bluebasser86

Mann's Hardnose snake is the closest thing I've found to the Snatrix.

I have the exact same LC prop bait, bought it because it used to drive the fish bonkers in the big aquarium at Cabela's in KC when I worked there. I know it sounds silly but not many bass in that tank so they didn't eat anything that touches the water like the two smaller tanks. I've been less than thrilled with the results from several efforts with it and it's probably about run out of chances to prove itself.

Well Hazel was not it's normal self it didn't seem. We caught a bunch of bass, just couldn't find a big one to save our lives. Caught them on a little bit of everything but plastics was by far the best. I was getting most of mine a YUM Wooly Bug and my buddy was getting his on a PB&J Zman Zinker. I got one little muskie on a squarebill. Then right towards the end of our trip I got a hard thump and set into what I thought was going to be a big bass. Lucky to land it with no leader.

I'll be on the road in about 7 hours once I get off work and fishing today through Saturday afternoon. I'll give a full report and hopefully have some pictures to share when I get back. Hoping to get some big bass and maybe beat my PB muskie of 42" that I caught my last trip up there.

Good for you guys! Not even worth arguing with people like that. Even doubling up right in front of him he probably still didn't believe you and figured it was dumb luck These awesome reports make we wish I was going to be able to get down there this fall but our son just turned 9 months and isn't quite old enough to make an extended trip or spend much time in a boat yet. I can just imagine how it would go over with the wife if I left her in the hotel all day with our son to go fishing

Appreciate it countryred. I've been there several times but like I said it's a solid 3 hours one way for me so it's usually a once or twice a year type deal so it's always nice to have a bit of a feel for what and where before I get there. Seems the muskie are doing terrific in that lake. My one trip last year my brother in law and I boated 9 muskie up to 42" and had several more near misses in just 3 days of fishing, only the biggest one was caught while actually targeting them though. Would be nice for my buddy to get one, he's never caught a muskie. We'll for sure be doing some bowfishing for carp too. There's some monster grassies in there.

Anyone been to Hazel recently? Taking my buddy for a surprise birthday fishing trip at the end of the month who has never been there, would like to put him on a couple big ones. PM me if you don't want to post it one here. I'm a solid 3 hour drive away so I'm not going to be elbowing anyone out of any shared spots.

I'm a bass guy but I turn all of my big fish loose, walleye included. Admittedly, I probably would keep a bit bigger walleye than I would a bass, but they tend to have to be larger to keep in the lakes I fish. Honestly, I keep very few of the walleye or crappie that I catch accidentally unless I'm with someone who wants to eat them. I've eaten about every kind of fish in the area that grows big enough to eat, including some big bass. Big bass aren't fit for human consumption in my opinion. Maybe that's why it gets some folks so upset, they see them as poor table fare. Believe it or not, drum are better eating than a big bass, they eat almost nothing but craws and mussels and have a very firm, white fillet, somewhat similar to a big crappie I guess. All the bass bigger than about 18" I've eaten are terribly fishy or mossy tasting, regardless of species. Small bass are pretty good eating though and keeping some helps keep the balance of a lake. There's some local lakes I wish a bunch of people would start keeping the bass. They're 13-18 inch slot lakes with very few fish in the slot and almost no overs, but thousands of 12 inchers that eat almost anything.

I've worked in corrections in the Kansas City area for almost 10 years now, I must have missed the crazy part of the story. There does seem to be some kind of fascination with poo with crazy people. Whether it's building figurines of people, sculpting festive Christmas trees or jack-o-lanterns, doing the old fashion cave paintings in a cell, or maybe for a late night snack, it really seems to be the duct tape of the crazy folk world.

My buddy swears that he saw zebra covered rocks in the Roaring River last summer but I would have to think someone else would have noticed them if they were there? I don't know if he would know the difference between a zebra and a regular freshwater mussel or clam anyways.

I think it depends a lot on the body of water on how bad they are. They were confirmed in Perry Lake in NE KS in '07 and they rarely seem to be much of a problem and I honestly haven't ever seen many of them there. However they were confirmed in Melvern Lake in '11 and now there isn't a rock bigger than a marble in that lake that isn't covered with them. Forget about flipping any kind of cover, might as well cut your line and throw that bait in the lake, it would have the same effect. Bottom contact baits are very difficult to fish because of the sharp shells (we call them razor clams). Never had the problem with them cutting my feet while swimming but I go barefoot a lot so maybe my feet are too tough for them to cut.

