Midwest Finesse Fishing: October 2022

Bob Gum of Kansas City, Kansas, with one of the 101 largemouth bass that he and Ned Kehde caught on Oct. 19.

Oct. 3

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Oct. 3 outing with his grandson Brady Cayton of Lawrence at one of northeastern Kansas' state reservoirs.

Here is an edited version of their log.

The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 41 degrees. The afternoon's high temperature was 84 degrees. The wind fluctuated from being calm to angling out of the southeast and south at 3 to 10 mph. The barometric pressure was 30.25 at 12:52 a.m., 30.25 at 5:52 a.m., 30.27 at 11:52 a.m., and 30.20 at 2:52 p.m.

The water level looked to be about normal. The surface temperature was 70 degrees. The water exhibited from six to seven feet of visibility.

In-Fisherman's solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 5:31 a.m. to 7:31 a.m., 6:01 p.m. to 8:01 a.m., and 11:22 a.m. to 1:22 p.m.

We made our first casts at 12:16 p.m. with hopes of catching and releasing at least 40 largemouth bass in two hours. We caught two largemouth bass on our first two casts, but by the time that we made our last casts around 2:16 p.m., our fish counter indicated that we had caught only 35.

Two of the 35 largemouth bass were caught on a 3 ½-inch Z-Man Fishing Products’ pumpkin GrubZ affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s NedlockZ HD jig. Three of the 35 were caught on a Z-Man’s meat-dog Finesse ShadZ affixed to a baby-blue 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ Jighead. Thirteen were caught on a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin-goby Finesse TRD affixed to a baby-blue 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ Jighead. Sixteen were caught on a slightly shortened 4.75-inch Z-Man’s purple-haze Finesse WormZ rigged on a baby-blue 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ Jighead.

We caught 27 largemouth bass on a shallow-water flat inside one of the major feeder-creek arms. This flat is about the size of three football fields. It is endowed with an island that is embellished with American water willows. Its shorelines are also adorned with magnificent patches of American water willows. We focused on offshore locales that were covered with four to nine feet of water and embellished with patches of coontail, brittle naiad, and some man-made piles of eastern red cedar trees. A submerged creek channel meanders across the middle of this flat.

Two of the 27 largemouth bass were caught on the GrubZ rig with a slow swimming presentation in about five feet of water. Three were caught on the Finesse ShadZ rig; one was caught on a deadstick presentation in about six feet of water, and two were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in seven to nine feet of water. Ten were caught on the Finesse WormZ rig; two were caught on the initial drop in about seven feet of water, and eight were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in five to nine feet of water. Thirteen were caught on the Finesse TRD rig with a swimming-and-occasional-pause presentation in five to nine feet of water. And all of them were abiding around patches of coontail and brittle naiad.

Across a massive shallow-water flat in the back of another major feeder-creek arm and along one of its adjacent shorelines, we caught seven largemouth bass.

We estimated that this flat is about the size of four football fields. One of those football fields is encompassed by a gigantic patch of American lotus. The water edges of its shorelines are lined with patches of American water willows that are embellished with patches of brittle naiad and a few laydowns. Two submerged creek channels crisscross parts of this flat. Other areas of this flat are adorned with man-made piles of eastern red cedar trees.

We fished along the outside edge of the patch of American lotus, across and around and over an area about the size of two football fields, and along about a 70-yard stretch of the adjacent shoreline.

We caught four largemouth bass along the adjacent shoreline. One was caught around a tertiary point and a patch of American water willows and a patch of brittle naiad on the initial drop of the Finesse WormZ rig in about five feet of water. Three were caught on the Finesse WormZ rig and a swim-glide-and-shake presentation over and around patches of brittle naiad and coontail that were more than 20 feet from the water’s edge and in about six feet of water.

On the shallow-water flat, we eked out three largemouth bass, which were caught on the Finesse WormZ rig with a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in four to six feet of water around and over patches of coontail.

Oct. 4

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Oct. 4 outing with Norman Brown of Lewisville, Texas.

Here is an edited version of his log.

