Midwest Finesse Fishing: September 2021

Sept. 1

 Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Sept. 1 outing at one of northeastern Kansas’ many community reservoirs. 

 Here is an edited version of his log.

 The National Weather Service reported that it was 68 degrees at 8:52 a.m. and 83 degrees at 2:52 p.m. The wind angled out of the northeast, east, and southeast at 6 to 10 mph; there was a 17 mph gust between 1:52 p.m. and 2:52 p.m. The sky vacillated from being mostly cloudy to being partly cloudy to being overcast to being cluttered with a few clouds to becoming fair. The barometric pressure was 29.84 at 12:52 a.m., 29.87 at 5:52 a.m., 29.94 at 11:52 a.m., and 29.91 at 2:52 p.m. 

 The water level was a few inches above normal. The surface temperature ranged from 82 to 83 degrees. The secchi stick indicated that the water exhibited from about 12 inches to about 26 inches of visibility. 

 In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 6:36 a.m. to 8:36 a.m., 7:01 p.m. to 9:01 p.m., and 12:23 a.m. to 2:23 a.m.

 I made my first cast at 11:25 a.m., and I fished until I caught largemouth bass number 25 at 1:58 p.m.

 I spent 54 minutes fishing the entire north shoreline and the entire south shoreline inside a small feeder-creek arm. These shorelines have a 20- to 45-degree slope. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and silt. The water’s edges are endowed with significant patches of American water willows, one dock, one boathouse, a few minor laydowns, and several overhanging trees. Each shoreline yielded five largemouth bass. Nine of them were caught from about 80 to 90 percent of the way inside this feeder creek, and one was caught about 25 percent of the way inside it. All of them were caught along the outside edges of the patches of American water willows in two to three feet of water. Three of the 10 were caught on a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Finesse ShadZ affixed to a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Seven were caught on a slightly shortened four-inch Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse WormZ affixed to a blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. One was caught on a short and unintentional deadstick presentation. Two were caught on the initial drop. Seven were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation.

 Inside a large feeder-creek arm, I fished about a 100-yard stretch of its south shoreline and about a 150-yard stretch of its north shoreline. Both shorelines are situated at the mouth of this feeder creek. These shorelines have a 45- to 70-degree slope. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, boulders, and a few stumps; some of the boulders are humongous. The south shoreline is lined with some patches of American water willows, three docks, and one concrete retaining wall. The north shoreline is completely adorned with patches of American water willows. The Finesse WormZ rig caught five largemouth bass along the south shoreline next to the outside edges of the patches of American water willows in two to 4 ½ feet of water. This rig caught two largemouth bass along the outside edges of the American water willows in about three feet of water. Two of the seven largemouth bass were caught on the initial drop. Five were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation. 

 I quickly and unmethodically fished the entire dam, which yielded four largemouth bass. It has about a 70-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders. The water’s edge is lined with many patches of American water willows, a few piles of brush, and an outlet tower. Three largemouth bass were caught on the Finesse WormZ rig; two were caught around a pile of brush on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in about six feet of water; the third one was caught along the outside edge of a patch of American water willows on the initial drop in about three feet of water. The fourth one was caught on a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD HogZ affixed to a red 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead with a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation in about six feet of water adjacent to a patch of American water willows. 

 I failed to elicit a strike along about a 70-yard stretch of a main-lake shoreline that has a 30- to 60-degree slope. It is graced with patches of American water willows, a few laydowns, and two overhanging trees. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders. 

 I caught largemouth bass numbers 23, 24, and 25 along a 50-yard stretch of a shoreline that is about 90 percent of the way inside a primary feeder-creek arm. It has a 45-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, some boulders, and silt. The water’s edge is appointed with many patches of American water willows, some laydowns, a few piles of brush, and some meager patches of submerged aquatic vegetation. These largemouth bass were caught on a Z-Man’s Junebug TRD TicklerZ affixed to a blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. One was caught on the initial drop at the outside edge of a patch of American water willows in 2 ½ feet of water. Two were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation near the outside edges of patches of American water willows in about three feet of water. 

 Sept. 2

 Ned and Pat Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about their Sept. 2 outing at one of northeastern Kansas’ many state reservoirs. 

 Here is an edited version of their log.

 The National Weather Service reported that it was 68 degrees at 6:52 a.m. and 83 degrees at 3:52 p.m. The wind angled out of the east and southeast at 6 to 18 mph with occasional gusts of 22 to 23 mph. The sky was fair, but it was covered with the smoke from the wildfires that have been raging in California, Oregon, and Washington. The barometric pressure was 29.95 at 12:52 a.m., 29.97 at 5:52 a.m., 29.98 at 11:52 a.m., and 29.95 at 2:52 p.m. 

 The water level looked to be about six inches above normal. The surface temperature ranged from 82 to 83 degrees. Our secchi stick indicated that the water exhibited 3 ½ feet of visibility. This reservoir’s shorelines are embellished with the most magnificent patches of American water willows that we have ever seen in northeastern Kansas.

 In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 7:23 a.m. to 9:23 a.m., 7:49 p.m. to 9:49 p.m., and 1:10 a.m. to 3:10 a.m.

 We made our first casts at 11:37 a.m. and made our last ones at 2:07 p.m. We spent the entire 150 minutes fishing inside two primary feeder-creek arms.  

 From 11:37 a.m. to 12:35 p.m., we caught 27 largemouth bass. They were caught along the entire eastern shoreline inside one of the primary feeder-creek arms and around small portions of the shallow-water flats that are adjacent to this shoreline. This shoreline possesses a 20- to 45-degree slope. Its water’s edge is adorned with patches of American water willows, a few laydowns, some piles of brush, and several overhanging trees. The underwater terrain consists of gravel and rocks, which are occasionally enhanced with patches of submerged aquatic vegetation, which consists of bushy pondweed, coontail, and sago pondweed. All of the largemouth bass were caught around either the outside edges of the American water willows or the patches of submerged aquatic vegetation. One of the 27 largemouth bass was caught on a 3 ½-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin GrubZ affixed to a blue 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Two were caught on a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Finesse ShadZ affixed to a blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Five were caught on a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD TicklerZ affixed to a blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Eight were caught on a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD HogZ affixed to a red 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Eleven were caught on a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin-goby Finesse TRD affixed to a blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. They were caught in two to six feet of water. One was caught on an accidental deadstick presentation. The others were caught on either the initial drop of our rigs or with a swimming presentation over and around the submerged vegetation or adjacent to the outside edges of the American water willows

 Along about a 300-yard portion of a shoreline and around three small shallow-water flats adjacent to this shoreline on the western side of this primary feeder-creek arm, we struggled to catch four largemouth bass. This shoreline has a 25- to 35-degree slope. Its water’s edge is graced with massive patches of American water willows, some laydowns, a few piles of brush, and a goodly number of overhanging trees. It is endowed with two tertiary points and two secondary points. The underwater terrain consists of gravel and rocks. Compared to this feeder creek’s eastern shoreline, the underwater terrain of this western shoreline is endowed with very few patches of pondweed, coontail, and sago pondweed. The four largemouth bass were caught on our green-pumpkin-goby Finesse TRD rigs with a swimming presentation in three to four feet of water around the patches of submerged aquatic vegetation that were adjacent to patches of American water willows.

 We quickly fished along about a 400-yard stretch of the western shoreline inside another primary feeder-creek arm. This shoreline has a 25- to 45-degree slope. It is enhanced with several tertiary points and one secondary point. Its water’s edge is adorned with massive patches of American water willows, some laydowns, a few piles of brush, and a goodly number of overhanging trees. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are only occasionally enhanced with patches of bushy pondweed, coontail, and sago pondweed. We caught six largemouth bass on our green-pumpkin-goby Finesse TRD rigs. Two were caught on the initial drop along the outside edges of the American water willow patches in about 3 ½ feet of water. Four were caught on a swimming presentation in three to five feet of water.

 We caught 17 largemouth bass along about a 300-yard stretch of the eastern shoreline inside this second feeder-creek arm. This shoreline has a 25- to 45-degree slope. It possesses one secondary point and four tertiary points. The water’s edge is similar to the eastern shoreline inside the first primary feeder-creek arm that we fished, and its underwater terrain is similar, too. These 17 largemouth bass were caught on our green-pumpkin-goby Finesse TRD rigs. Seven of them were caught on the initial drop; 10 were caught on a swimming presentation. And they were caught in three to six feet of water adjacent to the outside edges of the American water willows or around and over the submerged aquatic vegetation. 

 Besides catching 54 largemouth bass, we accidentally caught six channel catfish, two bluegill, and one green sunfish. 

 Sept. 3

 Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Sept. 3 outing with Rick Allen of Dallas.

 Here is an edited version of his log.

 We thought we would beat the Labor Day weekend crowds by beginning our outing at 7:00 a.m. at one of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ hill-land reservoirs in north-central Texas. Surprisingly, the boat traffic was almost nonexistent for most of the morning, but the crowds began to arrive by the time we got off the water at 12:13 p.m. 

 According to In-Fisherman’s solunar table, the fishing would be poor with the best fishing periods occurring from 2:04 a.m. to 4:04 a.m., 8:17 a.m. to 10:17 a.m., and 8:43 p.m. to 10:43 p.m. 

 It was hot and humid, and there were no signs of any significant relief from this heat and humidity any time soon. The barometric pressure measured 29.93 at 7:00 a.m. and 29.94 at noon. The sky conditions fluctuated from being partly cloudy to clear.  The wind angled out of the south and southeast at 5 to 10 mph. Area thermometers recorded the morning low temperature at 83 degrees; the afternoon high temperature reached 97 degrees with a heat index of 104 degrees.

 The water displayed between 12 inches and two feet of visibility. The surface temperature ranged from 86 to 89 degrees. The water level was normal.

 From 7:00 a.m. to noon, we investigated black-bass haunts in the reservoir’s southwest tributary arm. Most of them were main-lake areas, but we also explored portions of two major feeder-creek arms and one large slough. Ample amounts of threadfin shad were associated with all of the productive locales.

 The submerged terrain in this tributary arm is composed of red clay, pea gravel, chunk rock, and boulders about the size of a coffee table. There are a few shallow-water areas with partially-flooded terrestrial vegetation. 

 In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar indicated poor fishing, but in our eyes, the black-bass fishing was stellar. By the time we made our last casts and retrieves, our mechanical counter indicated that we had caught and released 44 spotted bass, 13 largemouth bass, and one white bass.

  Of the 57 black bass that we caught, 53 of them were caught at main-lake lairs. Twenty were caught around the rocky perimeter of a main-lake island; 17 were caught from a series of seven rocky main-lake points; 11 were caught from two main-lake pea-gravel and chunk-rock shorelines, three were caught from a series of 11 concrete bridge support columns underneath a railroad-trestle bridge; and two were caught from a riprap-covered bridge embankment. 

