Tag: Bass Fishing

Angler of the Year

I would like to talk about one of my best tournament seasons. I was really determined to have a great year. Last year I spent a lot of time in the off season reading articles and watching fishing videos. There is so much info out there, you just need to spend time to look it up. I’m not talking about lakes’ fishing reports. They do help, but if you like throwing crankbaits look up all the info you can about the technique and watch videos. I have a notebook that I write down anything that I like or think will help me catch more fish. I have been doing that for the last two years. Then I put it next to my bed, and read it off and on during the season.

Also I decided to get in shape this season by working out. I need to be in better condition during the cold and hot weather we have in Kansas. We fish for 8 hours in a tournament; you need to focus and be ready when ever that big bass may hit. I noticed if you are eating and working out, you don’t get as tired or worn out. I cannot say how many event this year that I caught a bass in the last hour, and that made a big difference.

This season I won Angler of the Year in Flint Hills Bass Club. All the offseason work paid off. We scheduled 7 events this season which you could throw out your lower placings or if you missed an event. I looked at this season as one big tournament, 7 days. I needed to catch 5 fish that weigh over 10 pounds each day. So, I needed a total of 35 fish. It doesn’t seem that hard. But, if you have ever fished a tournament, weather and other things always become a factor. This year, I was able to catch 25 fish with an average weight of 13.61lbs for 5 events. I had to miss one event for the boys to represent Kansas in Tennessee at Carroll County lake for B.A.S.S. National Youth Team Series. The other was cancelled due to weather in which we couldn’t make it up due to other events. I never placed lower then 3rd place in the 5 events. 

This year, I also caught Big Bass of the Year.  It was a 21 3/8 inch largemouth. The day it was caught, it was my first fish of the day at 10 am. In the next 15 minutes I had a limit. I was able to get big bass in 3 events and also catch four fish over 20 inches in the first three events of the season.

 It was an incredible year. I would like to thank everyone that helped me this year. All the non-boaters that helped kept me fishing hard and make on water decisions. To my boys that push and help me pre-fish tournaments. Without my boys loving fishing, I could never spend as much time on the water as I do. Then to my loving, caring wife that believes in me and has always been so supportive. 

Kansas Bass Youth Team Tournament on Wilson Lake

It was the second qualifier of the year on Wilson Lake. The weather forcast does not look good for the weekend. It was calling for cold rain all weekend. On the way out, we had to stop at Salina to get some jeans for the boys. I was checking facebook, and noticed that the High School tournament was delayed due to high winds. When we showed up at the ramp, the High School tournament was cancelled. It was around noon, and the weather had gotten better.  It still was a little windy. We decided to prefished till 5pm when it was supposed to start raining again. I heard the bite was on by a couple of High School teams. We caught a couple of fish here and there, but nothing solid. All the fish were caught on spinnerbaits. I did have one huge smallmouth on, probably around 6 pounds. I rushed it at the boat and lost it. After another hour of fishing and catching a keeper smallmouth, we decided to call it a day.

Tournament Day was wet and cold. It rained all night and a small thunderstorm passed in the morning giving us a small delay. Right after the storm passed, a fog moved in. There were only five teams that showed up for the event. Finally around 8:30 am, we started the tournament. The plan was to start where Nick had a good largemouth come up on his topwater plug. Of course, they could not get a bite. We moved to a bank that had grass and stickups. It was protected from the wind and was a little warmer. Both boys were throwing spinnerbaits. Kyle had a nice keeper hit him right next to the boat. After landing the bass, the boys were very excited to catch a keeper in the first hour of the tournament. Then, Nick had a big fish break him off right next to the boat. There was really not much he could do when it hit so close to the boat. After catching three non-keepers, we decided to move to the area I lost the big smallmouth during pre-fishing. The wind was really blowing in on the spots. After fishing for a hour with only one striped bass to show,  the twins and I decided to go back to where we began. It didn’t take long for the twins to hook up with a couple of non-keepers. Loosing that fish next to the boat was starting to hurt more. With two hours to go, we moved down to the shallow point were some stripers were pushing bait. Kyle hooked up with a bass next to a patch of grass. He was saying it was not a keeper, but it would turn out to be their second keeper. Then two casts later, he hooked up again, but it was a short. I decided that we should just cover water for the last hour. We moved to a shallow pocket that had some stickup in 7 feet of water. Nick was throwing out around the stickup with a spinnerbait. When the rod loaded up, I really thought he was snagged. Then the line took off to the left, and he was yelling “It’s a big one!” It never jumped.  It just swam right up to the boat into the net. I was so proud of Nick to fish all day and to never quit after losing the fish earlier. I still felt like they needed another fish with only 25 minutes to go. I noticed a laydown offshore just under the surface. Nick threw his spinnerbait right next to the laydown. One crank and he was hooked up, but the fish swam right under the laydown breaking Nick off again. Not sure if it was a keeper. With 5 minutes to go, we needed to head to the weigh-in. As the kids got off the water, we heard that there were only two other teams with fish. We were the only team with three keepers. So, I felt like they had a chance. The three fish weighted in at 8.20 lbs for 1st place. The boys kept their promise; they were going to win the tournament on my birthday. I was so proud of my boys and the rest of the teams by toughing it out in the cold, wet rain.

Youth Tournament on Hillsdale Lake

On September 7th the twins had their first qualifier tournament of Kansas Youth Team Series. Six teams showed up to fish a tough Hillsdale lake. The day before 35 High School teams fished, and it took 4 fish to win. So, I told the boys it will take about 3 fish to win. We decided to start in a marina pocket with all the standing trees. I figured the twins could pick off a couple of keepers. They only had one bite before the 10 a.m. break. About a hour in, I was thinking this area was probably fished hard by the high school team. We probably should have started somewhere else.

After the break, we moved to a different area of the lake. Twins were throwing square bills and flipping creature baits. Finally while fishing some riprap, the twins saw a good bass flapping shallow.  It was not doing very good. I had heard the week before that Hillsdale had a Largemouth Bass Virus. This bass was probably in the 3 to 4 pound range. The twins were trying to catch the fish. Nick threw his creature bait up next to the laydown that the bass was next to dieing. Nick thought he was snagged, just then his line took off. After landing the keeper, the twins were pumped. They fished hard for the next two hours only catching two nonkeepers. The one keeper was able to take third place with 2.29 lb. First place was around 5.98 lbs and second place was 5.32 lbs. I heard that the first place team caught their fish early. I was very proud of the twins; it was a tough day. There were not very many fish caught by the six teams. Congrats to the winners and to all the kids that fished.  Great job. It would have been a tough day for adults.

Just the Three of Us!

It was a sad evening. Twins choose to go to the middle school football game over fishing. So, Trey and my wife had to go fishing with me. I decided to go to Perry because it is a great lake for kids right know. You can get on any point right now and catch white bass.. They are not big; but a lot of action. Any crankbaits, lipless crankbaits and topwater will work. This evening, River2Sea Whopper Plopper 90 was the best bait. I was throwing the bigger Whopper Plopper 130 which makes a lot more noise then the 90. The twins love it when I’m throwing the bigger one because they will throw the 90 right behind me and hook up. The 130 can of get them to react and to feed. I will talk more about the bait in the coming weeks. If you aren’t throwing the River2Sea Whopper Plopper, you are missing out. Even a 5 year old can hookup. It is a great bait for kids and beginners.  All you do is reel. Trey was awesome in the video. I love watching the video clips of Trey fishing with me. I hope you enjoy them to.