Midwest Finesse Fishing: November 2023

Rick Allen with one of the 36 largemouth bass that he and Steve Reideler caught on Nov. 17.

Nov. 2

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log about his Nov. 2 outing at one of northeastern Kansas’ community reservoirs.

Here is an edited version of his log.

The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 35 degrees, and the afternoon’s high temperature was 63 degrees. The wind angled out of the south and southwest at 6 to 18 mph, and there were wind gusts ranging from 20 to 26 mph. The sky was fair. The barometric pressure was 30.22 at 12:53 a.m., 30.20 at 5:53 a.m., 30.21 at 11:53 a.m., and 30.12 at 2:53 p.m.

During the last 11 days of October and the first day of November, Mother Nature’s windy, wet, and unseasonable cold ways kept me at bay. Spots in northeastern Kansas received five inches of rain. There were spells when the wind roared at 40 mph. And the National Weather Service in Lawrence recorded a record low temperature of 15 degrees on Nov. 1.

The water level at this reservoir looked to be several inches above normal. The surface temperature was 53 degrees. According to our nine-foot dipstick, the water exhibited about six feet of visibility in the vicinity of the dam and four to five feet of visibility along the shorelines in the upper half of the reservoir. Some of this reservoir’s shallow-water flats and shorelines are adorned with a few patches of submerged aquatic vegetation that consist of bushy pondweeds, coontail, sago pondweeds, and wads of filamentous algae. The bushy pondweeds and filamentous algae are wilted, and they exhibit a blackish hue. The coontail is also wilting. Moreover, many of the patches of submerged vegetation and the floating patches of duckweeds have been virtually annihilated by grass carp.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 2:41 a.m. to 4:41 a.m., 3:08 p.m. to 5:08 p.m., and 8:54 a.m. to 10:54 a.m.

When I made my first cast at 10:25 a.m., I was the only angler afloat on this heavily fished reservoir. Before I made that first cast, I was hoping to catch at least 40 largemouth bass. But by the time I made my last cast and had battled the 20- to 26-mph gusts of wind for four hours, my fish counter noted that I had caught 37 largemouth bass and one green sunfish. And at 2:25 p.m., I was still the only angler afloat.

Three of the 37 largemouth bass were caught on a Z-Man’s hot-snakes TRD TicklerZ affixed to a baby-blue 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. Five were caught on a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin-goby Finesse TRD affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. Eight were caught on a Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ affixed to a chartreuse 1/10-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. Twenty-one were caught on a Z-Man’s California-craw TRD HogZ affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig.

This is the California-craw TRD HogZ. It is a modern-day edition of the late and great Chuck Woods’ Puddle Jumper. For more information read the information at this link: https://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/the-puddle-jumper-by-chuck-woods/156469.

Along a 30-yard section of a main-lake shoreline that is immediately adjacent to the dam, I caught one largemouth bass. The water’s edge is embellished with some patches of American water willows, a concrete retaining wall, and three docks. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are partially quilted with patches of black bushy pondweeds, some wads of black filamentous algae, and a few sprigs of coontail. It has a 30- to 40- degree slope. The TRD HogZ rig inveigled this largemouth bass with a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation around a patch of coontail in about seven feet of water and about 20 feet from the water’s edge.

I caught two largemouth bass along the dam, which is 1,550 feet long with a height of 58 feet. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are occasionally adorned with a few meager patches of coontail, bushy pondweeds, and some wads of filamentous algae. It possesses a 50- to 60-degree slope. The water’s edge is graced with a concrete outlet tower, patches of terrestrial grasses, and a few patches of American water willows. The initial drop of the green-pumpkin-goby Finesse TRD rig caught one largemouth bass in about three feet of water along the outside edges of a combined patch of terrestrial vegetation and American water willows. The hot-snakes TRD TicklerZ rig caught one largemouth bass on a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation in five to six feet of water.

I eked out two largemouth bass along a 250-yard stretch of a main-lake shoreline in the lower half of the reservoir. This shoreline possesses a 20- to 30-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are intermittently covered with patches of coontail and wads of filamentous algae. The water’s edge is garlanded with a few patches of American water willows, several concrete retaining walls, four overhanging trees, and eight docks. The initial drop of the hot-snakes TRD TicklerZ rig caught both largemouth bass. One was caught adjacent to the outside edge of a patch of American water willows in about three feet of water. The other one was caught around a patch to coontail about 20 feet from the water’s edge in about seven feet of water.

I caught 25 largemouth bass along about a 300-yard section of a shoreline in the upper half of this reservoir. It possesses a 20- to 65-degree slope. This shoreline's underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are endowed with a few manmade piles of brush, several areas of wilting coontail, occasional patches of black and wilted bushy pondweeds, and some wads of black filamentous algae. This underwater terrain is enhanced with several offshore piles of rocks and boulders. The water’s edge is lined with several concrete retaining walls, some rock retaining walls, 25 docks, a few patches of American water willows, one massive laydown, and several overhanging trees. The pearl Slim SwimZ rig with a swim-and-occasional-pause presentation caught eight of the 25 largemouth bass on the flatter section of this shoreline and around the wilted and black patches of submerged aquatic vegetation. The green-pumpkin-goby Finesse TRD caught four largemouth bass, which were caught on a drag-and-shake presentation in four to six feet of water. Thirteen of the 25 largemouth bass were caught on the TRD HogZ rig. Three of the 13 largemouth bass were caught on a deadstick presentation; two of those three were caught in five to seven feet of water; one of three deadstick presentations was a vertical one in about nine feet of water under the boat. Five of those 10 were caught on either a drag-and-pause presentation or a drag-and-shake presentation in about four to nine feet of water. The other five were caught on a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation in about four to seven feet of water.

To tame the dastardly effects of the wind, I employed a drift sock along about a 275-yard stretch of a windblown shoreline in the upper half of the reservoir. This shoreline yielded seven largemouth bass. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, boulders, and some silt, which are quilted with a few patches of black and wilted bushy pondweeds, black filamentous algae, and wilting coontail. It possesses a 20- to 60-degree slope. The water’s edges consist of several concrete retaining walls, a stretch of riprap, 10 docks, one small rock bridge, a few laydowns, several piles of brush, occasional patches of American water willows, and several overhanging trees. The seven largemouth bass were caught on the TRD HogZ rig. Five were caught on a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation; one of the five was caught near the outside edge of a concrete walkway in about four feet of water in the vicinity of a patch of coontail; the other four were caught on the slow swim-glide-and-shale presentation along one of the steeper sections of this shoreline in four to about seven feet of water. The other two were caught on a drag-and-pause presentation adjacent to one of the concrete retaining walls and one of the docks in about seven to eight feet of water.

In sum, the wind made it a chore to catch an average of 9.25 largemouth bass an hour.

Nov. 2

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Nov. 2 outing with Norman Brown of Lewisville, Texas.

Here is an edited version of his log.

As I have lamented in my past logs, north-central Texas has been in an extreme drought for most of 2023. But during the last week of October, 14 inches of rain fell on the landscapes of north-central Texas, and that deluge of precipitation has gone a long way in helping to alleviate most of the harmful effects of the drought. The recent rains also filled nearly every waterway in north-central Texas, except for our favorite state reservoir, which is still about 15 feet below normal pool.

On Nov. 2, Norman Brown and I ventured to one of several U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ hill-land reservoirs in north-central Texas. This is the first time we have had the opportunity to fish this impoundment since July 21, because the drought had caused the water level to receded to a level that made it too risky to launch a boat.

The powder-blue sky was cloudless, and bright sunshine was plentiful. The morning's low temperature was 34 degrees. The afternoon's high temperature reached 64 degrees. The wind blew steadily out of the southeast at 10 to 15 mph. The barometric pressure measured 30.35 at 11:00 a.m. and 30.24 at 4:00 p.m.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar noted that the fishing would be poor. The most lucrative periods would occur from 2:48 a.m. to 4:48 a.m., 9:02 a.m. to 11:02 a.m., and 3:15 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.

The water was murkier than usual and exhibited between eight and 12 inches of visibility. The surface temperature varied from 61 to 63 degrees. The water level has returned to normal.

We fished from 11:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. inside four feeder-creek arms. Three are located in the middle section of the reservoir, and the fourth one is situated in the lower section.

The black-bass fishing was arduous. Many of the spots that we fished are typically productive during the fall months, and they usually entertain large aggregations of threadfin shad and other small baitfish. We found large swarms of threadfin shad inside all four of these creek arms, but few black bass. And we were befuddled as to why so many of our more productive areas were devoid of largemouth, spotted, and smallmouth bass.

We fished in water as shallow as two feet to as deep as 19 feet near large boulders, chunky rocks, laydowns, a submerged concrete roadbed, stumps, and thick patches of flooded terrestrial vegetation along flat shorelines, around rocky secondary points, across clay-and gravel flats, and around a main-lake point at the mouth of one of the creek arms. When those spots failed to produce much, we probed a bluff shoreline at the mouth of another one of the creek arms. And by the time this outing came to an end, it was obvious that this Corps’ reservoir had gotten the better of us. Ultimately, we caught a total of 10 largemouth bass and one white bass that were abiding in three to eight feet of water around several flat secondary points in the midsection and back ends of the four feeder-creek arms.

Four largemouth bass were caught in the first creek arm. One largemouth bass and one white bass were caught in the second one. The third creek arm relinquished two largemouth bass. The fourth one yielded three largemouth bass.

In short, it was a lousy afternoon of bass fishing.

Six largemouth bass were enticed by a swimming retrieve with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pumpkin-chartreuse ZinkerZ rigged on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce finesse mushroom-style jig. Two largemouth bass were allured by a Z-Man’s white-lightning Finesse TRD rigged on a black 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead that was employed with a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation. One largemouth bass and one white bass were enticed by a swimming retrieve with a Z-Man’s pearl Baby Goat. And one largemouth bass preferred a slow-swimming retrieve with a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin ZinkerZ affixed to a chartreuse 1/16-ounce finesse mushroom-style jig.

Nov. 3

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Nov. 3 outing with Norman Brown of Lewisville, Texas.

Here is an edited version of his log.

On Nov. 2, Norman and I fished at a problematic U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ hill-land reservoir in north-central Texas, and we endured the drudgery of another subpar outing. We fished for 4 1/2 hours, and we could barely scrounge up 10 largemouth bass.

We thought we would try a different Corps’ reservoir on Nov. 3. This one is located in the Dallas metropolitan area.

The sky was cloudless on Nov. 3. The morning’s low temperature was 42 degrees. The afternoon’s high temperature reached 74 degrees. The barometric pressure measured 30.22 at 11:00 a.m. and 30.12 at 4:00 p.m. The wind quartered out of the south-by-southeast at 10 to 20 mph.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 3:46 a.m. to 5:46 a.m., 9:59 a.m. to 11:59 a.m., and 4:12 p.m. to 6:12 p.m. It also noted that fishing would be poor.