 We also searched for threadfin shad and black bass inside two major feeder-creek arms and one large slough, and this endeavor yielded three spotted bass and one largemouth. This search encompassed seven secondary points, five clay-and-pea-gravel shorelines, another clay shoreline adorned with a few pieces of chunk rock, and an offshore pile of rocks. Inside one of the two feeder-creek arms, we located some decent concentrations of threadfin shad, and we caught two spotted bass that were in the vicinity of the threadfin shad and relating to a couple of rocky secondary points situated about three quarters of the way back inside the creek arm. These points possessed 25- to 30-degree slopes. One largemouth bass was caught from a pea-gravel and chuck rock shoreline just east of where we caught the two spotted bass. The second feeder-creek arm was not very productive, yielding one spotted bass. It was caught on an offshore pile of rocks that are covered with four feet of water. This rock pile is situated about a third of the way inside the creek arm. We did not locate any shad or black bass inside the large slough.   

 Fifty-four largemouth and spotted bass were caught in three to six feet of water and within 15 to 20 feet of the water’s edge. Two spotted bass and one largemouth bass were suspended about eight to 10 feet below the surface next to two large concrete bridge-support columns, which are situated in 37 feet of water.

 Thirty-four largemouth and spotted bass were caught on a Z-Man’s pearl Baby Goat matched with a blue 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead; 17 were allured by a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ affixed on a blue 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead; two were tricked by a slightly shortened Z-Man’s mud-minnow Hula StickZ rigged on a black 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead, two were fooled by a four-inch Z-Man’s black-neon Finesse WormZ fastened on a red 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead; and two were caught on a  2 3/4-inch Z-Man’s The Deal TRD TubeZ rigged on a blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.   

 The pearl Baby Goat and 2 1/2-inch pearl Slim SwimZ rigs were employed with a moderate-pace swimming retrieve about a foot below the surface of the water. The mud-minnow Hula StickZ, The Deal TRD TubeZ, and the black-neon Finesse WormZ rigs were employed with a swim-glide-and-shake presentation. Several bass were also caught on the initial fall of these five Z-Man Midwest-finesse rigs. 

 In sum, we caught an average of 11 bass per hour. Most of them were small, but they kept us entertained and fun to catch on our light spinning outfits.  And to our added delight, several of them were keeper-size specimens. 

 The last time I fished at this reservoir was on Aug. 24 with Roger Farish of Highland Village, Texas. We fished from 6:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., and we caught and released 36 spotted bass, six largemouth bass, and one white bass.

 Sept. 7

 Ned and Pat Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a brief on the Finesse News Network about their sorry outing on Sept. 7 at one of northeastern Kansas’ many community reservoirs. 

Here is an edited version of their brief.

 The National Weather Service reported that it was 68 degrees at 5:52 a.m. and 91 degrees at 2:52 p.m. The wind angled out of the east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, and north at 5 to 12 mph with a gust of 22 mph reported at 12:52 p.m. The barometric pressure was 29.80 at 12:52 a.m., 29.87 at 5:52 a.m., 29.86 at 11:52 a.m., and 29.84 at 2:52 p.m. 

 The water level looked to be about 18 inches above normal. The surface temperature ranged from 79 to 80 degrees. Our secchi stick indicated that the water exhibited about six inches of visibility in the back of the feeder creeks and 2 ½ feet of visibility in the vicinity of the dam. This reservoir’s watershed was walloped with about three inches of rain on the night of Sept. 2 and 3, and since then a significant amount of water has flowed over the spillway.

 In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 10:52 a.m. to 12:25 p.m., 11:20 p.m. to 1:20 a.m., and 5:08 a.m. to 7:08 a.m.

 Before we made our first casts at 10:10 a.m., we talked to a power angler who informed us that he had caught 10 largemouth bass since he began fishing around 7:00 a.m. Around 11:00 a.m., we also chatted with a longtime member of the Finesse News Network who reported that he was finding the fishing to be quite difficult, and he suspected that the aftereffects of the heavy rain on Sept. 2 and 3 could be one reason why the largemouth bass were difficult to find and catch. Since about daylight, he had tangled with 15 largemouth bass.

 And from 10:10 a.m. to 12:20 p.m., we struggled to catch 12 largemouth bass.

 From 10:10 a.m. to around noon, we fished two shorelines inside a small feeder-creek arm and portions of one shoreline inside a primary feeder-creek arm.

 We caught three largemouth bass in the back of the small feeder-creek arm. One was caught on a Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse ShadZ affixed to a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead with a swimming presentation in about four feet of water. The other two were caught on the initial drop of a slightly shortened four-inch Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse WormZ affixed to a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead in about 3 ½ feet of water adjacent to patches of American water willows.

 We eked out two largemouth bass from the shoreline inside the primary feeder-creek arm. One was caught on the initial drop of the Finesse WormZ rig along the outside edge of a patch of American water willows in about three feet of water. One was caught on a swimming presentation with a slightly shortened Z-Man’s Junebug TRD TicklerZ affixed to a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead in about four feet of water near a patch of American water willows and around some meager sprouts of Eurasian milfoil. 

 During the final 20 minutes of this grim outing, we experienced some joy by tangling with seven largemouth bass around the spillway and along about a 100-yard portion of the dam’s shoreline. The spillway has about a 10-degree slope. The dam has a 70-degree slope. The underwater terrains of these areas consist of gravel, rocks, and boulders. The spillway’s shoreline is adorned with American water willows and cattails. The dam’s shoreline is endowed with an outlet tower and patches of American water willows. Two of the seven largemouth bass were caught on the Finesse ShadZ rig with a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in four to six feet of water. Five of the largemouth bass were caught on a Z-Man’s PB&J TRD MinnowZ affixed to a blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead on either the initial drop or a very slow swimming presentation in four to six feet of water. 

 As we made our last casts and retrieves, we concluded that we should have spent more time fishing the entire dam and its adjacent shorelines and points rather than spending about 100 minutes dissecting the extremely murky locales inside the two feeder-creek arms.

Sept. 8

 Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Sept. 8 outing at one of northeastern Kansas’ community reservoirs. 

 Here is an edited version of his log.

 The National Weather Service reported that it was 60 degrees at 6:53 a.m. and 83 degrees at 2:53 p.m. The wind angled out of the north and northwest at 3 to 13 mph; there were gusts that ranged from 21 to 23 mph between 12:53 p.m. and 4:53 p.m. The sky was fair. The barometric pressure was 30.00 at 12:53 a.m., 30.02 at 5:53 a.m., 30.08 at 11:53 a.m., and 30.01 at 3:53 p.m. 

 The water level was above normal, and several inches of water coursed across this reservoir’s spillway. The surface temperature ranged from 79 to 80 degrees. The secchi stick indicated that the water exhibited from about 3 ½ feet of visibility around the lower portions of this reservoir to about two feet of visibility in its upper portions. 

 In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 11:45 a.m. to 1:45 p.m., 12:09 p.m. to 2:09 p.m., and 5:57 a.m. to 7:57 a.m.

 I made my first cast at 11:50 a.m. and my last one at 3:10 p.m. 

 I failed to elicit a strike along this reservoir’s spillway, across two offshore boulder-laden humps, around one main-lake point, and along a shallow-water shoreline and its adjacent shallow-water flat.

 The dam looks to be about 250 yards long. It has a 60- to 70-degree slope. The underwater terrain consists of gravel and rocks that are intertwined with some meager patches of coontail. Much of the coontail is coated with black and dead strings of filamentous algae. The water’s edge is endowed with a concrete water outlet tower, patches of American water willows, a few piles of brush, and some aggregations of duckweed. About 25 feet of the dam yielded five largemouth bass. They were caught on a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Finesse ShadZ affixed to a blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Two were caught on the initial drop in about three feet of water near the outside edge of the American water willows. Three were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in four to seven feet of water. 

 A shallow-water flat adjacent to the dam yielded three largemouth bass. The underwater terrain consists of gravel and rocks that are laced with occasional patches of coontail. It is adorned with a catfish feeder, which yielded one largemouth bass that engulfed the initial drop of the Finesse ShadZ rig in about six feet of water. The second largemouth bass was caught on the initial drop of the Finesse ShadZ rig along the outside edge of a patch of coontail in about five feet of water. The third one was caught on a swimming presentation between two patches of coontail in about five feet of water.

 In the lower quarter of the reservoir, five largemouth bass were caught along an offshore ledge. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and humongous boulders. Patches of coontail are nearby. One of the five largemouth bass was caught on a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD HogZ affixed to a red 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead with a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in about five feet of water. Four of the five were caught on a slightly shortened four-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Finesse WormZ affixed to a blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead with a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in about five feet of water.

 In the middle portion of the reservoir, one largemouth bass was caught around a flat tertiary point adjacent to an offshore hump. This area has a 20-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders that are graced with some meager patches of coontail. The water’s edge is lined with patches of American water willows. This largemouth bass was caught on the initial drop of the Finesse WormZ rig around some coontail in about five feet of water. 

 Along a shoreline in the upper half of the reservoir that is lined with seven docks, a few patches of American water willows, and a few small piles of brush, I caught seven largemouth bass. This shoreline has a 30- to 45-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel and rocks that are graced with a few meager patches of coontail. The largemouth bass were caught on the Finesse WormZ rig. Four were caught on the initial drop near the outside edges of the American water willows in about 3 ½ feet of water. Three were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in five to six feet of water.

 Fourteen largemouth bass were caught along about a 400-yard stretch of a shoreline, which is intermixed with two shallow-water flats, in the upper third portions of this reservoir. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and silt, which are endowed with occasional patches of coontail. The water’s edge is lined with patches of American water willows, masses of duckweed, seven docks, several concrete retaining walls, some overhanging trees, and some laydowns. These largemouth bass were caught on the Finesse WormZ rig. Five of the 14 largemouth bass were caught on the initial drop of the rig; two of these five were caught under overhanging trees and around patches of American water willows in about three feet of water; three of these five were caught around patches of coontail in four to five feet of water. Four of the 14 largemouth bass were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in three to five feet of water either along the outside edges of the patches of American water willows or around the submerged patches of coontail. Five of the 14 largemouth bass were caught on a swimming presentation around the submerged patches of coontail in three to five feet of water. 

 In total, I caught 35 largemouth bass and one hefty channel catfish in three hours and 20 minutes.

 Sept. 9

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Sept. 9 outing with Norman Brown of Lewisville, Texas.

Here is an edited version of his log.

When we arrived at the boat ramp at our most problematic U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ hill-land reservoir in north-central Texas, we discovered that we were the only ones there, which is an unusual occurrence at this heavily-pressured reservoir.

It was a very pleasant morning. The morning low temperature was 69 degrees, and the afternoon high was 94 degrees. We also noticed the low humidity, which was virtually unnoticeable for the first time in several months. The sky was partly cloudy. The barometric pressure measured 30.03 at 7:00 a.m. and 30.05 at noon. The wind angled out of the east-by-southeast at 5 to 15 mph, and occasionally, it would gust to 17 mph.

