Midwest Finesse Fishing: September 2022

Bear Brundrett of Valley View, Texas, with one of the 26 largemouth bass that he and Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, caught on Sept. 1.

Sept. 1

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Sept. 1 outing with Bear Brundrett of Valley View, Texas.

Here is an edited version of his log.

Bear joined me for a morning of black-bass fishing at one of several popular U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ hill-land reservoirs in north-central Texas.

We fished from 7:00 a.m. to noon.

According to In-Fisherman's solunar calendar, the prime fishing periods would most likely occur from 2:54 a.m. to 4:54 a.m., 9:06 a.m. to 11:06 a.m., and 3:18 p.m. to 5:18 p.m. The calendar also noted that the fishing would be poor.

The weather was muggy and unsettled. The sky was covered with thick gray clouds. It didn’t rain on us, but we kept our eyes on several scattered rainstorms that we could see erupting periodically near us. The morning’s low temperature was 70 degrees, and the afternoon’s high temperature reached 85 degrees. The wind was light and angled out of the south-by-southeast at less than five mph. The barometric pressure measured 29.97 at 7:00 a.m. and 30.00 at noon.

In the upper half of this reservoir, there are many acres of thick stands of flooded timber, laydowns, stumps, brush piles, and buck brush, and it is a time consuming and laborious task to navigate through it. Thus, we rarely venture into this portion of the reservoir. The lower end of the reservoir is less cluttered with standing timber, stumps, and brush piles. Its underwater terrain is endowed with mostly red clay, small gravel, chunky rocks, and boulders. The dam is covered with riprap.

Patches of hydrilla, milfoil, and American pondweeds are either covering the surface or just under the surface of the water throughout the reservoir.

We chose to conduct this outing in the less-cluttered lower region of the reservoir.

The water level was 1.37 feet below its normal level. The water displayed two feet of clarity. The water temperature ranged from 84 to 85 degrees.

The black-bass bite was pretty robust from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., but after that spree, the fishing slowed to a crawl.

We caught six largemouth bass and four spotted bass around the flat perimeter of an island located about a third of the way back inside a large feeder-creek arm in the southeast end of the reservoir. We caught them in water as shallow as a foot and as deep as five feet. Seven were caught from the outside edges of several large patches of American pondweeds on the island's east side. The other three were caught around large rocks and boulders along the island's west side. Six of them were caught on a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s space-guppy Slim SwimZ rigged on a chartreuse 1/10-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig. The other four engulfed a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ affixed on a chartreuse 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Both of these rigs were employed with a steady-swimming retrieve near the sides and over the top of the patches of American pondweeds and the submerged boulders and large rocks.

We scanned the north and south shorelines and secondary points of this creek arm with our 2D and side-imaging sonar, and we failed to locate any other schools of threadfin shad or black bass inside this same creek arm.

We caught two largemouth bass and one spotted bass in three to five feet of water along a 10-yard segment of a steep main-lake point just south of the major feeder-creek arm that we just fished. These black bass were relating to the sides of several large boulders near the water’s edge in three to five feet of water. Two of them were tempted by a Z-Man’s The Deal TRD TicklerZ attached to a blue 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig and a swim-glide-and-shake retrieve. The other bass was attracted to the green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ rig and a steady-swimming retrieve.

The riprap-laden dam forms the southern boundary of this reservoir. A large concrete water-outlet tower is positioned near the center of the dam. The tower is surrounded by 34 to 53 feet of water. The walls of this tower relinquished 12 largemouth bass. They were suspended six to eight feet below the surface of the water and within a couple of feet of the tower’s walls. Our casts and retrieves were made as parallel and close to the walls as possible. Five of these 12 largemouth bass were enticed by a slow swim-glide-and-subtle-shake of a Z-Man’s coppertreuse TRD TicklerZ affixed to a chartreuse 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig. The green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ rig and a slow-swimming retrieve tempted another five largemouth bass. One largemouth bass was caught on a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation with a shortened Z-Man’s coppertreuse Hula StickZ rigged on a Z- Man’s 1/15-ounce green-pumpkin BulletZ jighead. And one largemouth bass was caught accidentally on The Deal TRD TicklerZ rig as it was vertically dangling about six feet below the surface next to the side of the boat.

After we finished fishing around the tower, we moved a short distance from the south side of the tower and dissected an offshore rock ledge. The top of this ledge is covered with about six feet of water, and it has a 60-degree slope that plunges into 30-plus feet of water. We positioned the boat off the deep-water side of the ledge in 29 feet of water, and we made our casts to the top of the ledge in about six feet of water. We then slowly worked our lures down the slope of the ledge.

We did not elicit any strikes from the top portion of the ledge. But we caught four largemouth bass from the lower portion of the slope in 19 to 23 feet of water. Three of the four largemouth bass were allured by a Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse TRD matched with a chartreuse 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig with a gold Colorado-blade Z-Man’s TRD SpinZ attached as a trailer. This combo was employed with a slow hop-and-bounce presentation down the slope of the ledge. The fourth largemouth bass was caught on the shortened coppertreuse Hula StickZ rig and a slow hop-and-bounce retrieve.

The riprap along the dam has not been very productive for us during our last couple of outings at this reservoir, so we decided not to fish it this time.

We spent the next couple of hours scanning with our 2D and side-imaging sonar 13 main-lake points, a riprap-covered jetty, and several rocky main-lake shorelines that are situated on the east side of the reservoir’s east tributary arm. Almost all of these areas were devoid of any threadfin shad and black bass. And the one rocky main-lake shoreline where we did fish after finding a significant aggregation of threadfin shad, we failed to garner any strikes.

After that dispiriting endeavor, we moved to a main-lake island on the north end of the east tributary arm. Here, we dissected a long and wide mat of American pondweeds and some clusters of large submerged rocks and boulders that are situated in five to 12 feet of water on the east and south side of the island.

Even though we provoked only one subtle strike along the island’s east-side wall of American pondweeds, we did manage to catch one spotted bass and one largemouth bass from the south side of the island. The largemouth bass was abiding on top of a small submerged patch of American pondweeds in five feet of water. It was caught on the initial fall of a Z-Man’s pearl Baby Goat affixed to a blue 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. The spotted bass was relating to a nearby cluster of large submerged rocks in three feet of water, and it was allured by a steady-swimming retrieve with the pearl Baby Goat rig.

We finished this outing at the mouth of another large feeder-creek arm in the midsection of the east tributary arm. We targeted the sides, top, and the end of a prominent rocky main-lake point that extends many yards out from a main-lake shoreline. The top of this point is shallow and endowed with some flooded stick-ups and a few boulders and large rocks, and this portion of the point surrendered four largemouth bass and one spotted bass. These five black bass were abiding in less than three feet of water on the top portion of the point, and they were caught on a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ matched with a blue 1/10-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig with a swim-and-pause presentation. The fourth largemouth bass and one spotted bass preferred a steady-swimming retrieve with the pearl Baby Goat rig.

The sides and end of the point were fruitless.

In closing, I have not fished at this reservoir since Aug. 20, when Bill Kenney of Denton and I caught a total of 19 largemouth bass and two spotted bass in 4 1/2 hours. Bear and I fished for five hours during this Sept. 1 outing, and we caught 30 largemouth bass and six spotted bass. We also crossed paths with four crappie and one freshwater drum by happenstance.

Sept. 5

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Sept. 5 outing with Bill Kenney of Denton.

Here is an edited version of his log.

Bill and I spent the morning hours of Labor Day fishing at a rural state reservoir in north-central Texas. We opted to fish at this particular state reservoir for a couple of reasons. First, we wanted to avoid the throngs of people, pleasure boaters, jet skiers, water skiers, and wakeboarders who flock to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ reservoirs in north-central Texas on Labor Day. Secondly, we wanted to see if we could match the 50 black-bass catch that John Thomas of Denton and I enjoyed on Aug. 29.

When Bill and I arrived at the boat ramp at about 6:10 a.m., it was still dark, and the sky was partly cloudy. The air temperature was 65 degrees, and the delightfully cool morning air reminded us that fall was just around the corner. As the morning progressed and the sun began to shine, the air temperature began to rise, and the temperature eventually peaked at 94 degrees. The wind was light throughout the day and meandered out of the east at less than 5 mph. The barometric pressure measured 29.93 at 6:00 a.m., and 29.98 at noon.

In-Fisherman’s solunar table indicated that the fishing would be poor, but the most lucrative fishing periods would occur from 3:48 a.m. to 5:48 a.m., 10:01 a.m. to 12:01 p.m., and 4:14 p.m. to 6:14 p.m.

We fished from 6:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

The water exhibited between 18 inches and 2 1/2 feet of visibility. The surface temperature ranged from 83 to 85 degrees. The water level appeared to be at its normal pool.

This reservoir’s underwater terrain consists of some silt, red clay, small gravel, chunky rocks, boulders, stumps, and some standing timber. The dam is covered with riprap, and it is located in the northeast corner of the reservoir. A few of the shorelines that we fished were embellished with numerous boat houses.

We targeted several main-lake points, a couple of main-lake flats, several rocky main-lake shorelines, one shoreline along a rock-laden bluff, the riprap covering the dam, a concrete outlet tower near the dam, and a slew of covered boat houses.

This outing started on a good note, and we caught our first largemouth bass of this outing on our first cast. Besides this first largemouth bass, we caught another 20 largemouth bass, six spotted bass, and one hybrid spotted bass in three to seven feet of water along a 40-yard section of a flat main-lake shoreline on the south side of the reservoir’s west tributary arm. This section of shoreline features two flat and rocky main-lake points and a small flat that forms a pocket between the two points. One of the points is adorned with small gravel, chunk rocks, and a dilapidated concrete boat ramp. The other point is endowed with a medium-size pile of rocks that is covered with three to five feet of water. There are thick patches of American pondweeds matting on the surface of the water along this shoreline.

