Ned Kehde: Guide to Midwest Finesse Fishing: Jan-Feb 2026

Jan. 5

Ned and Pat Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about their conjugal and octogenarian outing on Jan. 5 at a 63-year-old and heavily fished state reservoir in northeastern Kansas.

The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 33 degrees. The afternoon’s high temperature was 59 degrees. The wind angled out of the southeast, east, south, and southwest at 6 to 14 mph; there was one gust of wind that registered 20 mph.  The conditions of the sky were foggy, misty, overcast, partly cloudy, and fair. The barometric pressure was 29.84 at 12:52 a.m., 29.81 at 5:52 a.m., 29.73 at 11:52 a.m., and 29.63 at 3:52 p.m.

The water level looked to be about 3 1/2 feet below normal. The surface temperature ranged from 39 to 40 degrees. According to our nine-foot push pole, which we call our Secchi stick, the water exhibited more than nine feet of clarity.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would occur from 11:35 a.m. to 1:35 p.m., 12:03 p.m. to 2:03 p.m., and 5:49 a.m. to 7:49 a.m.

Five days ago, Ned tried to fish this reservoir, but its most fruitful wintertime locale was covered with ice, and it was a struggled for him to catch two largemouth bass in one hour and nine minutes.

Today’s outing was a tad shorter than the iced-covered one on Dec. 31. Our primary focus was to see if the ice had melted, and we were delighted to see that it had.  We made our first casts at 2:59 p.m. and our last ones at 3:59 p.m. During these 60 minutes, we caught and quickly released 13 largemouth bass, which was a catch rate of about one every four minutes and 40 seconds.

Five of the 13 largemouth bass were caught on a slightly shortened Z-Man’s purple-death TRD TicklerZ affixed to a 1/15-ounce red Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. Eight largemouth bass were caught on a Z-Man’s bumblebee Micro TRD affixed to a 1/15-ounce red Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. We failed to elicit a strike on a Z-Man’s hot-snakes Finesse TRD affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jighead and a three-inch Z-Man’s bad-shad Slim SwimZ affixed to a 1/15-ounce baby-blue Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig; this jighead was painted with a baby-blue fingernail polish.

 The Z-Man’s bumblebee Micro TRD rig is at the top of this photograph. The Z-Man’s purple-death TRD TicklerZ rig is at the bottom.

These largemouth bass were caught across an offshore section of a shallow-water flat in the back of this reservoir’s primary feeder-creek arm. This flat is the size of many football fields.

We spent the entire hour searching for patches of submerged aquatic vegetation in which many largemouth bass dwell throughout the winter. This massive flat used to be endowed with vast numbers of coontail patches and some patches of sago pondweeds. But on this outing, it was a struggle to find a few winter-wilted patches of coontail and sago pondweeds. The patches we found were in an area about the size of two football fields.

The underwater terrain of this shallow-water flat consists primarily of silt. It is littered with numerous piles of eastern red cedar trees; a few of these piles of eastern red cedar trees are entwined with patches of coontail. A submerged creek channel twists and turns along portions of its western, southern, and northern edges.

Two of the largemouth bass were caught around two eastern red cedar trees in about five feet of water. The other 11 were associated with patches of coontail in about four to six feet of water. They were caught as we employed a slow swim-and-pause presentation, which allowed our Midwest finesse rigs to subtly tickle the tops of the coontail patches and eastern red cedar trees.

During the past three years, Midwest finesse anglers have become worried and disheartened that the shallow-water flats in the backs of this reservoir’s five feeder-creek arms are no longer graced with magnificent patches of coontail from which these anglers used to catch and release substantial numbers of largemouth bass in winters past. Nowadays, the only patches of submerged aquatic vegetation that enhance this reservoir's shallow-water flats during the winter are the ones that we fished on this outing.

Unfortunately, the demise of the coontail patches is a phenomenon that is plaguing several of northeastern Kansas’ community and state reservoirs.  Here is hoping that the managers of these reservoirs can find a way to cultivate and manually maintain scores of offshore patches of coontail or other types of aquatic vegetation that largemouth bass will inhabit throughout the calendar year.

Jan. 6

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his short outing with his grandson Nicholas Cox of San Antonio, Texas, on Jan. 6 at a 63-year-old and heavily fished state reservoir in northeastern Kansas.

The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 23 degrees. The afternoon’s high temperature was 61 degrees. The wind was calm, and when it stirred, it blew from the northwest and west at 5 to 13 mph.  The conditions of the sky were foggy, misty, freezing fog, and fair. The barometric pressure was 29.69 at 12:52 a.m., 29.73 at 5:52 a.m., 29.84 at 11:52 a.m., and 29.84 at 4:52 p.m.

The water level looked to be about 3 1/2 feet below normal. The surface temperature was 39 degrees. According to our nine-foot push pole, which we refer to as our Secchi stick, the water exhibited more than nine feet of clarity.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would occur from 12:35 a.m. to 2:35 p.m., 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., and 6:49 a.m. to 8:47 a.m.

To our surprise, we were the only anglers afloat, which is a rare phenomenon at this exurban waterway.

We made our first casts at 4:15 p.m. and our last ones at 5:00 p.m. During these 45 minutes, we struggled to catch five largemouth bass. Three of the five were caught during the first 10 minutes of this short outing.

Four of the five largemouth bass were caught on a Z-Man’s bumblebee Micro TRD affixed to a 1/15-ounce red Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. One was caught on a shortened Z-Man’s twilight Finesse TRD affixed to a baby-blue 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jighead. We failed to elicit a strike on a Z-Man’s purple-death TRD TicklerZ affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig.

These largemouth bass were caught across an offshore section of a shallow-water flat in the back of this reservoir’s primary feeder-creek arm. This flat is the size of many football fields. And it is the same flat that Pat and Ned Kehde fished on Jan. 5 and caught 13 largemouth bass in 60 minutes.

The underwater terrain of this shallow-water flat consists primarily of silt. It is littered with numerous piles of eastern red cedar trees; a few of these piles of eastern red cedar trees are entwined with patches of coontail. A submerged creek channel twists and turns along portions of its western, southern, and northern edges. The edge of the flat along portions of the submerged creek channel is cluttered with dozens of piles of eastern red cedar trees.

Two of the largemouth bass were caught around two of the eastern red cedar trees in about five feet of water along the edge of the submerged creek channel. The other three were caught around patches of coontail in about four to six feet of water.

They were caught as we employed a swim-and-pause presentation, which allowed our Midwest finesse rigs to swim along and through the tops of the coontail patches and piles of eastern red cedar trees.

A few gizzard shad were dimpling the surface above patches of sago pondweeds and coontail, but we failed to catch a largemouth bass around those dimples.

This outing was another example of how the largemouth bass fishing in northeastern Kansas has gone awry since the middle of November.

Jan. 7

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his short outing with his grandson Nicholas Cox of San Antonio, Texas, on Jan. 7 at a 93-year-old and heavily fished state reservoir in northeastern Kansas.

The National Weather Service reported the morning’s low temperature was 21 degrees. The afternoon’s high was 53 degrees. The wind was calm for the first 10 hours of Jan. 7; during the afternoon hours, it angled out of the south at 10 to 15 mph with some gusts of 20 to 24 mph.  The sky was fair. The barometric pressure was 29.87 at 12:52 a.m., 29.87 at 5:52 a.m., 29.85 at 12:52 p.m., and 29.76 at 3:52 p.m.

The water level looked to be about three feet below normal. The water exhibited more than 12 feet of clarity. The surface temperature fluctuated from 39 to 40 degrees. The submerged patches of curly-leaf pondweeds are slowly growing. The submerged patches of coontail are exhibiting their wintertime flaccidness. The patches of brittle naiad are wilted and dying.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 1:30 a.m. to 3:30 a.m., 1:52 p.m. to 3:32 p.m., and 7:41a.m. to 9:41 a.m.  

There were two other anglers afloat. Both were power anglers. We conversed with them. One had been afloat from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and he struggled to catch four largemouth bass, which were caught in about nine to 11 feet of water around submerged patches of aquatic vegetation. His forward-facing-sonar unit detected some largemouth bass hovering and swimming from several inches to a foot above the patches of submerged vegetation, but he was unable to lure them. The other angler probed deep-water lairs, which are rock-and-boulder laden and endowed with manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees, and he failed to elicit a strike. Both complained about how difficult the largemouth bass fishing has been during the latter parts of the fall of 2025 and the first weeks of the winter of 2026.

We made our first casts at 2:37 p.m. and our last ones at 3:59 p.m. During this hour and 22 minutes, we struggled to catch seven largemouth bass and one crappie.

One of the seven largemouth bass was caught on a Z-Man’s bumblebee Micro TRD affixed to a 1/15-ounce red Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. Two were caught on a shortened Z-Man’s purple-death TRD TicklerZ affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jighead. Four were caught on a slightly shortened Z-Man’s hot-snakes Finesse TRD affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jighead.

Across a massive flat inside one of this reservoir's two primary feeder-creek arms, we struggled to catch two largemouth bass.  This flat is the size of many football fields. It is endowed with four submerged creek channels, a tiny island embellished with a meager patch of winter-dead American water willows, several humps, and a few minor ledges. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, boulders, and silt. Portions of the submerged creek channels are silt-laden. Coontail, curly-leaf pondweeds, and many manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees adorn the underwater terrains of this massive flat.  One largemouth bass was caught on the bumblebee Micro TRD rig with a slow swim-and-pause presentation that grazed across the tops of patches of submerged aquatic vegetation in about eight feet of water. The second largemouth bass was allured by the purple-death TRD TicklerZ rig with a slow swim-and-pause presentation near the edge of one of the submerged creek channels and around patches of coontail and curly-leaf pondweeds.    

Inside this reservoir’s second primary feeder-creek arm, we fished along a short section of its two secondary shorelines and across portions of its massive shallow-water flat. It yielded one largemouth bass along a section that is endowed with a submerged creek channel. The underwater terrain of this shoreline consists of gravel, rocks, boulders, and silt, which are adorned with occasional patches of coontail and curly-leaf pondweeds. The slope of this section of shoreline is about 40 degrees. This largemouth bass was enticed by the hot-snakes Finesse TRD rig with an extremely slow swim-and-pause presentation in about seven feet of water.  