I have not fished since Sept. 16 because of a multitude of family responsibilities and other obligations that needed to be attended to over the past couple of weeks. And now that those duties have been addressed, I’m able to return to my normal fishing routine once again.

From 7:00 a.m. to noon, Norman Brown and I fished at one of several U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ hill-land reservoirs in north-central Texas.

It was a delightful fall morning. The sun was intensely bright. The sky was clear, and there was not a cloud in sight for miles. The morning's low temperature was 61 degrees. The afternoon's high was 89 degrees. The barometric pressure was steady at 30.11. The wind quartered out of the southeast at 5 to 10 mph.

In-Fisherman’s solunar table noted that the best fishing would occur from 12:21 a.m. to 2:21 a.m., 6:36 a.m. to 8:36 a.m., and 7:06 p.m. to 9:06 p.m. It also noted that the fishing would be poor.

The water level was 4.47 feet below its normal summer pool, and it appeared that the Corps was releasing water to lower the water level to its winter pool. The water clarity was 18 inches. The surface temperature ranged from 77 to 79 degrees.

From the last half of August to mid-September, we have been monitoring the progress of the annual fall migration of the black bass and threadfin shad into the feeder-creek arms and bays of the Corps’ reservoirs in north-central Texas. And during that time, we were able to determine that the bulk of the threadfin shad and black bass were inhabiting their summertime haunts, which are situated around the main-lake locales. Some of them, however, were beginning to gather around the mouths of the feeder-creek arms, but few had moved inside of them.

During this five-hour endeavor, we thought we would check on the progress of the black bass’ migration at this reservoir. We opted to spend our time in the reservoir’s southwest tributary arm, which contains several major and a couple of minor feeder-creek arms. We concentrated our efforts inside one large bay and three of the more promising feeder-creek arms. We fished our way from their lower ends to their upper ends. We intentionally ignored the black-bass haunts in the main-lake areas this time.

The submerged terrains of all of these creek arms and the large bay are mostly similar: they are composed of red clay, small gravel, chunky rocks, large boulders, and a few places are endowed with riprap. A few places are adorned with a laydown or two or a patch of flooded stickups.

It appeared to us that the fall migration has finally begun. The bite was much better than what we expected, and it was a nice surprise to catch six largemouth bass and 30 spotted bass. We also crossed paths with three white bass, one crappie, one bluegill, and one green sunfish.

The largemouth bass and spotted bass were scattered, and the threadfin shad were scattered, too. Some of the shad were flickering about on the surface of the water, but we did not see any bass foraging on them. We caught the vast majority of these 36 black bass around the small pods of threadfin shad in water as shallow as two feet and as deep as six feet. They were relating to large rocks and boulders that are situated on the ends and sides of the rocky secondary points in the lower third portions of the three feeder-creek arms and the one large bay. Flat points were more productive than the steeper ones.

We did catch three spotted bass in the back of one of the creek arms, and we also caught a largemouth bass and a spotted bass from a small pocket next to a large secondary point in the midsection of the large bay.

We employed an array of Z-Man’s Midwest finesse combos, and six of them were productive. Our two most effective ones were a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ fastened on a black 1/10-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig, and a shortened Z-Man’s mudbug Hula StickZ affixed to a 1/16-ounce green-pumpkin-red-flake mushroom-style finesse jig.

Both of these rigs were utilized with a moderate-paced swimming retrieve.

Oct. 6

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his outing with his cousin Rick Hebenstreit of Shawnee, Kansas, on Oct. 6 at one of northeastern Kansas’ community reservoirs.

Here is an unedited version of their log.

The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 56 degrees, and the afternoon’s high temperature was 82 degrees. The wind angled out of the west and northwest at 3 to 20 mph. The sky was fair, but it became cluttered with a few clouds for a spell around 1:53 p.m. The barometric pressure was 30.10 at 12:53 a.m., 30.13 at 5:53 a.m., 30.18 at 11:53 a.m., and 30.14 at 1:53 p.m.

The water level looked to be a few inches below normal. The surface temperature ranged from 68 to 70 degrees. Our Secchi stick indicated the water exhibited from five to about seven feet of visibility. Significant wads of filamentous algae cluttered the water’s edges of many of the shorelines and much of a shallow-water flat in the upper reaches of this reservoir’s primary feeder-creek arm.