Twenty-two of these 29 black bass were allured on the initial fall or a steady-swimming retrieve with either a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s space-guppy Slim SwimZ rigged on a chartreuse 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead or a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ affixed on a chartreuse 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Six were enticed by a slow-and-steady swimming retrieve with a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin-goby Finesse TRD that was modified with a gold Colorado-blade TRD SpinZ rig attached to the tail as a trailer. Bill caught one spotted bass on a Texas-rigged Z-Man’s hot-snakes Goat ToadZ that was retrieved across the top of a large mat of American pondweeds in less than five feet of water. We did not garner any strikes in the flat pocket that separates the two main-lake points.

We caught three spotted bass and one largemouth bass in four to 10 feet of water from a steep and stone-laden main-lake point that is also adorned with thick patches of American pondweeds and four boat houses. This point is located about half a mile east of the two main-lake points and pocket that we just fished. All four of these black bass were relating to the outside edges of several patches of American pondweeds. Two were caught on a steady-swimming retrieve parallel to the outside edges of the patches of American pondweeds with the 2 1/2-inch space-guppy Slim SwimZ rig, and the other two were caught on the 2 1/2-inch green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ and a steady swimming retrieve parallel to the outside edges of the floating mats of American pondweeds.

Three largemouth bass were caught from one side of a flat and rock-laden main-lake point that is graced with thick patches of American pondweeds and about a dozen boat houses. This point is located on the south side and about halfway inside the west tributary arm. These three largemouth bass were caught in three to six feet of water near the outside edges of the larger mats of American pondweeds that were growing between the boathouses. Two were caught on a slow swim-glide-and-shake retrieve with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pumpkin-chartreuse ZinkerZ fastened to a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. The other largemouth bass was caught on a steady-swimming retrieve across the surface of a floating mat of American pondweeds with the hot-snakes Goat ToadZ rig.

We probed the sides, corners, and underneath a bunch of boat houses during this outing, and we temporarily hooked and lost one fish that we did not see. It was abiding underneath one of the boat houses in six feet of water, and it was enticed by a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation with the 2 1/2-inch pumpkin-chartreuse ZinkerZ combo. And to our dismay, this was the only strike that we could generate around and under the many boat houses that we probed.

Around a flat clay-and-gravel main-lake point at the mouth of a large bay on the west end of the reservoir, we caught two largemouth bass. One was caught from a corner of a dock in eight feet of water, and the other one was caught in four feet of water near a small mat of American pondweeds. Both of them were allured by a steady-swimming retrieve with the 2 1/2-inch green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ.

We failed to elicit any strikes from an adjoining 50-yard section of a clay, gravel, and flat shoreline that is littered with scads of laydowns and stumps.

We finished this outing in the northeast region of the reservoir, where we dissected about a 100-yard long bluff shoreline, a concrete outlet tower, the riprap-laden shoreline of the dam, and a rocky shoreline just west of the dam.

The south end of the bluff shoreline is adorned with a decorative concrete retaining wall, and the remainder of it is bedecked with large rocks, boulders, patches of American pondweeds, some standing timber, a few laydowns, and three boat docks. This shoreline relinquished seven largemouth bass. One was caught in four feet of water next to the decorative retaining wall. The other six were caught from the steeper section of the bluff. They were suspended from five to eight feet below the surface in 21 to 34 feet of water. They were beguiled by a slow swim-glide-and-subtle-shake of a 4.75-inch Z-Man’s PB&J Finesse WormZ matched with a blue 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.

The concrete outlet tower was not as productive as we had hoped; it yielded only one largemouth bass. It was suspended about eight feet below the surface in 28 feet of water and within a couple of feet of one of the tower’s walls. It was caught on a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation with a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Finesse ShadZ rigged on a 1/16-ounce chartreuse darter-head finesse jig.

The riprap along the dam surrendered three largemouth bass that were caught in five to eight feet of water and 10 to 15 feet from the water’s edge. They were bewitched by a slow swim-glide-and-subtle-shake of the PB&J Finesse WormZ combo.

The last largemouth bass was caught in 15 feet of water and about 25 feet out from the deep-water side of a submerged rock ledge that parallels another main-lake shoreline just west of the dam. This largemouth bass was induced by a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation with the PB&J Finesse WormZ rig.

In sum, the black-bass bite was just as stellar during this Sept. 5 excursion as it was on Aug. 29. We caught a total of 50 black bass, which consisted of 40 largemouth bass, nine spotted bass, and one hybrid spotted bass in five hours. We also caught three large bluegills by accident.

Sept. 6

Pat and Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about their Sept. 6 outing at one of northeastern Kansas’ state reservoirs.

Here is an edited version of their log.

The National Weather Service reported that it was 56 degrees at 4:52 a.m. and 77 degrees at 11:52 p.m. The wind fluctuated from being calm to angling out of the southeast and east at 3 to 6 mph. The sky was foggy and misty until 9:52 a.m.; then, it became overcast and it eventually became cluttered with a few clouds. The barometric pressure was 30.06 at 12:52 a.m., 30.07 at 5:52 a.m., and 30.14 at 11:52 a.m.

The water level looked to be slightly above normal. The water exhibited about five feet of visibility. The surface temperature ranged from 79 to 80 degrees.

In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 7:29 a.m. to 9:29 a.m., 8:01 p.m. to 10:01 p.m., and 1:14 a.m. to 3:14 a.m.

At 9:50 a.m., Patty caught the first largemouth bass of the outing at the boat ramp as we were rigging our rods with Midwest finesse rigs. She was making several test casts with a Z-Man’s The Deal Micro TRD affixed to a baby-blue 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. She caught this largemouth bass on her third test cast while employing a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation in about six feet of water. (The Micro TRD was introduced to the angling world on July 19 at the International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trade show. And we suspect this largemouth bass might be the first largemouth bass caught on a Micro TRD in northeastern Kansas.)

The Micro TRD rig in the mouth of the first largemouth bass of the outing.

After that test cast and catch, we fished from 9:58 a.m. to 11:19 p.m.

We spent those 81 minutes probing a massive shallow-water flat in the back of one of this reservoir’s primary feeder-creek arms. This flat is embellished with uncountable patches of coontail and sago pondweeds. A submerged creek channel meanders across the western edge of this flat, and that edge is graced with oodles of manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees. Many of those trees have become entangled with coontail and sago pondweeds. There are also many manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees littering the entire flat. Some of its shallow-water shorelines are adorned with significant patches of American pondweeds.

By the time we executed our last casts at 11:19 a.m., our fish counter showed that we had caught 43 largemouth bass and four crappie. What’s more, we elicited 17 strikes that we failed to hook.

Five of those largemouth bass were caught on the Micro TRD rig, and 38 were caught on a slightly shortened 4.75-inch Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse WormZ affixed to a baby-blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.

These fish were caught in five to eight feet of water around the patches of coontail and sago pondweeds.

Thirteen were caught on the initial drop of our Finesse WormZ rigs. The others were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation. On some of the glides, we allowed our rigs to touch and rest on the top of the patches of coontail for about two seconds, and this glide tacit inveigled three largemouth bass. But our most effective retrieve was an incessant shake and a rather quick-paced swimming-and-gliding presentation. Four of the largemouth bass were caught as our rigs approached the final foot or two of our retrieves and when we were about to lift the rig out of the water.

In conclusion, we were either eliciting a strike or catching a largemouth bass every 1.35 minutes.

Patty with one of the crappie she caught on the Micro TRD rig. She is eager to work with Z-Man’s new Micro rigs during the cool- and cold-water months, which is when she likes to catch an occasional crappie, white bass, and rainbow trout while she is pursuing largemouth bass.

Sidebar

After this short morning outing ended, we headed to Travis Perret’s Exercise Therapy of Kansas City office in Overland Park, Kansas.

Since Feb. 14, 2006, Travis has made us pain-free anglers, which allows us to fish more efficiently. Whenever, we are afflicted with foot pains, ankle pains, knee pains, hip pains, back pains, shoulder pains, elbow pains, hand pains, neck pains, and temporomandibular joint pains, he formulates a series of exercises for us that will help us to gradually become pain-free. And Sept. 6, he created a series of exercises to alleviate Ned’s temporomandibular joint pains.

It is important to note that Travis is a veteran Midwest finesse angler and the proprietor of the Finesse News Network Facebook site; https://www.facebook.com/groups/1790450444537568/.

For more information on Travis Perret’s pain-free tactics, please see these articles:

http://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/brent-chapmans-tactics-for-painfree-fishing/370668.

http://www.in-fisherman.com/midwest-finesse/perret-egoscue-and-me-my-quest-for-pain-free-fishing/.

http://www.in-fisherman.com/midwest-finesse/brent-chapman-and-travis-perret-team-up/.

http://www.in-fisherman.com/midwest-finesse/brent-chapman-and-travis-perret-team-up-an-update/.

http://www.in-fisherman.com/midwest-finesse/pain-free-fishing-an-update/.

http://www.in-fisherman.com/midwest-finesse/the-genius-of-travis-perret/.

http://www.in-fisherman.com/midwest-finesse/travis-perret-and-pok-chi-laus-quest-for-pain-free-fishing/.

http://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/travis-perrets-pain-free-life/154728.

https://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/travis-perrets-gift/330918

http://cjonline.com/stories/010806/out_kehde.shtml#.WddqDztrwdU.

Anglers can contact Perret at 913-549-4343 and examine his website at http://exercisetherapykc.com. His book can be downloaded for free at www.PainFreeLifeBook.com. His expertise can help all of us to be free from pain and more talented anglers.

