Category: Triple Hooked Blogs

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.

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.

MELVERN TOURNAMENT

The first Sunflower Team Series event of 2019 was held on Melvern Lake on March 23rd. It was going to be a cold, wet day with the forcast calling for light rain and winds. There was a great turnout with 48 boats. I guess everyone is looking forward to the fishing season.

With the water temp in the low 40’s, the lake was going to fish hard. We started in one of our favorite early season spots, which two other boats decided too. It is very common with this many boats to have multiple teams start in same area. We fished the area hard without a bite. We moved around the lake trying different techniques and areas without a bite. Then we decided to move shallow and throw square bills. It didn’t take long to hook up. I thought I had a big one. Once it came up to the surface, I noticed it was the wrong species. A really big drum. Fished a lot of different pockets around the lake without much luck. We did have a couple of more bites, but no hookups. Finished the day without a keeper. It was a tough first tournament. The best thing was getting to spend the day with one of my sons. There were 22 fish weighed in by 10 boats. Great job to the winners and the teams that weighed in fish. Also, to all the anglers that toughed it out on Melvern. Next Sunflower event is on El Dorado April 13.

Sam Rayburn Trip

Decided to start the fishing season in Texas on famous Sam Rayburn. The fishing has been very tough lately with high water levels and temperatures staying in the mid 50’s. One of the problems is it takes so long to weed through the trees to find the fish. I was able to catch some fish each day deadsticking a 5″ Senko around the live pine trees. When you do get a bite, they hit it hard and take off with it. So, you would think they would hit a moving bait. I really think the fish are waiting for the water to get in the 60’s so they can start spawning. Finally, the last day my partner and I were able to catch 15 fish cranking through the grass in about 1 hour on the last day. One thing I would have done different was fish more grass in the drains and ditches with rattletraps. I really think if you stayed with it, you could have had moments through the day you could have smashed them with a chance at a really big fish. Next up is Kansas Youth Tournament on Grand Lake.

BASS FISHING ON LACYGNE

I had one of my best days on LaCygne a couple of years ago. My partner and I decided to fish a tournament on a power plant lake in the east part of Kansas. LaCygne has some really big bass in the lake. There have been a couple of 10 pounders caught out of the lake in the last two years. The forecast called for a really bad storm to blow through with a steady rain the rest of the day. So, there were not very many boats that showed up. We started in the marina area, and just caught a couple of shorts. We move to the dam, and after an hour we had a couple of nonkeepers and two keepers. The weather got really bad so we ran up the river to get out of it. After the storm passed, we drove back to the dam and were throwing soft plastics. We caught 45 largemouth with 30 keepers. Finally, I was able to catch one over 18 inches so we could bring in five. It was an incredible day with the 5 best being 17.80lbs. Also, one boat had a 7 pounder, but they didn’t get into the big fish pot. So, we also won big fish with 5.07lbs. Only two boats weighted in fish. It is always a great day when you catch fish.

JUST A LITTLE SUMMER FISHING

With the long cold winter, I thought I would share some summer fun fishing from a couple of years ago. We started throwing Whopper Plopper first thing in the morning. Then, moved to soft plastic to finish the day. Twins hooked up at the same time with a couple of bass that looked like clones. There is a little clip at the end with a Trey that I thought I had to share.