked lakes the next state over. Been to Minnesota and Canada both fishing for them, didn't move a fish either time, all 16 I've caught were in Mizzery. I just went a couple weeks ago to try and catch one out of my kayak. Managed to get 3 of them in 2 days. I won't be going 10 years between trips again.

Pulled a couple screen shots from 2 of my muskie this past weekend. If you want to see those, a bunch of little bass, and a couple not so little bass.

I don't pay much attention to the rattles or no rattles. I pay more attention to the color and my retrieve cadence. A rattling bait isn't going to make much noise if you don't move it very fast.

A lot of the lakes I fish don’t have a spot in them 25’ deep 😂

If you're using it for flipping, no reason to put 100 yards on your spool. Fill it most of the way with some cheap mono then just put a 50 yard topshot of the flouro on. I use Tatsu and it makes the $50 spools more reasonable when I can spool 4 times off a 200 yard spool of line. Abrasx is great line also and when you cut that $35 price tag down to $8.75 a fill up, it's barely more expensive than a quality mono.

You can still buy Jelly Worms. I keep the blackberry 8" on me all the time. 20pk for under $7 is a steal and they get bit like crazy. https://www.mannsbait.com/shop/8-Jelly-Worm-Blackberry-20pk-p111455494

Whatever you do, don't Neko rig a beaver bait. That slow, gliding, spiraling fall doesn't get bit at all, nope, don't even waste your time.

I've thought about trying them many times, but the fact that they're designed more for deep water and I rarely use a lipless bait in water deeper than 5' has always kept me from it.

Thanks @T-Billy! They don’t get nearly as big here, but anybody who chases them knows that each one feels like a real achievement. I’m hoping to do it again next year and drag a couple buddies along who have never caught one before so I can get them addicted to chasing them also 😂