In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 8:10 a.m. to 10:10 a.m., 8:37 p.m. to 10:37 p.m., and 1:57 a.m. to 3:57 a.m.

We made our first casts at 10:05 a.m. and our last ones at 2:05 p.m.

We tangled with 56 largemouth bass, two green sunfish, and five bluegill. And we elicited oodles of strikes; at times we elicit from two to three strikes per retrieve.

As we have noted many times in the past, none of the largemouth bass that we caught would impress lunker hunters and tournament anglers who are hoping to tangle with five large black bass. But we enjoyed tangling with 14 largemouth bass an hour and provoking a multitude of strikes.

We caught eight largemouth bass along the shoreline of the dam. Its shoreline has about a 60-degree slope. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders. A few piles of brush also enhance the underwater terrain. Portions of the water’s edge are lined with patches of American water willows. A concrete outlet tower is situated near the west end of the dam. Portions of this shoreline are embellished with wads of filamentous algae. Four of the largemouth bass were caught on a slightly shortened 4.75-inch Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse WormZ affixed to a baby-blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Three were caught on a Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse ShadZ affixed to a blue 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig. One was caught on a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin-goby Finesse TRD affixed to a baby-blue 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ Jighead.

They were caught in about three to eight feet of water. Two were caught on the initial drop, and six were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation.

Along an offshore ledge and hump in the lower half of this reservoir, we caught four largemouth bass. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and humongous boulders. Two of the four largemouth bass were caught on a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Finesse TRD affixed to a red 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig. Two were caught on the Junebug Finesse WormZ rig. These bass were caught on a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation in four to six feet of water around the boulders.

Around two main-lake points and along about a 150-yard stretch of a shoreline in the middle section of the reservoir, we caught five largemouth bass. The underwater terrain of this area consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders. This shoreline has about a 35-degree slope. The water’s edge is adorned with occasional patches of American water willows, some overhanging trees, 11 docks, and wads of filamentous algae. One largemouth bass was caught on the Junebug Finesse ShadZ rig, and four were caught on the Junebug Finesse WormZ rig. One was caught on the initial drop of the Junebug Finesse WormZ along the outside edge of a dock in about six feet of water. The other four were caught on the swim-glide-and-shake presentation in four to seven feet of water.

We failed to catch a fish along two shorelines in the upper half of this reservoir, but we did catch 39 largemouth bass across a large shallow-water flat adjacent to these two shorelines. Portions of this flat’s underwater terrain are embellished with countless wads of filamentous algae. The section of this flat that we dissected looked to be slightly larger than a football field. We caught these 39 largemouth bass on a three-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ affixed to a chartreuse 3/32-ounce mushroom-style jig and a 3 ½-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin GrubZ affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s NedlockZ HD jig. They were caught in about three to five feet of water. One was caught on a swim–and–significant–pause presentation. Five were on the initial drop. The others were caught on a swimming presentation.

Oct. 6

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Oct. 6 outing with Norman Brown of Lewisville, Texas.

Here is an edited version of his log.

Norman Brown joined me for a four-hour excursion at a rural state reservoir in north-central Texas. We consider it to be one, if not the most, bountiful venue we ply in north-central Texas.

It was a bright and sunny morning. About 45 percent of the sky was cluttered with wispy white clouds. The morning’s low temperature was 57 degrees, and the afternoon’s high temperature was 94 degrees. The wind was calm for most of the morning, but around 10:00 a.m., it became light and variable. The barometric pressure measured 30.14 at 7:00 a.m., and 30.15 at 11:00 a.m.

The water exhibited about two feet of clarity. The surface temperature ranged from 77 to 79 degrees. The water level was 7.78 feet below normal pool, which is the lowest we have seen in quite some time.

According to In-fisherman’s solunar calendar, the best fishing periods would occur from 2:09 a.m. to 4:09 a.m., 8:22 a.m. to 10:22 a.m., and 8:48 p.m. to 10:48 p.m. The calendar also noted that the fishing would be poor.

