Ned Kehde: Guide to Midwest Finesse Fishing: November 2025

Nov. 1

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Nov. 1 outing at a state reservoir in north-central Texas with Norman Brown of Lewisville, Texas.

From 10:15 a.m. to 2:15 p.m., Norman and I ventured to a state reservoir that is in the rural countryside of north-central Texas. The last time I visited this reservoir was on Oct. 16, when Frank Gosnell of Sanger, Texas, and I tangled with a combination of 67 largemouth and spotted bass in six hours. 

According to In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar, fishing would be poor with the best fishing occurring from 1:04 a.m. to 3:04 a.m., 7:15 a.m. to 9:15 a.m., and 7:39 p.m. to 9:39 p.m.

The bulk of this reservoir’s shorelines are littered with rocks and boulders. And the entire underwater terrain is composed of mostly red clay, gravel, rocks, and boulders. There used to be flourishing patches of hydrilla and American pondweeds in the lower end of this reservoir, but they vanished several years ago, and we don’t have a clue as to what caused their demise. Some of the shorelines are also adorned with flooded buck brush, stickups, overhanging trees, and some laydowns.

Our outing on Nov. 1 was delayed for about 45 minutes because a large rain storm erupted over the reservoir. After the rain subsided, the sky eventually cleared and there was an abundance of bright sunshine. The morning low temperature was 49 degrees. The afternoon high temperature climbed to 71 degrees. The wind quartered out of the north and northeast at 3 to 5 mph. The barometric pressure measured 30.08 at 10:00 a.m. and 30.09 at 2:00 p.m.

The water level was 3.88 feet below its normal pool. The water was dingy with about 14 inches of visibility. The surface temperature warmed slightly from 66 to 68 degrees as the afternoon progressed. 

We concentrated our efforts on portions of two major bays, three prominent main-lake points, a main-lake island, a main-lake bluff shoreline embellished with four boat houses, a riprap-covered jetty, and one rocky main-lake shoreline near the riprap jetty. 

The main-lake island that we fished is in the lower section of the reservoir. Its shoreline is flat and graced with rocks, boulders, and stick ups. Because of the lower water level, many of the rocks and boulders are now on dry land. This island is usually one of our most productive spots in this reservoir, but during this outing, it yielded only one largemouth bass and one white bass. Both fish were caught in less than five feet of water near the outside edges of two thin patches of stickups on the east side of the island with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SlimZ rigged on a blue 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead and a moderate-paced swimming retrieve. 

The riprap jetty, which is situated in the midsection of the reservoir’s east shoreline, yielded six largemouth bass and two green sunfish. They were extracted from water as shallow as three feet to as deep as seven feet. They were around the submerged riprap and several large submerged boulders within 10 feet of the water’s edge. Five of the six largemouth bass and one of the green sunfish were allured by a slow swim-and-constant-shake technique with a 2 3/4-inch Z-Man’s Drew’s-craw TRD TubeZ affixed to a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. The other largemouth bass and green sunfish were tempted by a slow swim-and-constant-shake retrieve with a Z-Man’s Drew’s-craw TRD TubeZ fastened on a generic 1/16-ounce green-pumpkin mushroom-style jig. 

The rocky main-lake shoreline that is situated a short distance from the riprap jetty failed to yield a fish.  

A main-lake bluff that lies about a mile up-lake of the jetty yielded one largemouth bass and two green sunfish. This bluff is about 100 yards long. The base of the bluff is cluttered with numerous large boulders and chunky rocks. There are also four boat houses located on this bluff. We failed to elicit any strikes from the shaded areas underneath the four boat houses. This largemouth bass and one of the two green sunfish were enticed by a slow swim-and-constant-shake presentation with a 2 3/4-inch Z-Man’s Drew’s-craw TRD TubeZ rigged on a generic chartreuse 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig. The other green sunfish was attracted to a slow swim-and-constant-shake retrieve with a 2 3/4-inch Z-Man’s Drew’s-craw TRD TubeZ rigged on the 1/16-ounce chartreuse Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. 

The three rock- and boulder-laden main-lake points were mostly unproductive. They have flat terrains adorned with patches of stickups, chunky rocks, and large boulders. One of the three points surrendered one spotted bass. This bass was abiding in three feet of water around a cluster of large boulders, and it engulfed the 2 1/2-inch pearl Slim SwimZ on the initial fall. We failed to garner any strikes from the other two points.

The two bays were the most fruitful locales. The first bay, which is on the lower end of the impoundment, surrendered five largemouth bass. The second bay is in the midsection of the reservoir’s east shoreline, and it surrendered seven largemouth bass and two green sunfish. These 12 largemouth bass were caught in three to five feet of water from three rocky secondary shorelines in the back end of the two bays. The slopes of these shorelines vary from 30 to 45 degrees. Their submerged terrains contain large rocks and boulders, stickups, and several small brush piles.  One of these 12 largemouth bass was fooled by a slightly shortened 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s hot-snakes TRD TicklerZ threaded on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead with a slow swim-and-constant-shake presentation. Two more largemouth bass were induced by the Drew’s-craw TRD TubeZ rigged on the generic chartreuse 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig with a slow swim-and-constant-shake retrieve. Three largemouth bass were inveigled by a slow swim-and-constant-shake presentation with a 2 3/4-inch Z-Man’s California-craw TRD TubeZ rigged on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Six of the 12 largemouth bass were inveigled by the Drew’s-craw TRD TubeZ attached to a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead and employed with a slow swim-and-constant-shake retrieve.    

In conclusion, the Florida-strain largemouth bass fishing in north-central Texas has suddenly become more difficult with the dropping water temperatures, and this four-hour endeavor was more lackluster than we expected. We have become accustomed to catching 30-plus black bass at nearly every outing at this impoundment over the past several years, therefore, it was a big disappointment to catch only 20 largemouth bass and one spotted bass this time around.

Nov. 3

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted this log on the Finesse News Network about his Nov. 3 outing at a state reservoir in north-central Texas.