In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar noted that the fishing would be average, and the most lucrative periods would occur from 1:16 a.m. to 3:16 a.m., 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., and 7:59 p.m. to 9:59 p.m.

We fished from 7:00 a.m. to 12:20 p.m.

The water level was 0.22 of a foot above normal. Everywhere we fished, the surface temperature was 84 degrees. The water exhibited about two feet of clarity in most areas of the impoundment, but inside one minor feeder-creek arm on the northwest end of the reservoir, the visibility was less than a foot.

The black-bass bite was slow for the first 2 1/2 hours of this outing. After 9:30 a.m., the wind increased to 15 to 17 mph and the black bass became easier for us to locate and beguile.

The fishing was lackluster in the lower southeast region of the reservoir, and we struggled to catch ten largemouth bass and two spotted bass.

Five largemouth bass and two spotted bass were caught around the perimeter of a main-lake island. The shallow-water areas surrounding this island are littered with numerous laydowns, partially-flooded buck brush and stick-ups, and some submerged stumps. Its underwater terrain consists of red clay and pea gravel. Five were caught on a steady swimming retrieve with a Z-Man’s pearl Baby Goat rigged on a blue 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. The other two are caught on a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s blue-steel Slim SwimZ attached to a white 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig and a steady swimming presentation. All of them were caught in less than five feet of water around the laydowns and buckbrush that bedeck the shallow-water areas around the perimeter of the island.

In less than four feet of water, we caught one largemouth bass from a rock- and brush-laden main-lake point. This point is located at the mouth of a minor feeder-creek arm. Its submerged terrain is composed of pea-gravel and chunk rocks. This largemouth was tempted by a slow swim-glide-and-shake retrieve with the 2 1/2-inch blue-steel Slim SwimZ rig.

Across the mouth of this same feeder-creek arm, we probed a steep and prominent rocky main-lake point, an adjacent main-lake clay-and-pea-gravel flat, and a small and rock-laden main-lake point that is situated next to the flat. We failed to garner any strikes from the larger main-lake point and the flat. We caught one largemouth bass from the side of the small rock-laden point in three feet of water. This largemouth was relating to the outside edge of a patch of partially flooded bushes. It engulfed a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD TicklerZ fastened on a white 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig as it was being retrieved with a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation around the outside edges of the flooded bushes.

We caught three largemouth bass around a floating tractor-tire reef. This reef is positioned at the entrance to a marina near the mouth of another minor feeder-creek arm. It floats in 24 to 32 feet of water. These three largemouth bass were suspended next to the sides of the tires about five feet below the surface of the water. Two were caught on a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation parallel to the tires with a Z-Man’s pearl TRD TicklerZ affixed on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead; one was enticed by the green-pumpkin-TRD TicklerZ rig and a slow swim-glide-and-shake retrieve that was within a foot or two of the tires.

After we fished the floating-tire reef, we motored back into the midsection of the creek arm in search of threadfin shad and more black bass, but were unable to locate any of them in this section of the creek arm. We decided not to search the back end of this creek arm since we did not find any shad or black bass in its middle section. On our way out, we stopped and fished around a rock bluff at the east-side entrance to this creek arm, and we failed to elicit any strikes there.

We then moved to the northwest region of the reservoir, which was much more productive than the southeast end. This section of the reservoir relinquished 33 largemouth bass, two spotted bass, five white bass, two channel catfish, and two large bluegills.

These 35 black bass, two channel catfish, and two bluegills were caught from around 17 wind-blown main-lake points. The points possess 25- to 60-degree slopes with underwater terrains that are composed of red clay, pea-gravel, chunk-rock, and boulders. The only productive ones were those that are situated at the entrance to either main-lake coves or feeder-creek arms. The best ones were entertaining significant numbers of threadfin shad that were abiding in less than three feet of water and within 10 feet of the water’s edge.

The main-lake points that were located on rocky main-lake shorelines and around main-lake flats were fruitless.

We caught these black bass from the sides of the larger submerged boulders in five to eight feet of water. 

Thirty-three of them were allured by a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation with either the Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD TicklerZ rig or a Z-Man’s The Deal TRD TicklerZ fastened to a black 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. The other two were caught on the 2 1/2-inch blue- steel Slim SwimZ rig and a steady swimming retrieve.

We also investigate portions of two feeder-creek arms, but we did not cross paths with any black bass and found very few threadfin shad inside those creek arms. We did, however, catch five white bass in 15 feet of water from one side of an island that is located about 75 yards inside one of the creek arms. They were caught on a steady retrieve with either the 2 1/2-inch blue-steel Slim SwimZ rig or a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ rigged on a blue 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.

In closing, the quality of these 47 black bass was surprisingly good; only 12 of them were dinks. The largest one was a largemouth bass that weighed four pounds and three ounces.

Sept. 10

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Sept. 10 outing at one of northeastern Kansas’ state reservoirs.

Here is an edited version of his log.

The National Weather Service reported that it was 62 degrees at 6:52 a.m. and 89 degrees at 3:52 p.m. The wind angled out of the east, southeast, southwest, and south at 3 to 10 mph; there was a 21-mph gust between 12:52 p.m. and 1:52 p.m. The sky was fair, but it was covered with smoke from the fires that have been raging in California, Oregon, and Washington. The barometric pressure was 29.97 at 12:52 a.m., 29.98 at 5:52 a.m., 29.97 at 11:52 a.m., and 29.90 at 3:52 p.m.

The water level looked to be five inches above normal. The surface temperature ranged from 78 to 80 degrees. The secchi stick indicated that the water exhibited from about 2 ½ feet to about four feet of visibility. This reservoir’s patches of American pondweed are magnificent, and its shallow-water flats are adorned with sumptuous patches of bushy pondweed and coontail, which is where we caught significant numbers of largemouth bass on Aug. 2, Aug. 12, and Aug. 26.

In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 1:34 a.m. to 3:34 a.m., 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., and 7:47 a.m. to 9:47 a.m.

I made my first cast at 11:00 a.m., and the last one was executed at 2:25 p.m.

During this second week of September, the largemouth-bass fishing has been quite trying at the three small flatland reservoirs in northeastern Kansas that Patty Kehde and I fished. For example, she fished with me for two hours and 10 minutes, and I fished alone for six hours and 35 minutes. Across those eight hours and 55 minutes of wielding Midwest finesse tactics, it was a struggle to catch 62 largemouth bass. One of those struggles occurred on this Sept. 10 outing, when I labored mightily to catch 15 largemouth bass

Some area anglers are saying that the largemouth bass were in the midst of a hangover from the Labor Day weekend. Others think that the bass are in a pelagic state, making a transition from their summertime habits. I have never been able to interpret what the largemouth bass are doing and why they are doing it. I merely know when and where I found and caught them and when I cannot find them and catch them.

During the first three hours of this Sept. 10 outing, I caught eight largemouth bass.

I caught two largemouth bass around a main-lake point on a slightly shortened four-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Finesse WormZ affixed to a blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead with a swimming presentation in about four feet of water near the outside edge of a patch of American pondweed and adjacent to some patches of bushy pondweed and coontail. This point possesses a 20-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel and rocks.

Inside two feeder-creek arms, I failed to elicit a strike while plying many square yards of shallow-water flats that are endowed with untold numbers of bushy pondweed patches, coontail patches, and manmade piles of brush.

Along a 250-yard stretch of a shallow-water shoreline that is embellished with patches of American pondweeds, American water willows, bushy pondweed, coontail, and piles of brush, I failed to garner a strike.

I caught two largemouth bass while strolling a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Finesse ShadZ affixed to a blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead in about six feet of water on a main-lake shallow-water flat. While strolling, I employed a swim-glide-and-shake presentation around meager patches of bushy pondweed and coontail.

Four largemouth were caught along the dam, which is about 400 yards long. It has a 65- to 70-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders. Three of the four largemouth bass were caught on the Finesse ShadZ rig; two were caught in about six feet of water while I was strolling and using a swim-glide-and-shake presentation; one of the three was caught in about four feet of water on a swimming presentation. The fourth largemouth bass was caught in about four feet of water on the initial drop of a Z-Man’s Canada-craw TRD TickerZ affixed to a blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.

I failed to elicit a strike around a flat main-lake point, around a flat tertiary point inside a feeder-creek arm, along a shallow-water main-lake shoreline, and along a shallow-water shoreline inside a feeder-creek arm.

Two largemouth bass were caught on a massive shallow-water flat in the back of a primary feeder-creek arm. This flat is graced with an astronomical number of patches of bushy pondweed and coontail and scores of brush piles. A slightly shortened four-inch Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse WormZ affixed to a blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead with a swimming presentation caught the two bass around submerged patches of coontail in about six feet of water.

One largemouth bass was caught around a patch of American pondweed on a flat and shallow-water main-lake shoreline. It was caught on the initial drop of the Junebug Finesse WormZ rig in about four feet of water. The underwater terrain consists primarily of gravel.

Four largemouth bass were caught along short portions of three shallow-water shorelines inside two feeder-creek arms. They were caught along the outside edges of patches of American pondweeds in three to four feet of water. Three were caught on the TRD TicklerZ rig with a swimming presentation. One was caught on the Junebug Finesse WormZ with a swimming presentation. The Junebug Finesse WormZ rig accidentally inveigled a hefty channel catfish around a patch of American pondweed.

Around another flat and shallow-water main-lake point, I caught five largemouth bass in eight minutes. The underwater terrain consists of some rocks and a lot of gravel, and it is graced with some patches of bushy pondweed, coontail, and several piles of brush. Two of the five were caught on the TRD TicklerZ with a swimming presentation around piles of brush that are intertwined with bushy pondweed in five to six feet of water. Three of the five largemouth bass were caught on the Junebug Finesse WormZ rig with a swimming presentation around patches of bushy pondweed and coontail in five to six feet of water.

Sept. 10

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Sept. 10 outing with John Thomas of Denton.

Here is an edited version of his log.

We fished at one of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ hill-land reservoirs in north-central Texas from 6:40 a.m. to noon. It is the same impoundment that Rick Allen of Dallas and I fished on Sept. 3.

According to In-Fisherman’s solunar table, the fishing would be poor, with the most productive fishing periods occurring from 1:42 a.m. to 3:42 a.m., 7:55 a.m. to 9:55 a.m., and 2:07 p.m. to 4:07 p.m.

The barometric pressure measured 30.03 at 6:00 a.m. and 30.07 at noon. The sky was cloudless. The wind angled out of the south-by-southeast at 10 to 15 mph. Area thermometers recorded the morning low temperature at 68 degrees; the afternoon high temperature reached 93 degrees.

The water displayed between 12 inches and two feet of visibility. The surface temperature ranged from 82 to 84 degrees. The water level was 0.14 of a foot below normal pool.

There is no submerged aquatic vegetation in this impoundment. Its underwater terrain is composed of mostly red clay, pea gravel, chunk rock, and boulders. There are a few remaining shallow-water areas with partially-flooded terrestrial vegetation.