We fished from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

Our outing focused on 21 black-bass lairs: three main-lake islands, three main-lake shorelines, eight main-lake points, two riprap jetties, a deep-water ditch, and four bays.

The three main-lake islands were the most productive locales during this outing, and they yielded a total of eight spotted bass and seven largemouth bass. One of the islands is situated in the southeast region of the reservoir, the second one is located in the reservoir’s middle section, and the third one is situated in the reservoir’s northwest region. Because the water level is low, the island’s shorelines are mostly flat. Their underwater terrains are composed of clay, small gravel, chunk rocks, and large boulders. There used to be quite a few patches of flooded timber, stickups, bushes, and submerged stumps that adorned the shallow-water areas near the water’s edge, but they are on dry land now.

The first island yielded five largemouth bass and two spotted bass. The second island yielded four spotted bass and one largemouth bass, and the third island yielded two spotted bass and one largemouth bass. These 15 black bass were caught next to small clusters of submerged chunk rocks and boulders in three to five feet of water.

Along the three main-lake shorelines, we failed to locate any threadfin shad with our side-imaging and 2-D sonar units, so we did not fish them.

The eight main-lake points, which stretch from the reservoir’s lower end to its midsection, were also unproductive. We found some small schools of threadfin shad around one of the points, but that point relinquished only one green sunfish and no black bass. Most of these points were steep with 35- to 60-degree slopes, and the others were flat. All of them are endowed with numerous submerged rocks and boulders.

Around the two riprap-laden jetties that are located on the east side of the impoundment, we garnered one robust strike in eight feet of water and about 10 feet from the water’s edge, but we failed to hook that fish.

A deep-water ditch that courses between the two riprap jetties is covered with 18 to 23 feet of water. Our sonar units detected some large schools of threadfin shad and some other unknown species of fish that were positioned under and to the sides of the schools of shad, but we could not coax any of them into striking our lures.

The four bays were mostly fruitless. One of the four bays is located in the middle section of the reservoir’s west shoreline; two are located in the middle section of the reservoir’s east shoreline, and one is situated at the lower end of the reservoir. One of them is quite large, and the other three are much smaller than the first one. We found some threadfin shad inside two of the bays, and the other two were devoid of shad.

Inside the two bays that were endowed with shad, we failed to locate any black bass inside one of them. At a rocky secondary point about halfway back inside the other bay, we found a significant number of threadfin shad. In the vicinity of these shad, we caught one largemouth bass, one spotted bass, and one green sunfish in five to seven feet of water from the tip of this point.

All told, we had an average outing with mixed results. We caught a total of 19 fish, which we consider a measly total for this bountiful impoundment. Seventeen of them were black bass, which consisted of nine spotted bass and eight largemouth bass. We inadvertently caught two green sunfish.

All seventeen of the black bass and one of the two green sunfish were caught before 9:30 a.m. A few of them were caught simultaneously when the black-bass bite was at its peak. During the last two hours, the black-bass fishing became so wretched that we could muster only one strike from a green sunfish.

These 17 black bass were caught on three Midwest finesse rigs: twelve were tempted by a steady-swimming retrieve with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ rigged on a blue 1/10-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig. A steady-swimming retrieve with a Z-Man’s The Deal TRD MinnowZ rigged on a black 1/10-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig enticed three black bass. A shortened Z-Man’s mudbug Hula StickZ rigged on a green-pumpkin-red-flake 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig and utilized with a steady-swimming presentation allured two black bass. The two green sunfish were caught on a swimming retrieve with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pumpkin-chartreuse ZinkerZ rigged on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig.

Oct. 10

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a brief log on the Finesse News Network about his Oct. 10 outing with his grandson Brady Cayton of Lawrence at one of northeastern Kansas' state reservoirs.

Here is an edited version of their log.

The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 34 degrees, and the afternoon’s high temperature was 83 degrees. The wind was calm from 2:52 a.m. to 12:52 p.m., and then, it angled out of the northwest and southwest at 3 to 10 mph. The sky was primarily fair, but there was a spell when it was foggy and misty and cluttered with a few clouds. The barometric pressure was 30.14 at 12:52 a.m., 30.15 at 5:52 a.m., 30.15 at 11:52 a.m., and 30.06 at 3:52 p.m.