In the back of this primary feeder-creek arm, we fished across a small portion of its massive shallow-water flat. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, boulders, and silt.  It is about the size of five football fields, and about 10 percent of this flat is endowed with numerous stems of winter-dead American lotus plants; some portions of the underwater terrain are endowed with patches of coontail and curly-leaf pondweeds. Manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees embellish some of the underwater terrain. Two submerged creek channels, which are somewhat silt-laden, crisscross this flat. We caught one largemouth bass on the purple-death TRD TicklerZ rig with a swim-glide-and-subtle-shake presentation in about eight feet of water around patches of coontail and curly-leaf pondweeds. The hot-snakes Finesse TRD rig with a slow swim-and-pause presentation caught two largemouth bass around patches of coontail in about 10 to 11 feet of water, and another two were inveigled in seven to eight feet of water around patches of coontail and curly-leaf pondweeds.

This was Nicholas’ last outing hereabouts this winter. He will return to northeastern Kansas this coming summer to enjoy less puzzling and more fruitful largemouth bass fishing.

Jan. 9 

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Jan. 9 outing with Todd Judy of Denton. 

From about 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Todd and I fished for four of these five hours at three community reservoirs that are situated east of Denton. This was our first outing in 2026.  

January has been warmer than usual, and the delightfully sunny weather felt more like March than January. The average high temperature for January 9 in north-central Texas is 55 degrees, and the average low is 34 degrees. By noon, we had discarded our hoodies and jackets and were relishing the warm sunshine. The sky conditions fluctuated from being partly cloudy to mostly cloudy. The morning low temperature was 44 degrees. The afternoon high temperature climbed to 68 degrees. A light wind quartered out of the west-by-southwest at 4 to 6 mph. The barometric pressure dropped from 30.01 at 10:00 a.m. to 29.94 at 3:00 p.m. 

According to In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar, fishing would be poor on Jan. 9 with the most lucrative fishing periods taking place from 3:15 a.m. to 5:15 a.m., 9:26 a.m. to 11:26 a.m., and 3:36 p.m. to 5:36 p.m.

At the first community reservoir, the water was stained and exhibited about 18 inches of clarity. The water level appeared to be about a foot low. We were surprised and encouraged to discover that the water temperature was 57 degrees.

The west shoreline of this reservoir has a slope of 15  to 25 degrees. It also encompasses a concrete culvert and a shallow ditch that extends from the center section of the shoreline and courses through the center of the impoundment. This shoreline is also endowed with a shallow sand-and-gravel ledge that protrudes about 10 feet from the water’s edge. What’s more, this ledge festoons the entire impoundment, and most of it is covered with thick patches of submerged hydrilla and filamentous algae. 

The north shoreline is the steepest of the four with 25- to 30-degree inclines. The east and south shorelines are relatively flat and are embellished with scores of bald cypress tree knees, several tertiary points, and a couple of small brush piles. 

This impoundment’s bottom terrain consists of sand mixed with small pieces of gravel and rocks. 

This reservoir has been one of our most fruitful wintertime venues, and to our delight, we savored catching 17 largemouth bass in two hours. 

Along the west shoreline, we caught 11 largemouth bass in eight to 10 feet of water from an open water area about 30 to 40 feet away from the deep-water side of the shallow-water sand-and- gravel ledge. Six of the 11 largemouth bass were allured by a 2 3/4-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD TubeZ affixed on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead that was employed with a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick presentation. The deadstick portion of the presentation lasted from three to five seconds. Three more were caught on a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick receive with a Z-Man’s sprayed-grass TRD TicklerZ rigged on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. One largemouth bass engulfed a 4.75-inch Z-Man’s black-neon Finesse WormZ that was shortened to three inches and rigged on a red 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. This rig was utilized with a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick presentation. And one largemouth bass was enticed by a slow and steady swimming retrieve with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s green- pumpkin Slim SwimZ fastened on a chartreuse 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.   

The west end of the north shoreline yielded two largemouth bass. They were caught in about six feet of water and about 15 feet out from the shallow sand-and-gravel ledge. Both of them were caught on a slow swimming presentation with the 2 1/2-inch green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ rig. The remainder of this shoreline was fruitless.

We caught one largemouth bass from around a cluster of bald cedar tree knees and roots in the center section of the east shoreline. It was induced by the 2 3/4-inch green-pumpkin TRD TubeZ combo and a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick presentation.

The shallow and flat south shoreline surrendered three largemouth bass. They were associated with the outside edges of several clusters of cedar tree knees in three to four feet of water. They were caught on a slow swimming retrieve with the 2 1/2-inch green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ rig.

Todd Judy with one of the largemouth bass that we caught at the third reservoir.    

At the second reservoir, the fishing was a huge disappointment; we struggled to catch one largemouth bass. The water level appeared to be about a foot below normal pool and exhibited about 24 inches of visibility. The surface temperature was also 57 degrees. The submerged terrain consists of clay, small pieces of gravel, and a few scattered boulders. A couple of shallow-water areas along the south shoreline are adorned with small clusters of cypress-tree knees.

We shared this impoundment with a fly fisherman, who was dissecting the south shoreline of this impoundment. Thus, we focused our attention on the steeper north shoreline and a large patch of submerged baby pondweed on the west end of the north shoreline. The north shoreline has inclines that vary from 25 to 35 degrees. The other three shorelines are flat. 

This largemouth bass was abiding in four feet of water near a large patch of submerged baby pondweed that is situated close to the sand-and-gravel ledge. It was caught on the 2 3/4-inch green-pumpkin TRD TubeZ combo and a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick presentation. 

The third community reservoir that we fished has a submerged terrain that consists of clay, small pieces of gravel, and a few scattered boulders. It is devoid of any submerged aquatic vegetation. 

The water was stained and exhibited about 12 inches of visibility. The water level appeared to be about two feet low. The water temperature was 58 degrees. 

The fishing was trying at this reservoir, too; it yielded three largemouth bass that were extracted from five to eight feet of water. Two were caught from the ends of two prominent points in the lower end of the reservoir, and the third one was caught from the end of another point in the upper end of the impoundment. Two of them were snookered by a slow swimming retrieve with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s space-guppy Slim SwimZ matched with a 3/32-ounce chartreuse Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead,and the other one was enticed by a slow swim-and-constant-shake retrieve with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pumpkin-chartreuse ZinkerZ threaded on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. 

We failed to entice any strikes near a couple of small sand-and-gravel ledges, three tertiary points, a shallow flat, and inside a small cove in the lower and middle sections of the impoundment. 

In closing, it was a fruitful day of winter black bass fishing. We caught a total of 21 Florida-strain largemouth bass in five hours, which is a difficult feat to accomplish in north-central Texas during the winter months. Seventeen of these 21 bass were caught from the first reservoir, one was caught from the second impoundment, and three were caught from the third one.

We caught 17 of these 21 largemouth bass during the first two hours of this outing, and it was a grind to catch the other four bass during the last three hours.  

A 2 3/4-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD TubeZ affixed on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead was the most effective lure. A slow drag-shake-and-deadstick retrieve was the most effective presentation. 

Jan. 12

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his outing with Rick Hebenstreit of Shawnee, Kansas, on Jan. 12 at a 63-year-old and heavily fished state reservoir in northeastern Kansas.

The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 23 degrees. The afternoon’s high temperature was 57 degrees. The wind was calm for three hours, and at other times, it angled out of the southeast, southwest, west, and south at 3 to 8 mph. The sky was fair. The barometric pressure was 30.33 at 12:52 a.m., 30.27 at 5:52 a.m., 30.22 at 11:52 a.m., and 30.14 at 2:52 p.m.

The water level looked to be about 3 1/2 feet below normal. The surface temperature ranged from 39 to 40 degrees. According to our nine-foot push pole, which we call a Secchi stick, the water exhibited about nine feet of clarity.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would occur from 5:14 a.m. to 7:14 a.m., 5:36 p.m. to 7:36 p.m., and 11:02 a.m. to 1:02 p.m.

Ned fished this reservoir with Pat Kehde for one hour on Jan. 5, and they caught 13 largemouth bass. He fished it with Nicholas Cox for 45 minutes on Jan. 6, and they caught five largemouth bass.

Rick and I made our first casts at 11:33 a.m. and our last ones at 2.29 p.m. When we arrived, we were the only anglers afloat.   During these 176 minutes, we caught and quickly released 47 largemouth bass and six crappie.  This was a catch rate of slightly more than 15 largemouth bass per hour.

Four of the 47 largemouth bass were caught on a Z-Man’s bumblebee Micro TRD affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. Forty-three of the largemouth bass were caught on a Z-Man’s hot-snakes Finesse TRD affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jighead. A three-inch Z-Man’s bad-shad Slim SwimZ affixed to a baby-blue 1/15-ounce  Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig failed to elicit a strike.

These largemouth bass were caught across an offshore section of a shallow-water flat in the back of this reservoir’s primary feeder-creek arm. This flat is the size of many football fields.

We spent the entire outing crisscrossing, zigzagging, and circling around this flat as we dissected patches of winter-wilted coontail and sago pondweeds with our Midwest finesse rigs.

For the first 95 minutes, we were the only anglers plying this flat. During the last 81 minutes, two other anglers plied this area with us.

This massive flat used to be endowed with vast numbers of patches of coontail and sago pondweeds, and it was an easy task for eight bass anglers in four boats to comfortably and fruitfully fish this flat. Nowadays, many of those patches have disappeared. Therefore, it is not as comfortable and fruitful as it used to be. What’s more, most of the coontail patches elsewhere on this state reservoir have disappeared.  

The underwater terrain of this shallow-water flat consists primarily of silt. Besides the patches of coontail and sago pondweeds, it is littered with numerous piles of eastern red cedar trees; a few of these piles are entwined with patches of coontail. A submerged creek channel twists and turns along portions of its western, southern, and northern edges.

A few of the largemouth bass were caught around five of the eastern red cedar trees in about three to six feet of water. The other largemouth bass were around patches of coontail and sago pondweeds in about three to eight feet of water. They were caught in an area about the size of two football fields.

The bulk of the 47 largemouth bass were caught as we employed a slow swim-and-pause presentation, which allowed our Midwest finesse rigs to subtly tickle the tops of the patches of coontail, sago pondweeds, and eastern red cedar trees. Three were allured by a deadstick presentation. Two were caught as we were strolling with a swimming presentation. A few were caught as we employed three Midwest finesse retrieves: the drag-and-shake presentation, drag-and-pause presentation, and hop-and-bounce presentation.

In short, it was a surprisingly easy, warm, and fruitful January outing. But we are concerned about the demise of this reservoir’s submerged aquatic vegetation.  

Jan. 12

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his solo Jan. 12 outing at a community reservoir and a federal reservoir in north-central Texas.  