Sept. 7

Bob Gum of Kansas City, Kansas, filed a brief on the Finesse News Network about his Sept. 7 outing at one of northeastern Kansas' federal reservoirs.

Here is an edited version of his brief.

The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 59 degrees, and the afternoon’s high temperature was 88 degrees. The wind fluctuated from being calm to angling out of the east and southeast at 3 to 10 mph. The sky fluctuated from being foggy and misty to being fair to being cluttered with a few clouds. The barometric pressure was 30.13 at 12:52 a.m., 30.16 at 5:52 a.m., and 30.20 at 11:52 a.m.

The water level was 1.78 feet above normal. The water exhibited about two feet of visibility. The surface temperature was 78 degrees at sunrise.

In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 8:25 a.m. to 10:25 a.m., 8:55 p.m. to 10:55 p.m., and 2:10 a.m. to 4:10 a.m.

I began fishing before sunrise and fished until 12:30 p.m.

I spent the outing primarily fishing points, steep shorelines, and a riprap causeway inside a large feeder-creek arm.

Until 8:30 a.m., the bite was very lackluster, but I eventually caught 18 smallmouth bass and one largemouth bass.

 The calm and light wind allowed me to retrieve my Midwest finesse rigs into deeper water than I usually explore, which allowed me to catch some of the smallmouth bass in eight to 10 feet of water.

A Z-Man’s California-craw TRD TicklerZ affixed to a red 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig and a 4.75-inch Z-Man’s purple-haze Finesse WormZ affixed to a red 1/20-ounce mushroom-style jig were my most effective rigs. And they were retrieved with a dragging presentation.

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.

From 6:40 a.m. to 11:40 a.m., Norman and I fished at one of several U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ hill-land reservoirs in north-central Texas. And since the Labor Day weekend is over, we noticed that the people and boat traffic was significantly less than it has been this summer.

The sky was partly cloudy. The morning's low temperature was 76 degrees. The afternoon's high was 89 degrees. The barometric pressure was 29.78 at 6:00 a.m. and 29.82 at 11:00 a.m. The wind quartered out of the east-by-southeast at 5 to 8 mph.

In-Fisherman’s solunar table noted that the best fishing would occur from 4:03 a.m. to 6:03 a.m., 10:16 a.m. to 12:16 p.m., and 10:42 p.m. to 12:42 a.m. It also noted that the fishing would be good.

The water level was 3.15 feet below its normal summer pool. The water clarity was 24 inches. The surface temperature ranged from 84 to 87 degrees.

We fished in the lower section of this reservoir. We spent about 85-percent of our time primarily targeting main-lake points, pockets, rocky shorelines, a riprap-laden bridge embankment, several large concrete support columns underneath a railroad bridge, and the riprap shoreline that covers the dam. The other 15-percent of our time was spent half-heartedly searching for black bass and threadfin shad around several prominent rocky secondary points and shorelines inside two medium-size feeder-creek arms and one large bay.

The submerged terrains of all of these areas are mostly similar, and they are composed of red clay, gravel, chunky rocks, large boulders, and riprap.

Overall, the black-bass bite was tough, and it was a laborious chore for us to catch 11 largemouth bass, two spotted bass, four black crappie, and one white bass in five hours. These 18 fish were extracted from water as shallow as one foot and as deep as six feet.

We caught one largemouth bass from the riprap-covered bridge embankment. Two largemouth bass and two spotted bass were caught from one of the steeper and rock-laden main-lake shorelines, and eight largemouth bass were caught along the dam. These eight largemouth bass were caught close to the water’s edge as they were surface-foraging on one-inch threadfin shad. 

In short, this was another junk-fishing foray. We employed 10 Midwest finesse rigs, and eight of them were somewhat effective. None of them were dominant.

We caught three largemouth bass, one spotted bass, two crappie, and one white bass on a steady-swimming retrieve with a 3 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pearl GrubZ on a blue 1/10-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig. A steady-swimming retrieve with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ fastened on a 1/16-ounce pearl mushroom-style finesse jig enticed three more largemouth bass. Two largemouth bass were caught on a Z-Man’s pearl TRD TicklerZ rigged on a chartreuse 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig and a swim-glide-and-shake retrieve. A swim-glide-and-shake presentation with a Z-Man’s pearl Finesse ShadZ attached to a chartreuse 1/15-ounce Finesse ShroomZ jig caught two largemouth bass. A steady-retrieve with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ rigged on a blue 1/10-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig tempted one largemouth bass. A shortened Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Hula StickZ affixed to a 1/16-ounce green-pumpkin-red-flake mushroom-style finesse jig allured one spotted bass and one crappie. A slow-swimming retrieve with a Z-Man’s white-lightning Finesse TRD rigged on a blue 1/15-ounce Z-Man's Finesse ShroomZ jig and a silver willow-leaf-blade TRD SpinZ rig attached as a trailer tempted one crappie.

We did not locate any black bass around any of the main-lake points or inside the two feeder-creek arms and large bay.

We attempted to establish a deep-water pattern around the concrete support columns underneath a train bridge. Those support columns are surrounded by 12 to 43 feet of water, and to our dismay, we were unable to solicit any strikes around the ones that were entertaining some pods of threadfin shad.

In closing, Rick Allen of Dallas and I fished at this reservoir on April 27, and the bass fishing was awful then, too. We fished for four hours, and we struggled to catch 12 black bass.

Sept. 9

Dave Petro of Lecompton, Kansas, filed a report on the Finesse News Network about his Sept. 9 outing with Greg Cooper of Lawrence, Kansas, at one of the federal reservoirs in northeastern Kansas.

Here is an edited version of their log.

I met Greg earlier this summer on a couple of occasions at the boat ramp of a state reservoir. Upon striking up a conversation with him, I quickly found out that he was a member of the Finesse News Network and enjoyed wielding Midwest finesse baits to entice black bass. As kindred finesse fishing souls, it seemed natural to get together and share some time afloat.

On our Sept. 9 outing, our goal was to fish for smallmouth bass and largemouth bass, and we hoped to find some action with the white bass that inhabit this federal reservoir. Since both of us had morning obligations, we got a late start and did not throw our first casts until about 3:45 pm. We fished for four hours, quitting at 7:45 pm, as the sun had set and darkness was falling.

The weather was clear and sunny, but it was somewhat hazy as a result of smoke in the atmosphere from western wildfires. The temperature went from a morning low of 61 degrees to an afternoon high of 91 degrees. While we were afloat the barometric pressure varied from 29.79 to 29.81 inches of mercury. The wind was light and blew from the east, southeast, and south from 0-7 mph.

The water level was normal. The surface temperature was 83.1. The water was stained green with an algal bloom that seems to be waning, and it exhibited one to two feet of visibility.

On this trip, we dissected six main-lake points and short sections of their adjacent shorelines, the shorelines inside two small coves, a secondary point inside a large feeder creek that is adorned with a boat ramp, dock, riprap, and a large partially submerged laydown, and about a 300-yard stretch of the shoreline along one side of the large feeder creek.

We used the following Midwest finesse baits: a Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse WormZ mounted on a black 1/10-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig; a Z-Man’s California-craw TRD BugZ mounted on either a black 1/5-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig or a chartreuse 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig; a Z-Man’s watermelon-red TRD CrawZ mounted on a black 1/5-ounce Finesse ShroomZ jig; a four-inch section of the posterior of a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin-goby SMH WormZ mounted on a blue 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig; a Z-Man’s Canada-craw TRD BugZ mounted on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig; a Z-Man’s mudbug TRD BugZ mounted on a red 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig; a three-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ mounted on either a black 1/5-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig or a chartreuse 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s NedlockZ jig.

We caught a total of 18 smallmouth bass. We also caught two green sunfish, two crappie, one white bass, one channel catfish, and at least two dozen freshwater drum.

Around the first main-lake point and along 50 yards of the point’s adjacent shoreline, we caught five smallmouth bass. One was caught on the SMH WormZ rig. Another one was caught on the mudbug TRD BugZ rig. Three were caught on the California-craw TRD BugZ mounted on the black 1/5-ounce Finesse ShroomZ jig. These smallmouth bass were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake retrieve. The underwater terrain consisted of rocks and boulders. All of these smallmouth bass were caught with the boat floating in two to eight feet of water.

Along a 150-yard section of a steep and rock-laden shoreline inside a small cove, we caught three smallmouth bass. Two of the three were caught on the Z-Man’s California-craw TRD BugZ mounted to a black 1/5-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig, and the third was caught on the Z-Man’s California-craw TRD BugZ mounted to chartreuse 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig. They were caught on a swim-glide- and shake retrieve in four to 13 feet of water.

On a main-lake shoreline adjacent to one of the points at the entry to the small cove, a smallmouth bass was caught with the California-craw TRD BugZ and black 1/5-ounce jig on a swim-glide-and-shake retrieve in 13 feet of water. The terrain consisted of gravel and rocks with several large submerged boulders.

Along a 300-yard stretch of a steep and rocky shoreline inside a large feeder-creek cove, one smallmouth was caught on the California-craw BugZ and chartreuse 1/16-ounce mushroom jig. This smallmouth bass was caught on a swim-glide-and-shake retrieve in 12 feet of water and near the water’s edge.