The water level looked to be slightly below normal. Our Secchi stick noted that the water exhibited from 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 feet of visibility. The surface temperature ranged from 75 to 77 degrees.

In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 11:10 p.m. to 1:10 a.m., 4:49.m. to 6:49 a.m., and 5:22 p.m. to 7:22 p.m.

We made our first casts at 12:05 p.m. Our last ones were executed at 2:05 p.m.

We spent the bulk of the 120 minutes of this outing fishing across and around a massive shallow-water flat in the back of one of this reservoir’s major feeder-creek arms. This flat is embellished with a myriad of patches of bushy pondweeds, coontail, and sago pondweeds. A submerged creek channel meanders across the western edge of this flat, and that edge is graced with occasional man-made piles of eastern red cedar trees. Many of those trees have become entangled with bushy pondweeds, coontail, and sago pondweeds. There are also some man-made piles of eastern red cedar trees littering the entire flat. Some of its shallow-water shorelines are adorned with significant patches of American pondweeds and some patches of American water willows.

This flat yielded eight largemouth bass, four crappie, and two channel catfish. We estimated that one of the channel catfish weighed more than 10 pounds, and it entailed almost a six-minute scuffle with our five-foot, 10-inch spinning rod and four-pound-test Berkley FireLine before we were able to remove the hook from the tissue around this creature’s maxillary.

Five of the eight largemouth bass were caught on a slightly shortened 4.75-inch Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse WormZ affixed to a baby-blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead with a rapid swim-glide-and-shake presentation. They were caught in three to six feet of water around the patches of coontail and sago pondweeds. Three were caught on a 3 1/2-inch Z-Man's green-pumpkin GrubZ affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man's NedlockZ HD jig with a swimming presentation in three to seven feet of water around patches of coontail.

Along a shoreline that borders another major feeder-creek arm, we caught seven largemouth bass. This shoreline has a 25- to 30-degree slope. Its water’s edge is endowed with patches of American water willows, a few patches of American pondweeds, one dock, a few stumps, piles of eastern red cedar trees, one significant point, and several riprap jetties. The underwater terrain consists of gravel and rocks, and much of its shallow-water locales are entwined with patches of bushy pondweeds and coontail. A submerged creek channel parallels about a 30-yard stretch of the shoreline.

Around the one point that graces this shoreline, we caught one largemouth bass on a deadstick presentation with a Z-Man’s meat-dog Finesse ShadZ affixed to a baby-blue 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ Jighead in about five feet of water along the outside edge of a patch of American water willows, a patch of American pondweeds, and amongst some bushy pondweed.

Around one of the riprap jetties, we caught three largemouth bass in about seven feet of water. They were caught around a submerged eastern red cedar tree that was entangled with coontail and bushy pondweed. This spot is adjacent to the submerged creek channel. All three of the largemouth bass were caught on the Finesse ShadZ rig with a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation.

We caught three largemouth bass around three of the riprap jetties. One was caught on the Finesse WormZ rig with a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in about four feet of water around the riprap boulders and inside edge of a patch of coontail. Two were caught on a very slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation with the Finesse ShadZ rig in five to seven feet of water.

In conclusion, the angling pressure was surprisingly intense. Thus, we shared both locales that we fished with other anglers, and it was a struggle to elicit a strike. We were hoping to catch at least 30 largemouth bass, but we were fortunate to eke out 15 largemouth bass during the two hours that we were afloat. When we were at the boat ramp around 2:10 p.m., we chatted with a power angler who lamented that he had struggled to catch 10 largemouth bass in five hours of fishing, and those were caught before 11:00 a.m.

Oct. 10

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Oct. 10 outing with Bill Kenney of Denton.

Here is an edited version of his log.

Bill Denton joined me for a five-hour excursion at a popular U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ hill-land reservoir in north-central Texas. We fished from 7:21 a.m. to 12:21 p.m., and it was busier than usual because of the three-day holiday weekend.