Jan. 12 was sunny and mild for January. The morning’s low temperature was 33 degrees, and the afternoon’s high was 65 degrees. The wind was light and variable, and at times, it was calm. The barometric pressure fluctuated from 30.44 at 12:00 p.m. to 30.32 at 4:00 p.m.

According to In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar, the optimum fishing periods would take place from 5:21 a.m. to 7:21 a.m., 11:10 a.m. to 1:10 p.m., and 5:43 p.m. to 7:43 p.m. It also noted that fishing would be poor.

While walking around the shorelines of one community reservoir and one of several U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ hill-land reservoirs in north-central Texas, I fished from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. with mixed results.

I stopped at the community reservoir first, and upon my arrival, I was disheartened to find that the water was murkier than usual, with visibility ranging from 10 to 12 inches. The water temperature was 51 degrees, which is normal for this time of year. The water level was at its normal level.

I started fishing around the rock dam and concrete spillway on the south end of the reservoir. The bottom terrain along the base of the dam is covered with softball-size rocks, some clay, and some small gravel. I slowly dissected this area with several of Z-Man’s Midwest finesse offerings, but I failed to garner any strikes.

Next, I fished my way northward along the west shoreline, and it relinquished nine largemouth bass. This shoreline features three medium-sized patches of winter-dead water lilies, a shallow 30-yard-long clay-and-gravel ledge, two primary points, and three tertiary points. These nine largemouth bass were scattered along the clay-and-gravel ledge in four to six feet of water and about 15 to 20 feet from the water’s edge. Seven of these nine largemouth bass were allured by an extremely slow drag-and-deadstick presentation with a 4.75-inch Z-Man’s black-neon Finesse WormZ, which was shortened to three inches and rigged on a red 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. The other two largemouth bass were enticed by a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick retrieve with a 2 3/4-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD TubeZ affixed on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce OG Mushroom Jighead. The deadstick portions of these two retrieves lasted from five to seven seconds.

After that, I failed to elicit any strikes across a shallow mud flat that occupies most of the northern shoreline and along the eastern shoreline. The east shoreline has a 15- to 25-degree slope. It is endowed with two primary points, three tertiary points, and a shallow gravel-and-clay ledge.

After I finished fishing at the community reservoir, I drove a short distance to a state park situated along the shore of a major feeder-creek arm on the north end of a problematic U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ hill-land reservoir. Typically, we wait until late March or early April before we make our first jaunt to this reservoir each year because it has a terrible reputation for being extremely stingy with its Florida-strain largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, and spotted bass during the winter months. But this outing was a bit of a surprise.

I concentrated on a minuscule portion of a major feeder-creek arm in the north end of the reservoir, which has a steep shoreline that is about 40 yards long with water as deep as 32 feet next to it. This section of shoreline possesses two small secondary points and several stair-step rock ledges that parallel this section of shoreline between the two secondary points. The submerged terrain at this locale consists of clay, small gravel, baseball-size rocks, and some scattered boulders. There isn’t any aquatic vegetation in this reservoir.  

The water exhibited about 1 1/2 feet of visibility. The water temperature along this stretch of shoreline was 56 degrees, which is unusually warm for January.

I slowly probed the stair-step rock ledges, but I failed to elicit any strikes from them.  

The two rocky secondary points are similar and have about 35-degree gradients. The first secondary point yielded five largemouth bass, and the second one surrendered one largemouth bass. These six bass were abiding in five to eight feet of water along the sides of the two secondary points. Four of these largemouth bass were induced by a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick presentation with a Z-Man’s Bama-Bug TRD BugZ matched with a chartreuse 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. The other two largemouth bass were attracted to the 2 3/4-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD TubeZ combo and a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick retrieve.

In closing, I caught nine largemouth bass at the community reservoir and six largemouth bass at the federal reservoir. I wielded a total of thirteen Z-Man Midwest finesse baits affixed on an array of colors and sizes of Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jigheads, and three of these combos were effective. Seven largemouth bass were allured by a three-inch Z-Man’s black-neon Finesse WormZ fastened on a red 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Four were caught on a 2 3/4-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD TubeZ rigged on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. And the other four largemouth bass engulfed a Z-Man’s Bama Bug TRD BugZ affixed on a chartreuse 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.

I experimented with several standard Midwest-finesse presentations and variations of those retrieves, such as the drag-and-deadstick, drag-shake-and-deadstick, swim-glide-and-shake, steady swim, swim-and-constant-shake, and hop-and-bounce retrieves. The only effective ones were the slow drag-shake-and-deadstick and the drag-and-deadstick presentations.

In our eyes, catching 15 Florida-strain largemouth bass during a three-hour outing in January is considered a decent outing in north-central Texas. In contrast, many bass anglers in north-central Texas will fish for six to eight hours in hopes of garnering one or two strikes an outing during the winter months, and many times, they return empty-handed.

 Jan. 13

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his outing at a 94-year-old state reservoir in northeastern Kansas on Jan. 13 with Rick Hebenstreit of Shawnee, Kansas.

The National Weather Service reported the morning’s low temperature was 30 degrees. The afternoon’s high was 55 degrees. The wind was calm for seven hours. At other times, it angled out of the northwest and west at 6 to 10 mph. The sky was fair, partly cloudy, and overcast. The barometric pressure was 30.01 at 12:52 a.m., 29.96 at 5:52 a.m., 29.92 at 12:52 p.m., and 28.87 at 1:52 p.m.

The water level looked to be about 3 1/2 feet below normal. The water exhibited more than 14 feet of clarity. The surface temperature ranged from 39 to 40 degrees. The submerged patches of curly-leaf pondweeds are growing. The submerged patches of coontail are exhibiting their wintertime flaccidness. The patches of brittle naiad have made their winter disappearance. Patches of filamentous algae are erupting.

Based on our experiences, this reservoir is blessed with the most abundant patches of submerged aquatic vegetation in northeastern Kansas.

What’s more, it was the most fruitful reservoir that we fished in 2025. We fished it 21 times and caught and immediately released 1326 largemouth bass and one smallmouth bass. On five of those 21 outings, we caught 101, 102, 107, 110, and 122 largemouth bass. We caught an average of 63 largemouth bass per outing and an average of 18 per hour. However, during one of the 21 outings, we failed to catch a largemouth bass, and that occurred 27 days ago.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 5:51 a.m. to 7:51 a.m., 6:15 p.m. to 8:15 p.m., and 11:40 a.m. to 1:40 p.m.

We made our first casts at 11:30 a.m. and our last ones at 2:08 p.m. We were hoping to catch at least 30 largemouth bass.  But during these two hours and 55 minutes, nearly all of our casts and retrieves failed to catch a largemouth bass. Failure plays a major role in fishing this time of the year.  On this outing, it was a struggle to catch 10 largemouth bass, one bluegill, and one crappie.    

A Z-Man’s bumblebee Micro TRD affixed to a 1/16-ounce red Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig inveigled two of the 10 largemouth bass. A Z-Man’s hot-snakes Finesse TRD affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jighead caught eight of the 10 largemouth bass.

The bumblebee Micro TRD rig is at the top of this photograph. The hot-snakes Finesse TRD rig is at the bottom.

In the back of one of this reservoir’s primary feeder-creek arms, we fished across a portion of a massive shallow-water flat. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, boulders, and silt.  It is about the size of five football fields, and about a third of it is covered with stems of winter-dead American lotus plants; some portions of the underwater terrain are endowed with patches of coontail and curly-leaf pondweeds. Manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees embellish some of the underwater terrain. Its shorelines are cluttered with several laydowns, winter-dead patches of American water willows, and their shallow underwater terrains are graced with coontail and curly-leaf pondweeds.  Two submerged creek channels, which are somewhat silt-laden, crisscross this flat. We fished along a short section of the shoreline of one of the submerged creek channels. We dissected this area for more than an hour and eked out five largemouth bass.

One of the five was caught on the Bumblebee Micro TRD rig with a slow swim-and-pause presentation around patches of coontail and curly-leaf pondweeds in about six feet of water.

The hot-snakes Finesse TRD rig allured the other four. One was caught as we were strolling and employing a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation near the edge of a submerged creek channel and around patches of coontail and curly-leaf pondweeds in about seven feet of water. Another largemouth bass was caught in about five feet of water on a slow swim-and-pause presentation around a hefty patch of coontail. Two largemouth bass were caught on back-to-back casts into a submerged creek channel and slightly past the outside edge of patches of coontail and curly-leaf pondweeds in 11 feet of water; one was caught on the initial drop of the rig; the other one was caught on a drag-and-pause presentation.

Inside this reservoir’s second primary feeder-creek arm, we fished across a portion of another massive shallow-water flat.

This flat is larger than the first one we fished. It is endowed with four submerged creek channels, a small island, several humps, and a few minor ledges. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, boulders, and silt. Portions of the submerged creek channels are silt-laden. Coontail patches, curly-leaf pondweed patches, and many manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees adorn the underwater terrains of this massive flat.  We dissected the deeper portions of this flat for more than an hour.  Ultimately, we caught five largemouth bass.

One was caught near the outside edge of a patch of coontail and curly-leaf pondweeds in about 11 feet of water on the Bumblebee Micro TRD rig with an extremely slow swim-and-pause presentation. Our hot-snakes Finesse TRD rigs somehow beguiled the other four; one was caught on a short deadstick presentation in about nine to 10 feet of water around patches of coontail and curly-leaf pondweeds; the initial drop inveigled one in about eight feet of water around the outside edge of a patch of coontail and curly-leaf pondweeds; the other two were caught on a slow swim-and-pause presentation in nine to 11 feet of water.

We failed to elicit a strike on a shallow-water flat inside a small feeder-creek arm and along an offshore section of a main-lake shoreline.

In short, we are baffled about what is going on with the largemouth bass in this reservoir.  Even though it is graced with voluminous patches of submerged aquatic vegetation, which are a necessary ingredient for bountiful catches of wintertime largemouth bass in northeastern Kansas, the fishing has been amiss at this state reservoir since Dec. 14.  

Our Jan. 12 outing is an example of a substantial wintertime catch. We spent two hours and 55 minutes fishing across a massive shallow-water flat in the back of a primary feeder-creek arm of a 64-year-old state reservoir in northeastern Kansas. And we caught 47 largemouth bass around patches of coontail, sago pondweeds, and manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees in three to eight feet of water.

Even though this 94-year-old reservoir was our most fruitful waterway in 2025, we are not eager to return for a while in 2026. Instead, we fish at the 64-year-old one and other community and state reservoirs in northeastern Kansas.