We targeted a slew of black-bass haunts in the reservoir’s southwest tributary arm. A good portion of them were located inside five major feeder-creek arms, but most of them were main-lake locales.

The black-bass fishing has been stellar at this reservoir during the past few weeks, and it was just as vigorous during this outing, too. By the time this outing came to an end, we had caught and released 25 spotted bass, 22 largemouth bass, two white bass, and one black crappie.

These 47 largemouth bass and spotted bass were beguiled by a Z-Man’s pearl Baby Goat that was matched with a blue 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. This combo was employed with a steady swimming retrieve about a foot or two below the surface of the water. They were all relating to either large patches of chunk rocks or clusters of submerged boulders. We extracted them from water that was less than five feet deep.

It is important to note that threadfin shad were inhabiting all of the places that we fished. Their presence, however, did not guarantee us success. Several of the rocky points, pea-gravel flats, shorelines, and rock ledges that are situated inside the five feeder-creek arms and in the main-lake areas had sufficient numbers of shad present, but we failed to inveigle any black bass. Furthermore, during the warm-weather months, we have found that if there are no threadfin shad present, there are usually no catchable black bass present. Hence, we do not waste our time fishing areas that are not entertaining significant concentrations of shad.

We had mixed results inside the five feeder-creek arms. The first creek arm relinquished three spotted bass; the second one yielded three spotted bass and three largemouth bass; and our searches inside the third, fourth, and fifth creek arms were to no avail.

Eight of these nine black bass were caught from steep and rock-laden secondary points in the midsections of the first two feeder-creek arms. One spotted bass was caught from a pea-gravel and chunk-rock shoreline in the upper end of the second feeder-creek arm.

We failed to locate any shad or black bass around these feeder-creeks’ numerous pea-gravel shorelines, pockets, coves, and a submerged roadbed.

Thirty-eight largemouth bass and spotted bass were caught from main-lake lairs: twenty-five were caught around the rocky perimeter of a main-lake island; 13 were caught from rock- and boulder-laden main-lake points at the mouths of the five feeder-creek arms or at the entrances to three small main-lake coves. We failed to elicit any strikes from two main-lake pea-gravel and chunk-rock shorelines, a main-lake flat, and inside three small main-lake coves.

While we were fishing inside the fourth feeder-creek arm, we crossed paths with another boat angler. He reported that he was having a trying outing and had caught only two small bass.

Sept 13

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Sept. 13 outing with Norman Brown of Lewisville, Texas.

Here is an edited version of his log.

We fished at a state reservoir in an exurban area of north-central Texas.

The morning's low temperature was 62 degrees, and we relished the respite from the oppressive summertime heat and humidity. In fact, I donned a hoodie for the first time since spring. The afternoon's high temperature was 89 degrees. The wind angled out of the south and southeast at 5 to 8 mph during the first couple of hours that we were afloat, then it increased to 15 to 17 mph for the remainder of our outing. The barometric pressure measured 30.03 at 7:00 a.m. and 30.01 at 1:00 p.m.

According to In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar, the black-bass fishing would be excellent, and the best fishing would take place from 4:42 a.m. to 6:42 a.m., 10:57 a.m. to 12:57 p.m., and 5:12 p.m. to 7:12 p.m.

We fished from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The water exhibited about six feet of visibility. The surface temperature ranged from 80 to 82 degrees. The water level was normal.

For the past few weeks, we have been concentrating our efforts around main-lake islands, points, and shorelines, and the most productive ones have been those located at the mouths of feeder-creek arms, large sloughs, and main-lake coves.

During this six-hour excursion, we continued to target those same main-lake black-bass lairs in the lower, middle, and upper sections of this reservoir, and we also searched for black bass and threadfin shad inside two large sloughs.

At the main-lake locales, the black-bass bite was decent while the wind was blowing at 5 to 8 mph between 7:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. During that 2 1/2-hour spell, we caught and released a combination of 28 largemouth bass and spotted bass. But as the wind increased to 15 to 17 mph, and the water became covered with white-capped waves, the black-bass and white-bass fishing improved significantly, and we caught another 76 largemouth bass, spotted bass, spotted-bass hybrids, and 37 white bass during the next 2 1/2 hours. We also caught three large bluegill and one green sunfish while we were pursuing black bass and white bass.

Five secondary points, two flats, a rock bluff, and a riprap-laden dam inside the two sloughs were unproductive.

In the southeast end of the reservoir, the perimeter of a main-lake island relinquished 18 largemouth and spotted bass. The shallow-water areas surrounding this island are cluttered with thick patches of terrestrial vegetation, some standing timber, boulders, chunk rock, pea-gravel, and red clay. These bass were caught in three to five feet of water near the outside edges and open pockets of the patches of terrestrial vegetation. Nine were caught on a swimming retrieve with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s blue-steel Slim SwimZ that was attached to an unpainted 3/32-ounce mushroom-style jig. Five were induced into striking a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ rigged on a blue 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead with a swimming presentation. Four engulfed a Z-Man’s pearl Finesse ShadZ that was threaded on a blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead and a slow swim-glide-and-shake retrieve.

We caught 10 largemouth bass and spotted bass from one of two main-lake bluffs that are situated on the east-side shoreline in the midsection of the reservoir. The base of this bluff is adorned with countless numbers of submerged boulders and large chunk rocks that are covered with three to six feet of water. These bass were relating to the openings between the boulders and along the outside edges of the large boulders. Four were caught on the pearl Finesse ShadZ rig and a swim-glide-and-shake presentation. Three were caught on a swimming retrieve with the 2 1/2-inch blue-steel Slim SwimZ rig, and three others preferred a Z-Man’s pearl TRD TicklerZ affixed on a blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead and a swim-glide-and-shake retrieve.

We failed to locate any black bass or threadfin shad at the second main-lake bluff.

We also investigated four main-lake jetties. Two are located on the east shoreline in the middle section of the reservoir, and the other two are situated on the north end of the east shoreline in the upper end of the impoundment. All four of them were bereft of threadfin shad and catchable black bass..

An offshore rock ledge near the midsection of the east shoreline yielded three largemouth bass and two spotted bass. This ledge is covered with two to five feet of water and quickly drops into 20-plus feet of water. These bass were caught in six to eight feet of water near the deep-water side of the ledge on a swimming retrieve with either the 2 1/2-inch blue-steel Slim SwimZ or the 2 1/2-inch pearl Slim SwimZ.

Of the 16 main-lake points that we searched, only three of them were entertaining threadfin shad and black bass. Two of these three points are rock- and bolder-laden with 30- to 40-degree inclines and form the mouth of a large slough on the east side of the impoundment. The third one is flat. It is located on the upper end of the reservoir’s west shoreline. It is covered with pea-gravel and chunk rock. There is also deep water close to all of them.

At the first main-lake point that is located on the north-side entrance to the large slough, we caught 38 largemouth bass, spotted bass, and spotted-bass hybrids. These largemouth bass were grouped together and were surface-foraging on threadfin shad in 19 to 27 feet of water, and were about 30 to 50 yards out from the end of the point. The spotted bass and spotted-bass hybrids were not chasing shad with the largemouth bass; they were caught within 15 to 25 feet of the water’s edge near submerged chunk rocks and boulders in three to eight feet of water. Twenty-five were caught on a steady swimming retrieve with the 2 1/2-inch blue-steel Slim SwimZ and 2 1/2-inch pearl Slim SwimZ rigs. Thirteen were allured by a slow swimming retrieve with a Z-Man’s coppertreuse TRD TicklerZ that was matched with a white 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig.

At the second main-lake point, which is situated on the south side of the slough’s entrance, we caught two largemouth bass and two spotted bass in four to six feet of water and within 10 feet of the water’s edge. This point is not as large as the first one and is covered with mostly chunk rock. Two of the bass were caught on a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation with the coppertreuse TRD TicklerZ rig, and the other two were caught on a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s electric-chicken Slim SwimZ rigged on a blue 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead with a swimming retrieve.

At the third main-lake point, which is located on the upper end of the reservoir’s west shoreline, we caught 29 largemouth bass and spotted bass. This point is broad and flat with deep water close by. It is graced with pea-gravel, chunk rock, and boulders. Shortly after we arrived at this point, we noticed a large group of largemouth bass that suddenly began herding large pods of threadfin shad from open water that was between 25 to 31 feet deep, and about 25 yards from the end of the point, into water that was less than a foot deep and near the water’s edge on both sides of this point. Then, they began aggressively foraging on the shad in the extremely shallow water. It was an amazing phenomenon to watch.

After the largemouth bass action slowed, we turned our attention to an adjacent 30-yard section of the point that is graced with patches of chunk rocks and boulders. In this area, we caught nine spotted bass in less than five feet of water around some submerged boulders and chunk rocks. They were not associated with the large school of largemouth bass that were foraging on the shad. These spotted bass were caught on a swimming retrieve with the 2 1/2-inch pearl Slim SwimZ rig and a slower swimming retrieve with the coppertreuse TRD TicklerZ rig.

Besides pursuing black bass, we also spent an hour pursuing several schools of white bass, and we caught 37 of them. We found them chasing shad on the surface of the water in 21 to 37 feet of water at the mouth of another large bay. This bay is situated on the west side of the reservoir and about half a mile south of the main-lake point were we caught the 29 largemouth and spotted bass. They were caught on the blue-steel and pearl Slim SwimZ rigs that were employed with a fast-paced swimming retrieve.

In closing, we caught 104 black bass, 37 white bass, three bluegills, and one green sunfish in six hours. The black bass consisted of 79 largemouth bass, 23 spotted bass, and two spotted-bass hybrids.

We employed seven Midwest finesse rigs, and five of them were productive.

The two most effective ones were the 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s blue-steel Slim SwimZ fastened on an unpainted 3/32-ounce mushroom-style jig and a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ rigged on a blue 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.

Both of these rigs were employed with a steady swimming retrieve.

These 104 black bass also mark a new Midwest finesse numbers record for us at this reservoir. The old record was set on March 10, 2020, when John Thomas of Denton and I caught 83 largemouth bass in six hours.

Sept. 15

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Sept. 15 outing at one of northeastern Kansas’ community reservoirs.

Here is an edited version of his log.

The National Weather Service reported that it was 65 degrees at 6:53 a.m. and 81 degrees at 3:53 p.m. The wind angled out of the northeast, east, and southeast at 3 to 8 mph. The sky was fair and occasionally cluttered with a few clouds. The barometric pressure was 29.98 at 12:53 a.m., 30.02 at 5:53 a.m., 30.03 at 11:53 a.m., and 29.97 at 3:53 p.m.

The water level was a tad above normal. The surface temperature ranged from 78 to 79 degrees. The secchi stick indicated that the water exhibited from about two to 3 ½ feet of visibility.

In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 6:27 a.m. to 8:27 a.m., 6:57 p.m. to 8:57 p.m., and 12:12 a.m. to 2:12 a.m.