During the last hour, we caught eight smallmouth bass on a small section of shoreline adjacent to a small and flat main-lake point. The terrain consisted of gravel, rocks, and several large submerged and partially submerged boulders. The boat floated in three to 6 feet of water. These smallmouth bass were caught from about a 30-yard section of shoreline adjacent to the tip of the point as we made several passes back and forth. Seven of the smallmouth bass were caught on the California Craw BugZ and chartreuse 1/16-ounce mushroom jig. One of the seven was caught on the initial drop near the water’s edge in very shallow water. Another one was caught on a deadstick-and-shake presentation after the rig had been retrieved with a swim-glide-and-shake retrieve halfway back to the boat. Five were caught on the standard swim-glide–and- shake retrieve. After a 15-minute lull in the action, the eighth smallmouth bass was caught on the Z-Man’s watermelon-red TRD CrawZ mounted on a black 1/5-ounce Finesse ShroomZ jig, and it was caught on a swim-glide-and-shake retrieve in the same area where the other seven smallmouth bass had been caught and released.

The best lure was the California-craw TRD BugZ. It caught the vast majority of the fish regardless of the color and weight of the jig used.

The other rigs that caught a few of the smallmouth bass were the shortened Z-Man’s green-pumpkin-goby SMH WormZ, the mudbug TRD BugZ rig, and the watermelon-red TRD CrawZ rig.

The Canada-craw TRD BugZ rig caught a couple of freshwater drum.

But none of the other rigs were effective in eliciting strikes.

None of the other areas that we fished produced strikes from smallmouth bass, and these areas seemed to be devoid of other species, too. This seemed to be a very odd occurrence as most of these areas should have at least produced some action from green sunfish or crappie. Even though we caught many freshwater drum, they too seemed to mainly be present, except for a few isolated instances, at the locations where we caught the smallmouth bass.

We saw huge schools of gizzard shad everywhere we went.

We were disappointed that the white bass were a no show -- especially on the last point we fished; which is a very reliable venue for catching numbers of white bass at sunset.

It is interesting to note that we did not cross paths with a single largemouth bass.

Sept. 13

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Sept. 13 outing at one of northeastern Kansas’ state reservoirs.

Here is an edited version of his log.

The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 48 degrees, and it was 91 degrees at 3:52 p.m. The wind was calm from 12:52 a.m. to 6:52 a.m., and then, it fluctuated from angling out of the east, southeast, southwest, and south at 3 to 7 mph. The sky was fair. The barometric pressure was 29.92 at 12:52 a.m., 29.93 at 5:52 a.m., 29.95 at 11:52 a.m., and 29.89 at 3:52 p.m.

The water level looked to be slightly above normal. The water exhibited from 3 1/2 to five feet of visibility. The surface temperature ranged from 75 to 77 degrees.

In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 1:07 a.m. to 3:07 a.m., 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., and 7:19 a.m. to 9:19 a.m.

What a difference a week can make. On Sept. 6, Patty Kehde and I fished this reservoir for 81 minutes, and we caught 43 largemouth bass. On Sept. 13, I made my first cast at 11:35 a.m. and my last one at 2:24 p.m., and it was a struggle to catch 27 largemouth bass, seven crappie, and two bluegill.

I spent the bulk of the 169 minutes of this outing fishing across and around a massive shallow-water flat in the back of one of this reservoir’s primary feeder-creek arms. This flat is embellished with a myriad of patches of coontail and sago pondweeds. A submerged creek channel meanders across the western edge of this flat, and that edge is graced with occasional manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees. Many of those trees have become entangled with coontail and sago pondweeds. There are also some manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees littering the entire flat. Some of its shallow-water shorelines are adorned with significant patches of American pondweeds and some patches of American water willows.

This flat yielded 14 largemouth bass.

Six were caught on a slightly shortened 4.75-inch Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse WormZ affixed to a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. They were caught in six to eight feet of water around the patches of coontail and sago pondweeds. One was caught on the initial drop, and the others were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation.

Six were caught on a Z-Man’s Canada-craw TRD BugZ affixed to a red 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. They were caught in five to eight feet of water around either the piles of eastern red cedar trees or the patches of coontail and sago pondweeds. Two were caught on the initial drop, and four were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation.

Two were caught on a three-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ affixed to a red 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. They were caught in about seven feet of water. One was caught on the initial drop, and the other one was caught on a swim-and-pause presentation.

On a shallow-water flat inside a medium-size feeder-creek arm, I caught three largemouth bass. The portion of the flat that I fished is endowed with seven manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees and several scanty patches of coontail.

One largemouth bass was caught on the initial drop of the TRD BugZ rig from a pile of three large eastern red cedar trees in about four feet of water.

Two largemouth bass were caught on the TRD BugZ with a swim-glide-and-shake presentation around some meager coontail patches in three to four feet of water.

I caught 10 largemouth bass across a massive shallow-water flat in the back of another primary feeder-creek arm. This primary feeder creek is intersected by two tiny feeder creeks. Scores of manmade piles of eastern cedar trees litter this flat. But its once burgeoning patches of coontail and bushy pondweeds have wilted, and many of the patches have disappeared. Some of its shorelines are adorned with patches of American pondweeds and American water willows.

One largemouth bass was caught on the Finesse WormZ rig with a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in about six feet of water around a patch of coontail.

Two were caught on the Slim SwimZ rig with a swim-and-pause presentation in five to six feet of water around the meager patches of coontail.

Seven were caught on the TRD BugZ rig. Three were caught on the initial drop of this rig; one of the three was caught adjacent to a submerged stump in about four feet of water; the other two were caught around patches of coontail. Four were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in five to seven feet of water around the paltry patches of coontail and bushy pondweeds.

In conclusion, the sorry state of the coontail patches on two of this reservoir’s shallow-water flats is worrisome.

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’ many state reservoirs.

Here is an edited version of his log.

The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 56 degrees, and it was 86 degrees at 1:52 p.m. The wind was angled out of the east, southeast, and south at 5 to 26 mph. The sky was fair. The barometric pressure was 30.07 at 12:52 a.m., 30.10 at 5:52 a.m., 30.10 at 11:52 a.m., and 30.04 at 3:52 p.m.

The water level looked to be slightly above normal. The water exhibited more than five feet of visibility. The surface temperature was 76 degrees.

In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 2:45 a.m. to 4:25 a.m., 3:16 p.m. to 5:16 p.m., and 9:04 a.m. to 11:04 a.m.

I made my first cast at 11:25 a.m., which yielded a largemouth bass, and I made my last one when I caught largemouth bass number 40 at 1:40 p.m.

It wasn’t as fruitful of an outing as the one that my cousin Rick Hebenstreit of Shawnee, Kansas, and I enjoyed on Aug. 31 at this state reservoir, when the south wind didn’t howl and we caught 94 largemouth bass between 10:15 a.m. and 2:15 p.m.

The issue that adversely affected my Sept. 15 outing was the frequent gusts of wind that reached 26 mph. At times, those gusts made it impossible for me to thoroughly dissect the two shallow-water flats that I fished.

From 11:25 a.m. to 1:09 p.m., I fished a shallow-water flat in the north end of one of this reservoir’s primary feeder-creek arms. It yielded 31 largemouth bass

The portion of this flat that I fished is about the size of 2 1/2 football fields. It is endowed with an island that is embellished with American water willows. Its shorelines are also adorned with magnificent patches of American water willows. I focused on offshore locales that were covered with four to eight feet of water and embellished with patches of coontail, brittle naiad, and some man-made piles of eastern red cedar trees. A submerged creek channel meanders across the middle of this flat.

Two of the 31 largemouth bass were caught on a three-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ affixed to a red 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead with a swim-and-pause presentation in about four to five feet of water.

Three were caught on a slightly shortened 4.75-inch Z-Man’s purple-haze Finesse WormZ fastened to a red 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. They were caught in four to eight feet of water around the patches of coontail. One was caught on an accidental deadstick presentation, and two were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation.

Five of the 31 were caught on a Z-Man’s Canada-craw TRD BugZ affixed to a red 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. They were caught in five to eight feet of water around patches of coontail on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation.

Twenty-one were caught on a slightly shortened 4.75-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Finesse WormZ affixed to a red 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. They were caught in four to eight feet of water. Five were caught on the initial drop. Two were caught with a drag-shake-and-short-pause presentation in about seven feet of water. The others were caught with the swim-glide-and-shake presentation. The majority of them were caught around patches of coontail, and three were abiding around piles of eastern red cedar trees.

From about 1:15 p.m. to 1:40 p.m., I fished across a small segment of a massive shallow-water flat in the north end of another major feeder-creek arm. It yielded nine largemouth bass.

This flat is about the size of four football fields. It is enhanced by a gigantic patch of water lilies that is about the size of a football field. Its shorelines are lined with American water willows. Two submerged creek channels crisscross parts of this flat. Other areas of this flat are adorned with patches of brittle naiad, coontail, and a few man-made piles of eastern red cedar trees.

The nine largemouth bass were caught on the green-pumpkin Finesse WormZ rig. Three were caught along the outside edge of the massive patch of water lilies in about five feet of water; one was caught on the initial drop, and two were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation. Two were caught on the initial drop of this rig around a partially submerged eastern red cedar tree in about four feet of water. Four were caught around patches of brittle naiad and coontail in four to five feet of water.

For several weeks in northeastern Kansas, Mother Nature’s windy ways were nonexistent, and these windless days created joyful outings for Midwest finesse anglers. To our chagrin, Mother Nature began to howl again today, and I had a difficult time dealing with it. But we are going to have to get used to it because October is one of her windiest months of the year in northeastern Kansas.

Sept. 15

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Sept. 15 outing with Norman Brown of Lewisville, Texas.

Here is an edited version of his log.

From 6:40 a.m. to 11:40 a.m., Norman Brown joined me for a five-hour morning jaunt at what we consider to be one of our most penurious U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ hill-land reservoirs in north-central Texas.

As we arrived at the boat ramp, we discovered that we were the first ones there. And while we were afloat, we saw only five boats and one jet skier.

It was a pleasant and mild morning. The sky was partly cloudy. The barometric pressure measured 30.04 at 6:00 a.m. and 30.08 at 11:00 a.m. A cool breeze angled out of the southeast at 5 to 10 mph. The afternoon high temperature reached 89 degrees. The morning low temperature was 68 degrees.

