Author: Tate

Twins At Youth Championship

This summer the twins had the chance to represent Kansas at the BASS Nation Junior Championship in Tennessee at Carroll County Recreation Lake. It is only a 1000 Acres lake with some really big fish. We were able to prefish for two days, and found about 10 spots that were holding keepers; 7 shallow and 3 deep spots. We couldn’t find any spots that held big fish. We threw a lot of baits at the fish, but our best luck was with Senkos and Flukes.

The first day was awesome! BASS goes all out for the kids. We would be boat 36 out of 51. I didn’t think there were going to be 51 boats, or I would have looked for more spots. We were the first boat in the water that morning, and I could tell the twins were excited and ready to start the day. When we took off our first spot was open so I was excited that we would catch a keeper. When the twins started, I noticed that they were fishing fast. I tried to slow them down, but they were too excited. Both would catch a couple of fish in the spot, but neither was a keeper. When we went around the point, we watched a boat 50 feet from us catch a big fish out deep. I noticed a lot of bluegill on the screen and bass around us. I watched a 5 to 6 pounder jump out of the water and throw a bluegill. So, I knew there were fish in the area and we would just have to slow down. After fishing 45 minutes without a bite, we moved across the lake to another spot. Nick would catch two more non-keepers on a shallow point. We turn around and two boats were moving in on us. One told us they had 4 keepers with one over 3 pounds, and they cut us off from fishing the spot on the other side. The other boat had moved in right behind us so we couldn’t fish back. On a 1000 acre lake with 51 boats it was going to fish small. We decided to move. We drive up the lake and all the other spots we had found had boats on them. As the day went, we couldn’t get on any of the spots.  Teams were just not moving, and we had to just kind of fish were we could. We would catch 11 fish, but only one keeper right next to the swimming beach. Boys were excited to weigh in one fish, but also were down. I told them we will just have to fish hard tomorrow.

Day 2 – I had no idea where to start fishing. We were boat number 16 today so we had more of a chance to start on one of our spots. There was a little breeze on the water, we decided to start on a wind bank that had nothing to it. Kyle was starting with a spinnerbait, and 5 minutes into fishing, he hooked up with a keeper. Nick was throwing a finesse bait. We just fished the little stretch for about two hours.  We had a limit by 8 am. It wasn’t much, but it was going to be great for them to walk across the stage with a limit. They would creel three times during the day. I was so proud of them to go out the second day and fish really hard. They could have just given up and settled. It was an awesome experience for the boys at this age. We learned so much about our strengths and weaknesses. I would like to thank all the people who help support the kids at this age and Kansas Bass Nation.

Lake Falcon Day 2

Day 2

The wind would blow a little harder today. I have never been on Falcon without much wind, especially two days. We started the same as the first day throwing square bills on shallow points. It would be a whole different day, right away Tommy lost a big fish. A little after that, Tommy hooked up with another good fish which he let Nick fight. Nick landed the fish, which weighed around 5lbs. Soon after that fish was caught, the twins started to catch fish after fish on soft plastics. I was fishing a little more today then the first day, and I threw a square bill. We ran around the upper end of the lake fishing points with drains. It was getting towards the end of the day. We pulled up to a point that Tommy said had some really big fish caught recently. Melissa cast up to the point, and as she engaged the reel her line was already moving out to deep water. She set the hook. I was watching her pole, and there was nothing she could do. She was just hanging on to the pole trying to keep it high. Just then the line broke, and we never saw the fish. I bet the fish was at least 10 lbs. Melissa was upset because she knew it was big. Two casts later, I caught a 7 pounder on a square bill; my biggest bass on a crankbait. I really wish the fish would have hit one of the twins’ poles. We decided to call it a day. The twins were upset, so Tommy decided to hit one more spot closes to the takeoff. I told Kyle to fish this Magnum Fluke, and if he got bit it should be a good fish. Next cast, Kyle catches a 5.5 pounder, and he was so happy to catch a good fish. The twins were tired and hot, but they did not want to quit. We ended the day with 105 fish and our 5 best was 27 lbs. It was a great day to catch over one hundred fish.  For the total trip, we would catch 183 fish in two days with the biggest fish at 7 pounds. It was an awesome trip, and we made a lot of memories on one of the best lakes in the country with one of the best guides falconlakeguide.com. Leaving Falcon lake is always very hard, and it will always have a special place in my heart. Thanks Tommy and Sherreta for everything.

Lake Falcon Trip Day 1

For the last ten years, we have been going to Texas to fish Lake Falcon with Tommy Law at falconlakeguide.com. It is a 16 hour drive there, but it has always been worth it and not just because of the fishing but hanging out with our friends. It has been a wish for me to share the Lake Falcon experience with my boys, so it was time.  I have been putting it off since they were 7 years old. But, I told them they needed to learn how to use a baitcaster, and I spent the last year teaching them how. It would be their first Bass Guide trip, and I knew who to pick to guide us. Tommy is one of the best. He always put us on fish and teaches us something different everytime. Also, they make us feel like family when we are there. We would be spending two days on the water. I was really hoping for the twins to break their Personnel Best.  When you take kids fishing, you need to just catch as many fish as you can and maybe on the way catch their Personnel Best.

Day #1

It was a cloudy morning with wind. Tommy had a couple of square bill crankbaits spots, and we started on some shallow points with deep water nearby. Melissa would loose a big fish that we never did get to see, and that would be the theme of the day. We just couldn’t get any of the big fish to the boat. We caught 52 fish by noon. Then, we decided to spend the next couple of hours looking for big fish. Kyle and Nick would have their shots, but the fish would come off the hook next to the boat. It got really hot with a temperature of about 105 with no wind. The twins were beat, but they kept at it. So, the last two hours we just went back to catching fish. We would end the day with 78 fish.

Day #2 will be on the next blog!!!

NICK CATCHES HIS BIGGEST BASS!

It was a beautiful June day that I decided to take the boys fishing and a little swimming. The local lake fish had been biting good.  We did a little swimming for an hour then decide to start fishing. We were waiting on Mom to show up with food, and I noticed a front coming in from the north. The day before on the lake, a storm popped-up out of the north and we had to get off the water. We decide to start at our best spot, and when I pulled up, I noticed about six fish in deep water. So I had the boys cast to the spot in about 8 feet deep of water. Nick hooked up, but lost the fish next to the boat. I was not sure they were bass. After a little more fishing, Trey hooks up with a big drum and we caught a couple more with some smaller largemouth and smallmouth in between. I decide to move because I was looking for better bass.  We had driven by an area earlier that showed a lot of activity on the surface and on the depthfinder. I’m always watching the depthfinder; I believe if you see bait or fish on the screen you will hookup. We started fishing around some structure in 6 to 8 feet of water. Nick caught a poor bass that looked like something had tried to eat it. It had an upper jaw bite on one side and a lower jaw bite on the other side.  I was not sure what had tried to eat the fish, but it had to be a big fish as the bass he caught was 15 half inches long. Continue reading NICK CATCHES HIS BIGGEST BASS!

A little family time at Banner Creek

We have been having some luck at Banner Creek lately, and I decided to take the whole family over there to try our luck. We were supposed to have a baseball game, but the early rain made the field too wet. So, fishing sounded good! The day before we caught 41 fish and 5 best over 17 inches. Tonight, we would only catch 26 fish with biggest bass being over 18 inches. I hope you enjoy the video.

Big Bass Before The Storm

I have had some luck on a little State Fishing Lake near by catching good bass. There was a storm coming in so I thought we had about a hour before the storm would hit. The wind was blowing pretty good, and the spot that had been holding good fish for almost a year was not going to work with the wind blowing in on it. We had Trey along this trip and it was just not very safe to fish in those conditions. The week before I had caught some good fish on a bank that was out of the wind, and we decided to start fishing there. It didn’t take very long for the twins to hook up. We had been throwing green pumpkin Lizards this year with a lot of luck. We caught a lot of good fish in a hour before the rain hit and had to get off the water. Just before we got off the water, Kyle hooked up with a very good bass that would weigh 4.9 lb. We get pretty excited when we catch a good bass. I hope you like the video.

Best Fishing Trip of 2016

The fishing trip of the year was a drive out west to Glen Elder Lake. There is not a whole lot of info on the lake when you try to research it. The Twins had an up coming Kansas Bass Youth Team Tournament, so I made a couple of calls and texts to get some info. We rented a cabin on the lake thru Kansas Wildlife Game and Parks. All over the state there are really nice cabins on many of the lakes in the State Parks to rent that make for a great weekend of fishing or just hanging out at the lake. So we packed up, heading out west for the 4 hour drive.

Off course it is western Kansas so you know the wind will blow. For three days the wind blew up to 20 mph. When we got checked into the cabin, it was nice and sunny so the boys wanted to get out on the lake.  There was no way we were going to be able to drive the boat across the lake, it was just not safe. I decided to use a south ramp which was at the end of a long gravel road and on top of it was a very long ramp without a service dock, so I was going to get wet. We finally got everyone picked up and on the way to some fishing. We fished the south side for a couple of hours without a bite. Finally, there was some stick ups and laydowns about three feet off the bank. Kyle threw up there getting hung up in a laydown. As I moved up to get him unhooked, I saw a big dark spot behind a stickup next to the bank. I wasn’t sure what it was, so I told Nick to throw right there at that dark spot. He threw right on top of the spot. Then just as he closed the bail, the water exploded as the fish nailed Nick’s bait. It took off towards open water right into the stickup and broke off. We all looked at each other like “What was that?” We would fish 200 yards more of stickups and little brushpiles along that bank without another bite. We decided to call it quit for the day, and go to the cabin and get rested because we were to hit the water early so we could fish a couple of spots before the wind picked up.

The next two days would be windy with alot of rain. But, the smallmouth and wipers were biting. We had a blast catching some really good smallmouth off secondary points in 7 feet of water. If you would throw up any shallower you would hook up with a small male. The females were holding out a little deeper ready to move shallow to spawn. With the cold front moving in, the females had moved out.  They were wanting to spawn. If the sun would have been out and it had stayed warm, they would have been all up shallow spawning. Kyle caught 4 really nice smallmouth with the biggest being 3.33lb, and she was full of eggs. It really started to down pour, so we decided to go eat.  I had figured after eating, we would go back to the cabin to hangout. But, the twins wanted to fish more, and we decided to fish from the bank.  The fishing was just as good. Nick caught a couple of three pound smallmouth and wipers. Kyle caught a 7 pound wiper from the bank which is his personal best. Melissa decided not to join us on Sunday as she was going to pack stuff up so we could head out sooner. After she dropped us off at the ramp, it started to down pour rain the whole four hours we fished. But the smallmouth and wipers bit still. We caught over 100 fish on the trip in really tough conditions. We had a really good idea how we were going to fish the next weekend in the boys tournament, but it would end up being cancelled because of the wind. You have to love the weather in April!  The boys cannot wait to go fish Glen Elder again.