From Sept. 7 to Sept. 13, the largemouth bass and smallmouth bass fishing was extremely trying at several of the community and state reservoirs in northeastern Kansas. For instance, I took our granddaughter Breanne Cayton and grandson Brady Cayton fishing for two hours on Sept. 11, and they struggled to catch 12 largemouth bass at a community reservoir. On Sept 13, Pok Chi Lau of Lawrence, Kansas, and I battled wind gusts that reached 30 mph for about three hours at another community reservoir, and it was a mighty skirmish for us to catch eight largemouth bass and eight smallmouth bass. The fishing was so disheartening that I could not muster the wherewithal and words to compose a Finesse News Network log about those endeavors.

On my Sept. 15 outing to another community reservoir, I made my first cast at 11:45 a.m. and my last one at 3:07 p.m., and I spent about 16 minutes of these 182 minutes talking to a long-time friend and Midwest finesse veteran who was fishing this reservoir, too.

The largemouth bass fishing was a tad more bountiful than it has been since the Labor Day weekend, and I caught 37 largemouth bass in 167 minutes.

Twelve largemouth bass were caught along the dam. It has a 60- to 70-degree slope. The underwater terrain consists of gravel and rocks that are intertwined with some meager patches of coontail. Much of the coontail is coated with black and dead strings of filamentous algae. The water’s edge is endowed with a concrete water-outlet tower, patches of American water willows, a few piles of brush, and mats of duckweed. Most of my casts and retrieves were parallel to the shoreline, ranging from six inches to four feet from the outside edge of the American water willows and mats of dickweed. All 12 of the largemouth bass were caught on a slightly shortened four-inch Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse WormZ affixed to a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Three were caught on the initial drop of the rig in about three to four feet of water. Nine were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in four to seven feet of water.

A shallow-water flat adjacent to the dam yielded three largemouth bass. The underwater terrain consists of gravel and rocks that are laced with occasional patches of coontail and a lot of filamentous algae. A catfish feeder floats on this flat, and it yielded one largemouth bass that engulfed the initial drop of the Finesse WormZ rig in about six feet of water. The other two largemouth bass were caught on a swimming presentation with the Finesse WormZ rig around patches of coontail in about five feet of water.

In the lower quarter of the reservoir, four largemouth bass were caught along an offshore ledge. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and humongous boulders. Patches of coontail are nearby. One of the four largemouth bass was caught on a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin-goby Finesse TRD affixed to a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead with a drag-and-shake presentation in about five feet of water near the edge of the ledge. Three of the four were caught on the Finesse WormZ with a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in about five feet of water near the edge of the ledge.

Along a 40-yard section of a main-lake shoreline in the middle portion of the reservoir, I caught one largemouth bass. This shoreline has a 30- to 45-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel and rocks that are graced with a few meager patches of coontail. This shoreline is lined with three docks, a few patches of American water willows, and a few small piles of brush The largemouth bass were caught on the Finesse WormZ rig with a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in seven feet of water.

Nine largemouth bass were caught along about a 250-yard stretch of a shoreline in the upper half of the reservoir. It possesses a 25- to 45-degree slope. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and silt, which is endowed with occasional patches of coontail and filamentous algae. The water’s edge is lined with patches of American water willows, wads of duckweed, a tiny bridge, some overhanging trees, and some laydowns. These largemouth bass were caught on the Finesse WormZ rig. Most of my casts and retrieves were parallel to the shoreline, ranging from six inches to four feet from the outside edge of the American water willows and around the patches of coontail. Three of the nine largemouth bass were caught on the initial drop of the rig in three to four feet of water. Six were caught on either a swimming presentation or a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in three to seven feet of water.

Along a very flat shoreline in the upper half of the reservoir, I caught three largemouth bass. This shoreline has a 20- to 25-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and silt, which is graced with some patches of coontail and filamentous algae. The water’s edge is embellished with patches of American water willows. Most of my casts and retrieves paralleled the shoreline ranging from one foot to six feet from the outside edge of the American water willows, and I employed a swimming retrieve over and around the patches of coontail and filamentous algae with the Finesse WormZ rig. The largemouth bass were caught around the patches of coontail.

I quickly fished along about 400-yard stretch of another shoreline in the upper half of this reservoir. This shoreline is cluttered with an array of docks, and I did not fish around most of them. The underwater terrain consists of gravel and rocks. Some of its underwater terrain is embellished with patches of coontail and filamentous algae. There are a few patches of American water willows, some laydowns, and a few overhanging trees garnishing the water’s edge. Many mats of duckweed were covering the surface along the water’s edge. The Finesse WormZ rig caught five largemouth bass around a few of the mats of duckweed and patches of coontail.

I failed to elicit a strike around one main-lake point and on a boulder-laden offshore hump.

Sept. 17

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Sept. 17 outing at one of northeastern Kansas’ state reservoirs.

Here is an edited version of his log.

The National Weather Service reported that it was 67 degrees at 7:52 a.m. and 91 degrees at 4:52 p.m. The wind was occasionally calm, and when it stirred, it angled out of the east, southeast, southwest, west, and north at 3 to 7 mph. The sky was fair. The barometric pressure was 29.94 at 12:52 a.m., 29.99 at 5:52 a.m., 30.11 at 11:52 a.m., and 30.04 at 3:52 p.m.

The water level looked to be several inches above normal. The surface temperature was 80 degrees. It looked as if some algal blooms were beginning to erupt around portions of this reservoir. In the back of one of its feeder-creek arms, the water exhibited a blueish-green tint, and at two other places, the water exhibited a tannish and grayish hue. The secchi stick indicated that the water exhibited about 5 ½ feet of visibility at one of the boat ramps that is situated in the vicinity of the dam. Many of this reservoir’s shorelines are graced with significant patches of American pondweed, which are often intertwined with patches of coontail. Portions of its shallow-water flats are adorned with patches of bushy pondweed, coontail, and sago pondweed.

In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 8:14 a.m. to 10:14 a.m., 8:41 p.m. to 10:41 p.m., and 2:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m.

I made my first cast at 1:31 p.m., and the last one was executed at 3:31 p.m., and I tangled with 27 largemouth bass, five crappie, and one bluegill.

I failed to elicit a strike around two main-lake points, along one shoreline inside a large feeder-creek arm, and along about a 60-yard stretch of a shoreline in the back of one of this reservoir’s primary feeder-creek arms.

Two largemouth bass were caught along a 125-yard stretch of a shoreline inside a large feeder-creek arm. Its underwater terrain consists of clay, gravel, and rocks. Its water’s edge is embellished with patches of American water willows and American pondweed, which are intertwined with patches of coontail. These largemouth bass were caught on a Z-Man’s bama-bug TRD BugZ affixed to a 1/16-ounce blue Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead with a swimming presentation in four to five feet of water, and I was casting and retrieving the rig parallel to the outside edges of the vegetation.

Across a shallow-water flat in the back of this feeder-creek arm, I caught seven largemouth bass. This flat is embellished with uncountable numbers of patches of coontail and scores of piles of brush. These largemouth bass were caught on a Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse WormZ affixed to a 1/16-ounce blue Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead with a swimming presentation around the patches of coontail in 3 1/2 to five feet of water.

Across another shallow-water flat in the back of one of this reservoir’s primary feeder-creek arms, I caught 15 largemouth bass. This flat is massive, and it is embellished with oodles of coontail patches that are interlaced with bushy pondweed, sago pondweed, and an array of piles of brush. Vast numbers of bluegill were dimpling the surface and meandering around the patches of submerged aquatic vegetation. The largemouth bass were caught on the Finesse WormZ rig. Three were caught on the initial drop. The other 12 were caught on either a swimming presentation or a swim-glide-and-shake presentation. They were caught in five to seven feet of water.

Along about a 75-yard stretch of a shoreline adjacent to this flat, I caught three largemouth bass. Its underwater terrain consists of clay, gravel, and rocks. The water’s edge is embellished with patches of American pondweed, which are intertwined with patches of American water willows, patches of coontail, and a few piles of brush. These largemouth bass were caught on the Finesse WormZ rig as I was casting and retrieving it parallel to the outside edges of the vegetation in three to five feet of water. One largemouth bass was caught on the initial drop of the rig. Two were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation.

Sept. 17

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Sept. 17 outing with John Thomas of Denton.

Here is an edited version of his log.

We fished at the same north-central Texas’ U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ hill-land reservoir that Rick Allen of Dallas and I fished on Sept. 7, when we caught 103 black bass in five hours and 27 minutes.

It was sunny on Sept. 17, and about 25 percent of the sky was decorated with thick white clouds. The morning's low temperature was 67 degrees. The afternoon's high temperature was 93 degrees. The barometric pressure measured 29.92 at 7:00 a.m. and 29.95 at noon. The wind was calm from the time we launched our boat at 6:45 a.m. until about 11:00 a.m., then it began to stir out of the east-by-northeast at 3 to 5 mph.

In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar indicated that the fishing would be poor, however, the most lucrative periods would occur from 2:08 a.m. to 4:08 a.m., 8:21 a.m. to 10:21 a.m., and 8:49 p.m. to 10:49 p.m.

We fished from 7:00 a.m. to 12:16 p.m.

The water level was at its normal pool. The water exhibited about three feet of clarity. The surface temperature ranged from 80 to 84 degrees.

We spent the entire five hours and sixteen minutes covering about seven miles of the reservoir’s east tributary arm. By the end of the outing, we had caught 40 largemouth bass and 11 spotted bass. We also accidentally caught one large channel catfish, a freshwater drum, and one large black crappie.

Three of the 51 black bass were caught on a swimming retrieve with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ rigged on a blue 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Seven were beguiled by a swim-glide-and-shake presentation with a Z-Man’s The Deal TRD TicklerZ affixed to a blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Forty-one were allured by a three-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ matched with a black 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead and a swimming retrieve.

We began the outing in the lower end of the east tributary arm. We concentrated on the south end of the east shoreline and worked our way northward. Once we reached this shoreline’s northern end, we moved to the north end of the west shoreline and fished our way southward to the dam.

We also investigated portions of a riprap-laden dam, and sections of two major feeder-creek arms.

Four sun-shaded main-lake shorelines on the east side of the tributary arm were the most productive areas. They relinquished 27 largemouth and spotted bass. These shorelines are flat. Their underwater terrains consist of red clay, pea gravel, chunk rocks, and submerged boulders. They were abiding in three to five feet of water, and the bulk of them were caught near patches of chunk rocks.

One spotted bass was caught in five feet of water from the east side of a main-lake island that is situated in the upper end of the east shoreline. This island’s submerged terrain is flat and is composed of red clay, pea gravel, chunk rock, and some boulders. It is also festooned with standing timber.

The other main-lake island, which is located in the middle section of the tributary, had not attracted any threadfin shad, so we did not fish it.

Thirteen main-lake points, which are situated on both the east and west sides of the tributary arm, yielded a mix of seven largemouth bass and spotted bass. The topography of these points varies from being flat to having gradients of 35- to 45- degrees. Their submerged terrains are similar and are composed of red clay, pea gravel, chunk rocks, and scores of submerged boulders. These bass were caught from the sides of the points and near patches of chunks rocks and boulders in three to five feet of water.