I joined Brad DePrater of Sanger, Texas, at a rural state reservoir in north-central Texas. This reservoir is not the same impoundment that Norman Brown of Lewisville, Texas, and I fished on Nov. 1.

The sky was cloudless and sunny. The morning’s low temperature was 47 degrees, and the afternoon’s high temperature reached 78 degrees. The wind angled out of the south at 10 to 15 mph. The barometric pressure measured 30.27 at 9:00 a.m. and 30.18 at 4:00 p.m.  

In-Fisherman’s Solunar table indicated that the fishing would be poor, but the most productive fishing periods would occur from 1:38 a.m. to 3:38 a.m., 7:51 a.m. to 9:51 a.m., and 2:38 p.m. to 4:38 p.m. 

We fished from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

The water level was 2.01 feet below normal pool. The water exhibited 18 to 24 inches of clarity. The surface temperature was 64 degrees throughout the reservoir. 

This reservoir’s underwater terrain consists primarily of red clay, small gravel, rocks, and boulders, stumps, and some standing timber. Native emergent vegetation includes American water willows. Native submerged vegetation includes muskgrass, Eurasian milfoil, hydrilla, and coontail. Native floating-leaved American pondweeds and non-native yellow floating-hearts are also present. 

We began this outing along a 75-yard section of a flat main-lake shoreline in the middle section of the reservoir’s west tributary arm. This shoreline is on the south side of this tributary arm, and it is adorned with thinning patches of American pondweeds, mats of hydrilla, and some submerged stumps. It is also endowed with two flat and rocky main-lake points that are enhanced with chunk rocks, a dilapidated concrete boat ramp, and thick mats of American pondweeds. There is a large mud flat on one side of these two points, and it is adorned with patches of American pondweeds, American water willows, and submerged stumps.  This stretch of shoreline surrendered four largemouth bass. Two were caught around the outside edges of the patches of American pondweeds in three to five feet of water from the side of one of the two points. The other two largemouth bass were caught in 12 feet of water from a patch of hydrilla that is situated near the end of one of the points that extends about 30 yards into the main-lake basin.   

At two main-lake points located about half a mile east of the main-lake shoreline that we just fished, we caught one spotted bass and two largemouth bass in three to five feet of water. These points are also situated on the south side of the tributary arm. They have a 45-degree incline, and they are graced with chunk rocks, boulders, thick patches of American pondweeds, and four boat houses. These three black bass were relating to the outside edges of two of the larger patches of American pondweeds. We probed the sides and underneath three boat houses that occupy one of the points, and they were fruitless.

On the north side of the west tributary arm, we failed to catch any black bass from a submerged rock ledge that parallels another main-lake shoreline just west of the dam. This shoreline is endowed with flooded timber, several laydowns, chunk rocks, and large boulders.

Inside the lower section of a minor feeder-creek arm, which is adjacent to the main-lake shoreline that we just investigated, we caught six largemouth bass and one spotted bass. This creek arm is about 75-yards long. Its east-side shoreline is cluttered with large rocks and boulders, a thin stand of flooded timber, and a few patches of American pondweeds. The back end of this creek arm is flat and teeming with thick mats of hydrilla. The west-shoreline is flat and adorned with thick patches of hydrilla and American pondweeds, several boat houses, a decorative rock retaining wall, and a small cove containing four boat houses and thick patches of hydrilla around the boat houses. We caught the spotted bass from the east shoreline near a cluster of boulders in five feet of water. The small cove on the west side of the creek arm yielded the six largemouth bass. They were abiding in three to five feet of water near the outside edges of the patches of hydrilla around the boat houses. The middle and upper ends of this creek arm were fruitless.    

From this minor feeder-creek arm, we moved about a quarter of a mile westward to another small creek arm on the north side of the west tributary arm. 

This creek arm is smaller than the first one. It is about 50-yards long and 30-yards wide. It contains several boat houses and docks. The water’s edge of the sand flat near its entrance is embellished with a thick wall of cattails. The remainder of the creek arm has clay-and-gravel shorelines that have 30- to 40-degree inclines. They are adorned with overhanging trees and bushes, several laydowns, and patches of American pondweeds and hydrilla.   

The steeper shorelines in the middle section of this creek arm yielded two largemouth bass and one spotted bass.  We failed to elicit any strikes in the lower and upper sections of this creek arm.   

After that, we moved another half a mile westward to a major feeder-creek arm on the north side of the west tributary arm. 

This creek arm is endowed with a long bluff at the mouth of this creek arm, and it extends back to the midsection of the creek arm, where it transitions into a flat clay-and-gravel shoreline. It is embellished with a shallow clay-and-gravel ledge, flooded stands of timber, submerged stumps, many patches of American pondweeds, a few laydowns, scores of broken tree limbs, several boat houses, and a patch of chunky rocks mixed with large boulders. After what seemed like hundreds of casts and retrieves, we caught four largemouth bass and two large bluegill that were caught many yards from each other. They were abiding in water as shallow as two feet and as deep as 13 feet.

Next, we ventured to the dam, which is positioned in the lower end of the west tributary arm. This earth-core dam is small; it is 1330 feet long and 20 feet high, and is overlaid with riprap. The riprap along the dam was not very productive; it surrendered two largemouth bass that were caught in three to five feet of water near the riprap.

From the dam, we moved about a quarter mile southward to a main-lake bluff shoreline. This shoreline is about 100 yards long. Its most prominent feature is a decorative rock retaining wall on the lower end of the bluff, and the remainder of the bluff’s shoreline is embellished with large rocks, boulders, patches of American pondweeds, a few laydowns, and three boat docks. Like the dam, it was not very productive either. The upper and midsection of this bluff were unproductive. The lower end of the bluff yielded three largemouth bass that were caught in three to seven feet of water near clusters of submerged boulders. We failed to elicit any strikes from the decorative rock retaining wall. 