Endnote

Dion Hibdon of Versailles, Missouri, died on Jan. 12. He and his father, the late and great Guido Hibdon, played  significant roles in the development of Midwest finesse fishing.  Moreover, his grandfather, Guido Clinton Hibdon, Sr. and uncles were important forefathers to the art and science of Midwest finesse fishing. Back in the late 1950s and early 1960s, they introduced us to the virtues of a split-shot rig.

For more information about Dion and the Hibdon family, please see these stories:

https://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/the-fishing-and-family-life-of-guido-hibdon/153667#ixzz3Pw8yxprV.

https://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/the-fishing-and-family-life-of-guido-hibdon/153667#ixzz3Pw8yxprV.

https://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/guido-hibdon-1946-2018/153446. 

Jan, 15 

Steve Reidler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his outing with John Thomas of Denton on Jan. 15.

We took advantage of a fairly mild winter day to fish from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at a federal hill-land reservoir in north-central Texas. We had hopes of tangling with a bevy of white bass, but those hopes failed to materialize.

The sun was intensely bright, and the powder-blue sky was cloudless. The afternoon’s high temperature reached 61 degrees. The morning’s low temperature was 28 degrees. The barometric pressure measured 30.13 at 1:00 p.m. and fell to 29.99 by 4:00 p.m. The wind angled out of the south and southwest at 10 to 15 mph.

According to In-Fisherman’s Solunar table, the most productive fishing periods would occur from 1:18 a.m. to 3:18 a.m., 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., and 7:56 p.m. to 9:56 p.m.

We spent these three hours inside a minor feeder-creek arm on the north end of the reservoir. Except for two bank anglers, we had this creek arm to ourselves.

The submerged terrain inside this creek arm consists of clay and gravel. The creek’s shorelines are steep and bluff-like in the upper reaches of the creek arm, and they become flatter in the middle and lower sections. Countless numbers of flooded bushes, submerged brush piles, partially-submerged laydowns, and submerged stumps adorn the shallow water areas along the shorelines.

The water in the main-lake area outside of this creek arm was muddy with less than a foot of visibility. The surface temperature was 51 degrees. The water level was 0.31 of a foot low.

Just inside the mouth of this creek arm, the water clarity improved to 12 to 14 inches of visibility, and the surface temperature increased to 58 degrees. In the midsection of this creek arm, the water displayed 36 inches of visibility, and the water temperature was 61 degrees.

During the first two hours that we plied the lower section of the creek arm, the white bass bite was virtually nonexistent; we caught four white bass. We moved further up into the middle section of the creek arm, and during the next hour, we failed to locate any white bass or elicit any strikes.

Ultimately, we turned around and fished our way back to the entrance of the creek arm, and we struggled to catch seven more white bass. By the time we made our last casts at 4:00 p.m., we had amassed a paltry catch of 11 white bass.  

These fish were scattered about in open-water areas, near the edges of the main creek channel, and they were in water as shallow as six feet and as deep as 10 feet. We failed to elicit any strikes around the flooded bushes, brush piles, laydowns, and stumps.

A 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ affixed to a chartreuse 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead that was employed with a slow swimming retrieve allured five white bass. The same slow swimming retrieve with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s Pearl Slim SwimZ, rigged on a red 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead, allured four white bass. The other two white bass were tempted by a moderate-paced swimming retrieve with a Z-Man’s pearl Baby Goat rigged on a chartreuse 3/32-ounce OG Mushroom Jighead.

We did not have time to fish in the upper end of this creek arm.

It is interesting to note that John and I fished in this same creek arm on January 14, 2020, and we caught 36 white bass and two largemouth bass in 4 1/2 hours.

Jan. 16

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted this report on the Finesse News Network about his solo outing to a community reservoir in north-central Texas.

Jan. 16 was partly cloudy and windy. The morning's low temperature was 43 degrees. The afternoon's high temperature reached 57 degrees. The robust wind blew incessantly out of the northwest at 18 to 25 mph, and at times, a few gusts reached 35 mph. The barometric pressure dropped from 30.18 at 1:00 p.m. to 30.03 at 4:00 p.m.

I elected to spend some time checking water temperatures at four community reservoirs east of Denton, searching for the warmest water to fish. Three of the reservoirs had water temperatures that ranged from 52 to 53 degrees. The fourth one had a temperature of 55 degrees, so I decided to concentrate on that one. I plied this reservoir from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., and this was the first outing that I’ve conducted at this reservoir this year.  

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar predicted good fishing, and the optimum fishing periods would take place from 2:04 a.m. to 4:04 a.m., 8:17 a.m. to 10:17 a.m., and 8:43 p.m. to 10:43 p.m.

This reservoir’s clarity was about 24 inches. The water level appeared to be normal.

The upper and lower regions of this reservoir possess two concrete culverts with a connecting ditch that serpentines across the middle portion of the reservoir. The shorelines are endowed with scores of bald cypress-tree knees and root balls, several points, and a small brush pile. Several shallow sand-and-gravel ledges extend about three to five feet from the water’s edge. The ledges are covered with 12 to 18 inches of water and drop off into five to eight feet of water. The deep-water sides of these ledges are also adorned with several large walls of baby pondweed mixed with vast amounts of filamentous algae. The bottom terrain consists of sand mixed with pieces of gravel and small rocks.

The largemouth bass bite was slow and trying. I caught 11 largemouth bass and temporarily hooked two other bass, which were able to liberate themselves before I could land them. These bass were scattered in five to seven feet of water and within 15 feet of the water’s edge and along the deep-water sides of two sand-and-gravel ledges, which are situated along the north and west shorelines in the upper end of the impoundment.

Three prominent points, several smaller tertiary points, the two concrete culverts and portions of the connecting ditch, several large patches of submerged baby pondweed, and several of the other sand-and-gravel ledges in the middle and lower sections of the reservoir were fruitless.

Four of these 11 bass were allured by a slightly shortened Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD HogZ affixed on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Three were caught on a slightly shortened four-inch Z-Man’s black-neon Finesse WormZ that was matched with a red 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Two were enticed by a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD BugZ fastened to a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. One was induced by a Z-Man’s molting craw TRD CrawZ on a blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. One was inveigled by a 2 3/4-inch Z-Man’s black-blue-flake TRD TubeZ affixed to a blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. The only productive presentation was a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick retrieve, and the deadstick portion of the retrieve lasted three to five seconds.

The weather forecast for the next few days includes the arrival of a major cold front on Jan. 17, which will usher in winter-like temperatures hovering in the low 40s during the day, and the upper teens at night. Therefore, we will wait for warmer weather conditions before we fish again.

Jan. 20

Steve Reidler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his outing with Todd Judy of Denton on Jan. 20.

North-central Texas experienced its first significant cold front of 2026 on Jan. 17, which kept us at bay for the past several days. On Jan. 20, the weather improved, so Todd and I opted to fish for white bass from noon to 4:00 p.m. inside a minor creek arm at one of several federal hill-land reservoirs in north-central Texas. It’s the same creek arm that John Thomas of Denton and I plied on Jan. 15, and it was a chore for us to catch 11 white bass during that four-hour jaunt.

Jan. 20 was sunny. The sky conditions varied from partly cloudy to mostly cloudy to overcast. The afternoon’s high temperature peaked at 55 degrees. The morning’s low temperature was 22 degrees. The barometric pressure measured 30.47 at noon and 30.27 at 4:00 p.m. The wind quartered out of the south and southeast at 5 to 10 mph.

According to In-Fisherman’s Solunar table, the most productive fishing periods would occur from 5:25 a.m. to 7:25 a.m., 11:13 a.m. to 1:13 p.m., and 11:37 p.m. to 1:37 a.m. It also noted that the fishing would be average.

We spent these four hours inside the lower and middle portions of the minor feeder-creek arm, which is located on the north end of the reservoir. We shared this creek arm with eight bank anglers.

The underwater terrain that we fished consists of clay and gravel. The creek’s shorelines are mostly flat, and the shallow-water areas are cluttered with countless numbers of flooded bushes, submerged brush piles, partially-submerged laydowns, and submerged stumps.

As we were traveling to the creek arm, we noticed that the water in the main-lake was murky with about 12 inches of visibility. The surface temperature was 44 degrees. The water level was 0.51 of a foot below its normal pool level.

Inside the lower portion of this creek arm, the water was muddy with less than a foot of visibility. The surface temperature was 47 degrees. And as we fished our way into the middle section of the creek arm, the water conditions were a tad better. The water exhibited about 1 1/2 feet of visibility. The surface temperature was 58 degrees.

In a nutshell, the white bass fishing was worse than it was on Jan. 15. What’s more, it took us two hours and 46 minutes to catch our first fish, and by the time we made our last casts at 4:00 p.m., we had eked out only six white bass.

Five of these six white bass were allured by a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s space guppy Slim SwimZ affixed to a chartreuse 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead, and one engulfed a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ affixed to a red 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Four were caught on a slow and steady swimming retrieve, and two were caught while we were strolling with the lures being pulled behind the boat with the electric trolling motor. All of them were scattered hither and yon. They were abiding in water as shallow as six feet and as deep as 17 feet of water along the edges and bottom of the main creek channel and many feet from the water’s edge. We also located a couple of large aggregations of fish with our sonar units, but we were unable to provoke them to strike.

Jan. 21

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his outing on Jan. 21.

I thought I would enjoy a mild winter day by conducting a solo excursion at a community reservoir located in a suburb north of Dallas. This was my first outing at this impoundment this year.

It was sunny and partly cloudy on Jan. 21. The morning’s low temperature was 52 degrees. The afternoon’s high peaked at 67 degrees. The barometric pressure was 30.13 at noon, and it fell to 30.11 by 3:00 p.m. The wind meandered out of the northwest at 5 to 10 mph.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar indicated the most lucrative fishing would occur from 12:04 a.m. to 2:04 a.m., 6:15 a.m. to 8:15 a.m., and 12:27 p.m. to 2:27 p.m. I fished from 12:15 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.

The water level was normal. The water exhibited visibility between 12 and 18 inches. The water temperature ranged from 51 to 52 degrees.

I began the outing at the west shoreline, which has an incline that varies from 25 to 40 degrees. Its underwater terrain consists of sand and gravel.  

A shallow ditch adorns the upper end of this shoreline, and it courses across a large mud flat on the north end of the reservoir. A fishing pier is positioned along the middle portion of this shoreline. Two tertiary points are located about 30 yards north of the pier. Another gravel and sandy tertiary point lies about 20 yards south of the fishing pier.

I failed to elicit any strikes around the edges of the ditch on the north end of the shoreline.