A large concrete water-outlet tower, that is situated near the center of the dam, surrendered five largemouth bass, one spotted bass, and one large black crappie. The water depth around this tower ranges from 34 to 57 feet. These fish were extracted from the shaded portions of the west- and north-side walls of the tower; they were suspended about five feet below the surface of water.

We caught one largemouth bass near the riprap that covers the east end of the dam. It was caught in less than 10 feet of water and within five feet of the water’s edge.

We did not fish the west end of the dam.

Inside the first of two major feeder-creek arms, we caught a combination of eight spotted bass and largemouth bass. Five of them were caught in eight to ten feet of water and in close proximity to the deep-water side of a rock ledge located at the mouth of the feeder-creek arm. This ledge is about 60 yards long. The top of the ledge is covered with one to three feet of water, and it quickly descends into 20-plus feet of water.

Three largemouth bass were caught from one side of a rock-laden secondary point that is adjacent to the rock ledge. Two were caught in less than five feet of water and within 10 feet of the point. One was caught at the side of the boat in 13 feet of water on the 3-inch pearl Slim SwimZ rig as we were lifting the lure out of the water to make another cast.

We also investigated several more secondary points and a couple of flats in the upper end of this creek arm, but we did not cross paths with any threadfin shad or black bass.

The second feeder-creek arm was virtually devoid of threadfin shad and black bass; it yielded only one largemouth bass and one channel catfish. They were caught in three to five feet of water from a shallow rocky flat about two-thirds of the way back inside the creek arm.

Sept. 20

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Sept. 20 outing at one of northeastern Kansas’ community reservoirs.

Here is an edited version of his log.

The National Weather Service reported that it was 69 degrees at 4:52 a.m. and 88 degrees at 4:52 p.m. The wind angled out of the southeast, south, and southwest at 5 to 16 mph; from 8:52 a.m. to 1:52 p.m., some gusts ranged from 20 to 30 mph. The sky vacillated from being fair to mostly cloudy to raining lightly to partly cloudy. The barometric pressure was 29.83 at 12:52 a.m., 29.76 at 5:52 a.m., 29.77 at 11:52 a.m., and 29.75 at 3:52 p.m.

The water level was slightly above normal. The surface temperature was 79 degrees. The secchi stick indicated that the water exhibited from about 12 inches to about 30 inches of visibility.

In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., 10:52 p.m. to 12:52 a.m., and 4:19 a.m. to 6:19 a.m.

When I made my first cast at 12:45 a.m., I was hoping to catch 20 largemouth bass in 2 ½ hours or less at this reservoir. But this reservoir has been a trying venue this September, and I failed to accomplish that goal. At 3:15 p.m., my fishing counter indicated that I caught 19 largemouth bass, and I accidentally caught two wipers and 15 green sunfish.

Inside a large feeder-creek arm, I fished about a 175-yard stretch of its south shoreline and a 350-yard stretch of its north shoreline. These shorelines have a 25- to 70-degree slope. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, silt, rocks, boulders, and a few stumps; some of the boulders are humongous. Parts of the underwater terrain are graced with a few meager patches of Eurasian milfoil. The south shoreline is lined with some patches of American water willows, three docks, one concrete retaining wall, several overhanging trees, a few piles of brush, and some laydowns. The north shoreline is completely adorned with patches of American water willows, a few laydowns, several piles of brush, and one dock.

Six largemouth bass were caught along the north shoreline of this large feeder-creek arm on a slightly shortened four-inch Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse WormZ affixed to a blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead in about 2 ½ to four feet of water. Most of my casts and retrieves were made parallel to the patches of American water willows. Two were caught on the initial drop of the rig, and four were caught on a swimming presentation.

Eight largemouth bass were caught along this feeder creek’s south shoreline. And they were caught on a slightly shortened three-inch Z-Man’s pearl MinnowZ affixed to a chartreuse 1/10-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig in two to 3 ½ feet of water. One was caught around a patch of Eurasian milfoil. One was caught under an overhanging tree and around some piles of brush. The others were caught near patches of American water willows. One was caught on the initial drop of the rig. The others were caught with a swimming presentation.

I quickly fished the entire north shoreline and the entire south shoreline inside a small feeder-creek arm. These shorelines have a 20- to 45-degree slope. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and silt. The water’s edges are endowed with significant patches of American water willows, one dock, one boathouse, a few minor laydowns, and several overhanging trees. On the south shoreline, one largemouth bass was caught along the south shoreline on the MinnowZ rig with a swimming retrieve adjacent to a patch of American water willows in about 3 ½ feet of water. I failed to catch a largemouth bass along the north shoreline.

Along about a 400-yard stretch of the west shoreline inside a primary feeder-creek, I caught four largemouth bass. It has a 20- to 45-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, boulders, and silt. The water’s edge is embellished with patches of American water willows, many stumps, an array of laydowns, several piles of brush, and some cattails. One largemouth bass was caught on the initial drop of the Finesse WormZ rig around the outside edge of a patch of American water willows in about three feet of water. Three were caught on the MinnowZ rig with a swimming presentation in two to three feet of water.

Sept. 20

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Sept. 20 outing with Bill Kenney of Denton.

Here is an edited version of his log.

We had a hankering to chase smallmouth bass. So, we spent seven hours pursuing smallmouth bass at a Civilian Conservation Corps’ hill-land reservoir in south-central Oklahoma.

Typically, my companions and I ply this reservoir from mid-March to the end of May, and then we return at the end of summer and fish it from mid-September into the first week of December. This was our first trip back to this reservoir since May 13.

Bright sunshine was abundant on Sept.20, and it was hotter than a potter’s kiln. The afternoon high temperature was 103 degrees, and the morning low temperature was 71 degrees. The barometric pressure measured 29.80 at 7:30 a.m. and 29.75 at 2:30 p.m. The wind blew out of the south at 12 to 15 mph.

According to In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar, the most promising fishing periods would occur from 4:15 a.m. to 6:15 a.m., 10:46 a.m. to 12:46 p.m., and 10:48 p.m. to 12:48 a.m.

We fished from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and it quickly became a frustrating and bewildering endeavor.

The water was clear with six feet of visibility. The water level appeared to be two feet high. The surface temperature ranged from 82 to 84 degrees.

We focused our attentions on three main-lake humps, 23 main-lake points, five main-lake flats, portions of a covered boat dock inside a cove in a large feeder-creek arm, and two bluff shorelines inside a larger feeder-creek arm.

We spent four of these seven hours searching for smallmouth bass in the west tributary arm around 19 rocky main-lake points, three main-lake humps, and five boulder-laden main-lake flats.

One of the three main-lake humps lies in the mid-section of the west tributary arm. Its underwater terrain is comprised of gravel, sand, rocks, boulders, and a few submerged stumps. It is surrounded by water as deep as 23 feet. The top of the hump was covered with about two feet of water.

During the spring and fall months, this hump is one of our most fruitful locales, but it relinquished only one spotted bass this time. This spotted bass was caught from the east side of the hump in six feet of water. It was attracted to a swim-glide-and-shake retrieve with a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD TicklerZ attached to a chartreuse 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig.

We failed to locate any smallmouth bass, spotted bass, or largemouth bass at the other two main-lake humps.

Five of the 19 main-lake points are located in the upper end of the west tributary arm. The other 14 are situated in the middle section and lower end of the tributary arm. They possess 25- to 60-degree slopes. Their underwater terrains are similar and consist of red clay, chunk rocks, and boulders.

Only two of these 19 points were productive. The first one yielded two largemouth bass. It is adorned with several stair-step ledges that drop into water as deep as 41 feet along its tip and one of its sides. One largemouth was caught from the end of the point; it was suspended about ten feet below the surface in 38 feet of water. The second largemouth was caught from the side of the point; it was suspended about ten feet below the surface in 41 feet of water. Both of these bass were enticed by a swim-glide-and-shake retrieve with a Z-Man’s molting-craw TRD HogZ rigged on a 1/15-ounce chartreuse Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig. We also employed a 1/8-ounce Z-Man’s green-pumpkin skirted Micro Finesse jig with a 2 3/4-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin BatwingZ attached as a trailer. We slowly dragged this Micro Finesse jig and BatwingZ trailer down the stair-step ledges into 41 feet of water, but we failed to elicit any strikes with it.

Five smallmouth bass were caught in three to eight feet of water from the end and one side of the second main-lake point. Two were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake retrieve with a shortened four-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Finesse WormZ threaded on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Two others were attracted to the green-pumpkin TRD TicklerZ rig and a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation, and one was tempted into engulfing a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s coppertreuse ZinkerZ matched with a chartreuse 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig and a slow swim-glide-and-shake retrieve.

Four of the five rocky main-lake flats are located in the upper and middle sections of the west tributary arm. Their submerged terrains consist of boulders, chunk rocks, gravel, and red clay. Two of them relinquished one smallmouth bass each. They were caught in five to seven feet of water. One was caught on a swim-glide-and-shake retrieve with a 3 1/2-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Trick ShotZ affixed on a chartreuse 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig. The other smallmouth was coaxed into striking the green-pumpkin TRD TicklerZ rig with a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation.

At the entrance to a feeder-creek arm in the east tributary arm, we probed the sides and top of a rocky main-lake point and an adjacent main-lake flat. The main-lake point is flat and covered with large boulders. The underwater terrain of the adjacent flat is comprised of red clay. pea gravel, and some chunk rocks. The water’s edge is lined with large patches of American water willows. We caught one smallmouth bass and one largemouth bass from this area.

The largemouth bass was extracted from seven feet of water from a patch of chunk rock on the flat. The smallmouth bass was caught from the side of a large submerged boulder at the end of the main-lake point in 12 feet of water. Both of them were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation with a 2 3/4-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin BatwingZ rigged on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. We failed to garner any strikes around the patches of American water willows.

We failed to locate any smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, and spotted bass from the other three main-lake points in the east tributary arm and the covered boat dock in the southeast feeder-creek arm.

We caught three largemouth bass from two rock bluffs situated in the southeast feeder-creek arm. One of the bluffs is located on the north side of the creek arm and the other one is situated on the south side.

The south-side bluff yielded one largemouth bass. This bluff is graced with countless numbers of submerged boulders, a couple of laydowns, and a large water-outlet tower. The water depth next to this bluff ranges from 15 to 52 feet. This largemouth bass was caught near some large boulders in seven feet of water on the initial fall of a four-inch green-pumpkin Finesse WormZ that was wacky-rigged on a chartreuse 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.

The north-side bluff relinquished two largemouth bass. This bluff is located at the mouth of the creek arm. It is adorned with numerous submerged boulders, large rocks, some submerged stumps, and tree trunks. Patches of cattails embellish the water’s edge. It is buffeted with water that varies in depth from 28 to 44 feet.