We finished the outing fishing along a 35-yard stretch of a shoreline situated in the middle portion of the east shoreline of the southeast tributary arm. This section of the shoreline encompasses about a dozen boat houses, a sheet-metal retaining wall, a clay-and-gravel ledge at the base of the sheet-metal retaining wall, many chunky rocks and boulders, and patches of American pondweeds. This section of shoreline was our most productive locale; it relinquished 31 largemouth bass, two spotted bass, seven white bass, four crappie, and two bluegill. Six of these 33 black bass and the four crappie were caught in 15 feet of water around several metal poles that anchor a large boat house. Just south of the boat house, we caught the other 26 largemouth bass, one spotted bass, seven white bass, and two large bluegill. Five of these 27 black bass and the two large bluegill were caught in less than 10 feet of water near the deep-water side of the clay-and-gravel ledge, and the other 22 black bass and seven white bass were caught about 30 yards out from the ledge in 30 feet of water as they were foraging on schools of threadfin shad between the surface and 12 feet below the surface of the water. 

We wielded six Midwest finesse offerings that were employed with six different retrieves. Seventeen of the 56 black bass were allured by either a slow swim-glide-and-occasional-shake retrieve or a vertical twitching presentation with a Z-Man’s twilight Finesse TRD matched with a black 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig. Thirteen were enticed by a slow swim-and-constant-shake retrieve with a 2 3/4-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD TubeZ fastened to a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Another 13 were induced by a swim-and-pause presentation with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ. A slow swimming presentation with a three-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Slim ShadZ fastened to a chartreuse 1/10-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig attracted 10 black bass. Two were tempted by a slow swim-and-constant-shake retrieve with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pumpkin-chartreuse ZinkerZ affixed to a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. One largemouth bass was snookered by a slow swim-and-constant-shake retrieve with a 2 3/4-inch Drew’s-craw TRD TubeZ fastened to a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.

In conclusion, the black-bass bite started off slow during the morning hours and improved significantly during the afternoon hours. All totaled, we relished tussling with 52 largemouth bass, four spotted bass, seven white bass, four crappie, and four large bluegill during this 7 1/2-hour endeavor.

Nov. 5

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted this log on the Finesse News Network about his Nov. 5 outing with Frank Gosnell of Sanger, Texas, at a federal reservoir in south-central Oklahoma.   

We drove 73 miles and spent 5 1/2 hours pursuing smallmouth bass at a picturesque federal hill-land reservoir in south-central Oklahoma. 

The best fishing, according to In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar,  would most likely occur from 3:18 a.m. to 5:18 a.m., 9:33 a.m. to 11:33 a.m., and 10:02 p.m. to 12:02 a.m. It also forecasted great fishing on Nov. 5.  

We fished from 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

The morning’s low temperature was 55 degrees, and the afternoon’s high reached 79 degrees. The barometric pressure measured 30.09 at 9:00 a.m. and 30.03 at 3:00 p.m. The wind quartered out of the south and southeast at 3 to 10 mph, and around noon, it was calm. The sky was mostly clear except for one wispy cirrus cloud drifting overhead. 

The water level appeared to be about two feet low. The water was dingier than usual, and exhibited 2 1/2 feet of visibility instead of its usual five to seven feet of clarity. The surface temperature ranged from 63 to 68 degrees. 

Our time was spent in the lower section of the reservoir, where we fished inside two feeder-creek arms, across a secondary clay-and-gravel flat, around two rocky secondary points, around  a main-lake entry point of one of the two creek arms, on a main-lake hump, along two main-lake shorelines, and along the boulder-laden shorelines of two bluffs inside another feeder-creek arm. 

This reservoir was unusually busy on Nov. 5; we saw several other bass boats, pontoon boats, and two jet skiers during the time we were afloat. Most of the time, we have this reservoir to ourselves or we may see one other fishing boat passing by.

The fishing at this impoundment is beginning to slow down, but we ultimately inveigled 44 black bass; 40 were smallmouth bass and four were largemouth bass. We were also plagued by many subtle strikes from panfish, and we caught five green sunfish, one large crappie, and one large bluegill from those many strikes.  

We began the outing inside a minor feeder-creek arm in the lower end of the west tributary arm. About a quarter of the way inside this creek arm, we dissected two rocky secondary points and a clay-and-gravel flat situated between the two secondary points. We caught two smallmouth bass from one of the secondary points, and we failed to elicit any strikes from the clay-and-gravel flat and the other secondary point. A rocky main-lake point at the entrance to this creek arm yielded one large bluegill that engulfed a slightly shortened 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s hot-snakes TRD TicklerZ rigged on a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig on the initial fall. These two smallmouth bass were caught in less than five feet of water in the vicinity of several large clusters of chunky rocks mixed with large boulders. They were caught on a moderately-paced swimming retrieve with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ fastened on a chartreuse 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. 

From that creek-arm, we moved about a mile down lake and fished portions of an offshore main-lake hump, where we failed to elicit any strikes.  

After that, we fished the first of two main-lake shorelines located near the offshore hump, and we caught five smallmouth bass and one largemouth bass. This shoreline is about 50 yards long. It is relatively flat and littered with numerous large rocks, clusters of boulders, decaying tree trunks, and some stumps. Three smallmouth bass were caught on a slow swim-and-constant-shake retrieve with a slightly shortened 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s hot-snakes TRD TicklerZ affixed on a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig. One largemouth bass and one smallmouth bass were allured by a moderate-paced swimming retrieve with a three-inch Z-Man’s bad-shad Slim SwimZ rigged on a red 1/10-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig. The fifth smallmouth bass was caught on a slow swimming retrieve with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s bloodworm GrubZ affixed on a black 1/10-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. These six black bass were abiding in three to five feet of water near the sides and between the large boulders.  

From this main-lake shoreline, we travelled about four miles to the lower end of the east tributary arm, where we ventured inside the second major feeder-creek arm. Inside this creek arm, we targeted two boulder-laden bluffs. The first one is several hundred yards long and forms the south shoreline of this creek arm. The second bluff is located near the entrance and along the north side of the creek arm, and it is about 100 yards in length. The depth of the water adjacent to these two bluffs range from 12 to 81 feet deep. Countless numbers of large boulders bedeck the submerged foundations of these bluffs.