The water level was at its normal pool level. The water clarity was about 18 inches everywhere we fished. The surface temperature ranged from 80 to 82 degrees.

The solunar calendar indicated that the best fishing would occur from 2:59 a.m. to 4:59 a.m., 9:11 a.m. to 11:11 a.m., and 3:23 p.m. to 5:23 p.m. It also noted that the fishing would be poor, but in our eyes, the black-bass bite was outstanding. We caught 44 largemouth bass and four spotted bass, which is the most black bass that we have caught at this reservoir in quite some time. And while we were pursuing these 48 black bass, we also crossed paths with two white bass, one large bluegill, one freshwater drum, and one crappie.

The black-bass bite was at its best for the first 2 1/2 hours of the outing, but after 9:00 a.m., the bite slowed down to a snail’s pace. Then, we were relegated to covering a lot of water in order to catch one or two bass at a variety of locales.

We began the outing before daybreak searching with our sonar devices for threadfin shad and black bass inside two feeder-creek arms and around three rocky main-lake points in the northern section of the reservoir, but that endeavor was to no avail.

We then moved to the south end of the reservoir, where we caught 25 largemouth bass and two spotted bass.

Ten largemouth bass and one spotted bass were caught in less than five feet of water around partially-flooded laydowns and buck brush that festoon the perimeter of a mid-lake island.

In less than four feet of water at a rock- and brush-laden main-lake point that forms part of the entrance to a major feeder-creek arm, we caught two largemouth bass. The opposite main-lake entry point at this creek arm is steep and composed of red clay, small gravel, chunky rocks, and a few scattered boulders. This point relinquished 13 largemouth bass and one spotted bass, which were caught in one to five feet of water and within 10 feet of the water’s edge near the larger rocks and boulders.

The northeast end of the reservoir was also fruitful. We fished around six rocky main-lake points with inclines of 35 to 45 degrees, and we caught a total of 13 largemouth bass and one spotted bass that were relating to clusters of bowling-ball-size rocks and larger boulders in three to seven feet of water.

We finished the outing in the northwest end of the reservoir, where we fished around two wind-blown and rock-laden main-lake shorelines and seven rocky main-lake points. The two main-lake shorelines are flat, and they were fruitless. The seven rocky main-lake points are steep. They possess slopes of 45 to 60 degrees and are bedecked with pea-gravel, chunk-rocks, and boulders. These points yielded six largemouth bass and one spotted bass that were relating to the sides of the larger submerged boulders and rocks in five to eight feet of water.

Fourteen of these 48 black bass were tempted by a steady swimming presentation with a shortened Z-Man’s mudbug Hula StickZ fastened on a 1/16-ounce green-pumpkin-red-flake mushroom-style finesse jig; 11 were caught on a steady swimming retrieve with a three-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ fastened to a chartreuse 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead; 11 were fooled by a shortened Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Hula StickZ rigged on a 1/16-ounce green-pumpkin-red-flake mushroom-style finesse jig with a steady swimming presentation; eight were tempted by a steady-swimming retrieve with a Z-Man’s pearl Baby Goat fastened to a blue 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead; two were induced by a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pumpkin-chartreuse ZinkerZ rigged on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce mushroom-style finesse jig; one was caught on a swimming presentation with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s space-guppy Slim SwimZ fastened to a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead; one largemouth bass was caught on a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD TicklerZ rigged on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead with a slow swimming retrieve.

In closing, we were able to establish that the black bass and threadfin shad at this reservoir have not yet started their fall migrations into the feeder-creek arms, but they are beginning to group up near the mouths of the feeder-creek arms around steep and rocky main-lake points. We also discovered that flat main-lake points and main-lake pockets and coves were devoid of threadfin shad and black bass.

Sept. 16

Pat and Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about their Sept. 16 outing at one of northeastern Kansas’ many community reservoirs.

Here is an edited version of their log.

The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 60 degrees, and the afternoon’s high temperature was 81 degrees. The wind fluctuated from being calm to angling out of the southeast, southwest, and east at 3 to 12 mph. The conditions of the sky varied from being cluttered with a few clouds to partly cloudy to mostly cloudy to raining lightly. The barometric pressure was 30.03 at 12:52 a.m., 30.03 at 5:52 a.m., 30.06 at 11:52 a.m., and 29.95 at 4:52 p.m.

The water level looked to be normal. There were about 3 1/2 feet of visibility in the lower portions of this reservoir. The surface temperature was 76 degrees.

In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 3:44 a.m. to 5:44 a.m., 4:09 p.m. to 6:09 p.m., and 9:57 a.m. to 11:57 a.m.

We made our first casts at 2:38 p.m., and our focus was to thoroughly probe two shorelines inside a large feeder-creek arm in the lower portion of this community reservoir. The last time that we fished this area was on April 26.

Years ago, this community reservoir was our favorite. And it was an extremely bountiful one for pursuing largemouth bass. For example, we caught 102 largemouth bass in four hours on Oct. 13, 2006, 105 largemouth bass and two smallmouth bass in four hours on April 15, 2010, 100 largemouth bass in four hours on Oct. 21, 2010, and 102 largemouth bass in three hours on Feb. 9, 2012.

But since those glorious days, it has become a chore to catch an average of 10 largemouth bass an hour.

In our eyes, this terrible decline stems from three factors: the arrival of the largemouth bass virus; too much angling pressure, and the numerous applications of aquatic herbicides.

On this outing, we suspected it would be a chore to catch 20 largemouth bass, but it was our goal to catch 20 in two hours or less. And we made our last casts at 4:29 p.m. upon catching largemouth bass number 20.

We spent the bulk of the 111 minutes of this outing by fishing along about a 275-yard section of one of the shorelines inside this large feeder creek. It has a 30- to 50-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders; many of the boulders are humongous. This terrain is endowed with several stumps, which have been submerged for 85 years. A submerged creek channel borders parts of this shoreline. At a few of the shallower and flatter locales, there are some meager patches of submerged aquatic vegetation that have somehow survived the many applications of aquatic herbicides that this reservoir’s managers have applied during the past 10 years. The water’s edge is lined with significant patches of American water willows, one dock, and one concrete ramp.

We caught 13 largemouth bass along this shoreline.

One was caught on a Z-Man’s purple-rain Finesse TRD affixed to a chartreuse 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. One was caught on a slightly shortened 4.75-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Finesse WormZ affixed to a red 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Eleven were caught on a slightly shortened 4.75-inch Z-Man’s purple-haze Finesse WormZ affixed to a blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.

Two of the 13 largemouth bass were caught on a swimming presentation. Three were caught on a drag-and-short-deadstick presentation. Three were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation. And six were caught on a drag-and-shake presentation.

Two were caught within four feet of the outside edges of the patches of American water willows in four to five feet of water.

One was caught around an offshore patch of Eurasian milfoil in about four feet of water.

Eight were caught from about seven to 15 feet from the outside edge of the American water willows in seven to 10 feet of water.

We spent about 20 minutes fishing along about a 100-yard section of another shoreline. This shoreline has a 20- to 45-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, boulders, and some silt. There is one offshore ridge of boulders and rocks gracing this terrain. The water’s edge is embellished with patches of American water willows, some laydowns, several overhanging trees, and two tertiary points.

This shoreline yielded seven largemouth bass.

One was caught on the initial drop of the Finesse TRD rig adjacent to a patch of American water willows in about three feet of water

Two were caught on the Finesse TRD rig by strolling and employing a drag-and-shake presentation in about five feet of water around the offshore ridge of boulders and rocks.

Two were caught on a Z-Man’s The Deal TRD BugZ affixed to a red 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead with a swim-glide-and-shake presentation around one of the tertiary points in about four feet of water.

Two were caught near the outside edges of patches of American water willows in about four feet of water on the TRD BugZ rig with a swim-glide-and-shake presentation.

During this outing, we accidentally caught one channel catfish and four green sunfish.

We also elicited 13 strikes that we failed to hook, and we hooked four strikes in which the species liberated itself before we could identify it.

Sept. 16

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Sept. 16 outing with Henry Sparks of The Colony, Texas.

Here is an edited version of his log.

From 6:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Henry Sparks joined me for a morning excursion at a rural state reservoir in north-central Texas. This is the same state reservoir where Bill Kenney of Denton and I caught 50 black bass on Sept. 5, and John Thomas of Denton and I caught 50 black bass on Aug. 27.

It was Henry’s birthday, and we were hoping to catch at least 30 black bass in five hours. And except for one crappie angler and one pleasure boater, we had the reservoir to ourselves.

In-Fisherman’s solunar table indicated that the fishing would be lousy, but the most productive fishing periods would occur from 3:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m., 9:12 a.m. to 11:12 a.m., and 3:24 p.m. to 5:24 p.m.

It was a sunny day, and there was not a cloud in sight. The morning’s low temperature was 65 degrees, and the afternoon’s high climbed to 95 degrees. The wind angled out of the south and southwest at 5 to 15 mph. The barometric pressure measured 30.01 at 6:00 a.m. and 30.04 at 11:00 a.m.

The water level appeared to be about 1 1/2 feet below normal pool. The water exhibited two feet of visibility. The surface temperature ranged from 81 to 82 degrees.

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

We began this outing along a 60-yard section of a flat main-lake shoreline on the south side of the reservoir’s west tributary arm. This shoreline is adorned with thick patches of American pondweeds and some submerged stumps. It is endowed with two flat and rocky main-lake points, and there is a small and flat pocket that is situated between the two points. One of the points is endowed with a rock pile that is covered with three to five feet of water. The other point is enhanced with chunk rocks, a dilapidated concrete boat ramp, and thick mats of American pondweeds.