The steep sand-and-gravel shoreline around the fishing pier yielded one largemouth bass. This largemouth bass was abiding in five feet of water and about 10 feet from the water’s edge. It was caught with a slow swim-and-constant-shake retrieve with a slightly shortened 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s coppertreuse TRD TicklerZ rigged on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.

The three tertiary points were fruitless.

After I finished fishing the west shoreline, I plied the area around the concrete dam that forms the southern perimeter of the reservoir. In the center section of the dam, I caught one largemouth bass. It was abiding in about three feet of water and about five feet away from the face of the dam.  It was caught on a slow swim-and-constant-shake retrieve with the 2 1/2-inch coppertreuse TRD TicklerZ rig. The remainder of the dam was fruitless.

From the dam, I moved to the east shoreline and worked my way northward. The upper and lower sections of this shoreline are flat. Its middle section is steep, which features a broad sand-and-gravel point. About 30 yards north of this point is another long clay-and-gravel point that extends westward toward the middle of the reservoir. A long and shallow sand-and-gravel ledge parallels most of this shoreline, and a small concrete culvert with a ditch about five feet wide extends outward from the lower end of the shoreline.

I failed to elicit any strikes from the edges and bottom of the ditch and across a 35-yard stretch of a shallow sand and gravel ledge situated on the lower end of the shoreline.

The broad point in the middle section of this east shoreline relinquished one largemouth bass. It was caught from the end of the point in five feet of water and about 10 feet from the submerged ledge. It was attracted to a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick retrieve with a Z-Man’s molting craw TRD CrawZ rigged on a blue 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.

After that, I caught one largemouth bass in eight feet of water from the side of the long clay and gravel point on the upper end of the east shoreline. It engulfed a Z-Man’s Bama-bug TRD BugZ affixed on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead as it was slowly dragged, shaken, and paused across the bottom.

The upper end of the reservoir consists of a large and shallow mud flat that is dissected by a small feeder creek and tall stands of cattails. The mud flat was devoid of any largemouth bass.

I ended the outing by probing portions of the small feeder-creek arm on the east end of the mud flat. Its underwater terrain consists mostly of clay, gravel, and some softball-size rocks.

There was a light current flowing through this creek. In a relatively large pool in the upper end of the creek, I caught one largemouth bass. This pool is about 15 feet wide and 30 feet long. This bass was extracted from a cluster of rocks in three to four feet of water near the east shoreline of the creek. It was coaxed into striking a Z-Man’s black-blue-flake TRD CrawZ matched with a blue 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead on a slow dragged-shake-and-pause presentation; the strike occurred during a five-second pause around the cluster of rocks.

The Bama-bug TRD BugZ rig is at the top left of this photograph. The black-blue-flake TRD CrawZ rig is at the bottom left. The coppertreuse TRD TickerZ rig is at the top right. The molting-craw TRD CrawZ rig is at the bottom right.

Overall, the fishing at this community reservoir was horrid; it was a grind to catch five largemouth bass in three hours. I wielded a hodgepodge of Midwest finesse offerings, and I was unable to establish any dominant lure and presentation.

Jan. 22

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted this brief on the Finesse News Network about his afternoon outing at a community reservoir in north-central Texas.

Ol’ Man Winter is about to wallop north-central Texas with a winter storm that will unleash rain, sleet, and snow. Air temperatures are expected to plummet into the single digits at night, and daytime temperatures will struggle to climb into the mid-20s. This wintry blast will arrive on Jan. 23 and will last several days. I wanted to enjoy another outing before this winter storm hits us. I elected to return to a community reservoir that I plied on Jan. 16, when I labored to catch 11 largemouth bass in three hours.

According to In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar, fishing would be poor on Jan. 22. It also noted that the most productive fishing periods would take place from 12:05 a.m. to 2:05 a.m., 6:16 a.m. to 8:16 a.m., and 12:28 p.m. to 2:28 p.m.

Jan. 22 was mostly cloudy. The morning's low temperature was 37 degrees, and the afternoon's high temperature was 57 degrees. The barometric pressure dropped from 30.18 at noon to 30.08 at 4:00 p.m. A mild breeze quartered out of the east and southeast at 5 to 10 mph, and at times, it was calm.

This impoundment’s shorelines are adorned with several points, numerous bald cypress-tree knees and root balls, and a small brush pile. Several shallow sand-and-gravel ledges extend about three to five feet from the water’s edge. The ledges are covered with 12 to 18 inches of water and drop off into five to eight feet of water. The deep-water sides of these ledges are also adorned with several large walls of baby pondweed mixed with vast amounts of filamentous algae. The upper and lower sections of this reservoir possess two concrete culverts with a connecting ditch that winds its way across the center portion of the reservoir. The bottom terrain consists of sand, pieces of small gravel, and small rocks.

The water temperature was 52 degrees. The water exhibited about two feet of visibility. The water level appeared to be about a foot low.

 Overall, the largemouth bass fishing was slow, but it was a bit more productive than it was on Jan. 16.  My best efforts garnered 13 largemouth bass and one large black crappie.

Eleven of the 13 largemouth bass, and the one crappie, were caught in five to eight feet of water and within 25 feet of the water’s edge near the deep-water side of a 25-yard section of a lengthy sand-and-gravel ledge. This ledge is situated along the north shoreline in the lower end of the reservoir.

The twelfth largemouth bass was caught in seven feet of water from the end of a prominent point located on the north shoreline in the middle section of the reservoir.

Largemouth bass number 13 was extracted from five feet of water around a large patch of baby pondweeds situated on a small sandy flat in the upper end of the reservoir.  

Eight of these 13 largemouth bass, and the black crappie, were enticed by a slow swim-and-constant-shake presentation with a shortened 3 1/2-inch Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse WormZ affixed on a chartreuse 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. The original length of the Finesse WormZ was 4 3/4 inches.

The Junebug Finesse WormZ rig is at the top of this photograph.  The TubeZ rig is at the bottom. 

The other five largemouth bass were induced by a 2 3/4-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD TubeZ matched with a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. This combo was employed with a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick retrieve.

Feb. 5

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted this log on the Finesse News Network about his Feb. 5 outing at a community reservoir in north-central Texas.

When I fished at this impoundment on Jan. 22, the water temperature was 52 degrees, and I caught 13 largemouth bass and one large crappie in four hours.

On Jan. 23, Ol’ Man Winter pummeled almost all of Texas with a severe winter storm that froze north-central Texas under a three- to five-inch blanket of sleet, snow, and ice for 10 days. On Feb. 3, he finally released his wintry grip on Texas, and air temperatures became milder. And by Feb. 4, the blanket of ice and snow had completely melted away.

Feb. 5 was bright and sunny. The morning's low temperature was 32 degrees. The afternoon's high temperature quickly warmed to 71 degrees. The barometric pressure dropped from 30.37 at 11:00 a.m. to 30.12 at 3:00 p.m. A warm breeze blew out of the west-by-southwest at 8 to 12 mph.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar forecasted poor fishing on Feb. 5.  It also indicated that the most lucrative fishing periods would take place from 12:56 a.m. to 2:56 a.m., 7:07 a.m. to 9:07 a.m., and 1:17 p.m. to 3:17 p.m.

The water exhibited about two feet of visibility. The water level appeared to be about a foot low.  The water temperature was 47 degrees, which makes the Florida-strain largemouth bass that inhabit this impoundment much more difficult to catch.

The upper and lower sections of this reservoir possess two concrete culverts with a ditch that courses its way across the middle portion of the reservoir. The bottom terrain consists of sand, pieces of small gravel, and small rocks. The shorelines are endowed with several points, numerous bald cypress tree knees and root balls, and a small brush pile. Several shallow sand-and-gravel ledges are about three to five feet from the water’s edge. The ledges are covered with 12 to 18 inches of water and drop off into five to eight feet of water. The deep-water sides of these ledges are also adorned with several large patches of baby pondweeds intertwined with large patches of filamentous algae.

Simply stated, the largemouth bass fishing was horrid. I wasn’t able to garner a strike for the first 40 minutes of the outing, and by the time I completed my final cast and retrieve at 3:30 p.m., I had scrounged up only five largemouth bass and one large crappie. All six of these fish were caught in five to eight feet of water and near the deep-water side of three sand-and-gravel ledges.

One of the ledges, which is situated in the midsection of the reservoir’s north shoreline, relinquished two largemouth bass. The second ledge is in the middle portion of the south shoreline, and it yielded two largemouth bass and one crappie. Largemouth bass number five was extracted from the deep-water side of the third ledge, which is in the upper end of the reservoir.

In sum, two of these five largemouth bass, and the black crappie, were induced by a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick presentation with a 2 3/4-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD TubeZ matched with a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Another two largemouth bass were allured by a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick presentation with a Z-Man’s Junebug Bama-Bug TRD BugZ affixed on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. The fifth largemouth bass was enticed by a 3 1/2-inch Z-Man’s watermelon-red Finesse WormZ affixed on a chartreuse 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. This combo was also employed with a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick presentation. This 3 1/2-inch Finesse WormZ was trimmed down from its original length of 4 3/4 inches.

The Finesse WormZ rig is at the top of this photograph.  The TRD TubeZ rig is in the middle.  The TRD BugZ rig is at the bottom. 

The local weather forecast predicts daytime air temperatures between the upper 60s and the upper 70s, and nighttime temperatures will rise from the low 20s to the mid-40s for the next week. Therefore, we’re hopeful the water temperatures in our community, state, and federal reservoirs will rise significantly and help improve the fishing for Florida-strain largemouth bass.

Feb. 6

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Feb. 6 outing.

From 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., I conducted a solo outing at what I consider to be the stingiest federal hill-land reservoir in north-central Texas.

I have not visited this reservoir since Jan. 12, when I was amazed to catch six largemouth bass in 90 minutes in the backend of a large marina on the north end of this reservoir. Except for one white bass angler launching his boat when I first arrived at about 12:10 p.m., I had the reservoir to myself.

According to In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar, the fishing was forecasted to be poor. It also noted that the best fishing would occur from 1:44 a.m. to 3:44 a.m., 7:55 a.m. to 9:55 a.m., and 2:05 p.m. to 4:05 p.m.

Feb. 6 was an unusually warm and pleasant sunny day.  The azure-blue sky was cloudless. Area thermometers recorded the morning’s low temperature at 34 degrees, and the afternoon’s high reached 81 degrees. The barometric pressure measured 30.12 at noon, and it dropped to 30.07 by 4:00 p.m.

The water exhibited about 14 inches of visibility. The water temperature in the main-lake basin was 47 degrees. Inside one major feeder-creek arm in the midsection of the reservoir, the surface temperatures varied from 47 to 51 degrees. The water level was 0.38 of a foot low.