This past weekend I went on an adventure to catch a Missouri muskie from my kayak. Went to a little lake with a very healthy population of toothy fish as well as some really nice bass. Hadn't been there in many years, to say I was excited would be an understatement. Getting to break out my muskie baits and rods really got me going. It was a little cooler and way windier than I expected after making the 3.5 hour drive to the lake. Glad that I had tossed a set of thermals in last minute but was regretting the decision to tough it out in the Crocs. The lake was way down and had a lot more vegetation in it than last time I fished it. I started right at the ramp, alternating between tossing muskie and bass baits and actually had a couple muskie surface near the boat but none were interested in anything I had to offer. I was catching a decent number of bass but nothing of any size. Worked a few coves and points before I pulled into a cove I had caught one of my biggest bass ever from the lake out of some brush. I was working a Rage Bug through the brush and picked off a few more small bass. I got hit in one but missed it. After a few more pitches back, I got bit again and didn't miss. The weight on the other end told me it was a good one, and I quickly caught sight of it and realized it wasn't a bass, it was my muskie. Trying to control it and hoping my 17lb Tatsu would avoid the teeth, I reached with my net that felt so huge until I was trying to put that fish in it, but got it scooped up. My soft tape showed it right around 40". No good way to take out of the water pictures by myself, but I'll have some screen grabs from the video once I'm done with it. 10:30 in the morning on the first day and I'd already made my trip, that made the rest of the weekend easy. I worked through some more coves and picked up a nice bass out of a laydown. I'd figured out the bass were really liking a little finesse jig. I was working a Berkley Slobberknocker around some pads on a mainlake point and just finishing up a cast when a shadow flashed up behind it. The muskie was close enough to almost touch the bait and followed through the turn at the boat but then disappeared. I ran several more baits through the area but it never came back. Worked across the dam, which I never do but with the trolling motor, I was really able to cover water. I tried a lipless crankbait and started picking up fish steadily all across the dam, including one fairly healthy fish. I ran to the back of the next big cove that had some standing timber because I remembered catching some nice bass off the trees. Well there wasn't much water around most of the trees with the water being so low. Disappointed, I kept picking through them and found one big tree that was actually still in 10' of water sitting off by itself. I hopped my jig a couple times and felt the thump through the wind and bow in my line. I thought I'd hooked another muskie until the big head clear the water. She wasn't my heaviest of the year, but at 21.75", it was my longest bass of the year. I ran through a lot more water. Nothing I really liked and didn't catch much. I was running out of daylight and needed to setup my tent still, which I had to do at another lake 15 minutes away because camping isn't allowed on this lake. I wanted to check out as much of the lake as I could the first day so I knew where to spend my time the rest of the trip. I was getting close to the far end of the lake where I'd caught some good bass off some laydowns in past trips. Well those laydowns were mostly dry to my disappointment. I was cruising by one laydown that was actually in the water when a big swirl suddenly caught my eye. I grabbed a muskie rod with a Mepp's Giant Killer and tossed it along the laydown. I didn't get many cranks in when a muskie shot out of nowhere and engulfed it. After a brief fight, I netted my second muskie of the day! A much thicker but shorter fish at 37" inches. This one was mean and didn't want me to get the hook out, got me a little bit in the process. That would be my final fish of the first day. The second day was a day of frustration. It started off right away when my new GoPro wouldn't even turn on. The first day I had issues with it shutting off and "repairing file", constantly towards the end of the day, which caused me to miss most of my second muskie on video. The bigger issue to me, with no GoPro, I had no way to take any pictures of a muskie except the in the net picture. Bummed, I even took it back to the truck and messed with it, no luck (of course it turned right on when I got home). The bright side in all of this, while I was messing with my camera, I noticed fish constantly messing around in the weeds by the ramp. I had a rod with a YUM Tip Toad rigged up, so I started working through those weeds. It didn't take maybe 3 cast before a muskie blasted it but missed it. I ran several more baits through but no luck. Switching back to the toad, first cast it waked back up behind it but didn't it. Next cast back, another alligator wake behind it, this time complete with fin and tail out of the water, then a head, mouth and teeth popped up and my bait was gone. This fish was another fighter, taking me around the front of the kayak twice before I got it in the net, which was received with a golf clap from the guys on the ramp that watched the whole thing go down. Muskie #3 was a 39" toad eater, my first ever topwater muskie. My hook and toad were understandably trashed, so I switched to a Booyah Toadrunner and kept working that grass. It wasn't 10 minutes later when I had another muskie go airborne with my bait in it's mouth. When she went back down, I hammered the hooks home. The fish surged under the kayak, and the hooks pulled out. After the morning, it got hot, sunny, and calm. I never saw another muskie and the bass I was catching were really small. I did have a few bites on a jig that felt bigger, but I either missed them or they broke me off in the wood. With my camera no longer working, and only going to have a few hours to fish in the morning, I decided to just head home a day early. It was an amazing trip and I'm not going to let it be 10 years before I go back next time.

Probably 12-15 years ago, before I knew what a Ned rig was, one of my go-to techniques was a 3" Gulp or Powerbait minnow on a 1/8oz jighead just cast out and swim and shake it back to the boat.

Hard to tell, but these are the tip of a leopard frog's feet sticking out of a bass' throat that I caught in low 40* water a few years ago. 42* is the coldest I've caught them on a frog and I had a really good day in March one year on a frog in 45* water. They'll bite them in much colder water than most people think.

Windy days are the exact kind of days I like to fish a jerkbait in.

Went with a buddy on Sunday to a lake I use to fish all the time but haven't much the last several years since it took a huge downturn due to fishing pressure. Use to have a lot of big fish and October was the best month to catch them, wanted to see if we could find any of them that were left in there. The lake doesn't have a huge population, but it has a ton of big shad and the bass in the lake utilize them to the fullest and grow to some pretty crazy proportions because of it. The lake was way down because of our lack of rain, but I still found a few future giants. The catfish were very bitey too, 5 on bladed jigs and 2 on a spinnerbait. My buddy Deric took big bass honors for the day with just a football of a bass that weighed a hair over 6 pounds but was only 19.5" long. She fell for a super, secret big bass bait (Ned rig 🤣)

I don’t believe they see blue the same as they do white. I fish a solid blue bladed jig a lot and a white one does not produce nearly the same in the same conditions I’m using that bait in. Even if they see it as white, maybe it’s more opaque than actual white is because it’s a far more productive color in certain situations.