This shoreline surrendered 12 largemouth bass, four spotted bass, and one hybrid spotted bass. Ten of these 17 black bass were enticed by a steady-swimming retrieve with a three-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ affixed on a chartreuse 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead, and three were induced by a steady-swimming retrieve with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s space-guppy Slim SwimZ rigged on a chartreuse 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Henry caught four largemouth bass on an 1/8-ounce black finesse buzzbait that was retrieved across the top and around the sides of several large mats of American pondweeds. All of these black bass were caught in three to seven feet of water.

At a main-lake point located about half a mile east of the main-lake shoreline that we just fished, we caught four largemouth bass and one spotted bass in four to 10 feet of water. This point has a 45-degree incline. It is laden with chunk rocks, thick patches of American pondweeds, and four boat houses. All five of these black bass were relating to the outside edges of several patches of American pondweeds. Four were caught on a steady-swimming retrieve parallel to the outside edges of the patches of American pondweeds with the three-inch green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ rig. The other bass was caught on a three-inch laminated green-pumpkin-blue-pearl cut-tail grub rigged on a chartreuse 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig and a steady-swimming retrieve parallel to the outside edges of the floating mats of American pondweeds.

One largemouth bass and one spotted bass were caught from one side of a flat and rock-laden main-lake point that is graced with thick patches of American pondweeds and about a dozen boat houses. This point is located at the mouth of a medium-size bay on the south side of the west tributary arm. These two black bass were abiding in three to five feet of water near the outside edges of one of the larger mats of American pondweeds that was growing between two boathouses. They were caught on a steady-swimming retrieve with the three-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ.

Around a flat clay-and-gravel main-lake point and an adjoining 100-yard section of a pea-gravel and red clay shoreline that leads into a large bay on the west end of the reservoir, we caught three largemouth bass and one spotted bass. This shoreline is flat. It is cluttered with countless numbers of laydowns, stumps, broken tree branches, and patches of American pondweeds. One largemouth bass and one spotted bass were caught in seven feet of water at the tip of the main-lake point on a steady-swimming retrieve with the three-inch green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ rig. Along the 100-yard section of the point’s adjacent shoreline, one largemouth bass was caught in three feet of water from the side of a large submerged stump on the initial drop of the three-inch green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ rig. Henry caught one largemouth bass on a steady-swimming retrieve across the surface of a floating mat of American pondweeds with the black 1/8-ounce finesse buzzbait.

Inside a major feeder-creek arm in the southeast end of the reservoir, we fished along a 50-yard long shoreline that is located in the midsection and east side of the creek arm. This section of shoreline has a 30- to 45-degree slope and is graced with chuck rocks, several concrete retaining walls, thick mats of American pondweeds, a concrete boat ramp, and about a half a dozen boat houses, and we failed to elicit any strikes there.

In the northeast region of the reservoir, we dissected a 100-yard long bluff, the riprap-laden shoreline of the dam, and a rocky shoreline just west of the dam.

The south end of the bluff is adorned with a decorative concrete retaining wall, and the remainder of the bluff’s shoreline is embellished with large rocks, boulders, patches of American pondweeds, some standing timber, a few laydowns, and three boat docks. This shoreline relinquished seven largemouth bass and six spotted bass. Three spotted bass were caught in four feet of water next to the decorative retaining wall on a 4.75-inch Z-Man’s PB&J Finesse WormZ rigged on a blue 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. The other 10 black bass were caught from the steeper section of the bluff. They were suspended from five to eight feet below the surface in 15 to 23 feet of water. Nine of them were bewitched by a slow swim-glide-and-subtle-shake presentation with the PB&J Finesse WormZ rig. Henry caught one spotted bass on a steady-swimming retrieve with a chartreuse-and-white double-willow blade spinnerbait.

The riprap along the dam surrendered one largemouth bass, one spotted bass, and one large bluegill. They were caught in five to eight feet of water and 10 to 15 feet from the water’s edge. The spotted bass and the large bluegill were attracted to a slow swim-glide-and-subtle-shake presentation of the PB&J Finesse WormZ combo. Henry allured the largemouth bass with a shallow-diving square-billed crankbait and a steady retrieve.

We failed to generate any strikes from a submerged rock ledge that parallels another main-lake shoreline just west of the dam.

In sum, the black-bass bite remained fairly consistent during this five-hour excursion. We caught a total of 43 black bass, which consisted of 28 largemouth bass, 14 spotted bass, and one hybrid spotted bass. We also inadvertently caught one large bluegill.

Sept. 21

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his outing with his cousin Rick Hebenstreit of Shawnee, Kansas, on Sept. 21 at one of northeastern Kansas’ many community reservoirs.

Here is an edited version of their log.

The National Weather Service reported that it was 71 degrees at 6:53 a.m. and 87degrees at 1:53 p.m. The wind fluctuated from being calm to angling out of the south, southwest, west, northwest, north, and northeast at 3 to 13 mph. The condition of the sky fluctuated from being fair to cluttered with a few clouds to partly cloudy to mostly cloudy. The barometric pressure was 29.93 at 12:53 a.m., 29.93 at 5:53 a.m., 30.01 at 11:53 a.m., and 29.99 at 1:53 p.m. It is interesting to note that it was 99 degrees on Sept. 18, 101 degrees on Sept. 19, and 102 degrees on Sept. 20. And the high temperature is forecasted to be 62 degrees on Sept. 22.

The water level looked to be normal. The surface temperature ranged from 78 to 79 degrees. Our Secchi stick indicated the water exhibited from three to about five feet of visibility. Significant wads of filamentous algae clutter the water’s edges of the shorelines and much of a shallow-water flat in the upper reaches of this reservoir’s primary feeder-creek arm. This shallow-water flat used to be endowed with glorious patches of coontail, which is where we caught and released scores and scores of largemouth bass in the heat of many summers and the cold of many winters.

In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 7:43 a.m. to 9:43 a.m., 8:07 p.m. to 10:07 p.m., and 1:31 a.m. to 3:31 a.m.

We made our first casts at 10:00 a.m. and our last ones at 2:00 p.m.

We tangled with 57 largemouth bass, three green sunfish, three bluegill, and two warmouth.

One of the 57 largemouth bass was caught on a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Finesse WormZ affixed on a blue 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig. One largemouth bass was caught on a three-inch Z-Man’s The Deal Slim SwimZ affixed to a baby-blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Three of the 57 were caught on a Z-Man’s bama-bug TRD BugZ affixed to a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Three of the 57 were caught on a slightly shortened 4.75-inch Z-Man’s purple-haze Finesse WormZ affixed to a baby-blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Three of the 57 were caught on a slightly shortened 4.75-inch Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse WormZ affixed to a baby-blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Forty-six of the 57 largemouth bass were caught on a three-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ affixed to either a red 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead or a red 3/32-ounce mushroom-style jig.

We caught four largemouth bass along the shoreline of the dam. Its shoreline has about a 60-degree slope. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders. A few piles of brush also enhance the underwater terrain. Portions of the water’s edge are lined with patches of American water willows. A concrete outlet tower is situated near the west end of the dam. Wads of filamentous algae adhere to some of the American water willows, the outlet tower, piles of brush, and the rocks and boulders along the underwater terrain. Three of the four largemouth bass were caught on the purple-haze Finesse WormZ rig with a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation around wads of filamentous algae. One largemouth bass was caught on the initial drop of the TRD BugZ rig near a patch of American water willows in about four feet of water.

Eleven largemouth bass were caught along about a 400-yard stretch of a main-lake shoreline in the upper half of this reservoir. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, boulders, and one of the flatter shorelines is laden with silt. This shoreline has a 15- to 45-degree slope. The water’s edge is adorned with several patches of American water willows, some overhanging trees, 10 docks, several concrete retaining walls, a stone bridge, occasional piles of brush, and a few laydowns. Wads of filamentous algae coated many yards of the shoreline – especially along its shallow-water areas.

One of the 11 largemouth bass was caught on the green-pumpkin Finesse WormZ rig on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in about three feet of water adjacent to the stone bridge. Two of the 11 were caught on the TDR BugZ rig on the initial drop in about three feet of water along the outside edge of the wads of filamentous algae. Three were caught on the Junebug Finesse WormZ with a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in four to six feet of water; one was caught around wads of filamentous algae in about four feet of water, and two were caught near the outside edges of some patches of American water willows. Five were caught on the green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ rig with a swimming presentation; one was caught adjacent to one of the docks in about five feet of water; the others were caught around wads of filamentous algae in three to four feet of water.

Forty of the 57 largemouth bass were caught across a large shallow-water flat in the back of this reservoir’s primary feeder-creek arm. Innumerable wads of filamentous algae adorn significant segments of this shallow-water flat, which used to be festooned with patches of coontail. In other words, the patches of filamentous algae have replaced the patches of coontail, and a significant number of largemouth bass were abiding in and around the wads of filamentous algae. This was the first time in our lives that we searched for and ardently fished around patches of filamentous algae. If the managers of this reservoir hadn’t deemed the coontail as an unattractive menace and removed it, it is likely that we would not have discovered the piscatorial virtues of filamentous algae. Now, instead of castigating it, which we often did, we have begun to relish it.

We began dissecting the patches of filamentous algae on this flat around 11:10 a.m. At that time, most of the wads of the filamentous algae were not visible. They were lying almost horizontal to the bottom of the flat. But by 12:30 p.m., the wads had ascended well above the bottom, and many of them were absolutely vertical and within several inches from the surface.

These 40 largemouth bass were caught in three to six feet of water. One was caught on the Z-Man's The Deal Slim SwimZ rig. Thirty-nine were caught on our Z-Man's green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ rigs. Most were caught while we were employing a swimming presentation, but a few were caught on the initial drop of our rigs. We elicited numerous strikes that we failed to hook, and on some retrieves, we elicited as many as three strikes.