It was a pleasant fall morning. The sky was mostly cloudy when we launched the boat a few minutes before sunrise, and it was partly cloudy when we trailered the boat at 12:42 p.m. The morning’s low temperature was 59 degrees. The afternoon’s high temperature reached 91 degrees. The wind angled out of the south and southwest at 5 to 10 mph. The barometric pressure remained steady throughout the morning and measured 30.17.

The water level was 2.21 feet below normal pool. The water displayed 2 1/2 feet of clarity. The surface temperature ranged from 75.8 degrees at the boat ramp in the southeast end of the reservoir to 76.3 degrees in the back end of a feeder-creek arm in the midsection of the reservoir’s east tributary arm.

We stayed in the lower region of the reservoir. This section of the reservoir is endowed with a few thick stands of flooded timber, and some submerged stumps. Its underwater terrain consists of red clay, sand, small gravel, chunky rocks, and boulders. The reservoir’s upper end is cluttered with acres and acres of flooded timber, submerged stumps and brush piles, which we find difficult to navigate in a boat.

During the past summer months, there were many patches of hydrilla, milfoil, and American pondweeds that were matted on or just under the surface of the water throughout the reservoir. But because of the lower water level, most of the aquatic vegetation in the shallow-water areas has disappeared.

Here is how our outing unfolded:

We caught three largemouth bass and one spotted bass around the flat perimeter of an island located about a third of the way inside a large feeder-creek arm in the southeast end of the reservoir. All of them were caught in less than five feet of water. Two were caught from the outside edges of several large patches of American pondweeds on the east side of the island. The other two were caught around large rocks and boulders along the west side of the island. Two of them were caught on a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s space-guppy Slim SwimZ rigged on a chartreuse 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. The other two engulfed a two-inch Z-Man’s blue-glimmer-sparkle FryZ affixed on a black 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Both of these swimbaits were employed with a steady-swimming retrieve near the sides and over the top of the patches of American pondweeds and the submerged boulders and large rocks.

We scanned portions of the north and south shorelines, secondary points, and two coves inside this creek arm with our 2D and side-imaging sonar. We caugh onar. We caught one largemouth bass from a small pocket along the north shoreline in the upper end of the creek arm. It was caught in four feet of water on a slow swimming retrieve with a Z-Man’s The Deal Baby Goat rigged on a black Z-Man’s 1/10-ounce Finesse ShroomZ jig. We failed to locate any other schools of threadfin shad or black bass in the upper and midsections of this creek arm.

At one of the entry points to this same creek arm, we caught five largemouth bass and one spotted bass. This point is flat, and it is endowed with numerous large boulders and large chunky rocks. Four of these six black bass were caught on a slow swimming retrieve around and over the top of the large boulders with a three-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ affixed on a black 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. The other two were caught on the initial drop or a swimming retrieve with the two-inch blue-glimmer-sparkle FryZ combo. They were abiding in one to three feet of water along a 15-yard segment of the entry point, and they were relating to the sides of several large boulders near the water’s edge.

We fished around one prominent rocky main-lake point just south of the creek arm that we just fished, but we failed to elicit any strikes there.

The riprap-laden dam forms the southern boundary of this reservoir. We targeted a large concrete outlet tower that is positioned near the center of the dam. The tower is surrounded by 34 to 53 feet of water. The walls of this tower relinquished four largemouth bass and one spotted bass. They were suspended about five feet below the surface of the water and within a couple of feet of the tower’s walls. Four of them were enticed by a slow swim-glide-and-subtle-shake of a Z-Man’s mudbug TRD TicklerZ affixed to a black 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. One largemouth bass was caught on The Deal Baby Goat rig that was employed with a swim-glide-and-shake presentation.