We fished from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The water clarity varied from being muddy with eight inches of clarity in the upper end of the southwest tributary arm and inside two feeder-creek arms to murky with 18 inches of clarity inside two other feeder-creek arms in the lower end of the same tributary arm. The surface temperature ranged from 61 to 62 degrees. The water level was 2.14 feet below normal pool.

There is no aquatic vegetation in this reservoir. Its submerged terrain includes silt, red clay, pea gravel, chunk rocks, and boulders.

We targeted portions of five medium-size feeder-creek arms in a major tributary arm situated in the lower section of the reservoir. The black-bass bite was slow, but we managed to eke out 12 largemouth bass and six spotted bass. We also crossed paths with two white bass, one green sunfish, and one bluegill.

The first feeder-creek arm, which is situated in the lower end of the tributary arm, yielded six spotted bass, six largemouth bass, one green sunfish, and one bluegill. These fish were abiding inside a large cove on the south side of this creek arm, and this cove also contains a large marina. The first six black bass were abiding in two to eight feet of water across a clay-and-gravel flat adjacent to the boat ramp where we launched our boat on the west side of the cove. Four of them were allured by a steady-swimming retrieve with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pumpkin-chartreuse ZinkerZ rigged on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce finesse mushroom-style jig. One was caught on a Z-Man’s pearl Baby Goat affixed on a black 1/10-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig and an unvarying swimming retrieve. The sixth one was caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation with a Z-Man’s white-lightning Finesse TRD fastened to a black 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig.

On the east side of this cove, we dissected a clay-and-gravel shoreline with a 25- to 35-degree gradient. This shoreline is endowed with several tertiary points and one secondary point covered with riprap. This shoreline surrendered five largemouth bass and one spotted bass, one green sunfish, and a bluegill. These fish were situated around tertiary points in three to 21 feet of water. They were enticed by a slow drag-and-shake presentation with a Z-Man’s Bama-bug TRD BugZ matched with a chartreuse 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig. The green sunfish was caught in three feet of water on a drag-and-shake retrieve with the 2 1/2-inch pumpkin-chartreuse ZinkerZ rig.

The second feeder-creek arm lies in the upper end of the tributary arm and about two miles west of the first one. The water was muddy with about eight inches of clarity, and we failed to garner any strikes inside this creek arm.

The third creek arm that we investigated is also located in the upper region of the tributary arm, and about a mile east of the second creek arm. The water was muddy with eight to 10 inches of clarity. We failed to locate any schools of threadfin shad or black bass in this creek arm.

The fourth feeder-creek arm is located in the middle section of this tributary arm, and about a mile east of the third one. The water was murky with about 14 inches of clarity. Inside this creek arm, we fished inside a small cove, along a 60-yard section of riprap-laden shoreline, an offshore rock pile, and three primary secondary points. We failed to locate any black bass in this creek arm, but we did catch two white bass in three to five feet of water from the side of one of the secondary points in the midsection of the creek arm. They were caught on a moderate-paced swimming retrieve with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ rigged on a chartreuse 1/10-ounce Z-Man’s finesse ShroomZ jig.

We caught six largemouth bass inside the fifth feeder-creek arm. This creek arm is situated in the lower section of the tributary arm. It contains a medium-size marina. Its shorelines are more rock- and boulder-laden than the other four creek arms, and they possess a 45- to 60-degree incline. These bass were relating to large boulders along the 60-degree sections of the shoreline. Three were induced into striking the 2 1/2-inch pumpkin-chartreuse ZinkerZ rig; two were caught on a straight-swimming retrieve, and one was caught on a drag-and-shake presentation. The other three largemouth bass were caught on a drag-and-shake presentation with the Bama-bug TRD BugZ rig.

Nov. 4

Bob Gum of Kansas City, Kansas, posted a brief on the Finesse News Network about his Nov. 4 outing at one of northeastern Kansas’ power-plant reservoirs.

Here is an edited version of his brief.

The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 40 degrees, and the afternoon’s high temperature was 59 degrees. The wind fluctuated from being calm to angling out of the north, northeast, and east at 3 to 7 mph. The conditions of the sky ranged from being fair to cluttered with a few clouds to overcast to partly cloudy. The barometric pressure was 30.16 at 12:53 a.m., 30.20 at 5:53 a.m., 30.23 at 11:53 a.m., and 30.21 at 3:53 p.m.

The power plant had been generating power sporadically. Consequently, the surface temperature within the warm-water plume, which is situated in the middle section of the reservoir, was 53 degrees, and it was 53 degrees along the dam. The water clarity was around two feet along the dam. The water level looked to be about three feet low; in fact, it was so low that it was necessary for me to take off my boots and socks and wade in the water to launch my boat.

I was on the water at 6:22 a.m., and I was the second individual to launch a boat. I was off the water by 3:00 p.m.

I had not fished this reservoir since the first week in June.

Despite the near perfect weather conditions, there were very few anglers afloat. Most of these anglers were either fishing the warm-water outlet for white bass or the spillway for crappie. And there were only two boats of anglers that appeared to be fishing for largemouth bass.

I began this outing by fishing 150-yards of the north end of the riprap jetty of the warm-water outlet. Then, I fished two bluffs that are situated in the lower half of the warm-water plume. I spent the rest of the outing fishing along the riprap shorelines of the dam, the power plant, a roadway, and the middle and south sections of the warm-water jetty.

I caught 30 largemouth bass and accidentally caught seven freshwater drum.

My most effective Midwest finesse rigs were a 2 ½-inch Z-Man’s coppertreuse ZinkerZ attached to a black 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig and a Z-Man’s Drew’s craw TRD TicklerZ attached to a red 1/20-ounce mushroom-style jig.

The most bountiful area was along the middle portion of the dam. And along the dam, I wielded the TRD TicklerZ rig by casting it parallel to the water’s edge and retrieving like a jerkbait with rod tip pointed down for the first 10 to 15 feet, and then I employed a pendulum swing, which allowed it to slowly glide back to the boat.

Nov. 6

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log about his Nov. 6 outing with Pok Chi Lau of Lawrence at one of northeastern Kansas’ community reservoirs.

Here is an edited version of his log.

The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 56 degrees, and the afternoon’s high temperature was 71 degrees. The wind was calm for two hours, and then it angled out of the south, southwest, north, and northeast at 3 to 12 mph. The conditions of the sky varied from being fair to mostly cloudy to overcast. The barometric pressure was 29.81 at 12:53 a.m., 29.83 at 5:53 a.m., 29.83 at 12:53 a.m., and 29.81 at 2:53 p.m.

The water level at this reservoir looked to be several inches above normal. The surface temperature ranged from 56 to 58 degrees. According to our nine-foot dipstick, the water exhibited about six feet of visibility.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 9:35 a.m. to 11:35 a.m., 10:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m., and 3:22 a.m. to 5:22 a.m.

We made our first cast at 11:01 a.m. and our last ones at 2:10 p.m. And during the entire three hours and nine minutes, it was a chore to elicit a strike. Thus, it was an ordeal to eke out 22 largemouth bass, one crappie, one green sunfish, and one warmouth.

Four of the 22 largemouth bass were caught on a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin-goby Finesse TRD affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. Five were caught on a Z-Man’s hot-snakes TRD TicklerZ affixed to a chartreuse 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig. Thirteen were caught on a Z-Man’s Canada-craw TRD HogZ affixed to a baby-blue 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig.

Along a 40-yard section of a main-lake shoreline that is immediately adjacent to the dam, we caught one largemouth bass. The water’s edge is embellished with some patches of American water willows, a concrete retaining wall, and four docks. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are partially quilted with patches of wilted and black bushy pondweeds, some wads of black filamentous algae, and a few sprigs of wilted coontail. It has a 30- to 40- degree slope. The initial drop of theTRD TicklerZ rig caught the largemouth bass around a patch of coontail in about five feet of water and about 12 feet from the water’s edge.

We caught two largemouth bass along the dam, which is 1,550 feet long with a height of 58 feet. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are occasionally adorned with a few meager patches of coontail, bushy pondweeds, and filamentous algae. It possesses a 50- to 60-degree slope. The water’s edge is graced with a concrete outlet tower, patches of terrestrial grasses, and a few patches of American water willows. The initial drop of the Finesse TRD rig caught one largemouth bass in about three feet of water along the outside edges of a combined patch of terrestrial vegetation and American water willows. The TRD HogZ rig caught one largemouth bass while we were strolling and employing a drag-and-shake presentation in about six feet of water.

We caught one largemouth bass while we were strolling and employing a drag-and-subtle-shake presentation in 10 feet of water around a main-lake point in the lower third of the reservoir. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and humongous boulders, which are endowed with a few minor patches of coontail. It has a 20-degree slope that is highlighted with some significant piles of rocks and boulders.

Inside a small feeder-creek arm in the lower third of the reservoir, we caught four largemouth bass around a secondary point and its adjacent shoreline. This area possesses a 30-degree slope. The underwater terrain consists of gravel and rocks, which are endowed with a few patches of coontail. The water’s edge is lined with a concrete retaining wall, two docks, and some meager patches of American water willows. One of the four largemouth bass was caught on the TRD HogZ rig with a deadstick presentation in five feet of water adjacent to the edge of one of the docks. Three of the four largemouth bass were caught on a drag-and-shake in five to six feet of water; one was caught on the TRD TicklerZ rig; two were caught on the TRD HogZ rig.

We caught one largemouth bass along about a 45-yard stretch of a main-lake shoreline in the upper half of the reservoir. It has a 30-to 35-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders that are coated with a few patches of wilted and black bushy pondweeds, black filamentous algae, and wilted coontail. The water’s edge is adored with a concrete retaining wall, three docks, some patches of American water willows, and a few overhanging trees. The TRD TicklerZ rig and a drag-and-shake presentation caught the largemouth bass around some of the patches of submerged aquatic vegetation in five to six feet of water.

We caught eight largemouth bass along about a 300-yard section of a shoreline in the upper half of this reservoir. It possesses a 20- to 65-degree slope. This shoreline's underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are endowed with a few manmade piles of brush, several areas of wilting coontail, occasional patches of black and wilted bushy pondweeds, and some wads of black filamentous algae. This underwater terrain is also enhanced with several offshore piles of rocks and boulders. The water’s edge is lined with several concrete retaining walls, some rock retaining walls, 25 docks, a few patches of American water willows, one massive laydown, and several overhanging trees. One of the eight largemouth bass was caught on the TRD TicklerZ rig. Seven of the eight largemouth bass were caught on the TRD HogZ rig. Two of the eight were caught on the initial drop of our rigs. Six of the eight were caught on a drag-and-shake presentation in four to nine feet of water.

We struggled mightily to inveigle five largemouth bass along a 275-yard stretch of a windblown shoreline in the upper half of the reservoir. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, boulders, and some silt, which are quilted with a few patches of black and wilted bushy pondweeds, black filamentous algae, and wilting coontail. It possesses a 20- to 60-degree slope. The water’s edges consist of several concrete retaining walls, a stretch of riprap, 10 docks, one small rock bridge, a few laydowns, several piles of brush, occasional patches of American water willows, and several overhanging trees. Two of the five largemouth bass were caught on the initial drop of the TRD HogZ rig in about three feet of water around patches of American water willows. As we were strolling and employing drag-and-subtle-shake presentations, we caught one of the five largemouth bass on the TRD TicklerZ rig in about seven feet of water, and we caught two on the Finesse TRD rig in four to six feet of water.