We spent a few minutes searching for wads of filamentous algae and fishing along another flat shoreline in the upper half of this reservoir. During this endeavor, we failed to find any bountiful wads of filamentous algae, and we struggled to catch two largemouth bass. They were caught on our Z-Man's green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ rigs with a swimming presentation. One was caught around some wads of filamentous algae in about three feet of water. The second was caught near the outside edge of a patch of American water willows on a secondary point.

For decades, stretching back to the 1960s when we spent a lot of days and nights fishing at the Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, Rick has been the family’s master at wielding a curly-tail, twister-tail, boot-tail, or paddle-tail grub, and we categorize Z-Man’s Slim SwimZ as a grub. And Rick exhibited his masterfulness once again on this outing.

Sept. 24

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Sept. 24 outing with his grandson Brady Cayton of Lawrence at one of northeastern Kansas' state reservoirs.

Here is an edited version of their log.

The National Weather Service reported that it was 50 degrees at 6:52 a.m. and 91 degrees at 2:52 p.m. The wind was calm for many hours, and when it stirred, it angled out of the northwest, west, and southwest at 3 to 12 mph. The sky was foggy until 8:52 a.m., and then it became fair. The barometric pressure was 29.97 at 12:52 a.m., 29.97 at 5:52 a.m., 29.98 at 11:52 a.m., and 29.92 at 2:52 p.m.

The water level looked to be about normal. The surface temperature ranged from 75 to 76 degrees. The water exhibited from five to six feet of visibility.

In-Fisherman's solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 9:49 a.m. to 11:49 a.m., 10:11 p.m. to 12:11 a.m., and 3:38 a.m. to 5:38 a.m.

We made our first casts at about 12:25 a.m. and we made our last ones when Brady caught largemouth bass number 40 at 2:30 p.m. By the way, he caught our first one on his third cast.

Brady with largemouth bass number 40.

Five of the 40 largemouth bass were caught on a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin-goby Finesse TRD affixed to a baby-blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Thirty-five largemouth bass were caught on a slightly shortened 4.75-inch Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse WormZ rigged on either a baby-blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead or a chartreuse 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ Jighead.

We spent this entire outing dissecting two massive shallow-water flats in the back of two of this reservoir’s major feeder-creek arms.

We caught 28 largemouth bass across a shallow-water flat inside one of the major feeder-creek arms. This flat is about the size of three football fields. It is endowed with an island that is embellished with American water willows. Its shorelines are also adorned with magnificent patches of American water willows. We focused on offshore locales that were covered with four to eight feet of water and embellished with patches of coontail, brittle naiad, and some manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees. A submerged creek channel meanders across the middle of this flat.

Five of the 28 largemouth bass were caught on the Finesse TRD rig. Twenty-three were caught on our Finesse WormZ rigs. Six largemouth bass were caught on the initial drop of our rigs, and the others were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation. They were caught in four to eight feet of water.

Across a massive shallow-water flat in the back of another major feeder-creek arm, we caught 12 largemouth bass. We estimated that this flat is about the size of four football fields. One of those football fields is encompassed by a gigantic patch of American lotus, which many of us mistakenly describe as water lilies. Its shorelines are lined with American water willows that are embellished with patches of brittle naiad and several laydowns. Two submerged creek channels crisscross parts of this flat. Other areas of this flat are adorned with manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees.

We fished along the outside edge of the patch of American lotus, across and around and over an area about the size of two football fields, and along about a 25-yard stretch of a shoreline.

We caught 11 largemouth bass around two patches of submerged coontail in five to 6 ½ feet of water, and one largemouth bass was caught in about four feet of water around a patch of brittle naiad and about five feet from the outside edge of a patch of American water willows.

Our Junebug Finesse WormZ rigs caught these 12 largemouth bass. Two were caught on the initial drop of our rigs. The others were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation.

Sept. 26

Pat and Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about their Sept. 26 outing at one of northeastern Kansas’ many community reservoirs.

Here is an edited version of their log.

The National Weather Service reported that it was 46 degrees at 6:53 a.m. and 77 degrees at 1:53 p.m. The wind was calm from 12:53 a.m. to 7:53 a.m., and then it angled out of the west, northwest, and west at 3 to 20 mph. The sky was fair. The barometric pressure was 30.11 at 12:53 a.m., 30.15 at 5:53 a.m., 30.16 at 11:53 a.m., and 30.16 at 1:53 p.m.

The water level looked to be about one foot below normal. The water was afflicted by an algae bloom, which affected the visibility, measuring on our Secchi stick at 2 ½ to three feet of visibility. The surface temperature was 73 degrees.

In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 10:50 a.m. to 12:50 p.m., 11:16 p.m. to 1:16 a.m., and 5:05 a.m. to 7:05 a.m.

We made our first casts at 11:06 a.m., and our last ones at 1:15 p.m.

We caught eight smallmouth bass and 18 largemouth bass.

One of these 26 black bass was caught on a slightly shortened 4.75-inch Z-Man’s purple-haze Finesse WormZ affixed to a chartreuse 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ Jighead. One of the 26 was caught on a Z-Man’s California-craw TRD HogZ affixed to a baby-blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Two were caught on a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin-goby FinesseTRD affixed to a baby-blue 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ Jighead. Seven were caught on a slightly shortened 4.75-inch Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse WormZ affixed to a baby-blue 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ Jighead. Seventeen were caught on a slightly shortened 4.75-inch Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse WormZ affixed to a baby-blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.

We caught three largemouth bass and three smallmouth bass along an offshore rock-and-boulder fence. One was caught on the TRD HogZ rig with a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in about five feet of water. Two were caught on our Finesse TRD rig with a drag-and-shake presentation in about four to six feet of water. Three were caught on the Junebug Finesse WormZ and baby-blue 1/16-ounce jig with a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in four to six feet of water.

Along another offshore rock-and-boulder fence, we caught one largemouth bass on the initial drop of the purple-haze Finesse WormZ rig in about five feet of water.

Both of these submerged fences are located in the lower quarter of this reservoir.

Around a main-lake point in the lower third of this reservoir, we caught two largemouth bass. This point possesses a 40- to 45-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders. Its water edge is lined with significant patches of American water willows. Both of the largemouth bass were caught on the Junebug Finesse WormZ and baby-blue 1/16-ounce jig with a drag-and-sake presentation in about six feet of water and 12 feet from the outside edge of the patches of American water willows.

Around another main-lake point in the lower third of this reservoir, we caught four largemouth bass and four smallmouth bass. This point possesses about a 45-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, boulders, and a pile of concrete blocks. Its water edge is lined with patches of American water willows and several laydowns. All of these fish were caught on the Junebug Finesse WormZ and baby-blue 1/16-ounce jig. Two were caught on the initial drop of our rigs in about five feet of water. Three were caught on a drag-and-shake presentation in six to seven feet of water. The other three were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in three to about six feet of water.

Around a main-lake point in the upper half of this reservoir, we caught two largemouth bass. This point has a 40- to 60-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders. Its water edge is lined with patches of American water willows, some overhanging trees and terrestrial vegetation, a few piles of brush, and several laydowns. Both largemouth bass were caught on Junebug Finesse WormZ and baby-blue 1/16-ounce jig with a slow swimming presentation in about four to five feet of water.

Around another main-lake point in the upper half of the reservoir, we caught one smallmouth bass and six largemouth bass. This shoreline has a 45- to 55-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders. Its water edge is lined with patches of American water willows, some overhanging, and two laydowns. These black bass were caught on the Finesse WormZ and baby-blue Micro Finesse ShroomZ Jighead with a drag-and-shake presentation in about three to six feet of water.

Throughout this two-hour-and-nine-minute outing, we elicited numerous strikes that we failed to hook. Several retrieves elicited as many as three strikes. On some of those strikes, we hooked a fish, but within a couple of seconds, the fish ejected our rigs.

During the past several years, this reservoir has become one of our netherworld waterways. Therefore, we rarely fish it. The reason for this affliction stems from the fact that it has been stricken with the largemouth bass virus, several significant algae blooms, and many applications of aquatic herbicides that have ruined the habitats that the largemouth bass and smallmouth bass used to thrive in and around. The removal-of-aquatic-vegetation phenomenon has afflicted several of our community reservoirs. But the managers of these reservoirs castigate the vegetation, calling it weeds rather than a habitat to shelter the fish. And the demise of the vegetation has made these reservoirs trying waterways for us to catch largemouth bass and smallmouth bass.

Even though we caught an average of slightly more than 12 black bass an hour on this outing, it was nowhere near as fruitful as most of our outings used to be before the vegetation was eradicated. Thus, we are continuing to hope that the managers of all of our reservoirs will learn how to cultivate and properly maintain aquatic vegetation without using herbicides and grass carp.

Sept. 28

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

Here is an unedited version of their log.

The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 51 degrees, and the afternoon’s high temperature was 72 degrees. The wind angled out of the northeast and east at 7 to 21 mph. The sky was fair. The barometric pressure was 30.36 at 12:53 a.m., 30.35 at 5:53 a.m., 30.41 at 11:53 a.m., and 30.38 at 1:53 p.m.

The water level looked to be a touch below normal. The surface temperature ranged from 71 to 72 degrees. Our Secchi stick indicated the water exhibited from three to almost four feet of visibility. Significant wads of filamentous algae cluttered the water’s edges of many of the shorelines and much of a shallow-water flat in the upper reaches of this reservoir’s primary feeder-creek arm.

In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 12:28 a.m. to 2:28 a.m., 12:52 p.m. to 2:52 p.m., and 6:40 a.m. to 8:40 a.m.