I spent these three hours fishing about 60 percent of the dam’s riprap shoreline and dissecting a small portion of one feeder-creek arm in the middle section of the reservoir.

The underwater terrain around the dam consists of riprap. Inside the small section of the feeder-creek arm that I fished, it consists of clay, gravel, fist-size rocks, and sandstone boulders. There isn’t any aquatic vegetation in this reservoir.

In short, the fishing was awful. I failed to find any large aggregations of Florida-strain largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, and spotted bass that inhabit this reservoir. However, I did manage to catch four largemouth bass, a five-pound, two-ounce freshwater drum, and a 10-pound, 12-ounce Buffalo.

Three largemouth bass and one freshwater drum were caught in seven to 13 feet of water and about 20 to 25 feet out from the riprap on the dam. The fourth largemouth bass and the hefty Buffalo were caught in four to six feet of water along a steep channel bank in the back of a large marina in the middle section of the feeder-creek arm. I positioned the boat in 15 to 23 feet of water.

I wielded several Midwest finesse rigs throughout this outing. The only two effective ones were a 2 3/4-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD TubeZ matched with a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead, and a Z-Man’s Bama-bug TRD BugZ affixed on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Both rigs were employed with a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick retrieve.

In closing, spring is still a few weeks away, but with an unseasonably warm weather trend in the forecast, we are optimistic that the wretched smallmouth bass, spotted bass, and Florida-strain largemouth bass fishing that has plagued us so far this winter may improve soon.

Feb. 7

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a brief log on the Finesse News Network about his white bass outing with Bill Kenney of Denton on Feb.7.

Since the fishing for Florida-strain largemouth bass in north-central Texas is an awful state, Bill Kenney and I were itching to catch a few white bass.  So, we opted to fish inside a minor creek arm of a popular federal hill-land reservoir in north-central Texas. It’s the same creek arm that Todd Judy of Denton and I plied on Jan. 20, when we struggled to catch six white bass in four hours.

Feb. 7 was sunny with a partly cloudy sky. The morning’s low temperature was 41 degrees. The afternoon’s high temperature peaked at 74 degrees. The barometric pressure measured 30.29 at 11:00 a.m. and 30.18 at 3:00 p.m. The wind quartered out of the east and southeast at 5 to 10 mph.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar table noted that the best fishing periods would occur from 2:31 a.m. to 4:31 a.m., 8:42 a.m. to 10:42 a.m., and 2:53 p.m. to 4:53 p.m. It also indicated that fishing would be poor on Feb. 7.

We spent these four hours on the north end of the reservoir, where we searched for white bass inside the lower and middle portions of a minor feeder-creek arm. The reservoir was busy for February, and we shared this creek arm with 18 bank anglers and four other boat anglers.

The underwater terrain of this creek arm consists of a mixture of clay and gravel. The creek’s shorelines in its lower and midsections are mostly flat. The shallow-water areas are littered with vast numbers of flooded bushes, submerged brush piles, partially submerged laydowns, and submerged stumps.

The water in the main-lake basin outside of the creek arm was murky, exhibiting about 12 inches of visibility. The surface temperature was 48 degrees. The water level was 0.38 of a foot below normal pool.

Inside the lower portion of this creek arm, the water was also murky with about 14 inches of visibility. The surface temperature was 50 degrees. The water conditions in the middle section of the creek arm were better; the water exhibited about three feet of visibility, and we were astonished to discover that the surface temperature was 63 degrees.

Overall, we found the white bass fishing to be slowly improving. However, it was nowhere near an epic day of fishing, but it was our most fruitful white bass outing so far this year. With all the bank anglers and other boat anglers plying this creek arm, we primarily focused on the lower end of the creek arm, and we caught 17 white bass. We failed to elicit any strikes in the middle section of the creek arm.  We didn’t venture into the upper end of the creek arm because the water level became too shallow for our boat.

Twelve of these 17 white bass were allured by a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ matched with a chartreuse 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead, and the other five engulfed a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ affixed to either a red 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead or a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig. The only effective presentation was a slow and steady swimming retrieve.

Most of the white bass we caught were scattered and abiding near the deep-water side of the main creek channel’s ledges in four to seven feet of water. We located a couple of larger aggregations of fish on the bottom of the creek channel in water as deep as 14 feet with our sonar units, but we were unable to entice them to bite.

Feb. 11  

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted this log on the Finesse News Network about his Feb. 11 outing with Frank Gosnell of Sanger, Texas, at two community reservoirs in north-central Texas.

Feb. 11 was a clear, sunny, and mild winter day. The morning's low temperature was 44 degrees. The afternoon's high temperature reached 75 degrees. A light breeze wandered out of the north at 3 to 6 mph, and later in the afternoon, it was calm. The barometric pressure dropped from 30.26 at noon to 30.18 at 4:00 p.m.

We fished from about 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar predicted poor fishing, and the optimum fishing periods would take place from 5:36 a.m. to 7:36 a.m., 11:24 a.m. to 1:24 p.m., and 6:02 p.m. to 8:02 p.m.

At the first community reservoir, the water exhibited between 18 and 24 inches of clarity. The water’s surface temperature measured 52 degrees. The water level appeared to be about two feet low.

This impoundment is surrounded by an array of large silver maple, bald cypress, and weeping willow trees. The submerged terrain consists mostly of clay with small bits of pea-size gravel and a few scattered boulders the size of a coffee table. A few small areas are adorned with small patches of cypress tree knees. The submerged terrain is also matted with several large patches of submerged baby pondweeds.  

The upper end of this reservoir is shallow and flat. It is endowed with a small fishing pier and a large mat of baby pondweed. The shorelines in the midsection of the reservoir possess several minor clay and gravel points, shallow ledges, and some medium-sized mats of baby pondweed. The lower end of the impoundment is also flat and shallow like its upper end, but there are no ledges or aquatic vegetation there.

The shallow patches of baby pondweeds in the upper end of the reservoir yielded three largemouth bass that were abiding in five to seven feet of water. One was caught on a shortened 3 1/2-inch Z-Man’s black-neon Finesse WormZ affixed on a red 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead and a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick presentation. The second one was allured by a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick presentation with a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD TicklerZ rigged on a black 1/10-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse Jig, and the third one was enticed by a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick retrieve with a Z-Man’s Bama-Bug TRD BugZ fastened to a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.

Around the deep-water side of a long clay-and-gravel ledge adorned with several patches of baby pondweed in the middle section of the impoundment, we caught two largemouth bass in four to seven feet of water. One was enticed by a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick presentation with the Bama-Bug TRD BugZ rig, and the other one was coaxed into striking the shortened 3 1/2-inch black-neon Finesse WormZ combo that was utilized with a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick retrieve.  

We failed to elicit any strikes in the lower end of this impoundment.

At the second community reservoir, the water level appeared to be normal. The water temperature was 55 degrees, and the water clarity was about 24 inches.

This reservoir’s upper and lower regions possess two concrete culverts with a connecting ditch that stretches across the middle portion of the reservoir. The shorelines are endowed with scores of bald cypress-tree knees, several points, and a small brush pile. Several shallow sand and gravel ledges extend about three to five feet from the water’s edge. The ledges are covered with 12 to 18 inches of water and drop off into three to five feet of water. The deep-water sides of these ledges are also adorned with several large mats of baby pondweeds mixed with vast amounts of filamentous algae. The bottom terrain consists of sand mixed with small pieces of gravel and rocks.

The Florida-strain largemouth bass bite was as slow at this impoundment as it was at the first one we fished.  It yielded four largemouth bass and one large black crappie. Three of the four largemouth bass, and the large crappie, were caught in five to seven feet of water near the deep-water side of two sand-and-gravel ledges in the middle and lower end of the impoundment. Two of the three were caught on the 3 1/2-inch Z-Man’s black-neon Finesse WormZ rig that was employed with a slow swim-and-constant-shake presentation. The other largemouth bass was allured by a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick presentation with the green-pumpkin TRD TicklerZ combo. The large black crappie was tempted by a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick presentation with a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD TubeZ rigged on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.

Feb. 13

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted this report on the Finesse News Network about his Feb. 13 outing at a north-central Texas state reservoir with Brad DePrater of Sanger, Texas. 

January of 2026 was pretty much a bust for black-bass fishing in north-central Texas. In fact, my cohorts and I fished five times for a total of 19 hours, and it was a grind for us to catch 65 largemouth bass. This tallies to a paltry catch rate of three bass per hour and 13 bass per trip. It is the woes of having to fish for Florida-strain largemouth bass in cold-water reservoirs.

February also started off slow. My companions and I have fished three times for a total of 10 hours, and we have struggled to catch 18 largemouth bass. This calculates to a measly catch rate of six bass per trip and one bass per hour.

Therefore, Brad DePrater of Sanger, Texas, and I decided to take advantage of a mild winter day on Feb. 13. We spent 5 1/2 hours plying a state reservoir in north-central Texas. This was only the second time I have fished at this reservoir during the winter, and it was the first time for Brad. The first time I fished this reservoir was on Feb. 1, 2022, with Rick Allen of Ingram, Texas, and during that mild and windy day, the surface temperature was 42 degrees, and it was a laborious chore for us to catch two largemouth bass in five hours.

The morning hours of Feb. 13 were overcast. By 1:30 p.m., the clouds began to break up, and it became mostly sunny. The wind angled out of the south-by-southeast at 10 to 15 mph. The morning’s low temperature was 50 degrees, and the afternoon’s high temperature reached 77 degrees. The barometric pressure measured 30.03 at 11:00 a.m. and 29.94 at 5:00 p.m.

According to In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar, the best fishing would occur from 12:57 a.m. to 2:57 a.m., 7:10 a.m. to 9:10 a.m., and 7:36 p.m. to 9:36 p.m. It also indicated that fishing would be poor.

We fished from 11:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

We concentrated our efforts inside two major feeder-creek arms, one minor feeder-creek arm, along the riprap shoreline of the dam, and a rocky shoreline adjacent to the dam. These locales are situated in the middle and lower portions of the reservoir.

The water exhibited about three feet of visibility. The surface temperature ranged from 48 to 51 degrees. The water level appeared to be a couple of feet low.

We were expecting the cold-water temperatures to make the Florida-strain largemouth bass lethargic. We employed an array of Midwest finesse rigs, and eight of them were productive. We managed to hook a combination of 30 largemouth bass and spotted bass, and we landed 26 of them. We also inadvertently caught four black crappie and one large bluegill. 