I see lots of illegal trotlines on the small state lakes here in NE KS. They're illegal in state lakes, period. So if I see them, I pull them. A few years ago I found one that was run from the bank and tied off to a freaking fish feeder! Of course it had several channels on it, obviously had been there for quite awhile too. Unhooked them all, balled the line up, tossed it in the trash at the ramp. No patience for folks breaking the law and stealing fish from those that do.

The smallmouth populations in our lakes have exploded and gained incredible amounts of girth since zebra mussels got into the same lakes that they're in, just saying. Catching fish like this before the Z's To fish like these just a few years after It's a love/hate relationship. They're an absolute nightmare to fish around, but gosh it's hard to complain about catching way more and bigger fish than I used to. I'll continue to do everything I can to stop the spread of them though as the long term effects are yet to be seen.

That is an absolute beast! Check out the Savage 3D line thru trout swimbaits, I bet those big stripers would love those things and they're very durable and affordable. They're just coming out with a 12" version this year too that looks amazing in the water. I fish the 8" version for bass and love it. Their baits are reinforced with mesh netting throughout the bait so they last way longer than normal soft baits.

I had good success with one early this year and haven't ever used it since. One of those things where I'm driving home and I think about it and wish I would have tried it.

Megabass is coming out with a WW imitation bait too but it better be more durable than the 110's or guys are going to go through a ton of them when the bills fall off About 0:45 when he starts talking about it.

Pretty excited about this one. Really good looking colors and if it's as good as the rest of Spro's baits, it should be a good tool for the tool box. http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/ICAST14.html?ccode=SPRO14C

Took a picture for a guy during prefishing for a weekend series tournament back in '05 of a 10lb 2oz beauty that was released right after the pictures. Of course he blanked in the tournament

What really blows my mind is how you have to take and pass a test to drive a car but a guy can go buy the biggest, fastest boat out there and drive it to the lake with absolutely no knowledge on how to operate the thing and it's completely legal. Not that educating people is going to stop most of it, but at least curing their ignorance would at least give them the knowledge to not behave like a lot of them do.

Some of our local weeknight tournys are going to 3 fish per team year round to help cut down on stressing and killing fish. It's really good to see guys realizing they have to protect the fish they're after.

3" Gulp minnow is my favorite walleye plastic. Not only catches walleye, but everything else that swims in the lake too!

Sounds like the Rapala Subwalk, walks the dog underwater like a Zara Spook. It's been around for awhile though.

I had a flathead in a 50 gallon aquarium for a few years. It was 4" when I found it in an old tire I pulled out of the lake, probably 16" when I turned it loose. One of the most aggressive, gluttonous fish I've ever seen. Started out feeding it nightcrawlers. Even at 4" long it would pack 4-6 nightcrawlers away every time, end up looking like a tadpole with that huge, distended belly. They are eating machines, not surprised at all that a bigger one would do that. We used to set lines in the Big Blue River in Manhattan pretty often. More than once we caught big flatheads that had a lifeless channel or smaller flathead that had originally taken the bait still on the hook. Had one attack a stinger of channels while bank fishing once and a stinger of crappies tied to my 2 man another time.

Make it fun. If a kid isn't having fun anymore they won't want to keep doing whatever it is they're doing. Like others said, ask what he wants to do and when he wants to leave, leave. If he sticks with it, the patience to stay out when they aren't biting great will come with time. Right now it's about getting his interest and keeping it. I agree with the suggestions about chasing gills or trout at Taney. Another option would be fishing live bait for bass. You'll catch bass and everything else to help keep his interest. Lastly, don't force it. If he sticks with fishing you'll have a lifelong fishing buddy and that's great, but if he doesn't then don't keep trying to force him to go in hopes that he'll see the light.

I never use a black light or fluorescent line at night, just my normal fluoro and braid. I don't like having any extra lights on at night and have no problems feeling bites anyways.