Tag: Kansas Bass Fishing

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.

Youth Tournament on Hillsdale Lake

On September 7th the twins had their first qualifier tournament of Kansas Youth Team Series. Six teams showed up to fish a tough Hillsdale lake. The day before 35 High School teams fished, and it took 4 fish to win. So, I told the boys it will take about 3 fish to win. We decided to start in a marina pocket with all the standing trees. I figured the twins could pick off a couple of keepers. They only had one bite before the 10 a.m. break. About a hour in, I was thinking this area was probably fished hard by the high school team. We probably should have started somewhere else.

After the break, we moved to a different area of the lake. Twins were throwing square bills and flipping creature baits. Finally while fishing some riprap, the twins saw a good bass flapping shallow.  It was not doing very good. I had heard the week before that Hillsdale had a Largemouth Bass Virus. This bass was probably in the 3 to 4 pound range. The twins were trying to catch the fish. Nick threw his creature bait up next to the laydown that the bass was next to dieing. Nick thought he was snagged, just then his line took off. After landing the keeper, the twins were pumped. They fished hard for the next two hours only catching two nonkeepers. The one keeper was able to take third place with 2.29 lb. First place was around 5.98 lbs and second place was 5.32 lbs. I heard that the first place team caught their fish early. I was very proud of the twins; it was a tough day. There were not very many fish caught by the six teams. Congrats to the winners and to all the kids that fished.  Great job. It would have been a tough day for adults.

Just the Three of Us!

It was a sad evening. Twins choose to go to the middle school football game over fishing. So, Trey and my wife had to go fishing with me. I decided to go to Perry because it is a great lake for kids right know. You can get on any point right now and catch white bass.. They are not big; but a lot of action. Any crankbaits, lipless crankbaits and topwater will work. This evening, River2Sea Whopper Plopper 90 was the best bait. I was throwing the bigger Whopper Plopper 130 which makes a lot more noise then the 90. The twins love it when I’m throwing the bigger one because they will throw the 90 right behind me and hook up. The 130 can of get them to react and to feed. I will talk more about the bait in the coming weeks. If you aren’t throwing the River2Sea Whopper Plopper, you are missing out. Even a 5 year old can hookup. It is a great bait for kids and beginners.  All you do is reel. Trey was awesome in the video. I love watching the video clips of Trey fishing with me. I hope you enjoy them to.

Sunflower Team Series on Wilson August 18th

This last Saturday was the last season event for the Sunflower Team Series. Kyle was my partner for the day. We planned on fishing a lot of water with topwater due to not being able to prefish. We caught a lot of fish, but most were in the 14 inch range. We lost two really good fish. It is really hard to catch every fish on topwater baits. One thing I wish I could have changed is to have started with a walking bait sooner. First cast with the bait about the 9 o’clock, I caught our first keeper and a few minutes later caught our second fish. Then I lost a 4 to 5 pound fish on the bait. It hurt really bad, but if you fish a lot you will lose fish. Just part of the game. We finished the tournament with only 4 fish around 7.87lbs for 21st place out of 46 boats. It really was fun to fish tournaments with my sons. The experience is going to make my sons and I better fisherman. There is nothing like fishing tournaments to help you learn how to catch fish. We ended the season in the top 20 standing. I’m so proud of my boys for fishing 8 hour days 4 times in all different conditions over the season. They fished so hard for me and were great teammates. Thanks Rick and Kip for starting a great circuit. Hopefully we will be able to fish it next year.

The Sunflower Team Series Championship will be on Melvern in October. We will not be able to fish it due to a schedule conflict. The boys will be fishing the Kansas Bass Nation Youth Team Series on Wilson that weekend.