After we finished fishing around the tower, we moved a short distance from the south side of the tower and dissected an offshore rock ledge. The top of this ledge is covered with about six feet of water, and it slopes about 60 degrees downward into 30-plus feet of water. We positioned the boat off the deep-water side of the ledge in 29 feet of water, and we made our casts to the top of the ledge in about six feet of water. We then slowly worked our lures down the slope of the ledge. We caught two largemouth bass from the lower portion of the slope in 19 to 21 feet of water. They were allured by the Z-Man’s mudbug TRD TicklerZ rig that was utilized with a slow hop-and-bounce presentation down the slope of the ledge. We were unable to elicit any strikes from the top portion of the ledge.

The riprap along the dam was already occupied by several other boat anglers, so we did not fish it.

We spent the next three hours scanning and fishing around two main-lake entry points and the interiors of two major feeder-creek arms and one minor creek arm. One of the major creek arms and the minor one are situated in the lower end of the reservoir’s west tributary arm. The other major feeder-creek arm is located in the midsection of the east tributary arm. We located some significant schools of threadfin shad in all three of these creek arms, and we caught several black bass in each one of them, too. The two main-lake entry points, however, were devoid of any threadfin shad and black bass.

Inside the large feeder-creek arm in the lower end of the west tributary arm, we hooked three largemouth bass and one spotted bass, and we lost one of the largemouth bass before we could hoist it into the boat. They were abiding in three to seven feet of water along a 50-yard stretch of a flat and boulder-strewn shoreline in the upper end of the creek arm. Three of these four black bass were induced into striking a slow swimming retrieve with the three-inch pearl Slim SwimZ, and the fourth one was caught on the initial drop of the two-inch blue-glimmer-sparkle FryZ rig.

In the midsection and lower end of this creek arm, we located some scattered schools of threadfin shad, but no black bass.

After we finished fishing inside the second feeder-creek arm, we moved to the north side of the west tributary arm and ventured inside the third feeder-creek arm. This creek arm is the smallest of the four that we fished during this outing. It is cluttered with thick stands of flooded timber, stumps, and a few laydowns. Most of its underwater terrain is composed of red clay and pea gravel, but there are two flat secondary points on the east side of the creek arm that are adorned with some boulders, chunk rocks, and standing timber. We mostly concentrated on the two rocky secondary points, and they relinquished four largemouth bass and one spotted bass. These five black bass were associated with several large patches of boulders mixed with chunk rocks that are situated in three to five feet of water. Three of them were allured by a swimming retrieve with the three-inch pearl Slim SwimZ. The other three were enticed by either a swim-glide-and-shake presentation or a swimming presentation with The Deal Baby Goat rig.

We also probed a 40-yard clay-and-gravel shoreline at the mouth of this creek arm, but it was fruitless.

We finished this outing investigating another large feeder-creek arm in the midsection of the east tributary arm. We targeted several prominent rocky secondary points and several coves along the north and south sides of the creek arm. The only productive spot was a flat and rocky secondary point in the back end of the creek arm. Both sides of this point are adorned with thick patches of American pondweeds mixed with some large boulders and chunk rocks. This point surrendered four largemouth bass. Two were abiding in less than three feet of water next to a large patch of pondweeds on one side of the point. The other two were caught from a cluster of boulders on the tip of the point in four to six feet of water. Two of the four bass were coaxed into striking the three-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ rig with a swimming presentation. The fourth largemouth bass preferred a swimming retrieve with a Z-Man’s The Deal Baby Goat rigged on a pearl 1/8-ounce Finesse EyeZ jighead.

In closing, the black-bass bite was pretty decent. We concluded the outing with 31 black bass, which consisted of 26 largemouth bass and five spotted bass.

The last time I fished at this reservoir was on Sept. 1 with Bear Brundrett of Valley View, Texas, and we caught 30 largemouth bass and six spotted bass during that five-hour endeavor.

Oct. 14

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Oct. 14 outing with Bear Brundrett of Valley View, Texas.

Here is an edited version of his log.

From 7:20 a.m. to 12:20 p.m., Bear Brundrett joined me for a morning excursion at a rural state reservoir in north-central Texas. This is the same state reservoir where Henry Sparks of The Colony, Texas, and I caught 43 black bass on Sept. 16.