Championship weekend; part 2. Sunday, the weather was very similar to Saturday, except the wind was a little lighter. Crisp in the morning was going to give way to a warm and sunny afternoon with 10-15mph north winds. I started on my same ramp area with Deric, along with 2 new additions to the area that hadn't fished there the day before, one being the guy that was in second place behind me in KBN. It started a little slower than the previous day, taking me almost 15 minutes to catch my first one, but it was a solid 16 incher. A 15.50 inch fish would follow that one about 30 minutes later. The whole time, it seemed like Austin (the guy in 2nd), was catching fish about every 5 minutes and they all sounded big. He was less than 2" behind me, I was sure he was well ahead of me now and I was going to have to make up ground. The next bite from a keeper sized fish was about 10 minutes later and was one of the strangest sequences I've had with a fish. I missed it, got it to bite again (Ned rig), let it pull my rod down, stuck it, and it popped off. Sure I'd messed up my chance, I casted back once, then again, and it came back. This time, I let it swim with my bait for over 10 seconds before I set the hook. She surfaced and I scooped it with the net, and the hook was barely in the tip of her lip and just fell out in the net. Many of them bit very strange on Sunday. This one would go 17" I bounced around the area a bit, hitting the entire ramp and both loading docks many times before trying a nearby point leading into the ramp. I caught a short, then a walleye, and finally, a 16.50" smallmouth. It was almost 9AM and I only needed 1 more. I remembered how I use to get some on a weighted wacky rigged trick worm on this lake many years ago. Always used a pink or white worm, but all I had was watermelon/purple flake. I tried it anyways and after just a few cast, a 14.75" fish ate it to give me 5 fish just before 9:30. The ramp area was crowded, so I started fishing up the bank I'd caught my last culls the day before, and came up empty. I cut across and fished a shallow point that has produced many times before. My first cast, I got a light tap and my line started moving. I set into a heavy fish with my Ned and had it for a couple seconds before it jumped and tossed it back at me, probably a 17 to 18 inch fish that would have really helped. I thought I could surely get another bite on this nothing looking bank that nobody had been fishing, but I was wrong. An hour passed, then 2, and 3. I had nothing but drum and a couple tiny smallmouth to show for it. I was getting worried and a rockpile up the lake was calling for me. I kicked the motor on high and made a run. 30 minutes later, I covered a lot of water quickly to the rock pile I've taken my family to so many times because it's always loaded with dumb, hungry smallmouth, size is just always in question. This time, it had neither. I caught a single 6" smallmouth and nothing more. Now, I was 30 minutes from where I'd been catching my fish and I had just over 2 hours left. I talked to another competitor that had fished the same ramp area at the end of the day on Saturday and culled a couple times. He said he was thinking of heading there right after he fished another point just around from where I saw him. That made up my mind, I was heading straight back to my starting point. I was shocked to find only 1 other kayak fishing there when I got to it. He was working the area I had been in the morning, so I fished the side that Austin had fished in the morning. I methodically worked it over with a Ned, and finally got one to eat, another 16 inch fish to cull out the 14.75 incher. The guy fishing the other side decided to load up as he'd had a rough day, so I bounced around to where I had started. Not long after I got there, I hooked a good fish that jumped eyeball high and tossed my Ned, another cull gone. There is a large, covered dock in this cove, one of the only none marina docks on the lake, and there is a bunch of brush under it. I was easing my Ned through it, when what I thought was a limb, started to pull back. For some reason, my rod snapped perfectly in half on the hookset, so I got to fight the fish with half a rod and opted to swing it on it's arrival to the kayak. Another 16" to get rid of the 15.50". With just over 30 minutes left, I felt okay, but still was dreading how big the fish sounded from the morning that Austin was catching. I needed another cull. I hadn't gotten bit on a tube all weekend, but something told me to pick it up. I tossed it at the end of the loading dock and scooted it a few times before it disappeared. The fish was super dark when it surfaced, made it look much bigger than it was at first, but at 17.25", it was still my biggest of the day. With just 2 minutes left, I was fishing the walkway of the big covered dock with a Ned, ready to pack it in. That's when my line mushed up. The hookset was solid and a big head came out of the water, a largemouth! It looked huge, I hadn't seen a largemouth bigger than 12 inches all weekend and that big head made it look massive. My heart was pounding when I scooped it, knew I had to hurry to get my picture before I ran out of time, but the hook had gone through it's lip and was tangled in my net! I was frantically pulling on the net and the hook with my fingers and then pliers. It finally popped free and I quickly slapped it on the board, 15.75", no help. That big head and super thick body made it look so much bigger. I laughed at myself as my timer went off. I doubt I'd have gotten a picture in time if it was a cull. I loaded up and headed to the awards, nervous to find out how the others had done. The 2-4 or 5 inch lead I had over others seemed like a big gap at the start of the day, but I'd imagined situations all day during my huge dry spell of what if this person catches a few 18's or better, I really had my nerves on end. The called 3rd place, 161" to Daniel. 2nd went to my buddy Deric with 161.75". Then they finally got the first, 165.75", to me. I had it won when I caught my 5th keeper of the day. So now I'm qualified to fish the Bassmaster Kayak Classic in March on Lake Fork, a lake I've never even seen before. I had also entered the team event for the day, which my partner and I won, and it was announced that I won AOY, just barely squeaking it out in the final event of the year thanks to 2 second place finishes in row plus this win. It was another great season and I'm already looking forward to next year.

