Category: Kansas Bass Youth Team Series

2020 BASS NATION JUNIOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Nick and Kyle had a great showing this year at the 2020 BASS Nation Junior National Championship on Carroll County. We had been to the championship 3 out of the last 4 years, and we really wanted to have a good finish.

During pre-fishing, we had found one really productive area, and had difficulty finding any other areas. We had a lot of luck throwing a small swimbait with different types of jig heads with spinners and without. During different conditions, one would work better then the other. With all the pressure, a 1/4oz. ballhead would be the most productive. Never have we fished a tournament without a baitcaster on the deck; we had 8 spinning rods on the deck during this tournament.

Day 1, we were able to get on our best spot. Kyle was able to catch a keeper on his second cast. But the next 30 minutes, we would only catch a couple of non-keepers. I was looking at the Humminbird 360, and noticed a ditch running along the bank out in 15 feet of water that had some really good brush and stickup along it. It was straight out from the spot Kyle had caught the 7 pounder during practices. So, I figured it may hold another big fish. Kyle threw out to the spot. Just as he started reeling, he got a bite. I knew right away it was going to be a big fish. As Kyle fought it to the boat, Nick was able to net the big fish. It would end up weighing 5 pounds 4 oz. Also, it would end up being big fish of the event. We would only be able to catch 4 keepers that day. With the one big fish, we were sitting in 2nd place with 7lbs 15oz. after day 1. Great start to the event.

Day 2 was very rough. We never could find a bite. Twins would catch about 7 non-keepers. Kyle did lose one big fish next to the boat, about 3 pounds, that would be costly. We zeroed for day 2, and ended the tournament in 14th place. Twins fished really hard that day, just wasn’t meant to be. It would be the twins’ last BASS youth tournament. I’m so proud of the boys. They had fished really hard all year trying to get back to the Championship. Then they were able to get to the championship, be in 2nd place after Day 1, and getting big bass of a BASS event. It is something they will always remember for the rest of their lives.

KYLE BIG CARROLL COUNTY BASS

Pre-fishing for BASS Nation Youth Championship on Carroll County. Kyle was able to catch a big bass over 7 lbs 9 oz. It would be his personal best largemouth.

2019 First Qualifier of the Year

Kansas BASS Nation Youth Team Series was on Melvern Lake September 8th. There were 22 teams that showed up for the first event of the year. Twins and I were on a really good pattern, and we were hoping that it would continue. We had checked out a spot the day before and had to shake off a couple of really good fish.

The morning of the event, there was a strong storm passing through the area. The Tournament Director decided to delay takeoff until 8. The takeoff was going to be a little different. Once you got your boat in the water, you could drive to your starting point. But, you couldn’t start fishing until 8:30. So, we decided to start on the main lake point. That was the spot we had to shake off the fish the day before. Once we started, the boys were able to catch a limit by 8:50am and also creel once by 9am.

Then after fishing the point for a little longer and hitting another point without any luck before break, Boys decided they wanted to fish the prime spot. I had held off fishing it so far due to the wind. No time waiting to fish the spot. It was time to give it a try even with the wind. As we pulled around the corner, there was another boat on the spot. So, we just pulled behind them. It was an adult team fishing another tournament. As we watched them fish up the bank, we were hoping they wouldn’t catch a fish off the prime spot. There was a little cut between some trees and bushes that the fish use to cut through the point without going all the way around. The whole area holds a lot of fish, but that little spot held some really good smallmouth. As we got near the spot, both boys casted into the spot. Nick hooked up first, but the fish came unbutton. Just then, Kyle hooked up with a really good fish. We would fish the stretch until weigh-in. Creeling three times and losing one big smallmouth in the 4 pound range. It was finally time to go to weigh-in. We had a great day on the water, and every decision we made worked. I knew we had a chance. Only thing that didn’t go right, we lost a couple of good fish. Just as the boys got to the scale, we started to hear that fishing was tough for the field. Nick and Kyle would have the only limit of the day. As the scale stopped, we ended up with 15.97lbs. Nick and Kyle would win the 1st Qualifier of the year. I was so proud of how the boys fished. Even after losing fish, they wouldn’t stop fishing the pattern. I would like to thank the two adult anglers that shared the spot with us. Thanks for showing so much sportsmanship to my boys. Also, I really feel like the equipment helped the boys catch the fish that day. All the fish came on Powertackle PG144-70 rod. The strength and backbone helped the boys hook the fish. Next event will be on La Cygne. There could be the chance for some really big fish to show up at the scale.