These two largemouth bass were suspended about five to eight feet below the surface of the water and within 20 feet of the water’s edge.

In short, we had a tough time locating and catching eight smallmouth bass, six largemouth bass, and one spotted bass in seven hours. We also caught seven green sunfish, two large bluegills, and one freshwater drum while we were searching for smallmouth bass.

We employed eleven Z-Man Midwest finesse rigs. Six of them were productive. The Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD TicklerZ, molting-craw TRD HogZ, and 2 3/4-inch green-pumpkin BatwingZ combos were the most effective rigs. A slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation was the most fruitful retrieve.

Sept. 22

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Sept. 22 outing at one of northeastern Kansas’ state reservoirs.

Here is an edited version of his log.

A significant cold front crisscrossed northeastern Kansas on Sept. 21.

The National Weather Service reported that it was 45 degrees at 5:52 a.m. and 74 degrees at 2:52 p.m. The wind angled out of the north and northwest at 3 to 14 mph; there was a 21-mph gust between 1:52 p.m. and 2:52 p.m. The sky was fair, and the sun was intensely bright. The barometric pressure was 30.33 at 12:52 a.m., 30.33 at 5:52 a.m., 30.35 at 11:52 a.m., and 30.27 at 2:52 p.m.

The water level looked to be several inches above normal. The surface temperature was 75 degrees. The secchi stick indicated that the water exhibited about six feet of visibility at the boat ramp, which is located in the lower portions of the reservoir, and in the upper reaches of two of its primary feeder-creek arms, the visibility was about four feet. This reservoir’s patches of American water willows, which adorn most of its water’s edges, are the finest that we have ever seen in northeastern Kansas. Many of its shallow-water flats are adorned with patches of bushy pondweed and coontail.

In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 11:37 a.m. to 1:37 p.m., 11:58 p.m. to 1:58 a.m., and 5:48 a.m. to 7:48 a.m.

I fished for two hours, making my first cast at 12:10 p.m. and my last one at 2:10 p.m. And in some ways, it was a tussle to catch 24 largemouth bass and accidentally catch six hefty bluegill.

Twenty-one of the 24 were caught along about a 300-yard stretch of a shallow-water shoreline and its adjacent shallow-water flats inside one of the primary feeder-creek arms. The underwater terrain of this locale consists of gravel, rocks, boulders, and numerous manmade piles of brush. The water’s edge is embellished with many patches of American water willows, an array of laydowns, and many overhanging trees. A goodly portion of this shoreline was shaded from the sun. Portions of the shallow-water flats are endowed with patches of bushy pondweed and coontail.

Eighteen of the 21 largemouth bass were caught in the shaded locales.

Four of the 21 largemouth bass were caught on a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Finesse ShadZ affixed to a blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead along the outside edges of the patches of American water willows with a swimming presentation in 2 ½ to three feet of water.

Six of the 21 largemouth bass were caught on a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Finesse WormZ affixed to a red 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. One was caught on the initial drop of this rig around a patch of coontail on one of the shallow-water flats in about six feet of water. Two were caught on the initial drop under an overhanging tree in about three feet of water. One was caught around a laydown with a swimming presentation in about three feet of water. Two were caught along the outside edges of the American water willows with a swimming presentation in three to four feet of water.

Eleven of the 21 largemouth bass were caught on a 2 ½-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin-goby ZinkerZ affixed to a blue 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Three were caught around laydowns in about 3 ½ feet of water. Eight were caught along the outside edges of the patches of American water willows in three to four feet of water. Four were caught on the initial drop of the rig. The others were caught on a swim-and-glide presentation.

I failed to catch a fish along portions of three sun-laden shorelines inside another primary feeder-creek arm.

Inside this feeder-creek arm, I caught one largemouth bass on the initial drop of the Finesse WormZ rig in about seven feet of water around a patch of coontail and bushy pondweed on a shallow-water flat that was sun-laden.

Along about a 50-yard stretch of shady shoreline in the back of this feeder-creek arm, I caught two largemouth bass along the outside edge of some patches of American water willows on the initial drop of the ZinkerZ in about four feet of water.

Twenty-one of the 24 largemouth bass were caught in 74 minutes. It took me 43 minutes to catch the other three.

Sept. 28

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Sept. 28 outing with Rick Allen of Dallas.

Here is an edited version of his log.

For the past week, my boat and trailer have been in the shop for routine engine maintenance and some minor trailer repairs. Therefore, I joined Rick Allen for a morning excursion at a state reservoir that is located in a rural area of north-central Texas. This was my second outing at this reservoir and Rick’s first one.

We fished from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The first time I fished at this reservoir was on June 9 with Bill Kenney of Denton. During that exasperating afternoon jaunt, it was overcast and the water was muddy with less than a foot of visibility. It was a grind to catch 10 largemouth bass in five hours. And by the time I got home, I didn’t have any enthusiasm to write a log about it.

The morning low temperature on Sept. 28 was 67 degrees; the afternoon high temperature reached 91 degrees. There were intervals of clouds and sunshine throughout the day. The wind blew out of the south at 10 to 15 mph. The barometric pressure measured 29.87 at 7:00 a.m. and 29.85 at noon.

According to In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar, the fishing would be great with the most productive periods occurring from 4:40 a.m. to 6:40 a.m., 10:52 a.m. to 12:52 p.m., and 5:05 p.m. to 7:05 p.m.

The water level was about two feet low. The water exhibited about 18 inches of clarity in the lower and middle sections of the impoundment. In portions of the upper end, the water was muddy, and its clarity diminished to about eight inches. The water temperature ranged from 72 to 73 degrees.

The underwater terrain in this reservoir consists of red clay, pea gravel, and chuck rocks. There are a few small patches of hydrilla and American pondweed in the reservoir’s lower end. The upper and middle sections of the reservoir are a power- angler’s paradise with scores and scores of laydowns, brush piles, stumps, and thick stands of timber adorning most of the shallow-water areas and edges of a couple of creek channels. Also, there are thick patches of American water willows lining the water’s edge, but most of those patches are now out of water.

We started at the boat ramp, which is located on the west side of the impoundment, and fished our way southward to the dam. After we probed the dam, we worked our way northward along the east shoreline, where we eventually meandered inside two feeder-creek arms on the north end of the reservoir.

The black-bass bite wasn’t as great as forecasted in the solunar calendar, but it was better than it was on June 2. We still had to work hard to catch 17 largemouth bass. We also inadvertently caught six green sunfish, one bluegill, one large black crappie, and one channel catfish.

Fourteen of these 17 largemouth bass were caught in the lower end of the reservoir.

Seven were caught in three to eight feet of water and about 10 to 15 feet from the water’s edge along a 200-yard section of a red-clay and pea-gravel shoreline in the southwest end of the reservoir. Some parts of this shoreline have a gradient of 20- to 30- degrees, and other sections are steeper with 45- to 60-degree slopes. Most of it is littered with submerged stumps, laydowns, and an occasional flooded cedar tree.

Two were caught on a Z-Man’s hot-snakes Baby Goat rigged on a chartreuse 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead and a steady-swimming retrieve. Two more were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake retrieve with a shortened Z-Man’s coppertreuse Hula StickZ attached to a 1/16-ounce chartreuse Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Two others were beguiled by a swim-glide-and-shake retrieve with a Z-Man’s bama-bug TRD BugZ fastened on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. And one was tempted by a hop-and-bounce presentation with a 1/8-ounce green-pumpkin-orange skirted finesse jig dressed with a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Baby Goat as a trailer.

Six were caught near the riprap that covers the dam on the south end of the reservoir. They were extracted from three to 11 feet of water and within five to 15 feet of the water’s edge. We also hooked a humongous catfish that nearly pulled off all of the line on our spinning reel. We used the trolling motor to follow the fish and regain most of the line as it swam into deeper water. It finally dove to the bottom where it laid still in 26 feet of water. We spent another 15 minutes trying to dislodge the large fish from the bottom, which we failed to do. So, we decided to break our line and continue fishing instead of wasting more time on this fish. All of these fish were allured by a swim-glide-and-shake presentation with the bama-bug TRD BugZ.

The lower end of the east shoreline yielded one largemouth bass. It was caught on the bama-bug TRD BugZ rig and a swim-glide-and-shake retrieve in three feet of water and within 15 feet of the water’s edge from a pea-gravel flat. The remainder of this shoreline was fruitless.

Inside the northeast feeder-creek arm, the water was muddy with eight inches of visibility. This area surrendered only one large black crappie that was extracted from an offshore patch of flooded stickups in five feet of water. It was also caught on the bama-bug TRD BugZ and a swim-glide-and-shake retrieve.

We finished the outing inside the northwest feeder-creek arm. This creek arm contains a large amount of flooded timber, stumps, laydowns, and brush piles. We caught three largemouth bass in this creek arm. One was caught next to a submerged stump in six feet of water. Two were caught from the sides of two large laydowns in two to five feet of water. All three of these bass were caught on the initial fall of a 1/8-ounce skirted black-blue finesse jig with a black-blue twin-tail grub attached as a trailer.

Sept 28

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Sept. 28 outing at one of northeastern Kansas’ community reservoirs.

Here is an edited version of his log.

The National Weather Service reported that it was 58 degrees at 4:52 a.m. and 91 degrees at 3:52 p.m. The wind angled out of the southeast, east, southwest, and south at 3 to 14 mph. The sky was fair. The barometric pressure was 29.87 at 12:52 a.m., 29.87 at 5:52 a.m., 29.89 at 11:52 a.m., and 29.84 at 3:52 p.m.

The water level was normal. The surface temperature ranged from 75 to 76 degrees. The secchi stick indicated that the water exhibited from about 14 inches to 30 inches of visibility.

In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 4:31 a.m. to 6:31 a.m., 4:56 p.m. to 6:56 p.m., and 10:44 a.m. to 12:44 p.m.

Before I made my first cast at 11:45 a.m., I talked to a largemouth bass angler who was about to end his outing, and he said that he had struggled since 8:30 a.m. to catch four largemouth bass. My outing wasn’t as trying as his, but it was far from being a stellar one. When I made my last cast at 2:45 p.m., the fish counter indicated that I had tangled with 23 largemouth bass, six green sunfish, and one wiper.

Fifteen of the 23 largemouth bass were caught along about a 125-yard stretch of a shoreline more than halfway inside a large feeder-creek arm. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are embellished with a few meager patches of Eurasian milfoil. Much of the water’s edge was shaded; it is embellished with patches of American water willows, overhanging trees, laydowns, and piles of brush. It has a 20- to 35-degree slope. Seven of the largemouth bass were caught on a slightly shortened three-inch Z-Man’s pearl MinnowZ affixed to a 1/10-ounce chartreuse Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig with a swimming presentation in three to five feet of water around either patches of American water willows or under overhanging trees. Eight were caught on a slightly shortened four-inch Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse WormZ affixed to a blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead with a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation in three to five feet of water around either the patches of American water willows or under the overhanging trees.

Along about a 200-yard stretch of a shoreline about three-quarters of the way inside another large feeder-creek arm, I caught five largemouth bass. This shoreline’s underwater terrain consists of gravel, rock, boulders, and silt. It possesses a 15- to 45-degree slope. Much of the water’s edge was shaded; it is adorned with stumps, laydowns, piles of brush, overhanging trees, and patches of American water willows. These largemouth bass were caught on a slow swimming presentation with the MinnowZ rig around the stumps and piles of brush in two to four feet of water.

One largemouth bass was caught along about a 75-yard stretch of a shoreline about 90 percent of the way inside a primary feeder-creek arm. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, boulders, and silt, which is endowed with a few patches of Eurasian milfoil. It has a 45-degree slope. The water’s edge is graced with patches of American water willows, a few laydowns, some overhanging trees, and several piles of brush. This largemouth bass was caught on a swimming presentation in about four feet of water adjacent to the outside edge of a patch of American water willows.

Along another shoreline about halfway inside this primary feeder-creek arm, I caught three largemouth bass. I fished about 125 yards of this shoreline. It has a 20- to 40-degree slope. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, and portions of it are interlaced with an occasional stump and some significant patches of Eurasian milfoil. The water’s edge has a few patches of American water willows, several docks, laydowns, piles of brush, and overhanging trees. It was entirely shaded. One largemouth bass was caught on the initial drop of the Finesse WormZ rig under an overhanging tree and adjacent to a laydown in about 3 ½ feet of water. The other two were caught on the MinnowZ rig with a swimming presentation in three to four feet of water under overhanging trees.

Sept. 30

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Sept. 30 outing at one of northeastern Kansas’ state reservoirs.

Here is an edited version of his log.

The National Weather Service reported that it was 63 degrees at 7:52 a.m. and 81 degrees at 12:52 p.m. The wind angled out of the southeast, east, southwest, and south at 3 to 8 mph. The sky varied from being fair to mostly cloudy to partly cloudy to overcast to a thunderstorm, and .87 inches of rain fell. The barometric pressure was 29.87 at 12:52 a.m., 29.87 at 5:52 a.m., 29.89 at 11:52 a.m., and 29.84 at 3:52 p.m.

The water level looked to be nearly normal. The surface temperature was 72 degrees. The secchi stick indicated that the water exhibited from four to five feet of visibility.

In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 6:11 a.m. to 8:11 a.m., 6:37 p.m. to 8:37 p.m., and 11:58 a.m. to 1:58 p.m.

On Sept. 29, Pat Kehde and I ventured to another state reservoir in northeastern Kansas. Nine, 10, 11, and 12 years ago, many of this reservoir’s shallow-water flats and shorelines were adorned with bountiful patches of coontail, and the largemouth bass fishing was almost as bountiful as its coontail. For example, we tangled with 86 largemouth bass on Sept. 11, 2009, 87 largemouth bass on Sept. 3, 2010, 131 largemouth bass on May 3, 2011, 78 largemouth bass on May 10, 2012, and we had several more outings when we tangled with 75 to more than 100 largemouth bass in four hours of fishing. But when its patches of coontail disappeared, the largemouth bass fishing became more and more trying. Nowadays, it is extremely frustrating. Patty and I fished for 90 minutes on Sept. 29, and we struggled to catch three largemouth bass. What’s more, the aquatic vegetation is in a sorry state; not only has the coontail completely disappeared, but many of its patches of American water willows looked to be in a state of decline. It was such a disheartening and sorry endeavor that we did not compose a log about it.

On Sept. 30, I hoped to heal my disheartened spirits at another state reservoir. This state reservoir is situated about 38 miles from the state reservoir that we fished on Sept. 29.

Many of this reservoir’s shallow-water flats and shorelines are embellished with American pondweed, sago pondweed, coontail, bushy pondweed, manmade brush piles, and American water willows. And the largemouth bass fishing is considerably more bountiful than the reservoir that Patty and I fished on Sept. 29.

I made my first cast at 11:06 a.m. and my last one at 12:36 p.m. I spent these 90 minutes dissecting a massive shallow-water flat in the back end of a primary feeder-creek arm.

This flat looks to be about the size of six football fields, and I fished about 20 percent of it with a slightly shortened four-inch Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse WormZ affixed to a blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. This rig with a swim-glide-and-shake caught 20 largemouth bass around patches of coontail and manmade piles of brush in four to seven feet of water. I caught five of them during the first 10 minutes.

In short, this 90-minute outing was much more gratifying than the 90 minutes that Patty and I endured on Sept. 29. These two outings once again reinforced our opinions that the managers of our community and state reservoirs need to work incessantly on maintaining and cultivating all kinds of shallow-water aquatic vegetation.

Sept. 30

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Sept. 30 outing with Norman Brown of Lewisville, Texas.

Here is an edited version of his log.

From 7:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., we fished at a popular, but challenging, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ hill-land reservoir in north-central Texas. We caught 47 black bass in five hours and 20 minutes at this same reservoir on Sept. 9.

In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar indicated that the fishing would be poor on Sept. 30, and the most productive periods would occur from 2:06 a.m. to 4:06 a.m., 6:19 a.m. to 8:19 a.m., and 6:44 p.m. to 8:44 p.m.

The sky conditions varied from overcast to mostly cloudy to partly cloudy. The morning low temperature was 71 degrees, and the afternoon high reached 88 degrees. The wind angled out of the southeast at 5 to 10 mph. The barometric pressure measured 29.91 at 7:00 a.m. and 29.95 at noon.

The water level was 0.61 of a foot below normal. The surface temperature ranged from 78 to 80 degrees. The water exhibited about 1 1/2 feet of clarity.

The black-bass fishing was much more difficult than it was on Sept. 9, and we struggled to catch 10 largemouth bass, four spotted bass, and two smallmouth bass. We also caught eight white bass and one channel catfish.

Two largemouth bass and one white bass were caught around a main-lake island. Its underwater terrain consists of red clay and pea gravel. The shallow-water areas surrounding this island are cluttered with numerous laydowns, partially-flooded buckbrush, stick-ups, and some submerged stumps. One largemouth bass and the white bass were caught on a steady swimming retrieve with a three-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ rigged on a black 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. The other largemouth was caught on a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s blue-steel Slim SwimZ attached to an unpainted 3/32-ounce mushroom-style jig and a steady swimming presentation. They were caught in less than three feet of water near two of the large laydowns.

As we were leaving the main-lake island, we happened upon a small school of white bass that was abiding in a creek channel south of the island. The creek channel is covered with 17 to 21 feet of water, and they were surface-foraging on two-inch threadfin shad. They stayed on the surface for only a couple of minutes, and we caught six of them before they vanished. They are caught on a steady retrieve with either the three-inch pearl Slim SwimZ or the 2 1/2-inch blue-steel Slim SwimZ rigs.

About 100 yards south of the main-lake island, we caught one largemouth bass from a measly patch of flooded stickups on a main-lake point. This point is located at the mouth of a feeder-creek arm. Its submerged terrain is composed of pea-gravel and chunk rocks. This largemouth was enticed by a swimming retrieve with the three-inch pearl Slim SwimZ rig in less than four feet of water. Inside this feeder-creek arm, we failed to locate any shad or black bass in a small cove in the northeast region of the creek arm and around two rocky secondary points. A clay and pea-gravel main-lake entry point on the west side of this feeder-creek arm was fruitless.

Inside two larger feeder-creek arms in the southeast region of the reservoir, we searched for large concentrations of threadfin shad and black bass near rocky secondary points, pockets, and pea-gravel flats. We found some large concentrations of threadfin shad that were grouped up on the bottom in the middle of a creek channel that is covered with 30-plus feet of water, but we did not locate any black bass around them.

In the upper end of the reservoir, we first concentrated on the rock- and boulder-laden main-lake points and shorelines where we caught most of the 47 black bass on Sept. 9. We caught one largemouth bass and one spotted bass from the end of two main-lake points in three to five feet of water. These points have 35- to 45-degree gradients and are embellished with numerous submerged boulders. They were caught on a slow swimming retrieve with a Z-Man’s coppertreuse TRD TicklerZ matched with a white 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig.

After we failed to find any aggregations of shad and black bass around several main-lake lairs, we turned our attention to three major feeder-creek arms and one minor creek arm on the north end of the reservoir.

We found some concentrations of threadfin shad in all four of these creek arms, and some of the shad were dimpling the water’s surface in less than 10 feet of water and within 25 feet of the water’s edge; but there were very few black bass around them.

We caught two largemouth bass inside the minor feeder-creek arm. They were caught in less than five feet of water from two pea-gravel and chunk-rock secondary points in the lower end of the creek arm. They were caught on the 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s blue-steel Slim SwimZ rig and a swimming retrieve. We failed to elicit any strikes from two flat shorelines, a small cove, and three rocky secondary points further back in the creek arm.

The second feeder-creek arm was the largest one that we investigated. About halfway back inside this feeder creek, it divides into two more creek arms. The west creek arm yielded one largemouth bass and one spotted bass. They were caught in three to five feet of water from the sides of two rock-and boulder-laden secondary points that possess 45- to 60-degree slopes. Both of them were induced into striking a Z- Man’s coppertreuse TRD TicklerZ that was fastened on a white 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig. This rig was employed with a slow and steady swimming retrieve. We also probed a large riprap-covered secondary point that divides the east and west creek arms, five steep and rocky secondary points, three pea-gravel and chunk-rock flats, and two small coves with no effect.

In the east-side creek arm, we dissected five secondary points that are adorned with chunk rocks and boulders, two large coves, a 75-yard boulder-laden shoreline, and a steep pea-gravel shoreline with a creek channel that courses next to it. All of these locales were inhabited by small schools of threadfin shad, but our efforts were to no avail.

In the back end of the third major feeder-creek arm, we inspected several steep and rocky secondary points, three clay-and-pea-gravel flats, and a small cove. We caught one largemouth bass in eight feet of water at the mouth of the small cove. It was caught on a steady swimming retrieve with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ rigged on a black 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.

At the mouth of this feeder-creek arm, we examined a flat and rocky main-lake point and its adjacent pea-gravel and chunk-rock flat just inside the mouth of this creek arm. We found several large schools of threadfin shad inhabiting the pea-gravel flat, but none were found occupying the main-lake point.

Across the pea-gravel flat, we caught two largemouth bass, two smallmouth bass, two spotted bass, and one channel catfish. These fish were allured by either the coppertreuse TRD TicklerZ rig and a slow swimming retrieve or a Z-Man’s coppertreuse Finesse TRD affixed on a pearl 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig and a swim-glide-and-shake presentation.

In conclusion, the main-lake black-bass haunts that were so fruitful during the past couple of months were no longer entertaining the large concentrations of threadfin shad and black bass like before. Therefore, we toiled to eke out three largemouth bass and one spotted bass from them. The seven feeder-creek arms were not teeming with threadfin shad and black bass either, but we did manage to scrounge up a combination of 13 largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass in the lower sections of five of the seven creek arms.