We made our first casts at 10:00 a.m. and our last ones at 2:00 p.m.

We tangled with 56 largemouth bass, two green sunfish, two bluegill, and one white bass. None of these specimens would impress lunker hunters and tournament anglers who are hoping to tangle with five large black bass. But we had one humongous fish break our line, and another one battled us for several minutes before it liberated itself; we suspect these brutes were carp. And eliciting a lot of strikes and tangling with 14 largemouth bass an hour brings a lot of joy to us old codgers.

We caught six largemouth bass along the shoreline of the dam. Its shoreline has about a 60-degree slope. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders. A few piles of brush also enhance the underwater terrain. Portions of the water’s edge are lined with patches of American water willows. A concrete outlet tower is situated near the west end of the dam. Wads of filamentous algae adhere to some of the American water willows, the outlet tower, piles of brush, and some of the shallow-water rocks and boulders. Three of the largemouth bass were caught on a slightly shortened 4.75-inch Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse WormZ affixed to a baby-blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Two were caught on a slightly shortened 4.75-inch Z-Man’s purple-haze Finesse WormZ affixed to a blue 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig. One was caught on a Z-Man’s purple-rain Finesse TRD affixed to a baby-blue 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ Jighead. These largemouth bass were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in about four to seven feet of water.

One largemouth bass was caught around a tertiary point adjacent to the spillway. It has about a 25-degree slope. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders. The shoreline is embellished with a patch of American water willows. This largemouth bass was caught on the initial drop of the Junebug Finesse WormZ rig near the outside edge of the American water willows in about three feet of water.

Along an offshore ledge and hump, we caught three largemouth bass. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and humongous boulders. One largemouth bass was caught on a 2 ½-inch section of the posterior of a Z-Man’s Junebug FattyZ affixed to a red 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig. Two were caught on the Junebug Finesse WormZ rig. These bass were caught on a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation in four to six feet of water.

Around four main-lake points and along a massive shoreline that stretches from the middle section of this reservoir well into its upper section, we caught 20 largemouth bass. The underwater terrain of this area consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders. This shoreline has a 15- to 50-degree slope. The water’s edge is adorned with occasional patches of American water willows, some overhanging trees, a meager patch of duckweeds, dozens of docks, concrete retaining walls, rock retaining walls, a stone bridge, occasional piles of brush, and a few laydowns. Wads of filamentous algae coated many yards of the shoreline – especially along its shallow-water areas. One largemouth bass was caught on a Z-Man’s California-craw TRD TicklerZ affixed to a red 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig. Two were caught on a Z-Man’s meat-dog Finesse ShadZ affixed to a baby-blue 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ Jighead. Eight were caught on the FattyZ rig. Nine were caught on the Junebug Finesse WormZ rig. One was caught on an accidental deadstick presentation in about five feet of water. Two were caught on the initial drop of our rigs in about four feet of water. Three were caught as we were strolling and employing a drag-and-shake presentation in six to eight feet of water. The other 14 were caught while we were employing a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in about four to seven feet of water.

Twenty-six largemouth bass were caught across a large shallow-water flat in the back of this reservoir’s primary feeder-creek arm. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and silt, and it is festooned with massive wads and patches of filamentous algae.

Most of the 26 largemouth bass were caught just inside the outside edge and along the deeper portions of wads of filamentous algae. This area was about the size of three tennis courts. They were caught in about four to five feet of water.

One of the 26 largemouth bass was caught on a Z-Man’s pearl Finesse ShadZ affixed to a baby-blue 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ Jighead with a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in about four feet of water. Three were caught on the purple-rain Finesse TRD rig with a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in about four to five feet of water. Twenty-three were caught on a three-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ affixed to either a red 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead or a red 3/32-ounce mushroom-style jig. Four were caught on the initial drop of these rigs, and 19 were caught on a swimming presentation.

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’ community reservoirs.

Here is an edited version of his log.

The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 41 degrees, and the afternoon’s high temperature was 78 degrees. The wind angled out of the east and southeast at 3 to 20 mph. The sky was fair. The barometric pressure was 30.19 at 12:52 a.m., 30.21 at 5:52 a.m., 30.18 at 11:52 a.m., and 30.10 at 2:52 p.m.

The water level looked to be normal. There were about two feet of visibility. The surface temperature ranged from 70 to 71 degrees.

In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 2:23 a.m. to 4:23 a.m., 2:52 p.m. to 4:52 p.m., and 8:38 a.m. to 10:38 a.m.

It needs to be noted that this was a venture to another one of northeastern Kansas' netherworld community reservoirs.

During the second decade of the 21st century, the managers of this reservoir have wreaked havoc by spraying numerous applications of aquatic herbicides on the habitat that the largemouth bass relish. And it has adversely affected the largemouth bass fishing for Midwest finesse anglers and our power-fishing brothers and sisters. For example, it was possible 10 years ago to catch and release as many as 102 largemouth bass in three hours, but it was a struggle to catch and release 25 in three hours and 21 minutes on this Sept. 30 outing.

Besides those 25 largemouth bass, I accidentally caught one crappie, two wipers, two channel catfish, two bluegill, and 13 green sunfish.

I made my first cast at 10:59 a.m. and the last one when I caught largemouth bass number 25 at 2:20 p.m.

From 10:59 a.m. to 1:33 p.m., I fished along two shorelines and across a shallow-water flat inside a large feeder-creek arm in the lower portion of this reservoir.

I caught six largemouth bass along a 250-yard section of one of these shorelines. It has a 20- to 40-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, boulders, and some silt. This terrain is endowed with several stumps. A submerged creek channel borders parts of this shoreline. At a few of the shallower and flatter locales, there are some meager patches of submerged aquatic vegetation that have somehow survived the many applications of aquatic herbicides. The water’s edge is lined with significant patches of American water willows, one dock, one overhanging tree, and one concrete ramp.

Along the steeper sections of this shoreline, one largemouth bass was caught on a Z-Man’s meat-dog Finesse ShadZ affixed to a baby-blue 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ Jighead with a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation in about 3 ½ feet of water near the outside edge of a patch of American water willows. Another largemouth bass was caught on a slightly shortened 4.75-inch Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse WormZ affixed to a baby-blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead with a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in about five feet of water and about six feet from the outside edge of another patch of American water willows and around some boulders.

Along the flatter sections of this shoreline, I caught three largemouth bass on a 3 ½-inch Z-Man’s pearl GrubZ affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s NedlockZ HD jig with a swimming presentation in two to three feet of water near the outside edges of the patches of American water willows and amongst some meager patches of Eurasian milfoil.

Along about a 150-yard section of the other shoreline, I caught 10 largemouth bass. This shoreline has a 15- to 45-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, boulders, and some silt. There is one offshore ridge of boulders and rocks gracing this terrain. It is endowed with four tertiary points. The water’s edge is embellished with patches of American water willows, some overhanging trees, laydowns, minor piles of brush, and a few scanty patches of Eurasian milfoil.

Four largemouth bass were caught along the shallower and flatter portions of this shoreline on the GrubZ rig with a swimming presentation in 2 1/2 to three feet of water adjacent to the patches of milfoil. Two were caught around two of the tertiary points.

Six were caught on the Finesse ShadZ rig. Two were caught on the initial drop, and four were caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation. These largemouth bass were caught near the patches of American water willows and under the overhanging trees.

From 12:50 p.m. to 1:14 p.m., I quickly fished along about a 200-yard section of a shoreline inside a large feeder-creek arm in the upper half of this reservoir. This shoreline has a 15- to 50-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, boulders, and silt. The silt is quite intense along a 50-yard portion of this shoreline. It is endowed with one tertiary point. The water’s edge is adorned with patches of American water willows, overhanging trees, stumps, laydowns, and piles of brush. Small and sickly-looking patches of Eurasian milfoil adorn some of the stumps, laydowns, piles of brush, and the outside edges of the patches of American water willows on the silt-laden and flatter portions of this shoreline.

The GrubZ rig caught six largemouth bass with a swimming presentation in two to three feet of water around the patches of Eurasian milfoil, stumps, piles of brush, and outside edges of the patches of American water willows.

I spent the final 66 minutes of this outing probing two shallow-water shorelines and a small segment of a shallow-water flat in the back of this reservoir’s primary feeder-creek arm. The shorelines have a 15- to 30-degree slope. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, boulders, and silt. The silt is extremely dense across most of the shallow-water flat. The water’s edges are lined with occasional patches of American water willows, several laydowns, some piles of brush, numerous overhanging trees, and 22 docks.

Ten years ago, the underwater terrain at this locale was graced with an array of submerged aquatic vegetation: bushy pondweeds, coontail, curly-leaf pondweeds, and Eurasian milfoil. It was a heavenly place (deleted a period) where we could catch and release oodles of largemouth bass throughout the calendar year.

On this outing, however, I failed to find a patch of bushy pondweeds, coontail, curly-leaf pondweeds, and Eurasian milfoil. What’s more, even some of the patches of American water willows have been eradicated. Consequently, it was a struggle to catch three largemouth bass inside this once bountiful feeder-creek arm. They were caught on the GrubZ rig with a swimming presentation around some of the piles of brush and laydowns.

During this outing, I learned once again by fishing another one of our netherworld reservoirs that it is essential for the managers of our reservoirs to learn how to cultivate submerged aquatic vegetation and to properly maintain them manually rather than using herbicides and grass carp to eradicate the vegetation. And not to justify using herbicides by saying that some of these aquatic plants are invasive species. To help our managers to achieve a better understanding of the value of invasive species, I recommend that they read Fred Pearce’s book entitled “The New Wild: Why Invasive Species Will Be Nature’s Salvation.”