TOUGH DAY 2

This has been a tough blog to write. The day 2 at Kansas Bass Nation Youth Team Series on Wilson, is a day boys and I would like to forget. We got to our spot. The first pass through, we caught three small bass. While a couple of high school teams across from us were catching keepers. I kept trying to tell the boys to not worry about it. Finally, Kyle caught a 3 pound smallmouth. I told the boys were are ok. We just need 4 more keepers and everything would be good. Then the high school team pulled up to us, and told the boys they had 4 fish. I told the boys don’t worry about it, being two hours into the tournament only having 1 fish. It was getting to them. Then the next hour, we caught 5 small fish. The day before, we had all keepers and never caught a fish under 2 pounds. I decided to moved to another spot after a couple of the other teams moved out. Nick caught a good largemouth, so we had two keepers and everything was good. Then just before the break, Nick caught another keeper. On Friday, Nick caught the same fish. At break, I told the boys all we needed was two more keepers. Then, Nick hooked up right after break. Kyle was snagged, and I was trying to get him unhooked. I told Kyle to get the net. Just then the fish came off. Nick said it wasn’t a keeper, but it looked like one to me. One problem the boys have is they like to watch the other one fight the fish while I net it. They really need to learn to get the net fast. Then off a point which the wind was blowing really hard, Nick hooked up with a big fish. It started to swim out deep. I knew this was the biggest fish we have had all week. Just then it was gone. Nick didn’t get a good hookset. They were very upset. Next two hours, we didn’t get a bite. Driving to the ramp with 3 fish, we were all sick. We just need two more keepers. We had around 8 pounds, and we finished second place with 25 pounds plus. First place team did a great job. They were consistent having around 15 pounds both days. A lot of the teams that didn’t catch them the first day, caught them the second day.

I really feel bad for the twins. There a lot of things I should have done since being the coach. I really feel like the fish had used the spot we fished the first day for traveling to spawn. We caught them the first day moving to the back. We should have moved shallower. Also, should have gone out the night before after weigh-in to look for bedding fish like a couple of other teams did. Also, I told myself Wilson Lake you have to fish the condition. They change daily and hourly. Catching them so good the first day, I really felt they would really be there still. Two day tournaments are different then one day. Also, great job to all the youth teams and captains that fished all year together. We fished some tough events. It was great to see all the kids weigh fish in on Wilson.

We will learn from this and get better. I would like to tell the champs great job and good luck at Nationals in August on Carroll County Lake, Tennessee.

Kansas Bass Youth Team Series Part 2

Day 1 of the Kansas Bass Youth Team Series on Wilson Lake, we had already 2 fish in the livewell at our first stop. As we moved to the second stop, the wind and boat traffic made it very hard to fish. So I decided to drive all the way into the back of the pocket. We pulled up to a grass point and on the first cast, Nick caught our third keeper. It was just at 15 inches, so we need to creel him to have a chance. Fished a little more in the back as another boat joined us in the little pocket. Moving out along the bluff wall, there was a little cut that Kyle missed a fish. I figured it was a bedding fish. So we backed out, and Nick threw up there and dragged it into the spot. He stop moving it, and just then his line took off. I’m not sure he had a good hookset. If you watch the video, you will see. If you have the right rod and reel, all you have to do is lean into the fish. You don’t really want to set the hook too hard because you can pull or pop the hook out of its mouth. It was a good 3.12lb largemouth. I figured we had finally caught one we wouldn’t have to creel. With 4 fish in the livewell at 10am, it was a great start.

We moved just a little more down the back, watching another boat catch a good one in front of us. As they went around us, Kyle hooked up with number 5. The next hour, we caught fish after fish. We creeled 3 of the smaller fish in the next hour. All the fish in the livewell were between 3.04 to 3.12lbs. Just then Nick set the hook. I was like “Really? Again?” It jumped and shad guts flew everywhere. It was a big smallmouth. As Nick played it, Kyle was praying that we landed the fish. Nick got the fish in the net, and it was the biggest fish at a weight of 3.14lbs. We had around 17 pounds. After talking a little to another boat with a couple of guys that I know very well, they told us to stop fishing and save some fish for the next day. Boys didn’t want to stop fishing, but they did from 11:30 am to 1:45 pm. We protected the spot from other boats. Twins would cast out deeper and take breaks. Around 1pm, Kyle said “I’m casting to the spot.” I was like ok. Just as I said “Ok,” he set the hook. Not good, because it was another 3 pound smallmouth. The first half of the field weighed in, and only had 2fish or no fish. But one team had 14.90 lbs. As the scale stopped at 17.54 lbs, we had an almost 2 1/2 pound lead. All we have to do is bring in a limit on day 2 and the championship would be ours.