We caught six largemouth bass and three spotted bass in eight to 19 feet of water along a steep 30-yard section of a channel-swing shoreline in the midsection of the first large feeder-creek arm. The underwater terrain along this shoreline consists of pea gravel mixed with chunky rocks, some boulders, a couple of brush piles, and a few stumps. Six of these nine black bass were caught on a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick retrieve with a 2 3/4-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD TubeZ rigged on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Two were caught on a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick retrieve with a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Finesse TRD affixed on a chartreuse 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig. One was caught on a Z-Man’s meat-dog Finesse TRD fastened on a chartreuse 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig and a slow drag-shake-and-deadsick retrieve.  The deadstick portion of this retrieve lasted between three and five seconds.

After that, we fished the entire length of a wind-blown riprap shoreline of the dam and a steep rocky shoreline adjacent to the dam.  This dam is about 60 yards long, and the adjacent rocky shoreline is about 35 yards long. The dam is endowed with a large concrete spillway and a medium-sized concrete water-outlet tower. Its adjacent shoreline is adorned with several laydowns and some submerged stumps and tree trunks. And we failed to elicit a strike from either of these two locales.

We then meandered inside a minor feeder-creek arm in the lower end of the reservoir. We fished from the mouth of this creek arm to its back end, and we caught 15 largemouth bass, two spotted bass, four black crappie, and a large bluegill. Eleven of these 17 black bass were caught in 10 to 15 feet of water along a rock-and-boulder-laden channel-swing shoreline in the lower end of the creek arm. The other six largemouth bass, the four crappie, and the large bluegill were caught in three to six feet of water on a clay-and-gravel flat that is endowed with a large mat of hydrilla. These fish were caught as they were surface foraging on several large schools of small baitfish. (It should be noted that neither Brad or I have ever witnessed black bass aggressively surface-foraging on baitfish in water this cold.)

Seven of these 17 black bass were allured by a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick retrieve with the green-pumpkin Finesse TRD rig. Four were caught on a slow drag-shake-and-deadsick retrieve with a Z-Man’s sprayed-grass TRD TicklerZ matched with a chartreuse 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig. Four were tempted by a slow and steady swimming retrieve with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ rigged on a chartreuse 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. One largemouth bass was allured by a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick retrieve with a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD HogZ fastened to a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.  One largemouth bass was fooled by a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD BugZ threaded on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead that was employed with a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick presentation.

We failed to locate any other black bass inside the other major feeder-creek arm in the midsection of the reservoir.

In short, we relished what we consider to be a rare and stellar wintertime outing for Florida-strain largemouth bass and spotted bass. We caught 21 largemouth bass and five spotted bass. But we are under no illusion that this outing will be duplicated at any other federal, state, and community reservoirs in north-central Texas anytime soon.

Feb. 18

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted this brief report on the Finesse News Network about his Feb. 18 white-bass outing with John Thomas of Denton.

Our part of Texas has been enjoying a nice warming trend, and we are hopeful that the dregs of winter will soon be over. During this Feb. 18 jaunt, it was sunny, and the sky was partly cloudy.  The afternoon’s high temperature peaked at 76 degrees. The morning’s low temperature was 54 degrees. The barometric pressure measured 29.82 at noon and 29.69 at 5:00 p.m. The wind blew out of the south-by-southeast at 10 to 15 mph.

According to In-Fisherman’s Solunar table, the most productive fishing periods would occur from 4:55 a.m. to 6:55 a.m., 10:40 a.m. to 12:40 p.m., and 11:07 p.m. to 1:07 a.m. It also noted that fishing would be average.

We fished from 12:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

We spent these 4 1/2 hours searching for white bass inside a minor feeder-creek arm on the north end of this north-central Texas reservoir. Except for a short spell when we shared this creek arm with three other bank anglers, we had this creek arm to ourselves.

The submerged terrain inside this creek arm consists of clay and gravel. The shorelines are steep and bluff-like in the upper reaches of the creek arm, and they become flatter in the middle and lower sections. Scores and scores of flooded bushes, submerged brush piles, partially submerged laydowns, and submerged stumps adorn the shallows along the shorelines.

The water in the main-lake area outside of this creek arm was muddy with less than a foot of visibility. The surface temperature was surprisingly warm for this time of year, measuring 55 degrees. The water level was 0.38 of a foot high.

Inside the lower end of this creek arm, the water clarity varied between 12 and 18 inches of visibility. The surface temperature ranged from 64 to 65 degrees. We slowly dissected the first 200 yards of this creek arm for the entire 4 1/2 hours.

My cohorts and I have pursued white bass in this creek arm several times this year, and so far, our results have been very lackluster. During these outings, we have caught as few as four white bass and as many as 17 in an outing. But during this Feb. 18 outing, the fishing was much better than we expected, and we reveled in tussling with 81 white bass. 

These fish were abiding in five to seven feet of water near the ends of laydowns, next to brush piles and stumps, and near the edges of the main creek channel that courses its way down the center of this feeder-creek arm.

Eighty of the 81 white bass were allured by either a  2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s Slam Shady GrubZ matched to a chartreuse 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead or a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ fastened on a chartreuse 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. One was caught on a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ threaded on a red 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.

The most effective presentation was a slow-and-steady swimming retrieve. 

Feb. 19

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his solo Feb. 19 outing at a federal reservoir in north-central Texas.

After John Thomas of Denton and I enjoyed a bountiful white- bass outing at a north-central Texas federal reservoir on Feb. 18, I thought I would check on the status of the black-bass fishing at the same reservoir.  

I fished inside two feeder-creek arms in this reservoir’s southwest tributary arm from 12:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., and the fishing was slightly better than it usually is in the winter.

About 60 percent of the sky was adorned with thin and wispy cirrus clouds. The morning’s low temperature was 58 degrees, and the afternoon’s high reached 76 degrees. The wind quartered out of the west at 10 to 20 mph. The barometric pressure measured 29.69 at noon and 29.65 at 4:00 p.m.

The water level was 0.38 of a foot above its normal pool. The water was murkier than usual. There was about 14 inches of visibility. The water’s surface temperature ranged from 55 to 56 degrees.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar table indicated that fishing would be average on Feb. 19. It also noted that the most productive fishing periods would occur from 5:40 a.m. to 7:40 a.m., 11:28 a.m. to 1:28 p.m., and 1:51 p.m. to 3:51 p.m.

Inside these two feeder-creek arms, I fished from their mouths to their upper ends. Both creek arms contain large marinas. I focused on three clay-and-gravel flats, two small wind-protected coves, five rocky shorelines, seven rock-and-boulder-laden secondary points, the areas around three concrete boat ramps, an offshore rock pile, and a main-lake point at the entrance to one of the feeder-creek arms. I fished in water as shallow as two feet and as deep as 21 feet, and most of these locales were fruitless.

Inside the first feeder-creek arm, which is located on the south side of the tributary arm, I caught six largemouth bass. They were caught along a steep 50-yard section of a clay-and-gravel shoreline that possesses a 45-degree slope. This shoreline is  on the east side of the creek arm near the boat ramp where I launched the boat. These six largemouth bass were abiding in five to 11 feet of water and 10 to 20 feet from the water’s edge. Two of the largemouth bass were caught on a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick presentation with a Z-Man’s Bama Bug TRD BugZ fastened on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Two more were enticed by a slow swim-and-constant-shake presentation with a red 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead sporting a shortened 3 1/2-inch Z-Man’s black-neon Finesse WormZ, which was trimmed down from its original 4.75-inch length. The other two largemouth bass were tempted by a slow swim-and-constant-shake retrieve with a Z-Man’s pearl Finesse ShadZ affixed on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. The boat floated in water as shallow as 15 feet and as deep as 21 feet.

I also dissected several rocky secondary points, an offshore rock pile, and portions of two other lengthy and rocky shorelines, and I failed to generate any other strikes in this creek arm.

Inside the second feeder-creek arm, which is located about a mile east of the first one, I probed two concrete boat ramps, three steep and rocky shorelines, several rocky secondary points, several covered boat slips in the marina, and a portion of a clay-and-gravel ledge near the mouth of the creek arm, and I caught two largemouth bass, one spotted bass, and a channel catfish.

The spotted bass was caught in five feet of water next to one of the concrete boat ramps in the midsection of the creek arm. It was caught on the pearl Finesse ShadZ rig and a slow swim-and-constant-shake retrieve.

The two largemouth bass and the channel catfish were caught in three to six feet of water from the end of a clay-and-gravel secondary point in the upper end of the creek arm. This point has about a 35-degree slope. One of the two largemouth bass and the channel catfish were induced by a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick presentation with the Bama-Bug TRD BugZ rig.  The other largemouth bass was inveigled by a slow swim-and-constant-shake retrieve with the pearl Finesse ShadZ combo.  

In conclusion, it was another typical slow winter outing at this federal reservoir, but more productive than I expected. Normally, black-bass anglers in these parts anticipate only a strike or two from Florida-strain largemouth bass when the water temperature drops below 55 degrees. I fished for 3 1/2 hours in 55-to-56-degree water temperatures, and I caught eight largemouth bass, one spotted bass, and one channel catfish. And many anglers around here would consider this a successful outing for mid-February. 

Feb. 25

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Feb. 25 outing with Rick Hebenstreit of Shawnee, Kansas, at an 85-year-old community reservoir in northeastern Kansas.

The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 34 degrees, and the afternoon’s high temperature was 61 degrees. The sky was fair, overcast, mostly cloudy, and partly cloudy.  The wind was calm for three hours; at other times, it angled out of the north, southeast, south, and east at 3 to 7 mph. The barometric pressure was 29.71 at 12:53 a.m., 29.73 at 5:53 a.m., 29.73 at 11:53 a.m., and 29.66 at 2:53 p.m.

The water level looked to be slightly above normal. The surface temperature ranged from 42 to 44 degrees. The water exhibited about seven feet of visibility.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 4:59 a.m. to 6:59 a.m., and 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and 11:14 p.m. to1:14 a.m.  

We made our first casts at 10:40 a.m. and our last casts at 2:07 p.m., and it was a struggle to catch seven largemouth bass.

Two of the seven were caught on a Z-Man’s PB&J Finesse TRD affixed to a Z-Man’s 1/15-ounce red Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. Five of the seven were caught on a Z-Man’s PB&J Finesse TRD affixed to a Z-Man’s 1/15-ounce baby-blue Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig.