In sum, it was more than a chore to catch about seven largemouth bass an hour.

Nov. 6

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Nov. 6 outing with Roger Farish of Highland Village, Texas.

Here is an edited version of his log.

Roger joined me for a four-hour excursion at a popular U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ hill-land reservoir in north-central Texas.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar indicated that the fishing would be poor, but the best fishing periods would occur from 5:14 a.m. to 7:14 a.m., 11:03 a.m. to 1:03 p.m., and 5:35 p.m. to 7:35 p.m.

We fished from 9:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.

It was a blustery fall day. Sunshine was plentiful and the sky was cloudless. The morning’s low temperature was 61 degrees. The afternoon’s high temperature peaked at 84 degrees. A vigorous wind blew relentlessly out of the south and southwest at 20 to 25 mph. The barometric pressure measured 29.95 at 9:00 a.m., and 29.84 at 1:00 p.m.

We spent these four hours inside two major feeder-creek arms in the lower region of the reservoir. One is situated in the east tributary arm, and the other is located in the west tributary. Their underwater terrains are identical and consist of red clay, small gravel, chunky rocks, some riprap, and numerous formations of woodbine sandstone boulders and rocks. They are also endowed with burgeoning patches of Eurasian milfoil, hydrilla, and some American pondweeds.

The water level at this reservoir has risen significantly since our recent late-October rains, but it was still 1.43 feet below normal pool. The water displayed 2 1/2 feet of clarity. The surface temperature ranged from 62 degrees at the boat ramp in the lower end of the reservoir to 64 degrees in the back end of a feeder-creek arm in the lower section of the reservoir’s west tributary arm.

In a large feeder-creek arm located in the lower section of the reservoir’s east tributary arm, we caught four largemouth bass around the flat perimeter of an island. This island is located about a third of the way inside this creek arm. They were abiding in less than five feet of water, and they were relating to the outside edges of three large patches of Eurasian milfoil that are situated along the east and southwest side of the island. They were caught on a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ rigged on a red 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. This combo was employed with a moderate-paced swimming retrieve over the top and parallel to the sides of the patches of milfoil.

Along a flat and rocky 75-yard shoreline just east of the island, we caught five largemouth bass and two spotted bass. They were abiding in two to four feet of water around several small patches of Eurasian milfoil interwoven with large clusters of chunky rocks. Three largemouth bass and one spotted bass were caught with a straight-swimming retrieve with a Z-Man’s pearl Baby Goat rigged on a chartreuse 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Two largemouth bass and one spotted bass were allured by a constant-swimming retrieve with the 2 1/2-inch pearl Slim SwimZ rig. We failed to locate any schools of threadfin shad or black bass in the back end of this creek arm.

On the south side of this creek arm, we caught two largemouth bass. They were associated with a large patch of milfoil that is situated in a large pocket between two rocky secondary points. They were caught on a moderate-paced swimming retrieve with the 2 1/2-inch pearl Slim SwimZ rig. We failed to generate any strikes from three flat-and-rocky secondary points and two flat shorelines bedecked with chunky sandstone rocks and boulders.

From that feeder-creek arm, we meandered about three miles westward to the second feeder-creek arm, which lies in the lower portion of the west tributary arm.

Just inside the entrance to the second feeder-creek arm, there is a small cove. Inside the cove, we probed about a 50-yard stretch of shoreline that is cluttered with large boulders, rocks, and gravel, and we caught three spotted bass. These spotted bass were relating to the deep-water side of the large boulders in five to seven feet of water. One was caught on the pearl Baby Goat rig and a swimming retrieve. The other two were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation with a Z-Man’s pearl TRD TicklerZ matched with a red 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.

In the backend of this creek arm, we caught three largemouth bass. One was caught from a 45-yard section of riprap-laden shoreline. This largemouth was enticed by a swim-glide-and-shake retrieve with the pearl TRD TicklerZ. The other two largemouth bass were extracted from five to seven feet of water along the deep-water side of a shallow rock ledge. This ledge is covered with about two feet of water and quickly descends into 15 feet of water. One of the largemouth bass engulfed the pearl Baby Goat rig that was employed with a straight-swimming retrieve about a foot below the surface of the water. The other largemouth bass was bewitched by a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation with the pearl TRD TicklerZ rig.

We also dissected two small clay-and-gravel flats and a couple of flat secondary points in the middle section of this creek arm, but we failed to garner any other strikes.

In conclusion, we amassed a total of 14 largemouth bass and five spotted bass. The last time I fished this reservoir was on Oct. 27 with Norman Brown of Lewisville. We fished hard for five hours, and by the time that outing ended, we had caught 34 black bass; twenty-eight were largemouth bass and six were spotted bass.

Nov. 7

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, and Rick Hebenstreit of Shawnee, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about their Nov. 7 outing at a 91-year-old and heavily fished state reservoir in northeastern Kansas.

Here is an edited version of their log.

The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 44 degrees, and the afternoon’s high temperature was 79 degrees. The wind was calm for three hours, and then it angled out of the east and southeast at 6 to 17 mph, and there were gusts of wind that hit 28 mph. The sky fluctuated from being fair to partly cloudy to cluttered with a few clouds to overcast to mostly cloudy. The barometric pressure was 29.85 at 12:52 a.m., 29.83 at 5:52 a.m., 29.77 at 11:52 a.m., and 29.69 at 2:52 p.m.

The water level looked to be several inches above normal. The surface temperature was 56 degrees. According to our nine-foot dipstick, the water exhibited more than nine feet of visibility.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 5:46 a.m. to 7:46 a.m., 6:08 p.m. to 8:06 p.m., and 11:35 a.m. to 1:35 p.m.

We made our first casts at 10:34 a.m., and our last ones were made when we caught largemouth bass number 70 at 2:27 p.m.

We caught one of the 70 largemouth bass on a 3 ½-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin GrubZ affixed to a chartreuse 1/10-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. Four largemouth bass were caught on a Z-Man’s Canada-craw TRD HogZ affixed to a baby-blue 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. Four largemouth bass were caught on a three-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ affixed to a chartreuse 3/32-ounce mushroom-style jig. Eleven largemouth bass were caught on a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Finesse ShadZ affixed to a chartreuse 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig. We caught 50 largemouth bass on a 4.75-inch Z-Man’s purple-haze Finesse WormZ, which was shortened to 3 ½ inches and affixed to a baby-blue 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig.

This is our 3 1/2-inch purple-haze Finesse WormZ rig.

We caught 42 of the 70 largemouth bass around and across a massive shallow-water flat in the back of a major feeder-creek arm. The entire area looks to be about the size of seven football fields. We fished across and around an area about the size of three football fields. The water’s edge of this flat is cluttered with significant patches of winter-dead American water willows, many overhanging trees, and numerous laydowns. It is also endowed with a small island, which is embellished with two patches of winter-dead American water willows, two muskrat huts, scores of concrete blocks, and many small boulders. Much of this flat’s underwater terrain is quilted with wilting patches of coontail, patches of dying bushy pondweeds, some sprouts of sago pondweeds, nascent patches of curly-leaf pondweeds, and an array of manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees. Several submerged creek channels and ditches crisscross this flat.

Most of the 42 largemouth bass were caught around the patches of coontail in about four to eight feet of water. One was caught on the GrubZ rig. Two were caught on the TRD HogZ rig. Four were caught on the Slim SwimZ rig. Seven were caught on the Finesse ShadZ rig. Our Finesse WormZ rigs caught 28 largemouth bass. Two were caught on a deadstick presentation. The GrubZ rig and Slim SwimZ rig caught five of them on a straight-swimming presentation. Six largemouth bass were caught on the initial drop of our rigs. The other 36 were caught while we were employing either a drag-and-subtle-shake presentation or a swim-glide-and-shake presentation; some of those 36 were caught while we were strolling and employing those two presentations. It was a simple task to polish the tops of the wilted patches of coontail with the drag-and-subtle-shake presentation and the swim-glide-and-shake presentation.

In the back of another major feeder-creek arm, we fished around and across another massive shallow-water flat. This flat looks to be about the size of four football fields, and one of those football-field-size sections is covered with untold numbers of winter-dead American lotus plants. Portions of the underwater terrain are enhanced with wilted patches of coontail, patches of dying bushy pondweeds, a few patches of sago pondweeds, and several manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees. This flat yielded 10 largemouth bass, which were caught on our Finesse WormZ rigs with either a drag-and-shake presentation or a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in five to eight feet of water.

We caught 12 largemouth bass on and around a shallow-water flat inside a tiny feeder-creek arm. This flat looks to be the size of about four tennis courts. Its underwater terrain is decorated with wilting patches of coontail, patches of dying bushy pondweeds, several manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees, and a few laydowns. One largemouth bass was caught on the TRD HogZ rig. Two were caught on the Finesse ShadZ rig. Nine were caught on our purple-haze Finesse WormZ rigs. One was caught on a deadstick presentation. Two were caught on the initial drop of our rigs. The others were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation. They were caught in about four to seven feet of water.

We fished around the two main-lake points at the mouth of this tiny feeder-creek arm. The underwater terrains of these points consist of gravel and rocks, which are partially coated with wilted coontail and dying bushy pondweeds. Their water’s edges are adorned with significant parches of winter-dead American water willows. Around one of the points, the initial drop of the TRD HogZ rig caught one largemouth bass in about three feet of water adjacent to the outside edge of the patches of American water willows. Around the second point, the Finesse WormZ rig caught two largemouth bass in about 3 ½ feet of water on a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation near the outside edge of the patches of American water willows.

We spent about 10 minutes fishing along a main-lake shoreline that was adjacent to one of the points at the mouth of the tiny feeder-creek arm. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are occasionally carpeted with patches of wilted coontail and patches of dying bushy pondweeds. The water’s edge is graced with thick patches of winter-dead American water willows, some laydowns, and an array of overhanging trees. This shoreline yielded three largemouth bass. Two were caught on the initial drop of the Finesse ShadZ rig in about 3 1/2 feet of water in the vicinity of the outside edges of the patches of winter-dead American water willows. One was caught on a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation of the TRD HogZ rig in three to four feet of water in the vicinity of the outside edges of the patches of winter dead American water willows.

During the first 45 minutes of this outing, we fretted that it was going to be a chore to catch an average of five largemouth bass an hour. But to our surprise and delight, we caught an average of about 18 an hour.

Nov. 8

Pat and Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a brief about their short and wind-blown outing on Nov. 8 at a 63-year-old and heavily fished northeastern Kansas’ state reservoir.

Here is an edited version of his log.