Kansas BASS Youth Team Series Championship on Wilson Lake

The Kansas BASS Youth Team Series held their State Championship on Wilson Lake in Western Kansas. Wilson Lake bass fishing of both Smallmouth and Largemouth are on fire right know. It is some of the best fishing in Kansas. So, I knew it was going to take around 15lbs a day. It was a two day event. There are a lot of 3 pound bass in the lake. We went the day before so that we could go out and prefish.

On our first spot, I noticed a lot of big largemouth swimming around shallow. I had one follow my frog to the boat. I told one of the boys to throw a stickbait on him. Kyle threw a Senko right next to him, and it exploded on it. I told him not to set the hook. It swam a little bit with his bait before Kyle pulled on him and he then let it go. After seeing a couple of more fish and catching a couple of small bass, we decided to move to a prime spot we had fished a couple of weeks before. Nick right away caught a 4 pound largemouth. I started to see more fish on beds both largemouth and smallmouth. I decided to leave them alone so we could start there first thing in the morning. We fished a couple of more hours, catching just small fish. I was a little nervous about our starting spot due to the Sunflower Team Series was fishing a tournament the first day. Those guys don’t miss much, so I figured they had spotted the fish bedding to. They also had 65 boats fishing.

The first day of the tournament, the boys and I were ready to go. While we were running to the spot, I was just hoping no one was on the spot. As we came around the corner, there was no one on the spot. I was so excited. I knew the twins could catch some fish here. After about 5 casts, we moved right into the spot were I saw a good smallmouth the day before on a bed. The best thing was we knew were it was bedding, so we could stay back away from it and cast around the spot. Nick’s second cast in the area, he hooked up. I knew right away it was a good fish. After fighting it for couple of seconds, which felt like 5 minutes, we landed the first keeper. It was around 3.5 pounds. A great start. Then a couple more casts in another area I had seen a couple of fish shallow, Kyle was able to catch another keeper smallmouth. It was just 15 inches, and didn’t weigh much. We have to creel this fish. But, we had two keepers in the first 30 minutes. After another hour, I decided to go to where we saw the bigger largemouth the day before. As we left the cove, I saw the wind direction. It would be very hard to fish the spot. I decided to move us to another spot that had been good to us the last couple of years. It would be a great decision, and one of the best days on the water that the boys and I will never forget. Next blog and video the boys catch their biggest limit in a tournament.

SPRING YOUTH TEAM SERIES

The 2018-19 Kansas Bass Youth Team Series came to an end this last Sunday. It was a tough finish to the season. Weather and high water were big factors to the last two events on Grand Lake and Perry.

On March 3rd, we fished Grand Lake in Oklahoma. Boys threw big spinnerbaits behind docks most of the day. Never could find a bite. They fished really hard in the cold conditions. There were not any fish weighed in on the youth side. Only thing we would have done different was fish more docks with spinnerbaits covering a lot of water. Best thing about the trip was spending some time with family on Melissa’s side. One quote from the tournament that Nick said after he saw some bait on the surface. “Dad if we catch a live shad and kill it, its not live bait anymore so we can use it.” It doesn’t work that way I told the boys.

April 7 event was on Perry with high water and changing weather put the fish on lip jaw. The boys mostly fished finesse baits and crankbaits during the tournament. There was one youth team that weighed in a really nice smallmouth to take first place. No other team weighed a fish in out of 11 boats. It was another tough event, but that’s fishing. You have to learn how to catch fish in any type of conditions.

So only one event left for the 2018-19 season. The Kansas BASS Youth Team Championship on May 4 and 5 on Wilson Lake. It will be a two day event. There will be eight teams fishing the event for the right to represent Kansas at B.A.S.S. Nation Youth Championship in Tennessee.

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.