Oct. 14 was a sunny day, and the sky was cloudless. The morning’s low temperature was 55 degrees, and the afternoon’s high temperature reached 89 degrees. The wind was calm from 7:00 a.m. to 10:45 a.m., and then it angled out of the southwest at 10 to 15 mph. The barometric pressure measured 30.00 at 7:00 a.m. and 29.98 at 12:00 p.m.

In-Fisherman’s solunar table indicated that the fishing would be poor, but the most productive fishing periods would occur from 1:51 a.m. to 3:51 a.m., 8:02 a.m. to 10:02 a.m., and 8:24 p.m. to 10:24 p.m.

The water level appeared to be about three feet below normal pool. The water exhibited two feet of visibility. The surface temperature ranged from 71 to 73 degrees.

This reservoir’s underwater terrain consists primarily of red clay, small gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are embellished with stumps and some standing timber. The dam is located in the northeast corner of the reservoir, and it is overlaid with riprap.

We began this outing along a 75-yard section of a flat main-lake shoreline on the south side of the reservoir’s west tributary arm. This shoreline is adorned with thick patches of American pondweeds and some submerged stumps. It is endowed with two flat and rocky main-lake points, and there is a small pocket that is situated between the two points. One of the points is endowed with a rock pile that is usually covered with three to five feet of water, but it is on dry land now. The other point is enhanced with chunk rocks, a dilapidated concrete boat ramp, and thick mats of American pondweeds. There is another large mud flat on the east side of these two points, and it is adorned with patches of American pondweed, American water willows, and submerged stumps.

This 75-yard stretch of shoreline surrendered four largemouth bass, one spotted bass, and one hybrid-spotted bass. All of them were caught in three to seven feet by a steady-swimming retrieve with a three-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ affixed on a chartreuse 3/32-ounce OG Mushroom Jighead.

After we finished fishing the main-lake shoreline, we ventured inside a medium-sized cove just east of the main-lake shoreline. The shoreline inside this cove is flat. There are numerous boat houses with patches of American pondweeds growing between the boat houses. We caught one spotted bass on a swimming retrieve with the Slim SwimZ rig from the outside edge of a patch of American pondweeds in five feet of water. We probed the sides and underneath several of the boat houses and around other patches of American pondweeds, but we failed to elicit any other strikes.

At a main-lake point located about half a mile east of the cove, we caught two largemouth bass in three to five feet of water. This point has a 45-degree incline. It is laden with chunk rocks, thick patches of American pondweeds, and four boat houses. Both of these largemouth bass were relating to the outside edges of two of the larger patches of American pondweeds. They were caught on a steady-swimming retrieve parallel to the outside edges of the patches of American pondweeds with the Slim SwimZ rig. We did not locate any black bass relating to the boat houses.

On top of a flat clay-and-gravel main-lake point at the mouth of a large bay on the west end of the reservoir, we caught seven largemouth bass. This point extends about 20 yards out from the water’s edge before it quickly descends into 20-plus feet of water. There are two large stumps situated on the apex of this point. These seven largemouth bass were caught near the two stumps in five to eight feet of water. Five of them were caught on a steady-swimming retrieve with the Slim SwimZ rig, and two were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation with a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Finesse ShadZ rigged on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.

Inside a large bay on the west end of the reservoir, we fished along a 100-yard section of a flat pea-gravel and red-clay shoreline on the north side of the bay, and a 50-yard section of a flat gravel-and-chunk-rock shoreline on the south side of the bay.

We caught two largemouth bass along the north shoreline. This flat shoreline is cluttered with countless numbers of laydowns, stumps, broken tree branches, and patches of hydrilla. We were disheartened to see that the patches of hydrilla were brown. Both of these largemouth bass were caught around large tree limbs in three to five feet of water with a steady-swimming retrieve with the Slim SwimZ rig.

The south shoreline is adorned with pea-gravel, chunk rocks, patches of American pondweeds, and several boat houses. Around the outside edges of two large patches of American pondweeds that are situated in three to five feet of water, we caught one largemouth bass and one spotted bass. They were enticed by a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation with the Finesse ShadZ rig.

In the northeast region of the reservoir, we dissected a bluff, the riprap-laden shoreline of the dam, and a rocky shoreline just west of the dam.