The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 47 degrees, and it was 71 degrees at 1:52 p.m. The wind was calm from 4:52 a.m. to 7:52 a.m., and when it stirred, it angled out of the southeast, east, southwest, northwest, and north at 3 to 20 mph, and some of the early afternoon gusts reached 30 mph. The sky radically fluctuated from being foggy and misty to fair to overcast to mostly cloudy. The barometric pressure was 29.64 at 12:52 a.m., 29.62 at 5:52 a.m., 29.70 at 11:52 a.m., and 29.73 at 1:52 p.m.

The water level looked to be about normal. The surface temperature was 56 degrees. Our dipstick indicated that the water exhibited from three to four feet of visibility.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 6:22 a.m. to 8:22 a.m., 6:42 p.m. to 8:42 p.m., and 12:12 a.m. to 2:12 a.m.

As we executed our first casts at 11:17 a.m., the wind began to howl out of the north, and it became so gusty that we were forced to make our last ones at 1:01 p.m.

During this wind-blown ordeal, we caught 21 largemouth bass and accidentally caught 14 white crappie.

One of the 21 largemouth bass was caught on a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin-goby Finesse TRD affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. Three of the 21 were caught on a Z-Man’s hot-snakes TRD TicklerZ affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. Four were caught on a Z-Man’s coppertreuse TRD TicklerZ affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. Thirteen were caught on a 4.75-inch Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse WormZ, which was shortened to 3 ¼ inches and affixed to either a chartreuse or a baby-blue 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig.

We spent the entire outing using a drift sock and haphazardly trying to dissect a massive shallow-water flat in the back of a major feeder-creek arm. This flat looks to be the size of four or five football fields. The underwater terrain of this flat is embellished with substantial patches of coontail, sago pondweeds, and numerous manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees. A submerged creek channel meanders around the western side of this flat.

We fished around an area about the size of 2 ½ football fields.

Because of the radical gusts of wind, it was impossible to execute precisely any of the six standard Midwest finesse retrieves (https://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/six-midwest-finesse-retrieves/153946#).

We caught six of the 35 fish (14 crappie and 21 largemouth bass) on the initial drop of our rigs. The others were caught as we were rotating the reel handle at a pace that would allow our rigs to gingerly grace the tops of the massive patches of coontail. In other words, our rigs were merely swimming and gliding across the patches of coontail. If our rigs became entangled in a patch of coontail, a significant flex of our wrist and forearm would unfetter the rig without it becoming enmeshed inside a wad of coontail strands. This is one of the several virtues of using a lightweight Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig that is equipped with a number-four hook, and this snag-less feature of a lightweight jig with a small hook is the reason why it lies at the heart of Midwest finesse fishing.

In sum, we caught about an average of 12 largemouth bass an hour.

Nov. 8

Pat and Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a brief about their short and wind-blown outing on Nov. 8 at a 63-year-old and heavily fished northeastern Kansas’ state reservoir.

Here is an edited version of their log.

The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 47 degrees, and it was 71 degrees at 1:52 p.m. The wind was calm from 4:52 a.m. to 7:52 a.m., and when it stirred, it angled out of the southeast, east, southwest, northwest, and north at 3 to 20 mph, and some of the early afternoon gusts reached 30 mph. The sky radically fluctuated from being foggy and misty to fair to overcast to mostly cloudy. The barometric pressure was 29.64 at 12:52 a.m., 29.62 at 5:52 a.m., 29.70 at 11:52 a.m., and 29.73 at 1:52 p.m.

The water level looked to be about normal. The surface temperature was 56 degrees. Our dipstick indicated that the water exhibited from three to four feet of visibility.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 6:22 a.m. to 8:22 a.m., 6:42 p.m. to 8:42 p.m., and 12:12 a.m. to 2:12 a.m.

As we executed our first casts at 11:17 a.m., the wind began to howl out of the north, and it became so gusty that we were forced to make our last ones at 1:01 p.m.

During this wind-blown ordeal, we caught 21 largemouth bass and accidentally caught 14 white crappie.

One of the 21 largemouth bass was caught on a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin-goby Finesse TRD affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. Three of the 21 were caught on a Z-Man’s hot-snakes TRD TicklerZ affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. Four were caught on a Z-Man’s coppertreuse TRD TicklerZ affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. Thirteen were caught on a 4.75-inch Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse WormZ, which was shortened to 3 ¼ inches and affixed to either a chartreuse or a baby-blue 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig.

We spent the entire outing using a drift sock and haphazardly trying to dissect a massive shallow-water flat in the back of a major feeder-creek arm. This flat looks to be the size of four or five football fields. Its depth ranges from water as shallow as a foot to as deep as nine feet. The underwater terrain of this flat is embellished with substantial patches of coontail, sago pondweeds, and numerous manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees. Some of the coontail patches are thick and grow three to four feet above the bottom of the flat. A submerged creek channel meanders around the western side of this flat.

We fished around an area about the size of 2 ½ football fields in search of patches of coontail and congregations of largemouth bass that abide in the vicinity of those patches. These patches are situated many yards from this flat’s shorelines.

Because of the radical gusts of wind, it was impossible to execute precisely any of the six standard Midwest finesse retrieves (https://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/six-midwest-finesse-retrieves/153946#).

We caught six of the 35 fish (14 crappie and 21 largemouth bass) on the initial drop of our rigs. The others were caught as we were rotating the reel handle at a pace that would allow our rigs to gingerly and slowly grace the tops of the massive patches of coontail. In other words, our rigs were merely swimming and gliding across the patches of coontail. If our rigs became entangled in a patch of coontail, a significant flex of our wrist and forearm would unfetter our lightweight rigs without it becoming enmeshed with a wad of coontail strands.

One of the several virtues of using a lightweight Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig is that it is equipped with a number-four hook, and the snag-less feature of a lightweight jig with a small hook is the reason why it lies at the heart of Midwest finesse fishing. Another virtue of the number-four hook is that it seldom damages a fish, and to further limit the damage to the fish we hook, we remove the barbs on all of the hooks.

Our 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig.

In northeastern Kansas, we fish the submerged aquatic vegetation that abide on the shallow-water flats and shorelines of our flatland reservoirs many months of the year. And when the water temperatures plummet into the 40s and upper 30s in the winter, we often replace the 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig with a 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. The 1/32-ounce jig allows our soft-plastic rigs to move slightly slower without becoming entangled with the submerged aquatic vegetation.

Our 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.

In sum, we somehow caught about an average of 12 largemouth bass an hour during this 106-minute ordeal of dealing with the dastardly gusts of wind that reached 30 mph at times. What’s more, a few of the crappie were humdingers, and the combination of the 14 crappie increased our hourly catch rate to 20 fish an hour.

Nov. 10

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log about his Nov. 10 outing with Pok Chi Lau of Lawrence at a 63-year-old and heavily fished northeastern Kansas’ state reservoir. It is the same reservoir that Pat and Ned Kehde were blown off by Mother Nature’s gusty winds on Nov. 8.

Here is an edited version of his log.

The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 27 degrees. The afternoon’s high temperature was 58 degrees. The wind fluctuated from being calm to angling out of the northwest, northeast, north, and east at 3 to 10 mph. The sky was clear, and the sun was blindly bright at times. The barometric pressure was 30.25 at 12:52 a.m., 30.30 at 5:52 a.m., 30.35 at 11:52 a.m., and 30.28 at 3:52 p.m.

The water level looked to be about normal. The surface temperature ranged from 54 to 55 degrees. Our dipstick indicated that the water exhibited about four feet of visibility.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 7:28 a.m. to 9:28 a.m., 7:48 p.m. to 9:48 p.m., and 1:17 a.m. to 3:17 a.m.

We made our first casts at 12:50 p.m. and our last ones at 3:59 p.m.

On this delightful and virtually windless afternoon, we caught 51 largemouth bass, 22 crappie, and two bluegill.

Three of these 51 largemouth bass were caught on a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin-goby Finesse TRD affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. Thirteen were caught on a Z-Man’s bumblebee Shad FryZ affixed to a chartreuse 1/20-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. Thirty-five of the 51 largemouth bass were caught on a 4.75-inch Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse WormZ, which was shortened to 3 ¼ inches and affixed to either a chartreuse or a baby-blue 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig.

The bumblebee Shad FryZ rig.

We spent two hours and 10 minutes methodically fishing a massive shallow-water flat in the back of a major feeder-creek arm. This flat looks to be the size of four or five football fields. Its depth ranges from water as shallow as a foot to as deep as nine feet. The underwater terrain of this flat is embellished with substantial patches of coontail, some patches of sago pondweeds, and numerous manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees. Its patches of bushy pondweeds have nearly disappeared and will not return until the spring of 2024. Some of the coontail patches are thick and grow three to four feet above the bottom of the flat. A submerged creek channel meanders around the western side of this flat.

We fished around an area about the size of three football fields and tangled with 37 largemouth bass and accidentally inveigled the 22 crappie and two bluegill. All of these fish were caught around the patches of coontail in about four to eight feet of water, and several of them were also associated with a submerged eastern red cedar tree that was partially entangled with bits of coontail. All of these fish were caught many yards from the shorelines that are graced with laydowns, patches of wilting American pondweeds, and patches of winter-dead American water willows.

One of the largemouth bass was caught on the Finesse TRD rig with a swim-glide-and-snake presentation. Six largemouth bass were caught on the Shad FryZ rig with a medium-paced swimming presentation. Thirty largemouth bass were caught on our radically shortened Finesse WormZ rigs; two were caught on a deadstick presentation; five were caught on the initial drop; the others were caught on either a drag-and-shake presentation or a slow swim-glide-and-presentation.

We spent the last 59 minutes of this outing searching across and around four other shallow-water flats for significant patches of coontail or other varieties of submerged aquatic vegetation. Across two of the flats inside two small feeder-creek arms, we failed to find any coontail or significant kinds of submerged vegetation. And we caught only one largemouth bass, which was caught on the Shad FryZ rig with a swimming presentation in about four feet of water in the vicinity of several manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees.

In a tiny feeder-creek arm and over the residue of a submerged farm pond and its dam, we found a patch of coontail that is about the size of a tennis court. The water’s edge of this feeder-creek arm is endowed with some wilted patches of American pondweeds, patches of winter-dead American water willows, several stumps, and many magnificent laydowns; we failed to elicit a strike around them. The patch of coontail yielded six largemouth bass; four were caught on the Shad FryZ with a slow swimming presentation in five to six feet of water; two were caught on the initial drop of the Finesse TRD rig in about four feet of water.

Across a massive shallow-flat inside another major feeder-creek arm, we failed to elicit a strike and locate any sizeable patches of coontail or other kinds of submerged aquatic vegetation until we reached the very backend of this feeder-creek arm, which is where we found some patches of coontail and one manmade pile of eastern red cedars trees in an area about the size of 2 ½ tennis courts. The coontail patches in this area yielded seven largemouth bass. Two were caught on the Shad FryZ rig with a swimming presentation in three to four feet of water. Our Finesse WormZ rigs caught five largemouth bass; one was caught on the initial drop in about three feet of water; four were caught on a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation in about four feet of water.

