Category: Triple Hooked Blogs

Last August the Kansas Bass Nation put on a Conservation Big Bass tournament at Melvern lake. A friend and asked if he could fish with one of the twins and other could fish with me. It sounded like fun, and I have always wanted to fish a tournament with my boys.

The Conservation event is for a great cause to help put structure in the lake so the fish can have some cover. One problem with Kansas lakes, they are getting older and we are losing a lot of cover for our small fish to hide from predators. How it works is the entry fee is a fish structure to put in a designated area. You can only bring one big fish in to weigh in and it has to be over 18 inches.

So, Nick teamed up with me and Kyle teamed up with my friend. I knew the dam was where Nick and I would start. We started catching fish right away along the dam on Topwater and Tubes. After catching multiple fish between 12-15 inches, we decided to move on up the lake to try our luck. We tried points, flats and bluffs and would only catch 2 fish in 2 hours of fishing. Nick looked at me and said “Dad can we just go back to the dam to catch fish.” So we went back to the dam. I was thinking lets just see how many fish we can catch. After returning to the dam, I hooked up with a really good fish on topwater. I thought maybe we had a keeper but it would only measure 17 3/4 inches. We caught two more fish in the 17 inch range. I was like well maybe we’ll catch a keeper. About that time my cell phone rung, it was my friend fishing with Kyle. He was having trolling motor problems and wondering if Kyle could jump in the boat with us.  We ran back to the takeoff area and picked up Kyle, and ran right back to the dam and started catching fish but the size was smaller. I missed a fish on topwater, and I told Kyle to throw at the spot. He hooked up right away, but it was just a small fish. He unhooked the fish and threw his bait in the water.  He was going to measure the fish, and just then his rod started to bounce. He had another fish on has bait that he laid over the side. He was so excited to catch that fish. One thing about smallmouth, they are very competive fish, and when you have one hooked a lot of times another one will try to take the bait from them. They often will follow the other one to the boat. A lot of times, the other people in the boat can cast behind the hooked fish around the boat and get hooked up too. We never caught a fish to weigh-in, but the twins and I had a blast catching 80 fish. Thanks Kansas Bass Nation for putting on a great event.

Last Week we went over Stickbaits, Spinnerbaits and Poppers. This week I will add one of the first baits I was giving by my grandparents. It was a Berkley Power Worm 7 inch on a Jobee Hook 1/8oz or you can Texas Rig 3/0 hook with a small sinker. Throw it out and slowly drag it back when the fishing is slow. Also, don’t be scared to throw it out and reel it in with a steady retrieve. There are plenty of different colors to try. But I would recommended in clear water watermelon, green pumpkin and pumpkinseed. Pumpkinseed is a great color in any water conditions. In dark water try Junebug and Blue Fleck.

The last bait I would recommended is Swimbaits. They come in many different sizes from small to big. I would buy a couple of packages of swimbaits that are pre-rigged with hooks like Berkley and Storm Wildeye Swimbaits, and start with 2 or 3 inch bait. This is a great bait for kids to start with as they can throw them out and just reel them in. Just let them pick out a couple of colors white, baby bass and firetiger are some of the best.

Ok, I went over 5 different types of baits: Stickbaits, Spinnerbaits, Poppers, Worms and Swimbaits. The next question you have is where to start when you get to the pond. When you walk up to the pond, try to be quiet and stay low. Also, try to walk up to the pond into the sun so you can keep your shadow off the water because if you walk up to the pond and make a bunch of noise, you will scare the fish. You can tell if you scare them by all the wakes as they are swimming  away from you. So by being quiet, you can usually hook up right away and sometimes the biggest fish can be caught first. I would also recommended to throw along the bank parallel. Fish will be sitting right along the bank looking to ambush something. Look for the ditch or creek that comes into the pond, it will hold fish. If there is any objects in the water, throw to it.  Bass love to hangout around anything; even a little stick will hold a bass. Another tip, I always like to fish two or three days before the full moon or new moon. I hope the tips help you catch fish at pond and catch your personnel best.

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.

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.

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!!!