Category: Kansas Bass Fishing

LITTLE FISHING COMPETITION

Had a little fishing competition last weekend on Melvern lake. Joining us was Z Man Pro Staff Thomas Heinen.

Thomas Heinen

Thomas is a very well seasoned fisherman already at a young age. He is fishing on the Washburn College team this year. He is a three time Non-boater Angler of the year winner in the Flint Hills Bass Club. Also, has represented Kansas multiple times on the Youth and High School side at the National level. When my boys joined Topeka Jr Hawgs, Thomas was a member. He has always been an awesome role model for my boys.

On Saturday, we decided to fish a Major League fishing format. Thomas and I versus the Twins, Nick & Kyle. The rules were every fish over 1 pound counted. Then if your fish touched the carpet, you would receive a 1 min penalty; which you couldn’t fish for 1 minute.

Thomas and Kyle with a couple of good bass.

The fishing was a little slow the fish half, but if you stayed at it you could catch fish. At halftime, the twins had a little over 2 pound lead. Anchored by 2.15lb smallmouth Kyle caught. Never had I ever fished when half the people in the boat cheered when you lost a fish. I hope you enjoy the first part of video.

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. 

Tackle Review: Z Man Finesse TRD

I would like to talk about one of the best baits and techniques over the last couple of years. I thought for awhile that it is maybe the only bait you needed. But, I learned that it is just another technique you need to add to your arsenal. The Ned Rig; it is an incredible bait. Some people cut stickbaits in half and use a light mushroom style jighead. I started using Z Man products. I like the Z Man Finesse TRD and Finesse Mushroomz Jig head.

The first time I fished and introduced it to my boys was a trip out to a western Kansas lake. I had only two packages of PB&J and 1/15oz. jighead. Twins were like “There’s not much to it.” We were actually pre-fishing for an upcoming tournament. It didn’t take long for the boys to fall in love with this little bait. The twins caught four smallmouth over 3 pounds and three big wipers in the 5 to 7 pound range. They wouldn’t let me fish it on the trip. They wanted the bait all to themselves. That week on four trips, we caught 300 fish. The boys tournament was cancelled due to bad weather.

But, I had an upcoming tournament on Melvern so I was ready with two spinning rods rigged with Z Man Finesse TRD PB&J and 1/15oz. Finesse Mushroomz Jig head. I had one rig with Sunline Sniper FC 7lb test and the other with Sunline Braided. I had found some fish that Thursday with the Ned rig. So, when the tournament started, I headed to my best spot. I pulled up to the spot and a couple of casts in, I caught a keeper smallmouth. The next cast, I had a good largemouth bass take my TRD off a hanging limb. After 10 more minutes, I had a limit with two over 17 inches. It was a great start.  My non-boater had moved to the bait, and he had two fish. We would go on to catch 45 fish that day with my best five being 14.97lb.

Since then we have caught a lot of fish and even one of my son’s personnel best 6.02lbs largemouth was on TRD using Powertackle SPN43-70 rod with Sunline Sniper FC 7lb. Powertackle rods are known for flipping big bass into the boat down in Texas. Their spinning rod has incredible action and feel for the Ned rig and other finesse baits. It is the only spinning rod in my boat.

The Z Man Finesse TRD comes in 22 different colors. I keep it simple, and stay with about 4 colors PB&J, The Deal, Mud Minnow and Green Pumpkin. I like to start with PB&J early in the season as it imitates a crawfish. Then when fish start keying in on baitfish, I will throw The Deal and Mud Minnow. Green Pumpkin is just a great color to imitate bluegill.

The most important part of this presentation is the size of jig you use. I use 1/15oz. most of the time. If I want to swim it or have a faster presentation, I will upgrade to 1/10oz. or even the 1/6oz. Now, if you fish from the bank or ponds, use the smallest jighead 1/20oz. and 1/15oz. This bait will catch any species.  We have caught some really big walleye on it. This is a great bait to use for kids to fish, tournament fisherman, and fun fishing. Everytime I take kids fishing for the first time, this bait is always tied on their pole. So, next time you go fishing pick up some Z Man Finesse TRD and Mushroomz Jighead and give it a try. It is an incredible bait.

 

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.