In sum, we discovered once again how important it is in northeastern Kansas to have the various managers of our flatland reservoirs to cultivate and manually maintain vast patches of coontail or similar kinds of submerged aquatic vegetation that flourish throughout the entire year. Without this kind of vegetation, fishing becomes quite problematic during many months of the year.

During this 189-minute outing, this reservoir’s patches of coontail yielded an average of 16 largemouth bass an hour, and when we include the two bluegill and 22 crappie with the 51 largemouth bass, we caught an average of 23 fish an hour.

What’s more, we were delighted at the effectiveness of the Z-Man’s bumblebee Shad FryZ rig. It has motivated us to wield it, the Micro TRD, and Tiny TicklerZ many more times during our cold-water endeavors in November through March.

Nov. 14

Ned and Pat Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about their Nov. 14 outing at a 91-year-old and heavily fished state reservoir in northeastern Kansas.

Here is an edited version of their log.

The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 30 degrees, and the afternoon’s high temperature was 70 degrees. The wind was calm for three early morning hours, and then it angled out of the east, southeast, and south at 3 to 16 mph, and from 11:52 a.m. to 3:52 p.m., there were many gusts of wind that ranged from 22 to 25 mph. The sky was fair, and the sun was blindingly bright. The barometric pressure was 30.33 at 12:52 a.m., 30.30 at 5:52 a.m., 30:24 at 11:52 a.m., and 30:15 at 2:52 p.m.

The water level looked to be about normal. The surface temperature ranged from 53 to 54 degrees. According to our nine-foot dipstick, the water exhibited more than nine feet of visibility.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 10:02 a.m. to 12:02 p.m., 4:19 a.m. to 6:19 p.m., and 4:47 p.m. to 6:47 p.m.

We made our first casts at 12:20 p.m., and our last ones were made when we caught largemouth bass number 30 at 2:30 p.m.

We spent about 11 minutes of these 130 minutes hiding from the wind and eating a small lunch and watching the wind create white caps and blow the fall leaves helter-skelter across the waves.

Four of the 30 largemouth bass were caught on a Z-Man’s blue-glimmer Shad FryZ affixed to a chartreuse 1/20-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. Twenty-six of the 30 largemouth bass were caught on a 4.75-inch Z-Man’s purple-haze Finesse WormZ, which was shortened to 3 ¼ inches and affixed to a baby-blue 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig.

During the first 62 minutes of this outing and before we ate lunch, we struggled to catch eight largemouth bass.

We caught one largemouth bass on a shallow-water flat inside a tiny feeder-creek arm. This flat is about the size of four tennis courts. Its underwater terrain is decorated with wilting patches of coontail, patches of dead bushy pondweeds, and several manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees. The coontail is also being annihilated by a pack of muskrats. The largemouth bass was caught on the Finesse WormZ rig with a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation in about six feet of water around a meager patch of coontail.

We caught seven of the 30 largemouth bass around and across a massive shallow-water flat in the back of a major feeder-creek arm. The entire area looks to be about the size of seven football fields. We fished across and around an area in the middle of this flat, and it was about the size of two football fields. This area is endowed with a small island, which is embellished with two patches of winter-dead American water willows, two muskrat huts, scores of concrete blocks, and many small boulders. Much of this flat’s patches of coontail have either wilted significantly or have been consumed by the muskrats. A submerged creek channel meanders along the west side of the island. The underwater terrain is also endowed with an array of manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees and dead patches of bushy pondweeds.

As we fished around and across this flat, we dealt with the wind by strolling. And as we strolled, we employed either a slow swimming presentation or a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation. And the Shad FryZ rig inveigled four of the seven largemouth bass. The other three were caught on the Finesse WormZ rig. We caught them in about five to seven feet of water.

After our short lunch, we spent the final minutes of this outing plying a somewhat wind-sheltered shoreline inside another major feeder-creek arm. This shoreline possesses a 20- to 60-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are carpeted with occasional patches of wilted coontail and some burgeoning patches of curly-leaf pondweeds. (As the winter of 2023-24 unfolds, the patches of coontail will be overwhelmed by patches of curl-leaf pondweeds.) Its water’s edge is graced with substantial patches of winter-dead American water willows, some laydowns, and minor piles of submerged brush. We fished about 250 yards of this shoreline, and it yielded 22 largemouth bass, which were caught on our Finesse WormZ rigs. Three were caught on the initial drop of our rigs near the outside edges of the patches of winter-dead American water willows in three to four feet of water. One was caught on a deadstick presentation in about seven feet of water and many feet from the outside edge of the American water willows. The other 18 were caught on either a drag-and-shake presentation or a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation in about four to nine feet of water and many feet from the water’s edge.

In sum, we caught an average of 15 largemouth bass an hour.

Nov. 15

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, and Rick Hebenstreit of Shawnee, Kansas, posted a log about their Nov. 15 outing at a community reservoir in northeastern Kansas.

Here is an edited version of their log.

The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 36 degrees. The afternoon’s high temperature was 73 degrees. The condition of the sky was fair. The wind angled out of the east, southeast, and southwest at 3 to 10 mph. The barometric pressure was 30.14 at 12:53 a.m., 30.16 at 5:53 a.m., 30.22 at 11:53 a.m., and 30.13 at 2:53 p.m.

The water level looked to be about eight inches below normal. The surface temperature ranged from 54 to 56 degrees. The water exhibited from about five to seven feet of visibility.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would occur from 11:02 a.m. to 1:02 p.m., 11:31 p.m. to 1:31 a.m., and 5:17 a.m. to 7:17 a.m.

We made our first casts at 10:47 a.m. and our last casts at 2:47 p.m.

Weatherwise, it looked as if it would be a delightful day to be afloat in pursuit of largemouth bass and smallmouth bass at one of our most bountiful community reservoirs in northeastern Kansas. But fishing-wise, it was an extremely disheartening outing. And it is a chore to compose a log about such a pitiful affair.

While we were afloat, we talked to four other anglers, who complained about the wretch black-bass fishing, and two of them are longtime and adroit Midwest finesse anglers and members of the Finesse News Network.

During the 240 minutes that we were afloat, we somehow or accidentally caught 16 largemouth bass and one bluegill, and when we caught a fish, it seemed as if the fish caught us rather than us catching it. In other words, there seemed to be no rhyme or reason why or where or how we caught those 17 fish.

One largemouth bass was caught on a Z-Man’s Canada-craw TRD HogZ affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. Three were caught on a Z-Man’s Canada-craw TRD TicklerZ affixed to a red 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig. Twelve were caught on a 4.75-inch Z-Man’s purple-haze Finesse WormZ, which was shortened to 3 ¼ inches and affixed to a baby-blue 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig.

We fished inside a small feeder-creek arm twice. It is located in the middle section of the reservoir. Its shorelines are cluttered with 14 large boat docks, a few patches of winter-dead American water willows, several overhanging trees, one concrete retaining wall, and two concrete boat ramps. The underwater terrain consists of gravel and rocks, and much of the flat and shallow-water areas are quilted with patches of coontail. Some of the patches of coontail are significantly wilted, but a few are quite substantial. We caught two largemouth the first time we fished it, and they were caught on the TRD TicklerZ rig with a swim-glide-and-shake presentation; one was caught near the outside edge of a patch of winter-dead American water willows and over a patch of somewhat wilted coontail in about four feet of water. The second one was caught many yards from the water’s edge over patches of coontail in about six feet of water. We caught three largemouth bass the second time we fished this small feeder-creek arm. They were caught on the Finesse WormZ rig. One was caught on the initial drop adjacent to the edge of a dock and over a substantial patch of coontail in about six feet of water. The second one was caught on a swim-glide-and-shake retrieve over the same substantial patch of coontail in about seven feet of water. The third one was caught in the vicinity of one of the boat ramps and a large overhanging tree on a deadstick presentation on a patch of somewhat wilted coontail. We made more than a hundred casts and retrieves inside this feeder-creek arm that failed to elicit a strike.

Along about a 200-yard stretch of a shoreline inside a medium-size feeder-creek arm, we caught one largemouth bass. This feeder creek is situated in the middle section of the reservoir. The shoreline possesses a 35- to 90-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are occasionally carpeted with patches of wilted coontail. A few of the boulders are gargantuan. The water’s edge is endowed with occasional patches of winter-dead American water willows, some laydowns, and several overhanging trees. This largemouth bass was caught along a 90-degree slope and around a boulder about the size of a pickup truck. It was caught on the Finesse WormZ rig as we were strolling and employing a drag-and-shake presentation in about eight feet of water. This was the only strike that we had, and it felt as if our rig had become entangled with a wad of coontail rather than engulfed by a somewhat hefty largemouth bass.

Around a main-lake point at the mouth of this large feeder-creek arm and along short segments of its main-lake and secondary shorelines, we somehow eked out one largemouth bass. The underwater terrains of this point and its shorelines consist of gravel, rocks, and boulders that are embellished with several patches of coontail. The water’s edge is adorned with a few patches of American water willows and many laydowns. It has a 25- to 80-degree slope. It is endowed with a significant ledge that plummets into deep water. The largemouth bass was caught on the Finesse WormZ rig with a drag-and-shake presentation around a patch of coontail in about seven to eight feet of water.

Around a main-lake point and along about 300 yards of its main-lake shoreline and 150-yards of its secondary shoreline, we caught three largemouth bass. The underwater terrains of this massive area consist of gravel, rocks, and boulders; some of this terrain is enhanced with a few patches of wilted coontail. It has a 25- to 50-degree slope. The water’s edge is decorated with several patches of American water willows, many overhanging trees, and scores of laydowns. One largemouth bass was caught on the TRD TicklerZ rig with a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation in the vicinity of a patch of American water willows and over a meager patch of wilted coontail in about five feet of water. One largemouth bass was caught over a patch of wilted coontail about 20 feet from the water’s edge on the TRD HogZ rig with a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation in about six to seven feet of water. The third largemouth bass was caught under an overhanging tree on the initial drop of the Finesse WormZ rig in about four feet of water. We executed untold numbers of casts and retrieves that failed to elicit a strike.

We fished around a main-lake point and along about a 70-yard stretch of its main-lake shoreline. It is adjacent to the dam. The point yielded two largemouth bass. The shoreline yielded one largemouth bass. The point possesses a 30 to 45-degree slope. The underwater terrain of the point and its shoreline consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are enhanced with a few meager patches of wilted coontail. The point’s water’s edge is graced with patches of winter-dead American water willows. The two largemouth bass were caught as we were strolling and employing a drag-and-shake presentation with the Finesse WormZ rig in about six to seven feet of water in front of the patches of winter-dead American water willows and around some coontail patches. The 75-yard stretch of shoreline possesses a 45- to 90-degree slope. Its water’s edge is adorned with a few meager patches of winter-dead American water willows, many laydowns, and oodles of overhanging trees. The largemouth bass was caught on the Finesse WormZ rig as we were strolling and using a drag-and-shake presentation around several boulders in about seven to eight feet of water.