Two largemouth bass were caught along the shoreline of this reservoir’s 1,550-foot dam. The dam has a height of 58 feet with a 45- to 50-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders. Small portions of this rocky terrain are coated with wads of filamentous algae and bits and pieces of wilted and decaying submerged aquatic vegetation.  The water’s edge contains a concrete water outlet tower and patches of winter-dead American water willows.  One of the largemouth bass was caught at the western end of the dam in about five feet of water with the PB&J Finesse TRD and red Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig with a slow swim-and-pause presentation. The second largemouth bass was caught along the western third section of the dam in about seven to eight feet of water on the PB&J Finesse TRD and red Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig with a slow swim-and-pause presentation. We failed to elicit another strike along the dam.

We caught four largemouth bass around a main-lake point in the lower half of this reservoir. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders.  A dock floats over a shallow-water segment of this point, and some patches of winter-wilted submerged aquatic vegetation and filamentous algae surround the dock in about four to six feet of water. These largemouth bass were inveigled on our Z-Man’s PB&J Finesse TRD affixed to a Z-Man’s 1/15-ounce baby-blue Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig with a drag-and-pause presentation around the patches of winter-wilted aquatic vegetation.

We caught one largemouth bass along about a 300-yard stretch of a shoreline in the upper half of the reservoir. This shoreline possesses a 30- to 70-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are occasionally coated with wads of winter-wilted filamentous algae. There are no significant patches of submerged aquatic vegetation embellishing this shoreline. The largemouth bass was caught along an offshore ledge that lies between two docks in about 11 feet of water. This largemouth bass was allured by the PB&J Finesse TRD affixed to a Z-Man’s 1/15-ounce baby-blue Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig and a drag-and-pause presentation.

We failed to garner a strike along many hundreds of yards of this reservoir’s main-lake shorelines, around scores of docks, and across four main-lake points. These areas were not graced with patches of submerged aquatic vegetation.  Across many years of fishing numerous community and state reservoirs in northeastern Kansas during the winter, when water temperatures are in the 30s and 40s, we have found that it is essential to have bountiful patches of submerged aquatic vegetation in order to locate and catch significant numbers of largemouth bass. And we have ascertained that the most fruitful aquatic vegetation is coontail, curly-leaf pondweeds, and Eurasian milfoil. This reservoir used to have wonderful patches of coontail from which we caught and released hundreds and hundreds of largemouth bass throughout the calendar year. But several years ago, the managers of this reservoir eradicated these patches by spraying an aquatic herbicide and stocking grass carp.  Since then, the wintertime largemouth bass fishing has become pathetic.

What’s more, Old Man Winter’s erratic and windy behavior has made January and February of 2026 an unenjoyable time to be afloat in pursuit of largemouth bass in northeastern Kansas. 

Feb. 26

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted this report on the Finesse News Network about his Feb. 26 afternoon bank-walking excursion at two community reservoirs in north-central Texas.

After a significant cold front passed through north-central Texas during the evening hours of Feb. 19, daytime temperatures in north-central Texas have rebounded to where they were before the cold front.

During a delightfully warm 81-degree afternoon on Feb. 25, Frank Gosnell of Sanger, Texas, and I thought we would chase white bass at a nearby federal reservoir, but the white-bass fishing was awful. We fished for 3 1/2 hours, and we could barely muster six white bass.

Since fishing at the federal reservoirs in north-central Texas has been a grind so far this winter, I opted to fish at two community reservoirs in north-central Texas on Feb. 26. I fished for a total of 3 1/2 hours. I fished at the first impoundment from 10:30 a.m. to noon, and I fished at the second reservoir from about 1:10 p.m. to 3:10 p.m. after I took a 60-minute lunch break.

The sky conditions varied from overcast to mostly cloudy to partly cloudy. The morning's low temperature was 50 degrees. The afternoon's high temperature was 79 degrees. The wind quartered out of the north and northeast at 10 to 20 mph. The barometric pressure fell slightly from 29.85 at 10:00 a.m. to 29.83 at 3:00 p.m.

Fishing was forecasted to be poor on Feb. 26 according to In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar. It also noted that the most promising fishing periods would take place from 6:04 a.m. to 8:04 a.m., 11:49 a.m. to 1:49 p.m., and 6:25 p.m. to 8:25 p.m.

The water at the first reservoir exhibited about 24 inches of clarity. The water level was about a foot low. The water temperature was 59 degrees.

This reservoir’s submerged terrain consists mostly of small gravel and sand. There are bald cypress knees, some broken tree limbs, and several clusters of boulders adorning the shorelines in the middle section of the impoundment. There are also several shallow sand-and-gravel ledges extending about five feet out from the water’s edge that parallel the shorelines. Large patches of submerged baby pondweeds embellish portions of the deep-water sides of these ledges. Shallow flats bedecked with patches of baby pondweeds form the upper and lower regions of this reservoir.

The Florida-strain largemouth bass fishing was decent for February. I caught 12 largemouth bass. I caught them in the midsection of the impoundment around and on top of patches of baby pondweeds that are situated near the shallow sand-and-gravel ledges in five to seven feet of water. Seven of these 12 bass were enticed by a slow-paced swimming retrieve with a three-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ matched with a chartreuse 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig head. The other five largemouth bass were tempted by a slow swim-and-constant-shake presentation with a 3 1/2-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Trick ShotZ affixed on a chartreuse 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig.

The shallow flats in the lower and upper regions of this impoundment were devoid of strikes.  

At the second reservoir, the water was murkier than usual and displayed between 14 and 18 inches of clarity. The water level was normal. The water temperature was 57 degrees.  

The main feature of this reservoir is a shallow sand-and-gravel ledge that is about three to five feet from the water’s edge, and this ledge encircles the entire impoundment. The ledge is covered with a foot of water and drops off into three to five feet of water. The deep-water side of the ledge is enhanced with several large patches of baby pondweeds mixed with vast amounts of filamentous algae. The reservoir’s lower and upper sections have two concrete culverts with a connecting ditch that winds its way through the middle section of the reservoir. The shorelines are also endowed with five prominent points, numerous bald cypress tree knees, and a brush pile. The submerged terrain consists of sand mixed with small pieces of gravel and rocks.

The largemouth bass fishing was much more difficult at this impoundment than it was at the first impoundment.  This reservoir relinquished three largemouth bass. They were caught in five to seven feet of water from a 10-yard section of the deep-water side of the sand-and-gravel ledge in the lower end of the reservoir. Two of the three largemouth bass were caught on a slow drag-and-deadstick presentation with a shortened four-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Finesse WormZ rigged on a chartreuse 1/20-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig. This Finesse WormZ was trimmed down from its original length of 4.75 inches. The other largemouth bass was allured with a slow swim-and-constant-shake presentation with the 3 1/2-inch green-pumpkin Trick ShotZ rig.

I failed to generate any strikes around several small tertiary points, the five prominent points, the two concrete culverts, portions of the connecting ditch, and many other segments of the sand-and-gravel ledge in the lower, middle, and upper sections of this impoundment.  

In conclusion, it appears that this warm-weather trend is beginning to warm up the waterways of north-central Texas. During this 3 1/2-hour endeavor, the water temperatures ranged from 57 to 59 degrees, and my best efforts garnered 15 largemouth bass. I caught 12 largemouth bass from the first impoundment and three from the second impoundment.

Feb. 28

Bob Gum of Kansas City, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his outing with Sajid Frooqui  and Syed Khalid of Overland Park, Kansas, at one of northeastern Kansas’ power-plant reservoirs on Feb. 28. This is Bob’s first log in 2026, which reflects how difficult it has been to fish for largemouth bass in northeastern Kansas in January and February.

The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 46 degrees. The afternoon’s high temperature was 71 degrees. The wind angled out of the northwest, southeast, southwest, and west at 8 to 14 mph; one gust of wind broached 28 mph.  There were a few morning rain showers accompanied by some thunder. At other times, the sky was overcast, mostly cloudy, partly cloudy, and fair.  The barometric pressure was 29.98 at 12:53 a.m., 29.95 at 5:53 a.m., 29.95 at 11:53 a.m., and 29.92 at 1:53 p.m.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar noted that the most promising fishing periods would take place from 7:41 a.m. to 9:41 a.m., 8:09 p.m. to 10:09 p.m., and 1:26 a.m. to 3:26 a.m.

The water level was about three feet below normal. The water clarity was around 2.5 feet along the dam. The surface temperature inside the warm-water perimeter was 56 degrees; along the dam, which was outside the warm-water perimeter, it was 51 degrees.

When I arrived at the marina, there was an armada of trailers with boats preparing to launch and compete in a largemouth bass tournament that began at 8:00 a.m., which was when the Khalids would arrive. I quickly launched my boat. I made my first cast at 7:30 a.m. and fished along a massive riprap jetty on the east side of the reservoir for about 25 minutes. This jetty lies inside this reservoir’s warm-water plume. Before I returned to the marina to pick up Syed and Sajid, I caught two largemouth bass.

At 8:00 a.m., I picked up the Khalids at the marina, and we fished together for the next 6 ½ hours. We made our last casts at 1:30 p.m.

We spent most of our 6 ½ hours fishing inside the warm-water plume.

The Khalids and I fished portions of this riprap jetty again and caught three more largemouth bass.

Then, we spent most of this outing on the west side of the reservoir, where we slowly and thoroughly dissected the shorelines along three bluffs and the flats that lie between the bluffs. The flats are about the size of three football fields. The underwater terrains of the bluffs consist of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are occasionally bedecked with a laydown and a pile of brush. The shorelines have a 45- to 60-degree slope. The underwater terrains of the flats consist of silt, gravel, and rocks, and they are endowed with some stumps, a few piles of brush, and two submerged creek channels.

Gulls were intermittently foraging on gizzard shad across a section of this flat, which was also the most fruitful area for us. Our boat floated in six to seven feet of water, and we made long casts with our Midwest finesse rigs and lured the largemouth bass by using a slow swim-glide-and-occasional-twitch presentation.

We finished our outing by leaving the warm-water plume and plying about a 150-yard stretch of the riprap shoreline of the west end of the dam. This shoreline has a 40- to 45-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of riprap rocks and boulders. Our Midwest finesse rigs inveigled three largemouth bass.

In sum, we caught 16 largemouth bass and accidentally caught one common carp, two wipers, four channel catfish, and seven freshwater drum. Two of the 16 largemouth bass were caught during the first 25 minutes, when I was fishing alone along the riprap jetty. Our catch rate for largemouth bass was slightly more than two per hour.  Our most effective rigs were a 2 ½-inch Z-Man’s California-craw ZinkerZ on a blue 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig, a 2 ½-inch Z-Man’s mood-ring ZinkerZ on a blue 1/16-mushroom-style jig, and a Z-Man’s hot-snakes BugZ on a black 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig.