AllDay

Last night I learned the hard way that YouTube doesnt accept uploads of video clip lengths of more than about 12:00-15:00 so there was tons of re-merging and re-uploading on my part. Anyhoo, Mound City's terrain, except for the dam, is not good for the bank fisher - bring a boat. The biggest fish I landed was a 3.9 lbs catfish (see Part 2 vid to be posted). Lots of small bass and lots of good bites. I didnt fish the entire lake though, just the west side. Would I try Mound again? Perhaps. Would have liked to have encountered a beefy bass at least once to make that decision easier. In fairness to the lake, I threw only crankbait and didn't slow it down with plastics so maybe some lunkers were there and I missed them! Moving forward, I'll work on looking more slowly at the fish and explaining things - this new video camera ordeal is new to me! Part 1 of 3:

Thanks Retro, yes I was wondering about Lonestar!

VERY NICE I knew that lake had potential!!!

Definitely splitting hairs here: you need a dollar sign to be official: $.02

I'm in for a Saturday outing. If it's a big lake, I'll give Melvern a shot (never fished it before but will give it a go). Any Saturday in October except 10/13 is fine for me. For smaller lakes, I'm curious about Pleasanton (see below). Not to split hairs but are you referring to Pleasanton Lake (small green circle) or Pleasanton City Lake (large green circle) or both? The advantage of Pleasanton is if someone's struggling badly, then head up north a piece and you're at Miami. I'm talking my way into Pleasanton for my smaller lake preference. Group goal: nobody gets skunked.

Thanks Jim. For Nebo, I've been there just twice and I'd bet $ the two best times are dawn through late morning and dusk (starting at 6:30 PM) and in the southern area. I can't speak for afternoons though. I'm cool with fishing with others at bodies of water I've already been to. When it's a new body, I prefer to fish it alone first to focus on finding and reporting on the good spots. I'll let you know when I revisit a spot!

Since it was my second outing, I have no frame of reference of high or low levels. The north and east ends are a time-waster. As I trekked to the south, I took scenic routes and stopped to smell the roses by casting as I walked. Those areas are totally non-productive. I also drove over to Banner Creek in west Holton. I will give it a shot one day, definitely need a boat to make that worthwhile

If I boat her or her sister(s) I'll release her - you have my word! I hope for their sake they remain on the sw end of the lake - these areas aren't easily accessible by bank fishers. The north and east ends are easily accessible by bank fishers and I saw evidence of that by how rocks were piled up as make shift rod holders. I hope she's not on someone's wall!

Very informative report retro, particularly the part where you helped a damsel, OK hooker, in distress.

No offense taken Ku. I was aware of the zebra mussel existence at Milford and went to the carwash, but I can take some bleach with me next time too. A couple weeks ago, I posted a question about Perry and expressed concern about its infestation there (haven't been there yet this year). Will ensure the boat is 'detoxed' or that the zebra mussel infested lake is the last one so that the lakes are preserved!

Let me know if you guys have fished NEBO or surrounding bodies of water in Holton. I referenced NEBO in a post a few moments ago. Let me know your thoughts!

Well the Labor Day report is here. That Friday night was a wash-out from the gulf rains. Saturday late morning the rains let up and I started with Garnett-Crystal lake (South) and it lended a few small LMB and nothing of size. I cruised 3/4 of the way around the 10+ acres lake in 45 mins and moved on to Cedar Creek Valley Reservoir about 4 miles southwest of Garnett: Cedar Creek Valley was good - to the northeast side of the lake (see above link) was the route I fished. This particular route was good b/c it was nearly completely lined with steep drop-offs within 3-5 feet from shore. LMB were actively hitting crankbaits running parallel to and shallow (about 3'-5') off the shore. I boated several LMB around 13"-15" and the largest was a 2-lbs LMB: The water levels were low (as is everywhere in the state) and when levels restore, this can be a good bass lake b/c it has good structures and cover currently exposed. There aren't any standing timber where submerged timber and brushpiiles are dominant. The entire reservoir is lined by rocky shorelines and bluffs. The locals say the LMB here get up to 10 lbs and is comparable to La Cygne. After about 2 hours I packed up and headed for Richmond lake - boy was I in for a treat. This 2 acres lake is stockpiled with LMB and they fight with an attitude. I'm not surprised - this is a fish-fed lake: The east side of the lake is the deepest and was the most productive where the same crankbait colors used at Cedar Valley worked at Richmond. At Richmond, the cranks were cast shallow with patterns parallel and perpendicular to the shoreline worked very well. The LMB size here are great: I consistently boated 15"-18" LMB and was lovin' it. I lost several large ones and a couple of catfish (18" and 21") which also bit the crankbaits. Overall, both Richmond and Cedar Creek Valley are viable lakes. Definitely Richmond - I'll be going back! The morning of Labor Day at 0630 we set out to fish the same point as before at Milford: These two areas were very productive as they have very steep drop-offs near the shore. I caught a few SMB, a drum, and a bluegill, all off red/orange crawdad Rapala crankbait. I lost a big one too and never saw it but it sure fought hard and heavy. The casting method most effective was to use a 10' deep diving crank casting perpendicular to shore and quickly retrieving it, bouncing off the bottom until it reaches the drop-off cliff where the fish are suspending. By the late morning the bite slowed and we decided to drive to NEBO SFL in Holton. To be fair, NEBO, another small < 5 acres lake wasn't "completed": my batteries were depleted and trolling the entire lake wasn't finished. However, I had several strikes on cranks on the east side brushpiles and boated a small catfish along the south side brushpile. To the entire west side are huge floating lotuses/lillies and I would love to try a dawn/dusk topwater in that area. I didn't have the opportunity to fish the north end piers and brushpiles. It was around 3PM, 100'F and water temps at 85'F with a depleted battery so conditions were less than ideal and I still got strikes. I would consider returning to NEBO under better conditions.

Well if two people are saying the same thing then that's the triangulation I need - I won't be going there! Tomorrow on the docket is Milford lake camping then Monday all day is fishing Milford. I'm definitely starting from the south end like I did last time and you can bet I'll be throwing crankbaits.

Look on the bright side - you didn't get skunked! Looks like Olathe's hours match Wyco's. Perhaps one of these times I'll hit up Olathe. I just returned from fishing Richmond (excellent!), Garnett South (average), and Cedar Creek Valley reservoir (good) and I'll write more with pics.

I saw that report too - I'll hold off on Brown for now. The potential exposure to neurotoxins from the algae doesn't appeal to me.

Whether it's the captain or first mate, it doesn't matter - a catch is a catch B-)

Have any of you fished Brown SFL in Hiawatha this year? If so, let me know your thoughts!

How did Olathe fair for you? I hear you have to dock your boat come dusk - is this true? That would totally spoil my night bite trips!

I laughed with your "...lots of them that should never be allowed to operate a boat". Actually that sort of thing would tick me off if the wrecklessness begins to impede on my fishing. It's been 15+ years since I've gone for white bass. I've caught them on 'swimming' crappie jigs and live minnows on bobbers. I dont know if they would bite on crankbaits like the ones I used at Hazel or on finesse plastics.

Do you think this Labor Day weekend it'll be filled with campers, fishers, and everything in between? Of course I plan to fish the evening/dusk/dawn and not the days so it's never busy in the middle of the night.

Definitely want your guys' opinion about this ranking: http://www.bassmaster.com/news/100-best-bass-lakes Perry lake is #60 on the Top 100! If you guys have tips or suggestion on where in Perry to hit up, I'm all ears!

Hazel Creek: First off Blue, you foretold of using 15 lbs line for cranking and spinner baits; 20-25 lbs line for pitching. Boy you weren't kidding: some lessons are learned the hard way - I had 6-8 lbs line for all styles (finesse, cranking, spinner). Combine this fact with the submerged timbers in the coves, I was outgunned. The story unfolds as follows: Here is the diagram labeled areas A-E for my weekend trip: http://s1073.photobucket.com/albums/w392/dweroha/Hazel%20Creek%20August%202012/?action=view&current=126ab0f6.jpg Friday night I started after dusk at Area A where there's riprap and culverts. By nightfall, I used the Culprit Fat Max 7" ribbon tail worm (black) and there were several hits 1'-2' off the bank, boated 4 bass, 2 pictured here, between 13"-17": http://s1073.photobucket.com/albums/w392/dweroha/Hazel%20Creek%20August%202012/?action=view&current=8a6e3bfa.jpg Making the turn to Area B, there are submerged timbers and water lilies, in this area, several more bites took and I landed another 17" LM: http://s1073.photobucket.com/albums/w392/dweroha/Hazel%20Creek%20August%202012/?action=view&current=c4097f1f.jpg. After Area B, I headed northwest along the bank and wasn't able to land any bites. As I arrived at Area C, this timber-filled cove is where I got my first lesson of the night in tackle preparation. Pitching along the timber, I got thumped using Fax Max 7" june bug color and I my 6 lbs line didn’t have enough to muscle him out of the timber - it got ensnared and the line broke. It would prove to be a sign of things to come. I caught a couple of smaller bass about 13" in this cove Heading southwest out of Area C and into Area D, my friends it's like in the movies: turning the corner off the bank I was met with the "gauntlet" of submerged timber. Blue you said it best: "The trees up there are nasty…". The timber wasn't just vertical - it was horizontal and diagonal and you'd better pay attention while trolling since numerous branches protrude horizontally just 1'-2' under the water surface! Some of this was due to lower water levels from the summer drought. By this time, I switched to my largest line (just 8 lbs) having learned that lesson from Area C. I played the hand I was dealt and my choices are 6 lbs or 8 lbs line. 8 lbs didn't seem to matter. Once again, pitching along standing timber with a black & blue fleck Fat Max 7", I got nailed and how could the outcome be different than before: he took it and I couldn’t stop him from getting into another horizontal branch and breaking the line. Heading into Area E I decided to throw a spinner and unintentionally landed my first crappie of the year: http://s1073.photobucket.com/albums/w392/dweroha/Hazel%20Creek%20August%202012/?action=view&current=f08e8dbf.jpg I couple of other bites off the spinner and I decided to get some rest and wait for the sun to rise. The morning bite too was good and that's when I used crank baits. Little did I anticipate the drama that would unfold for crank baits. It's not rocket science here: 6-8 lbs line for this lake is ill-advised. You're not asking for trouble, you're asking for failure. You need to be in the 15+ lbs line range, otherwise you're just bringing a knife to a gunfight. As the sun rose in Area E, I continued to get multiple hits and land smaller bass. However, the two crank baits shown below were each lost to larger fish - line snapped both times. Where they LM? Muskie? I'll never know. The yellow and black crank photo on the right was moments before I would lose it to a larger fish. http://s1073.photobucket.com/albums/w392/dweroha/Hazel%20Creek%20August%202012/?action=view&current=3e90d12b.jpg Throwing cranks casting horizontally about 3'-5' off the bank was a winning strategy - there were some brush piles along the banks that gave strikes. The last crank bait I lost, a shiny silver with brown back stripe "pork chop", would be the 4th one lost and the last I would use for the trip b/c using more would just mean losing more. I lost the "pork chop" trolling along Area E in the middle of the cove. The "pork chop" was a deep diver: 10'-15'. Trolling along at about 3 mph, I had one large snap of the rod and no sooner did I realize a fish was on it, the line broke. Frustrating. A silver lining for this trip was my first time use of the pumpkin head hook during the late morning hour: http://s1073.photobucket.com/albums/w392/dweroha/Hazel%20Creek%20August%202012/?action=view&current=de070d93.jpg I very much liked the way the pumpkin head presents the worm (with its tail diagonally upward about 45-degrees). I casted horizontally about 3'-5' horizontally along the bank of Area E and it yielded small bass 13"-15". Hazel Creek is definitely a great bass lake and if you can make the drive and fish for at least 2 days, it's worth it. By the way, it is equivalent to driving from Kansas City to Des Moines, IA. I chuckled when I saw the highway sign "Des Moines 108 miles" and on my GPS it showed Hazel Creek 103 miles. For Labor Day weekend I have family and friends in town. On the docket is Miami lake Saturday evening and camping into the night then on Sunday evening we'll set up camp at Milford lake and Monday day fish all day in the southern part of the lake. I will not be doing the night bite fishing for smallies on Sunday but during the day Monday it will be the sequel to my first outing at Milford from a couple weeks back. After this post I'll send you guys a link that ranks Perry as the #1 lake in KS for bass!!! Well, it's implied #1 b/c Perry is the first KS lake that shows up in the Top 100 bass lakes in the US. I'd like to understand some details of where to fish at Perry for LMB. If I have sufficient information, I may just change the plan to fish Perry on Saturday night instead of Miami!!

Yes indeed, great work Blue, blazing that trail again! I'm up to bat tonight on the MO side so I'll try to follow suite on the catches!

I've considered hitting up Perry but reports of those infectious zebra mussels are turning me away! Thanks for the diagram though.

Well it sure looks like respectable size bass are caught and winning tourneys, that's nice to know! A 4.38 lbs SM is nothing to sneeze at. The vast majority of my LM bass caught at Wyco are < 15" but occassionally I boat some > 15". This week's schedule didnt allow me to even fish Wyco as I had evening class and just things to take care of but tomorrow it's on for Hazel. In fact, tonight I have to study and at least prepare my gear for tomorrow b/c when I get off work, I'm just coming home, hooking up the trailer and off I go!