In the vicinity of the dam, we struggled mightily to catch three largemouth bass around a main-lake point and its massive main-lake shoreline. The underwater terrains of this area consist of gravel, rocks, and boulders. Some of the boulders are humongous. Portions of this enormous underwater terrain possess patches of wilted coontail. The slope of this area ranges from 30 to 60 degrees. The point is endowed with a large concrete water tower, and its water’s edge is lined with a few shallow-water patches of winter-dead American water willows. But the water’s edge along most of the shoreline is lined with significant patches of winter-dead American water willows. Along the shoreline, we somehow caught one of the three largemouth bass in a patch of wilted coontail in about seven feet of water and more than 20 feet from the outside edge of the patches of winter-dead American water willows; it was caught on the Finesse WormZ rig with a slow swim-glide-shake presentation, and it was the only strike that we elicited. Around the point, we caught one largemouth near the water tower’s concrete pillar and over a patch of wilted coontail in about six to seven feet of water on a drag-and-shake presentation with the Finesse WormZ rig. The third largemouth bass was caught on the point around another patch of wilted coontail on the Finesse WormZ rig with a drag-and-shake presentation in six to seven feet of water.

In sum, we caught an average of four bass an hour. We described it as a bewildering four hours of fishing.

(As a side note, I should report that I endured another disheartening and perplexing outing, and I didn’t and still don’t have the wherewithal to compose a log about it. In short, it occurred on Nov. 13 at another community reservoir in northeastern Kansas. It used to be our favorite and most bountiful community reservoir. Upon arriving at this reservoir’s boat ramp, I was dismayed to see that the water was afflicted by a significant algae bloom. What’s more, the largemouth bass fishing was as dismaying as the algae bloom. I struggled to catch 12 largemouth bass.)

Nov. 16

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Nov. 16 outing with Bill Kenney of Denton.

Here is an edited version of his log.

Bill and I drove 73 miles and spent four hours pursuing smallmouth bass at a Civilian Conservation Corps’ hill-land reservoir in south-central Oklahoma.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would most likely occur from 5:26 a.m. to7:26 a.m., 11:12 a.m. to 1:12 p.m., and 11:41 p.m. to 1:41 a.m.

We fished from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The day was cooler than we expected. The morning’s low temperature was 46 degrees, and the afternoon’s high slowly rose to 64 degrees. The barometric pressure measured 30.12 at 9:00 a.m. and 30.00 at 1:00 p.m. The wind quartered steadily out of the southeast at 10 to 15 mph. The sky conditions changed from overcast and lightly misting to mostly cloudy to partly cloudy.

The water level appeared to be about six feet low. The water exhibited five feet of visibility. The surface temperature ranged from 59 to 60 degrees.

Our time was spent in the middle and lower sections of the reservoir where we focused our attentions at one clay-and-gravel flat and two flat and rocky secondary points inside one feeder-creek arm, one main-lake hump, three main-lake shorelines, five main-lake points, and the rock-laden shorelines of two bluffs inside another feeder-creek arm.

The reservoir was virtually deserted; we saw only two other boats during the time we were afloat.

The fishing was slow, and it was a chore for us to scrounge up 18 smallmouth bass and one largemouth bass in four hours. We also inadvertently caught one green sunfish and one channel catfish. We needed to employ a plethora of Midwest finesse offerings to catch these 21 fish, which reveals how difficult the fishing was.

We began the outing inside a minor feeder-creek arm in the lower end of the west tributary arm. About half way inside this creek arm, we dissected two rocky secondary points and a clay-and-gravel flat situated between the two secondary points. We caught one smallmouth bass from the first secondary point and another smallmouth bass from the other secondary point. These two smallmouth bass were caught in less than five feet of water in the vicinity of several large clusters of chunky rocks mixed with large boulders. They were caught on a moderately-paced swimming retrieve with a three-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ fastened on a chartreuse 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.

From that creek-arm, we moved up-lake a short distance and fished portions of an offshore main-lake hump, and we failed to elicit any strikes there.

After that, we fished along three main-lake shorelines located about half a mile from the offshore hump, and we caught six smallmouth bass. Three were caught from the first shoreline, three more were caught from the second one, and the third one was devoid of any smallmouth, largemouth, and spotted bass. These three shorelines vary in length from about 35 yards to 75 yards. They are flat and littered with numerous large rocks and boulders. One smallmouth bass was caught on a slow-swimming retrieve with a 5/32-ounce Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Midwest Finesse Swim Jig with a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Baby Goat attached as a trailer. The other five were allured by a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin ZinkerZ matched with a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.

Four of the five main-lake points that we fished are connected to these three main-lake shorelines, and these points were all fruitless.

From the middle section of the west tributary, we travelled about four miles to the lower end of the east tributary arm where we ventured inside the second feeder-creek arm. We targeted two rock-laden bluffs inside this creek arm. The first one is in the upper end of the creek arm, and it is about a mile long. The second bluff is located near the entrance to the creek arm, and it is about 100 yards in length. The depth of the water adjacent to these two bluffs range from 12 to 51 feet deep. Countless numbers of large boulders bedeck the submerged foundations of these bluffs.

The first bluff relinquished eight smallmouth bass, one channel catfish, and one green sunfish. These fish were scattered along a 100-yard section of the bluff, and they were abiding about five to 10 feet from the water’s edge along the bluff and suspended about five to eight feet below the water’s surface. Six smallmouth bass, the channel catfish, and the green sunfish engulfed the 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin ZinkerZ rig as it was presented with a slow swim-glide-and-shake retrieve around the sides and over the tops of the submerged boulders. One smallmouth bass was tempted by a swim-glide-and-shake presentation with a Z-Man’s Canada craw TRD TicklerZ rigged on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. And the eighth smallmouth bass was enticed by a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s coppertreuse ZinkerZ affixed on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce ball-head finesse jig.

Across a 25-yard stretch of the 100-yard-long bluff at the mouth of the creek arm, we caught one largemouth bass and two smallmouth bass. One of the smallmouth bass and the largemouth bass were extracted from the sides of several large boulders grouped together in six to 10 feet of water and about 15 to 20 feet from the water’s edge. They were caught on the 2 1/2-inch coppertreuse ZinkerZ rig with a slow swim-glide-and-shake retrieve. The other smallmouth was caught on a slow swim-glide-and-shake retrieve with the 2 1/2-inch green-pumpkin ZinkerZ. It was also relating to the side of a large submerged boulder in about seven feet of water.

We failed to elicit any strikes from the main-lake point adjacent to this bluff, which is the fifth main-lake point that we probed.

As we were driving home, we discussed the trying smallmouth bass fishing and the dropping water temperatures at this reservoir, and we decided that we will probably not return here again until April or May of 2024.

Nov.17

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Nov. 17 outing with Rick Allen of Dallas.

Here is an edited version of his log.

After Bill Kenney of Denton and I endured a lackluster smallmouth bass outing at a scenic U.S. Conservation Corps’ Reservoir in south-central Oklahoma on Nov. 16, Rick Allen of Dallas and I journeyed to a north-central Texas’ U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ hill-land reservoir, where we hoped to catch 20 or more black bass.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar noted that bass fishing would be poor on Nov. 17, but the best fishing periods would occur from 1:21 a.m. to 3:21 a.m., 7:36 a.m. to 9:36 a.m., and 1:51 p.m. to 3:51 p.m.

We fished from 10:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.

The sky was overcast, and it lightly misted on us a couple of times. The morning low temperature was 53 degrees. The afternoon high temperature was 61 degrees. The wind quartered out of the north-by-northwest at 10 to 15 mph. The barometric pressure was 29.95 at 10:00 a.m. and 29.96 at 3:00 p.m.

The water level was 1.52 feet below normal pool. The surface temperature ranged from 59 degrees in the main-lake to 61 degrees inside two feeder-creek arms in the lower end of the reservoir. The water exhibited 2 1/2 feet of clarity.

We targeted portions of two feeder-creek arms that are situated in the lower end of the reservoir’s east tributary arm. The first feeder-creek arm is quite massive and encompasses a large island, three large coves, many yards of rocky shorelines and clay-and-gravel flats, and numerous rocky secondary points that vary from being flat to having 60-degree gradients.

The second creek arm is pint-sized compared to the first one. It is about the size of half a football field, and contains the vestiges of a small stock-pond dam, a clay-and-gravel flat, and two small clay-and-gravel secondary points. Huge masses of Eurasian milfoil monopolize the vast majority of the submerged terrain in this creek arm, which hindered many of our casts and presentations.

Besides the numerous patches of Eurasian milfoil, the submerged terrains inside these two feeder-creek arms consist of red clay, small gravel, and Woodbine sandstone rocks and boulders.

To our delight, the fishing was quite good for this time of year; we caught a total of 43 black bass. Thirty-six of them were largemouth bass and seven were spotted bass. Of these 43 black bass, 37 were caught in the first feeder-creek arm, and seven were caught in the second or smaller feeder-creek arm.

In a nutshell, all of these bass were caught from the lower, middle, and upper sections of the creek arms. They were abiding in two to seven feet of water, and were relating to the sides and tops of the patches of milfoil. The most fruitful patches of milfoil were those encircled by three to six feet of water and situated on the steeper rock-laden secondary points in the lower section of the first feeder-creek arm.

We failed to garner any strikes from the clay-and-gravel flats, secondary points, and rocky shorelines and pockets that were devoid of significant patches of milfoil.

Of these 43 black bass, 18 largemouth bass and two spotted bass were caught on a slow swim-glide-and-shake retrieve with a 4.75-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Finesse WormZ that was shortened to three inches and rigged on a chartreuse 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Fifteen largemouth bass and five spotted bass were allured by a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pumpkin-chartreuse ZinkerZ matched to a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Two largemouth bass were caught on an unaltered 4.75-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Finesse WormZ that was Texas-rigged on an 1/8-ounce drop-shot rig and employed with a drag-and-shake presentation. And one largemouth bass was caught on a slow-swimming retrieve with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ rigged on a red 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.

Nov. 18

Bob Gum of Kansas City, Kansas, posted a brief on the Finesse News Network about his Nov. 18 outing at one of northeastern Kansas’ power-plant reservoirs.

Here is an edited version of his brief.

The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 33 degrees, and the afternoon’s high temperature was 62 degrees. The wind fluctuated from being calm to angling out of the south, southwest, and southeast at 3 to 7 mph. The sky was fair. The barometric pressure was 30.11 at 12:53 a.m., 30.13 at 5:53 a.m., 30.11 at 11:53 a.m., and 30.01 at 3:53 p.m.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar noted that the best fishing periods would occur from 8:07 a.m. to 10:07 a.m., 8:29 p.m. to 10:29 p.m., and 1:57 a.m. to 3:57 a.m.

I made my first cast just minutes prior to sunup, which occurred at 7:04 a.m. This was the last day of relatively mild weather for the next week, so I spent more time than usual fishing and made my last cast at 3:30 p.m.

The power plant was generating electricity, and the water’s surface temperature was 63 degrees in the heart of the warm-water plume, dropping to 57 degrees along the shoreline of the dam. The water exhibited about 2 ½ feet of visibility. The water level was three feet below normal.