The first bluff relinquished 16 smallmouth bass and one largemouth bass, three green sunfish, and one large crappie. These fish were scattered along the entire length of the bluff, and they were abiding about five to 10 feet from the water’s edge along the bluff and suspended about five to eight feet below the water’s surface. Seven smallmouth bass, two green sunfish, and one crappie engulfed the 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s hot-snakes TRD TicklerZ rig as it was presented with a slow swim-and-constant-shake retrieve around the sides and over the tops of the submerged boulders. Six smallmouth bass, one largemouth bass, and one green sunfish were tempted by a slow swim-and-constant-shake presentation with a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD BugZ rigged on a chartreuse 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig. The other three smallmouth bass were enticed by a slow swim-and-constant-shake presentation with a 2 3/4-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD TubeZ affixed on a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig. 

Along the second 100-yard-long bluff at the mouth of this creek arm, we caught 11 smallmouth bass, two largemouth bass, and another green sunfish. These 12 black bass were extracted from the sides of several large boulders grouped together in six to 10 feet of water and about 5 to 10 feet from the water’s edge. Ten smallmouth bass and one largemouth bass were caught on the green-pumpkin TRD BugZ rig with a slow swim-and-constant-shake retrieve. The other smallmouth bass and one green sunfish were caught on a slow swim-and-constant-shake retrieve with the 2 1/2-inch hot-snakes TRD TicklerZ combo. They were also relating to the sides of large submerged boulders in about five to seven feet of water.

We finished the outing at the second main-lake shoreline, which is located about two miles north of the second feeder-creek arm. This shoreline if about 75 yards long. Its submerged terrain encompasses a rock ledge that parallels about 80 percent of this shoreline and is covered with large clusters of chunky rocks and boulders, and several small patches of cattails at its water’s edge.  This shoreline yielded seven smallmouth bass and one green sunfish. Six of these seven smallmouth bass were allured by the 2 3/4-inch green-pumpkin TRD TubeZ rig, and the other smallmouth bass and green sunfish were enticed by the green-pumpkin TRD BugZ combo. Both lures were employed with a slow swim-and-constant-shake retrieve.  

As we were driving home, we discussed the diminishing smallmouth bass fishing and the dropping water temperatures at this reservoir. Historically, we end our pursuits of smallmouth bass at this reservoir in mid-November, when the weather becomes much colder and the water temperature drops into the mid- and lower 50s, which makes the smallmouth bass fishing much more trying and not worth the 73-mile drive. However, since the weather is still warm and the smallmouth bass fishing is still bountiful, we may try to sneak in one more outing at this reservoir in the next week or so.

Nov. 6

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his outing at a 93-year-old state reservoir in northeastern Kansas on Nov. 6 with Rick Hebenstreit of Shawnee, Kansas.

The National Weather Service reported the morning’s low temperature was 32 degrees, and the afternoon’s high temperature was 68 degrees. The wind angled out of the southeast, south, and east at 3 to 18 mph; the gusts ranged from 20 to 26 mph. The sky was fair until 9:52 a.m., then it was mostly cloudy, overcast, and cluttered with a few clouds. The barometric pressure was 30.21 at 12:52 a.m., 30.13 at 5:52 a.m., 29.93 at 11:52 a.m., and 29.79 at 2:52 p.m.

The water level looked to be about a foot below normal. The water exhibited more than nine feet of clarity. The surface temperature was 56 degrees.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 10:28 a.m. to 12:28 p.m., 10:58 p.m. to 12:58 a.m., and 4:12 a.m. to 6:12 a.m.

We made our first casts at 10:32 a.m. and our last at 2:32 p.m. when we caught largemouth bass number 81.

One of the 81 largemouth bass was caught on a Z-Man’s hot-snakes TRD MinnowZ affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jighead.  One was caught on a 4.74-inch Z-Man’s purple-haze Finesse WormZ affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jighead. Four largemouth bass were caught on a Z-Man’s hot-snakes TRD TicklerZ affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jighead. Seventy-five 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.

Because of the wind, we used a drift sock about 85 percent of the time.

At the mouth of one of this reservoir's two primary feeder-creek arms, we fished around the main-lake point and along about a 30-yard stretch of its main-lake shoreline and failed to elicit a strike. This shoreline possesses a 45- to 85-degree slope. The point has a 45- to 50-degree slope. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders. Some of the boulders are humongous. Parts of his terrain are carpeted with patches of brittle naiad and coontail.  Most of the water’s edge is lined with thick patches of dead and dying American water willows and a couple of well-worn laydowns. Portions of the outside edges of the American water willows are entwined with brittle naiad and coontail. This area was fruitless.

Inside this primary feeder-creek arm, we caught 20 largemouth bass along about an 800-yard stretch of a secondary shoreline and around two secondary points. The underwater terrain of the points and shoreline consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are regularly adorned with some patches of brittle naiad, coontail, and burgeoning patches of curly-leaf pondweeds. There are two small shallow-water flats that are abounding with patches of coontail.  Portions of the water’s edge are lined with dead and dying patches of American water willows, overhanging trees, and laydowns. Patches of brittle naiad and coontail are entwined with the outside edges of some of the American water willows.  The slope of this shoreline and its points range from 25 to 50 degrees. Our hot-snakes Finesse TRD rigs inveigled the 20 largemouth bass. They were caught on four presentations: initial drop, swim-and-pause, drag-and-pause, and swim-glide-and-subtle-shake. The drag-and-pause presentation was executed on the underwater terrain that was devoid of aquatic vegetation. The swim-and-pause and the swim-glide-and-shake presentations were used on areas graced with patches of brittle naiad, coontail, and curly-leaf pondweeds. These largemouth bass were caught in water as shallow as two to three feet and as deep as six to eight feet. Some were caught near the outside edges of the patches of American water willows. Others were caught from about six to 20 feet from the outside edges of the American water willows.  