Buckle up for a long winded story, I was fishing Thursday-Sunday this past week. Saturday and Sunday was the combo 2 day championship for the Kansas Kayak Anglers and Kansas Bass Nation Kayak Series on Melvern Lake, the winner of the KBN qualifies for the Bassmaster Kayak Classic on Lake Fork in March. I prefished on Thursday in brutally calm conditions. I stayed in the dirtier water thinking it would help. Turned out, it didn't really matter where I went. I caught a few small largemouth, and then a carp on a dropshot right by the ramp, so I headed out and east towards some areas I thought would be good, they weren't. I found carp everywhere, and stumbled onto one nice smallmouth that was sitting in inches of water and smashed a 6th Sense Speed Glide. I fished from 11AM until 7PM and every bite was a surprise and very far between. Finally, at the end of the day I started getting some bites on a Zara Puppy in the slick calm conditions. I had one pretty decent smallmouth to the boat, when out of nowhere a 30ish pound blue catfish tried to eat him right next to the kayak! It was wild! He made it unscathed for a picture though. The next day, there was much more wind and the fish were a lot more cooperative. I launched near the dam and got bites immediately. The fish were so much healthier than they have been in past years with the explosion of the shad population. How do these stupid things catch up with a bait burning along above their heads? I picked fish up pretty steady but was wondering where the big ones where. Fishing a Duo Realis Rozante 77 when it stopped hard. The biggest smallmouth I've seen from the lake in quite a while cleared the water and after a hard fight, was in the net. Would have rather seen her in the tournament, but it was good to see it either way. The hardest fight of the day, on a Ned rig of course. And then there's this guy. I didn't feel great about my practice, but I'd found something at least. That night while I was rigging up my rods at the campsite and cooking my food, I had my catfish rods out and caught a couple nice blues, always a good time. Day 1 of the tournament, I opted to start right at the ramp, and so did 2 others including my buddy Deric. Him and I both started fast at the 7AM first cast, my first fish was an 18" smallmouth just 7 minutes into the morning and he was fighting one while I was unhooking mine. Just 6 minutes later, I added a 16" fish to my total off the same spot. Then it took over a hour to get my next bite, while I watched Deric catch his limit just 50 yards away. It was at least another solid fish at 16.25". Just a couple cast later, I added my first smaller fish of the morning, a 14.75" fish. I was really struggling fighting these fish. Not only were they fighting extremely hard, but I'd had a mishap in practice. At some point, I'd broken my AR switch off my Ned rig reel and could no longer backreel. I don't know how anyone feels like they have more control with the drag than they do backreeling, that was horrible having to use my drag. The big fish from the day before was calling for me. With 4 fish in my bag, I only needed one more bite, and a fish like that would really make for a huge day 1, but it was a gamble. I caught it off the dam, which is a vast riprap bank that takes a couple hours to cover, even fishing fast. After covering the entire thing, I had 3 dinks and 1 14.75" fish that filled out my limit to show for it. The wind was howling, I was eating wave after wave. I needed to cull the 2 small fish to stay in it. I put my nose into the waves and pounded back to the north, all the way back across the dam towards a shallow rockpile that I hoped was hidden enough that nobody was messing with. It took several cast and a lot of fighting snags, but I finally plucked another 16" fish from the rocks at almost 1PM. I had 2 hours left, and I still needed 1 more bite. I tried to go back to the ramp area, but it was packed with kayaks and boats and I couldn't get any bites on the few spots that were open, so I headed north along that shoreline. I was running out of time, running out of hope. My wife called, she tends to be somewhat of my good luck charm when she calls. The sunfish were mauling my Ned rig while I gave her a recap of my day. One was tappity tapping away at my bait, when suddenly, it just got heavy and started moving slowly. The hookset was solid and a good smallmouth was instantly airborne next to the kayak. A couple quick surges and it was in the net. A 2" cull with a 16.75" fish just after 2PM. I started getting bites after the call. Picking off small ones off each secondary point I'd hit. I fished quickly. I came to one point and got a weird bite but the line moved off. The hookset was extremely heavy but the fish was fast and not rolling. I had a monster smallmouth, I knew it, I'd caught them here before. I saw the bronze/brown in the water, then I saw the orange. It was a gut punch, but at least I already had a solid bag at that point. I didn't cull anymore that day, and ended in 2nd for KKA with 83", 2" out of first behind Deric. I was leading the KBN, 1.75" ahead of second place. Deric wasn't going to be able to fish the National tournament, so he didn't enter the KBN so he wouldn't take that spot from someone if he won. To be continued!

Fish Fry! ^Commented on my pictures on social media all the time by my non-fishing friends. I couldn’t tell you the last time I kept a fish for me to eat. I keep a fair amount of fish, but it’s always to try to feed it to a bigger fish so I can catch and release that one too 🤷🏼‍♂️

I’ve done some guiding and I usually do some fishing at the same time. I try to figure out if something is working better than what I gave whoever I’m guiding and switch them if something is getting more bites. Once the bite is figured out, it’s more instruction on where to cast and retrieve the bait and the layout of the area we’re on. Most every time I’ve guided, the people I’ve taken are doing well enough that they insist on me fishing also anyways.

Haven't fished for bass much the last couple weeks. September is historically the hardest month of the warm water months for bass fishing for me. I also have a couple tournaments coming up the next couple weeks, so I'm kind of trying to get my mind ready for that. Getting out and chasing these guys is my favorite way to sit and think, while still being able to fish. It's not lazy, not the way I do it. 1 mile down a creek from the launch, then 1.5 miles against a pretty strong river current in the kayak to get to my area I like to fish. I don't usually sit anywhere too long. A lot of loading and unloading the kayak, checking spots for fish, changing baits, catching bait. I did a lot for this one bite, but it was worth it.

Didn’t have any big purchases this year, one rod is it I think, and I got that at a discount at the Bassmaster Classic Expo. I guess it depends if I want to count gas, food, entry fees, and lodging while I’m after them, then it’s probably 3-4 thousand. Just gear, I’d guess 750. Also have to factor in the 2k that catching them has brought back to me also, so I’m not doing too bad in that aspect.

Man I need some of those Fallfish in my life. They look like giant creek chubs and I bet the big river blues and flatheads would eat them like candy 😂

Sorry I missed this thread. I have a 1oz spinnerbait mold that I use for pouring magnum spinnerbaits. I have one that use that is a #6 and #7 Colorado blades for early season fishing.

I like fishing tiny jigs in certain situations and also make my own. Fishingskirts is sold out of most of their fine cut stuff right now but that is where I get my material from.

I was lucky enough to meet Kent a couple times and even take him fishing once on one of our local mudholes. Got to enjoy a good day on the water and many great stories. He's always been helpful anytime I had a question when I was a new mod several years ago. Thanks for everything Kent, I know you're going to be enjoying your retirement to the fullest.