I fished along the shorelines of three bluffs and a small flat between two of those bluffs inside the warm-water plume. Outside the warm-water plume, I meticulously fished the riprap shorelines along the dam, along a roadbed, and around the power plant. And I caught a few at all of these locales.

I dissected a portion of a submerged roadbed in the lower section of this reservoir, and I failed to elicit a strike.

I witnessed several other largemouth bass anglers and none of them appeared to thoroughly fish any of the locales.

It was a chore for me to catch 33 largemouth bass, five freshwater drum, and three channel catfish. And none of these specimens were of a notable size.

The bulk of these 41 fish were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake retrieve in about four to eight feet of water.

I made the majority of my casts and retrieves with either a Z-Man’s molting-craw TRD HogZ on a black 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig or a Z-Man’s Junebug TRD TicklerZ on a red 1/20-ounce mushroom-style jig.

Nov. 20

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Nov. 20 outing with Norman Brown of Lewisville, Texas.

Here is an edited version of his log.

Norman and I relished one of the last warm fall days for this month at a problematic U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ reservoir in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metropolitan area. The last time we fished here was on Nov. 2, and the fishing was awful. We fished for four hours and 30 minutes, and we could barely scrounge up 10 largemouth bass and one white bass. We were hoping that an approaching cold-front would vastly improve the trying black-bass fishing at this impoundment, but we were woefully mistaken.

It was partly cloudy with an abundance of sunshine on Nov. 20. The morning’s low temperature was 60 degrees, and the afternoon’s high temperature peaked at 72 degrees. Blustery 20- to 25-mph winds blew incessantly out of the west. The barometric pressure measured 29.68 at noon and 29.74 at 4:00 p.m. The anticipated cold front arrived at 2:57 p.m., and the air temperature dropped from 72 degrees to 65 degrees. The sky conditions also changed briefly from partly cloudy to overcast then back to partly cloudy again.

According to In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar, the most productive fishing would occur from 4:25 a.m. to 6:25 a.m., 10:38 a.m. to 12:38 p.m., and 4:51 p.m. to 6:51 p.m. Norman and I fished from noon to 5:00 p.m.

The water exhibited about 14 inches of visibility. We were surprised to discover that the water temperature was still relatively warm for this time of year; it ranged from 62 degrees in the main lake to 65 degrees inside one of the feeder-creek arms. The water level was 1.18 feet below its normal level.

Like most of our U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ hill-land reservoirs in north-central Texas, there is no aquatic vegetation in this reservoir. But there are a few areas in the back of the larger feeder-creek arms with some decaying flooded timber and submerged stumps. This reservoir’s underwater terrain consists of red clay, gravel, rocks, and countless submerged boulders.

This Nov. 20 outing mirrored the wretched one we experienced on Nov. 2. We started off on a fairly good note. We launched the boat inside the first feeder-creek arm in the middle section of the impoundment and immediately located some schools of threadfin shad near the boat ramp. So, we put down the trolling motor and began fishing from the boat ramp northward into the upper end of the creek arm. We were able to catch three largemouth bass and lost a fourth one during the first 30 minutes of the outing. But after that, the bite quickly petered out, and we struggled to catch seven more largemouth bass and two white bass during the next 4 1/2 hours.

The black bass were scattered, and we had to cover a lot of water to catch them. We dissected portions of five feeder-creek arms, the perimeter of a main-lake island, a prominent main-lake point, and a main-lake cove near the mouth of another feeder-creek arm. The island and three of the five creek arms that we plied were somewhat productive, and these areas are all located in the lower end of the reservoir.

Inside the three productive feeder-creek arms, we caught nine largemouth bass and two white bass around flat secondary points situated in the middle and upper ends of the creek arms. The underwater terrains consisted of pea-size gravel. There were significant schools of threadfin shad around all of these points. Seven of these nine largemouth bass were shallow and abiding in three to six feet of water. The other two were caught in seven to nine feet of water from the side of a steep-and-rocky secondary point.

One largemouth bass was caught from the wind-blown perimeter of the main-lake island in five feet of water.

The main-lake point and cove, and the other two feeder-creek arms, were fruitless.

Our most effective Midwest finesse rig was a three-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ matched with a chartreuse 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. It allured six of the 10 largemouth bass and both of the white bass. It was employed with a steady-swimming retrieve about a foot below the surface of the water. Two largemouth bass were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake retrieve with a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Finesse TRD that was fastened on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig. One largemouth bass was caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation with a 4.75-inch Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse WormZ that was shortened to three inches and affixed on a chartreuse 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. The tenth largemouth bass was allured by a slow drag-and-shake retrieve with a Z-Man’s Bama-bug TRD BugZ matched with a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.

We also wielded a Z-Man’s white lightning Finesse TRD rigged on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce OG Mushroom Jighead, a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pumpkin-chartreuse ZinkerZ rigged on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce OG Mushroom Jighead, a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s Canada-craw ZinkerZ rigged on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce OG Mushroom Jighead, a shortened three-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Finesse WormZ rigged on a chartreuse 1/32-ounce OG Mushroom Jighead, and a Z-Man’s pearl Baby Goat rigged on a blue 3/32-ounce OG Mushroom Jighead, but we were unable to generate any strikes with these rigs.

For some mysterious reason unknown to us, the black-bass fishing has been in a funk at this reservoir for most of 2023, and we probably won’t be fishing here again until the spring of 2024.

Nov. 21

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Nov. 21 outing with Bear Brundrett of Valley View, Texas.

Here is an edited version of his log.

From 11:45 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., Bear Brundrett and I fished at a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ hill-land reservoir in north-central Texas.

It was overcast for most of the day, then it became mostly cloudy later in the afternoon. The morning’s low temperature was 47 degrees, and the afternoon’s high temperature reached 56 degrees. A strong northwesterly wind blew continuously at 20 to 30 mph. The barometric pressure measured 30.26 at noon and 30.21 at 4:00 p.m.

The water level was 2.21 feet below normal pool. Depending on where we were fishing, the water displayed between about 12 and 18 inches of visibility. The surface temperature ranged from 59 to 60 degrees.

The vast majority of this reservoir’s submerged terrain is composed of red clay, pea gravel, chunk rocks, and boulders. There is no aquatic vegetation, but there are a few remaining stumps, stickups, and thin stands of flooded timber in a few of the shallow-water areas.

During these five hours, we sought shelter from the wind and concentrated our efforts inside three feeder-creek arms situated in the lower region of the reservoir. Two of the three feeder-creek arms contain large marinas, and we spent quite a bit of time fishing portions of several shorelines and a couple of concrete boat ramps behind numerous boat docks in the marinas. We also discovered significant numbers of threadfin shad in all three of these creek arms. And by the time this outing had come to a close, our mechanical counter revealed that we had caught 27 largemouth bass, three spotted bass, five hybrid-striped bass, and one channel catfish.

Nine largemouth bass and three of the five hybrid-striped bass were caught along the shorelines and a concrete boat ramp that border the marina in the midsection of the first feeder-creek arm.

Fifteen largemouth bass and two spotted bass were caught along the shorelines around the other marina in the second feeder-creek arm, and three largemouth bass, one spotted bass, and two hybrid-striped bass were caught along a 200-yard section of shoreline and a concrete boat ramp in the lower and middle sections of the third creek arm.

To be more specific, 26 of the 30 black bass were abiding in three to eight feet of water and within five to 15 feet of the water’s edge around rock- and boulder-laden secondary points and shorelines with 35- to 45-degree inclines. Two largemouth bass and one spotted bass were caught in less than five feet of water off the ends of two concrete boat ramps, and one largemouth bass was caught in 21 feet of water off the end of a steep secondary point in the midsection of the first creek arm.

We failed to locate any black bass around five clay-and-gravel flats, one dilapidated concrete boat ramp, and two clay-and-gravel secondary points near the mouth of two of the creek arms.

Of these 36 fish, 26 of the 30 black bass, two of the five hybrid-striped bass, and one channel catfish were allured by a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation with a 4.75-inch Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse WormZ that was shortened to three inches and matched with a chartreuse 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Three largemouth bass were caught on a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick retrieve with a Z-Man’s Bama-bug TRD BugZ rigged on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. One largemouth bass was enticed by a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick retrieve with a Z-Man’s molting-craw TRD CrawZ affixed on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. The other three hybrid-striped bass were caught on a three-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ fastened on a chartreuse 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead that was employed with a constant swimming retrieve about a foot below the surface of the water.

In closing, we were expecting to garner about eight to 10 strikes at this Corps’ reservoir, and it was a pleasant surprise to catch 30 black bass this late in November.

Nov. 22

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Nov. 22 outing at a state reservoir in northeastern Kansas with his grandsons James Cox of San Antonio, Texas, and Logan Cayton of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Here is an edited version of that log.

The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 21 degrees, and the afternoon’s high temperature was 54 degrees. The wind angled out of the southwest, south, and southeast at 3 to 13 mph. The sky was fair, and the sun was blindingly bright. The barometric pressure was 30.24 at 12:52 a.m., 30.22 at 5:52 a.m., 30:15 at 11:52 a.m., and 30:04 at 2:52 p.m.

The water level looked to be about normal. The surface temperature was 51 degrees. According to our nine-foot dipstick, the water exhibited about nine feet of visibility.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 5:53 a.m. to 7:53 a.m., 6:17 p.m. to 8:17 p.m., and 11:41 a.m. to 1:41 p.m.

Our family’s Thanksgiving get-togethers have often revolved around several hours of fishing, and this year James and Logan joined me for an extremely short outing on the day before Thanksgiving. We made our first casts at 1:51 p.m., and our last ones were made when we caught largemouth bass number 25 at 3:35 p.m.

Two of the 25 largemouth bass were caught on a Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ affixed to a chartreuse 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. Two largemouth bass were caught on a Z-Man’s Canada-craw TRD TicklerZ affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. Five were caught on a 4.75-inch Z-Man’s purple-haze Finesse WormZ, which was shortened to 3 ¼-inches and affixed to a chartreuse 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. Sixteen were caught on a 4.75-inch Z-Man’s purple-haze Finesse WormZ, which was shortened to 3 ¼-inches and affixed to a baby-blue 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig.

We spent the entire 104 minutes fishing along two shorelines and across a massive shallow-water flat inside a major feeder-creek arm.

The shoreline along the west side of this feeder-creek possesses a 20- to 60-degree slope. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are carpeted with occasional patches of wilted coontail and burgeoning patches of curly-leaf pondweeds. (As the winter of 2023-24 and the spring of 2024 unfolds, the patches of coontail will be overwhelmed by patches of curl-leaf pondweeds.) This shoreline's water’s edge is graced with substantial patches of winter-dead American water willows, some laydowns, and minor piles of submerged brush. We fished about 250 yards of this shoreline, and it yielded 11 largemouth bass. Two of the largemouth bass were caught on the TRD TicklerZ rig. Nine were caught on our Finesse WormZ rigs; three were caught on the rig with the chartreuse jig; six were caught on the rig with the baby-blue jig. Two were caught on the initial drop of our rigs near the outside edges of the patches of winter-dead American water willows in three to four feet of water. One was caught on a deadstick presentation in about five feet of water. Eight were caught on either a drag-and-shake presentation or a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in about four to nine feet of water and many feet from the water’s edge.

This is an eight-inch curly-leaf pondweed. By June of 2024, this reservoir's curly leaf-pondweeds will be three to six feet long, and the bulk of them will wilt and die by the end of June. New patches of them will begin to grow in November of 2024.

The shallow-water flat looks to be about the size of four football fields. Portions of the underwater terrain are enhanced with wilted patches of coontail, burgeoning patches of curly-leaf pondweeds, and several manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees. This flat yielded nine largemouth bass. Two were caught on the pearl Slim SwimZ rig with a swimming presentation across the patches of submerged patches of aquatic vegetation in five to nine feet of water. Seven were caught on our Finesse WormZ rigs with a swim-glide-and-shake presentation that grazed the top of the patches of wilted coontail and curly-leaf pondweeds in five to eight feet of water; two were caught on the rig with a chartreuse jig, and five were caught on the rig with the baby-blue jig.

The shoreline along the east side of this feeder-creek possesses a 20- to 45-degree slope. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are carpeted with occasional patches of wilted coontail and burgeoning patches of curly-leaf pondweeds. Its water’s edge is lined with substantial patches of winter-dead American water willows, some laydowns, and several piles of submerged brush. We fished about 200 yards of this shoreline and around four small secondary points. And it was a trying ordeal to eke out five largemouth bass, which were caught on our Finesse WormZ rigs with a baby-blue jig. They were caught as we were strolling and employing a drag-and-shake presentation across and around the patches of submerged vegetation.

Largemouth bass number 25.

From our perspectives, it was delightful to be together and afloat on this day before Thanksgiving. But to our chagrin, Mother Nature’s early wintery ways will keep us at bay for the rest of this four-day holiday. In total, we caught an average of one largemouth bass every 4.16 minutes, but our catch rate during the last 21 minutes of this 104-minute outing was quite dismal.

Nov. 27

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Nov. 27 outing with Norman Brown of Lewisville, Texas.

Here is an edited version of his log.

Norman and I traveled to a north-central Texas’ U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ hill-land reservoir. It is the same one where Rick Allen of Dallas and I caught 43 black bass on Nov. 17.

In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar noted that the best fishing on Nov. 27 would occur from 3:37 a.m. to 5:37 a.m., 9:51 a.m. to 11:51 a.m., and 10:18 p.m. to 12:18 a.m.

We fished from noon to 4:00 p.m.

It was a mostly beautiful post-cold-front fall day. The sky was cloudless, and the sun was intensely bright. Around 3:30 p.m., another minor cold-front passed through north-central Texas, and the sky became mostly cloudy while the air temperature dropped from 54 to 50 degrees. The morning’s low temperature was 30 degrees, and the afternoon’s high temperature was 54 degrees. The wind was light and variable. The barometric pressure measured 30.43 at noon and 30.35 at 4:00 p.m.

Because of the sunny and post-cold-front conditions, we were expecting a lousy afternoon of fishing. We spent these four hours in the lower region of the reservoir, specifically targeting a slew of Eurasian milfoil patches that are flourishing in the lower and middle sections of three feeder-creek arms. And we were surprised and delighted to catch 21 largemouth bass and one spotted bass.

We caught 14 largemouth bass and one spotted bass in the first feeder-creek arm, one largemouth bass in the second feeder-creek arm, and six largemouth bass in the third creek arm.

The water level was 1.63 feet below normal. The surface temperature ranged from 57 to 58 degrees. The water exhibited three feet of clarity.

In addition to the patches of Eurasian milfoil, the underwater terrains of these three creek arms appear to be identical. They consist primarily of red clay, small gravel, Woodbine sandstone rocks and boulders, and a few sparse patches of American pondweed. There are also several stands of flooded timber, submerged stumps, and laydowns.

Twenty of these 22 black bass were caught around the outside edges of the milfoil patches in three to six feet of water. The other two were caught in eight to 12 feet of water from the deep-water side of a rock ledge that is about 20 yards long and lies next to a large clay-and-gravel flat.

Nov. 29

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, and Rick Hebenstreit of Shawnee, Kansas, posted a log about their Nov. 29 outing at one of northeastern Kansas’ community reservoirs.

Here is an edited version of their log.

The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 25 degrees, and the afternoon’s high temperature was 56 degrees. The wind angled out of the south, west, and southwest at 3 to 10 mph. The sky was fair. The barometric pressure was 30.07 at 12:53 a.m., 30.05 at 5:53 a.m., 30.03 at 11:53 a.m., and 29.97 at 2:53 p.m.

Old Man Winter made his first visit to northeastern Kansas on Nov. 24, which was when some locales were pummeled with more than five inches of snow. What’s more, some thermometers plummeted to eight degrees on Nov. 27 and 11 degrees on Nov. 28, and many small waterways became covered with thin sheets of ice.

The water level at this reservoir looked to be above normal. The surface temperature ranged from 43 to 47 degrees. According to our nine-foot dipstick, the water exhibited about eight feet of visibility in the vicinity of the dam and five to six feet of visibility along the shorelines in the upper half of the reservoir. Some of this reservoir’s shallow-water flats and shorelines are adorned with a few meager patches of wilted coontail and wads of filamentous algae. The bulk of this reservoir’s submerged aquatic vegetation has been annihilated by scores of grass carp.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 11:11 a.m. to 1:11 p.m., 11:39 p.m. to 1:39 a.m., and 5:25 a.m. to 7:25 a.m.

We made our first casts at 11:00 a.m. and our last ones at 3:00 p.m. Throughout these four hours, it was a chore to find patches of submerged aquatic vegetation, which is an essential ingredient to catch a significant number of largemouth bass during cold-water outings. We made hundreds of casts and retrieves that failed to elicit a strike. We momentarily hooked seven fish that unfettered themselves. It was a hellish task to catch 18 largemouth bass or an average of 4.5 per hour.

Two of the 18 largemouth bass were caught on a Z-Man’s Drew’s craw TRD TicklerZ affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. Two were caught on a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Finesse ShadZ affixed to a red 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jighead. Two were caught on a Z-Man’s The Deal Finesse ShadZ affixed to a baby-blue 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. Twelve were caught on a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin-goby Finesse TRD affixed to either a baby-blue 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig or a chartreuse 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig. It is interesting to note that we failed to garner a strike on our 3 1/4-inch Z-Man’s purple-haze Finesse WormZ affixed to a baby-blue 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig, which had been our most effective Midwest finesse rig this fall.

We caught two largemouth bass along the dam, which is 1,550 feet long with a height of 58 feet. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are occasionally adorned with a few meager patches of coontail. It possesses a 50- to 60-degree slope. The water’s edge is graced with a concrete outlet tower and winter-dead patches of terrestrial grasses. Both of the largemouth bass were caught on our Finesse TRD rig in about six to seven feet of water as we were strolling and employing a drag-and-subtle-shake presentation.

We eked out one largemouth bass as we hastily tried to dissect about 275 yards of a main-lake shoreline in the middle section of the reservoir. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are occasionally quilted with some wads of wilted filamentous algae and meager patches of wilted coontail. The underwater terrain is also endowed with two offshore rock and boulder humps. The water’s edge is lined with a few patches of winter-dead American water willows, 14 docks, a few concrete retaining walls, and several dilapidated laydowns. It possesses a 25- to 50-degree slope. This largemouth bass was caught along the steeper section of this shoreline in about eight feet of water on the Finesse TRD rig with a drag-and-subtle-shake presentation.

We caught four largemouth bass along about a 175-yard shoreline in the upper half of this reservoir. It possesses a 30- to 50-degree slope. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders that are occasionally coated with patches of wilted coontail. The water’s edge is lined with several concrete retaining walls, nine docks, two overhanging trees, and a few piles of brush. Three of the largemouth bass were caught in the vicinity of one of the nine docks. This dock has a meager patch of wilted coontail around it. One of the three largemouth bass was caught on the green-pumpkin Finesse ShadZ rig with a drag-and-subtle-shake presentation in about eight feet of water; two largemouth bass were caught on the Drew’s craw TRD TicklerZ rig with a drag-and-subtle-shake presentation in seven to eight feet of water. All three were caught as we were strolling. Along a section of a concrete retaining wall, we caught one largemouth bass on the Z-Man’s The Deal Finesse ShadZ rig in about six feet of water with a drag-and-subtle-shake presentation.

A 275-yard stretch of a shoreline in the upper half of the reservoir yielded only two largemouth bass. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, boulders, and some silt, which are enhanced with a few patches of wilted coontail and wilted wads of filamentous algae. It possesses a 20- to 60-degree slope. The water’s edges consist of several concrete retaining walls, a stretch of riprap, 10 docks, one small rock bridge, a few laydowns, several piles of brush, occasional patches of winter-dead American water willows, and several overhanging trees. One largemouth bass was caught on the green-pumpkin Finesse ShadZ rig with a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation in about seven feet of water along one of the steeper sections of this shoreline. The second largemouth bass was caught on the initial drop of The Deal Finesse ShadZ rig around a meager patch of coontail in five to six feet of water along one of the flatter areas of this shoreline.

We caught nine largemouth bass along about a 300-yard stretch of a shoreline in the upper half of this reservoir. It possesses a 20- to 65-degree slope. This shoreline's underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are endowed with a few manmade piles of brush, several areas of wilted coontail, and some wilted wads of filamentous algae. This underwater terrain is also enhanced with several offshore piles of rocks and boulders and one submerged house foundation. The water’s edge is lined with several concrete retaining walls, some rock retaining walls, 30 docks, a few patches of American water willows, one massive laydown, and several overhanging trees. Our Finesse TRD rigs caught these largemouth bass. Three were caught along a steeper section of this shoreline, and one was caught on the initial drop in about five feet of water in front of a small patch of winter-dead American water willows; the other two were caught close by on a drag-and-shake presentation in seven to eight feet of water. The other six were caught around patches of wilted coontail along a flat section of the shoreline. They were caught in five to six feet of water as we were strolling and employing either a drag-and-shake presentation or a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation, which allowed our rigs to polish the top sections of the patches of coontail.

From our geriatric perspectives, wintertime fishing is not as much fun as it used to be when we were young and feisty anglers. And it was especially grueling when we could catch only 18 largemouth bass during these four intense hours of fishing. It is interesting to note, however, that we were accompanied by our friend Aaron Suess for a few minutes. He is a power angler and forward-facing-sonar devotee. He was wielding an Alabama rig, jerk bait, and swim bait at largemouth bass that were suspended around offshore schools of gizzard shad. The gizzard shad and largemouth bass were suspended over deep water and about five to eight feet below the surface. And he told us when we were heading home that he had caught 18 suspended and offshore largemouth bass in three hours, and several of them were hefty creatures.