In the back of this primary feeder-creek arm, we fished across a portion of a massive shallow-water flat. The wind and waves were somewhat troublesome on portions of this flat, and we failed to allure a largemouth bass. 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 dead American lotus plants; some portions of the underwater terrain are endowed with patches of brittle naiad, coontail, and burgeoning patches of 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.

At the mouth of this primary feeder-creek arm, we caught two largemouth bass around the other main-lake point. It has a 40- to 45-degree slope.  The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders. The water’s edge is garnished with patches of dead and dying American water willows, which are intertwined with brittle naiad, coontail, and a few meager tree limbs. The hot-snakes Finesse TRD rig allured the two largemouth bass; one was caught on the initial drop of the rig along the outside edge of the American water willows in about three feet of water; the second one was caught on a swim-and-pause presentation in about five to six feet of water.

From this point, we fished along most of the 900 yards of this primary feeder-creek arm’s other secondary shoreline and around its secondary and tertiary points. The slope of this vast area ranges from about 25 to 55 degrees. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, boulders, and one significant submerged rock-and-boulder fence. Most of the flat and shallow-water sections of the underwater terrain are coated with patches of brittle naiad, coontail, and curly-leaf pondweeds.  A few manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees enhance the underwater terrain. The water’s edge is often lined with patches of dead and dying American water willows, some overhanging trees, a few piles of tree limbs, and several well-aged laydowns. This shoreline and its points yielded 16 largemouth bass, which were inveigled with our hot-snakes Finesse TRD rigs. Some were allured by the initial drop of these rigs. The others were caught as we employed a swim-and-pause presentation as we tried to polish the tops of the submerged aquatic vegetation, piles of tree limbs, and eastern red cedar trees. They were caught in water as shallow as about three feet and as deep as six to eight feet.

We caught 12 largemouth bass along about a 700-yard section of a main-lake shoreline. It has a 40- to 70-degree slope.  The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders. One area is enhanced with a stone and concrete foundation of a barn and house. Submerged patches of brittle naiad, coontail, curly-leaf pondweeds coat portions of the underwater terrain. The water’s edge is garnished with dead patches of American water willows, which are intertwined with brittle naiad and coontail, some significant laydowns, and many piles of tree limbs. Along about a 30- to 40-yard stretch of this shoreline, the once immense and thick patches of American water willows have disappeared. One of the 12 largemouth bass was caught on the initial drop of the purple-haze Finesse WormZ rig in about three feet of water. Eleven largemouth bass were caught on our hot-snakes Finesse TRD rigs; they were caught on either the initial drop in the vicinity of the outside edges of the patches of American water willows or on a swim-and-pause presentation around the submerged patches of aquatic vegetation or piles of tree limbs or laydowns in five to seven feet of water.

Inside this reservoir’s second primary feeder-creek arm, we fished along several sections of its two shorelines, which border a massive shallow-water flat. At times, we battled the wind as we attempted to thoroughly dissect this flat.  The shorelines possess a 25- to 40-degree slope. Its water edge is adorned with patches of dead and dying American water willows, several overhanging trees, some laydowns, and several piles of tree limbs. This flat is the size of many football fields. It is endowed with four submerged creek channels, a small island embellished with 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. Brittle naiad, coontail, curly-leaf pondweeds, and many manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees adorn the underwater terrains of this massive flat.  We caught 20 largemouth bass along the two shorelines and across portions of the massive flat. Four were caught on the hot-snakes TRD TicklerZ rig; two were allured by the initial drop around patches of coontail and curly-lead pondweeds in six to seven feet of water; two were caught on a swim-and-pause presentation in four to seven feet of water around patches of brittle naiad, coontail, and curly-leaf pondweeds. Sixteen were caught on our hot-snakes Finesse TRD rigs; they were caught around patches of submerged aquatic vegetation in about four to seven feet of water. Three were caught on the initial drop, and 14 were caught as we employed a swim-and-pause presentation.

We caught four largemouth on a shallow-water flat inside a small feeder-creek arm, which was protected from the wind. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and silt. Segments of the underwater terrain are endowed with patches of brittle naiad, coontail, and bits and pieces of curly-leaf pondweeds. Much of its submerged creek channel is filled with silt. This flat is about the size of a football field. We fished about half of it. The four largemouth bass were caught on our hot-snakes Finesse TRD rigs on either the initial drop or a swim-and-pause shake presentation in about five to eight feet of water.

Along the short section of the north shoreline inside this small feeder-creek arm, we caught one largemouth bass. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and some boulders, which are embellished with significant patches of brittle naiad and coontail. The water’s edge of the shoreline has a 25- to 40-degree slope. It is endowed with two riprap jetties, thick patches of dying and dead American water willows, which are intertwined with patches of brittle naiad, coontail, and several submerged tree limbs. A swim-and-pause presentation with the hot-snakes Finesse TRD allured the largemouth bass around the patches of submerged coontail in about four to six feet of water.

We caught two largemouth bass around the main-lake point at the mouth of this small feeder-creek arm. This point has a 35-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are festooned with patches of brittle naiad, coontail, and curly-leaf pondweeds, as well as some manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees. The water’s edge is embellished with thick patches of dying and dead American water willows. Our hot-snakes Finesse TRD rigs hooked the two largemouth bass; one was caught on the initial drop in about three feet of water; the second was allured by a swim-and-pause presentation in about five feet of water around patches of brittle naiad and coontail.

Along about a 100-yard stretch of the main-lake shoreline adjacent to the main-lake point at the mouth of the small feeder-creek arm, we caught four largemouth bass. The slope of this shoreline ranges from about 30 to 50 degrees. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders; much of it is coated with patches of brittle naiad, coontail, and curly-leaf pondweeds.  A few manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees enhance the underwater terrain. The water’s edge is often lined with patches of dead and dying American water willows, some overhanging trees, a few piles of tree limbs, and several laydowns. The hot-snakes TRD MinnowZ rig with a swim-and-pause presentation inveigled one of the four largemouth bass around the edge of a patch of coontail and brittle naiad in about four to five feet of water. The hot-snakes Finesse TRD rig allured three of the four largemouth bass; two were caught on the initial drop in three to four feet of water; a slow swim-and-pause presentation allured two largemouth bass in four to six feet of water around patches of brittle naiad, coontail, and curly-leaf pondweeds.

In sum, we caught an average of 20 largemouth bass per hour during this four-hour outing.

Nov. 8

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted this log on the Finesse News Network about his Nov. 8 outing with Norman Brown of Lewisville, Texas, at a popular federal reservoir in north-central Texas.    

It was a pleasant fall day, and the reservoir was bustling with many people, fishing boats, pontoon boats, and pleasure boats. The sky was cloudless, and there was an abundance of bright sunshine. The morning’s low temperature was 47 degrees. The afternoon’s high temperature reached 80 degrees. Throughout this outing, there was a hint of a breeze angling out of the south-by-southwest at less than five mph. The barometric pressure measured 29.91 at 8:00 a.m. and 29.84 at noon.

The water level was a foot below its normal pool. The water displayed two feet of visibility. The surface temperature ranged from 65 to 67 degrees.

We stayed in the lower quadrant of the reservoir. This section of the reservoir is endowed with a few thick stands of flooded timber and some submerged stumps. Its underwater terrain consists mostly of red clay, some sand, small gravel, chunky rocks, and boulders. There are many thick patches of hydrilla and Eurasian milfoil. which are matted on the surface or just under the surface of the water, and most of them were exhibiting a winter-dead brownish hue. 

We fished from 8:00 a.m. to noon, and it was a grind to catch 22 black bass. Eighteen of the 22 were largemouth bass, and four were spotted bass. We also crossed paths with one white bass.  

We caught six largemouth bass and one spotted bass around a riprap-laden secondary shoreline and an adjoining main-lake point at the entrance to a small creek arm where we launched the boat. They were caught around the submerged portions of riprap and in less than five feet of water and within 10 feet of the water’s edge. Three largemouth bass were caught on a Z-Man’s pearl Baby Goat rigged on a chartreuse 1/10-ounce Z-Man’s Finesse ShroomZ jig. Two largemouth bass and one spotted bass were tempted by a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ affixed on a white generic 3/32-ounce mushroom-style jig. One largemouth bass engulfed a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s bloodworm GrubZ on a chartreuse 1/10-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig. The grub and two swim-baits were employed with a steady-swimming retrieve near the sides and over the top of the submerged riprap. 

We also dissected a 15-yard segment of a minor secondary shoreline, which is also covered with riprap and situated next to the boat ramp where we launched our boat, but it was unproductive. 

From that small feeder-creek arm, we journeyed southward about a mile into a major feeder-creek arm. We shared this creek arm with several other boat anglers who were dissecting several of the secondary points in the middle and upper sections of this creek arm.

Inside this creek arm, we fished the perimeter of an island, various sections of the north and south shorelines located in the lower, middle, and upper sections of this creek arm, several rocky secondary points scattered throughout this creek arm, and multiple patches of Eurasian milfoil that are flourishing around these shorelines, points, and the island, and we caught seven largemouth bass and three spotted bass.  

We caught one largemouth bass and three spotted bass from the perimeter of an island located in the lower end of the creek arm. The three spotted bass were abiding in five to seven feet of water along the shaded west side of the island, where the submerged terrain is flat and rocky. They were allured by a steady swimming retrieve with the pearl Baby Goat rig. 

The largemouth bass was caught on the east side of the island near a large patch of brown hydrilla in five feet of water. It was caught on a steady swimming retrieve with the pearl 2 1/2-inch Slim SwimZ combo.     

In the midsection of this creek arm, we caught two largemouth bass in three to five feet of water around a large patch of Eurasian milfoil that stretches around the perimeter of one of the rocky secondary points, and three other largemouth bass along two adjoining rocky secondary shorelines that lie on each side of the secondary point. This secondary point and its shorelines are located on the north side of this creek arm; they are mostly flat and adorned with small gravel mixed with fist-sized rocks and medium-sized boulders. These five largemouth bass were allured by a steady swimming retrieve with either a three-inch Z-Man’s bad-shad Slim SwimZ rigged on a black Z-Man’s 1/10-ounce Finesse ShroomZ jig or the 2 1/2-inch pearl Slim SwimZ rig. 

Since other boat anglers were fishing several of the secondary points and flats in the upper end of this creek arm, we shifted our focus to three secondary points and cuts on the south side of the creek arm. These areas were mostly unproductive, but we did catch one largemouth bass from a group of submerged boulders situated on one of the three secondary points in five feet of water. This largemouth bass was allured by a slow swim-and-constant-shake presentation with the 2 1/2-inch bloodworm GrubZ. 

We also failed to elicit any strikes from one of the entry points to this creek arm. This point is bluff-like, and it is endowed with numerous large boulders and large chunky rocks around its base. 

We spent the next three hours scanning and fishing two segments of two major main-lake shorelines, two main-lake points, and portions of three feeder-creek arms. These areas are  in the lower end of the reservoir’s west tributary arm.

The first main-lake point at the entry to a major feeder-creek arm and the main-lake shoreline next to this point failed to yield a strike.  

In the midsection of this creek arm, we targeted a long rock ledge, a couple of prominent secondary points, the remnants of a stock-pond dam, a 40-yard riprap-laden shoreline, and a cove; these areas were not already occupied by other boat anglers. The only productive spots were a small section of the rock ledge and a tertiary secondary point at one end of the rock ledge. The rock ledge yielded one largemouth bass in seven feet of water near the deep-water side of the ledge, and the other largemouth bass was caught in three feet of water from the side of the rocky tertiary point next to the rock ledge. These largemouth bass were enticed by a slow swim-and-constant-shake presentation with the California-craw TRD TicklerZ rig. A third largemouth bass was temporarily hooked near the tertiary point by the California-craw TRD TicklerZ combo, but it was able to liberate itself before we could hoist it over the gunnel of our boat.   

The second feeder-creek arm was fruitless. We then decided to move to the north side of the west tributary arm.  

At a main-lake point and along a 35-yard section of a main-lake shoreline adjacent to this main-lake point, we caught one largemouth bass and one spotted bass. This area has a flat terrain, which consists of red clay, gravel, and a few scattered boulders. These two black bass were near the water’s edge in three to five feet of water. The spotted bass was tempted by a slow swim-and-constant-shake retrieve with the California-craw TRD TicklerZ, and the largemouth bass was bewitched by the 2 1/2-inch bloodworm GrubZ combo that was manipulated with a slow swimming presentation.    

Inside a minor feeder-creek arm situated on the north side of the lower end of the west tributary arm, we caught one largemouth bass. This creek arm is the smallest of the three that we fished. It is cluttered with thick stands of flooded timber, stumps, and a few laydowns. Most of its underwater terrain is composed of red clay and small gravel, but there are two flat secondary points on the east side of the creek arm that are adorned with some boulders, chunky rocks, several large patches of Eurasian milfoil, and some standing timber. This largemouth bass was abiding in five feet of water near one of the large patches of milfoil situated along a 40-yard stretch of a flat clay and gravel shoreline in the lower end and on the east side of the creek arm. It was enticed into striking a Z-Man’s California-craw TRD TicklerZ fastened on a generic 1/16-ounce chartreuse mushroom jighead with a slow swim-and-constant-shake retrieve. We failed to arouse the interest of any other black bass across a couple of other rocky secondary points and shorelines in the lower and middle sections of this creek arm. 

In short, the black-bass fishing was slow. We caught 16 of these 22 black bass during the first two hours of this outing, and six in the last two hours. Our overall catch rate was five bass per hour. 

Nov. 12

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Nov. 12 outing with Rick Hebenstreit of Shawnee, Kansas, at an 85-year-old community reservoir in northeastern Kansas.

The National Weather Service reported the morning’s low temperature was 30 degrees, and the afternoon’s high temperature was 71 degrees. The sky was fair. The wind was calm at times; it also angled out of the northwest and west at 3 to 7 mph. The barometric pressure was 30.03 at 12:52 a.m., 30.08 at 5:52 a.m., 30.13 at 11:52 a.m., and 30.13 at 2:52 p.m.

The water level looked to be about one foot below normal. The surface temperature ranged from 52 to 54 degrees. The water exhibited more than eight feet of visibility.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar noted the best fishing would take place from 4:42 a.m. to 6:42 a.m., 4:48 p.m. to 6:48 p.m., and 10:36 a.m. to 12:36 p.m. It also declared that the fishing would be great.

We made our first casts at 10:30 a.m. and our last ones at 2:31 p.m.

The largemouth bass fishing was quite trying. Some anglers would assert that our piscatorial difficulties revolved around the post-cold-front conditions, which arrived after some of the thermometers in northeastern Kansas plummeted to 16 degrees on Nov. 10. But from our vast experiences of Midwest finesse fishing, our problem centered upon the demise of most of this reservoir’s patches of submerged aquatic vegetation. We suspect some of the vegetation was consumed by grass carp, and other portions have wilted and died as the winter temperatures have dropped. Because of the lack of aquatic vegetation, we struggled to catch 23 largemouth bass, one bluegill, and one crappie.

Two of the 23 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 Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Finesse ShadZ on a chartreuse 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jighead allured three largemouth bass. Four were caught on a shortened 4.75-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin-red-flake Finesse WormZ affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jighead. Fourteen were caught on a 4.74-inch Z-Man’s purple-haze Finesse WormZ affixed to either a baby-blue or a black 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jighead.

We began this outing by fishing around a main-lake point, along about 800 yards of a main-lake shoreline, and around another main-lake point, which are in the upper half of this reservoir.  These points and the shoreline possess a 25- to 60-degree slope. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, boulders, and silt.  Forty-eight days ago, portions of this underwater terrain were quilted with wads of filamentous algae and significant patches of submerged aquatic vegetation, such as coontail and southern naiad, but more than 95 percent of the filamentous algae and submerged aquatic vegetation have disappeared, and what is left is quite wilted and unattractive in our eyes. Moreover, the patches of duckweed have disappeared. The water’s edge consists of several concrete retaining walls, some stone retaining walls, some riprap, 10 docks, one small rock bridge or tunnel, a few laydowns, several piles of brush, some wilted patches of American water willows, and a few overhanging trees.  To our chagrin, we eked out one largemouth bass. It was caught on the initial drop of the green-pumpkin Finesse ShadZ rig in about five feet of water.

We fished around a main-lake point and along about a thousand yards of another massive shoreline in the upper half of this reservoir. This area possesses a 20- to 65-degree slope. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, boulders, and silt. This terrain is endowed with a few piles of brush and scrawny bits and pieces of dying submerged aquatic vegetation.  This underwater terrain is also enhanced with several offshore piles of rocks and boulders. The water’s edge is lined with several concrete retaining walls, some rock retaining walls, 33 docks, a few patches of wilted American water willows, one huge laydown, and several overhanging trees. We tangled with seven largemouth bass. They were caught around either the docks or in the vicinity of some of the skimpy and sorry patches of submerged aquatic vegetation.  One was caught on a drag-and-deadstick presentation with the green-pumpkin-red-flake Finesse WormZ in about five feet of water. Two were inveigled on the hot-snakes Finesse TRD rig with a drag-and-deadstick presentation in five to seven feet of water.  Our purple-haze Finesse WormZ rigs caught four largemouth bass; two were caught on the initial drop in about five feet of water; one was caught on a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in about seven to eight feet of water; a drag-and-pause presentation caught one in about 10 feet of water.

We spent a few minutes fishing across a small shallow-water flat near the junction of the upper and lower halves of this reservoir. It is endowed with a tad of submerged aquatic vegetation, but it failed to yield a largemouth bass.

We fished and caught one largemouth bass along about a 60-yard section of another main-lake shoreline in the upper half of this reservoir. It has a 30-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rock, and boulders. This terrain is coated with a few bits of dying submerged aquatic vegetation. The water’s edge is endowed with three docks, patches of wilted American water willows, one overhanging walnut tree, a partially submerged picnic table, and a few piles of tree limbs. The purple-haze Finesse WormZ rig with a drag-and-pause presentation caught the largemouth bass in about six to seven feet of water.

We caught one largemouth bass around a main-lake point at the junction of the upper and lower halves of this reservoir. It has a 30- to 35-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are decorated with a few wilted stems of submerged aquatic vegetation. The water’s edge is lined with wilted patches of American water willows. This largemouth bass was caught on a drag-and-pause presentation with the purple-haze Finesse WormZ rig in about five feet of water.

In the middle section of this reservoir, we caught one largemouth bass along about a 900-yard stretch of a main-lake shoreline. This shoreline has a 30- to 45-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders; some of the boulders are humongous. This underwater terrain is infrequently enhanced with a few tiny patches of filamentous algae and minuscule patches of wilted submerged aquatic vegetation.  The water’s edge is lined with 20 docks, some shoddy stretches of riprap, several concrete retaining walls, several overhanging trees, and a few wilted patches of American water willows. We accidentally caught the largemouth bass as we were quickly retrieving our purple-haze Finesse WormZ rig to make another cast after we had employed a drag-and-pause presentation for about three minutes.  

We caught one largemouth around a main-lake point in the lower third of this reservoir and at the mouth of a small feeder-creek arm. This point has a 30-degree slope, and a deep-water ledge is nearby. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders. The water’s edge is lined with a rock retaining wall, two docks, and some wilted and uprooted American water willows. This largemouth bass was allured by a slow swim-and-pause presentation with the purple-haze Finesse WormZ rig in about four to five feet of water near a patch of uprooted American water willows.

Along portions of two secondary shorelines inside a small feeder-creek arm in the lower third of this reservoir, we caught five largemouth bass. The shorelines have a 25- to 30-degree slope.  The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders. Portions of this terrain are coated with dying and wilted patches of coontail, southern naiad, and filamentous algae. Two of the patches were the biggest and most fruitful ones we fished on this outing. The water’s edges are lined with 15 boat docks.  One of the five largemouth bass was caught on the initial drop of the purple-haze Finesse WormZ rigs in about six feet of water adjacent to the front of one of the docks. Another one was caught on the initial drop of the purple-haze Finesse WormZ rig in about nine feet of water, and many yards from the water’s edge and the patches of submerged aquatic vegetation. Three of the five largemouth bass were caught around patches of submerged aquatic vegetation in about three to five feet of water with our purple-haze Finesse WormZ rigs with a swim-glide-and-shake presentation.

We caught one largemouth bass along about a 50-yard stretch of a main-lake shoreline in the lower third of this reservoir. This shoreline has a 35-degree slope, and a deep-water ledge is nearby. The underwater terrain contains gravel and rocks, which are supplemented with  a few meager, dying, and wilting patches of submerged aquatic vegetation. The water’s edge is endowed with three docks and some wilting patches of American water willows. The largemouth bass was caught on the purple-haze Finesse WormZ rig with a drag-and-shake presentation in about seven to eight feet of water and about 25 feet from the water’s edge.

We ended this outing by fishing the shoreline of this reservoir’s 1,550-foot dam, portions of its two adjacent shorelines, and its spillway.  

The dam has a height of 58 feet with a 45- to 50-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are occasionally coated with wads of filamentous algae and a few bits and pieces of wilting coontail and dying southern naiad. The water’s edge contains a concrete water outlet tower and many patches of wilting American water willows. We caught four largemouth bass along the dam’s shoreline. Two of the four were caught on the green-pumpkin Finesse ShadZ; one was caught on a drag-and-shake presentation in about eight feet of water; the second one was caught a few seconds after the initial drop on a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation in about four to five feet of water. The other two largemouth bass were caught on the initial drop of the green-pumpkin-red-flake Finesse WormZ rig around wads of filamentous algae in about four feet of water.

Along the dam’s adjacent shorelines, we caught one largemouth bass on the purple-haze Finesse WormZ rig with a drag-and-pause presentation in about seven feet of water along the front of a dock.

Largemouth bass number 23 was caught around a tertiary point adjacent to the spillway. This area has a 25- to 30-degree slope. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are devoid of submerged vegetation. This largemouth bass was caught on a drag-and-shake presentation in three to four feet of water.

In sum, we struggled to catch an average of 5.75 largemouth bass an hour.  It is unlikely we will return to this reservoir until its submerged vegetation blossoms again in the spring of 2026. We have learned across the years that the cold-water largemouth bass fishing at this reservoir is a difficult and disappointing chore when there are no significant patches of coontail for the largemouth bass to inhabit.

Nov. 13

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted this log on the Finesse News Network about his Nov. 13 smallmouth bass outing with Norman Brown of Lewisville, Texas, at a federal reservoir in south-central Oklahoma.  

I last fished at this reservoir on Nov. 5 with Frank Gosnell of Sanger, Texas, and we enjoyed catching 40 smallmouth bass and four largemouth bass in 5 1/2 hours. Since then, north-central Texas and southern Oklahoma were lambasted with a major cold front on Nov. 9, which dropped the daytime temperatures from the low 80s into the mid-50s, and the nighttime lows from the upper 50s to the upper 20s.  

Nov. 13 was sunny, and the sky was partly cloudy. The morning’s low temperature in south Oklahoma was 51 degrees, and the afternoon’s high reached 80 degrees. The wind quartered out of the south and southeast at 10 to 15 mph. The barometric pressure measured 30.13 at 9:00 a.m. and 30.00 at 2:00 p.m.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar noted that fishing would be poor on Nov. 13.  It also indicated that the best fishing would occur between 5:18 a.m. and 7:18 a.m., 11:07 a.m. and 1:07 p.m., and 5:40 p.m. to 7:40 p.m.

We fished from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

The water level appeared to be about a foot above normal. The water was heavily stained with 18 inches of visibility. The normal water clarity at this reservoir ranges from five to seven feet. The surface temperature ranged from 61 to 62 degrees.

We thought we would try to mirror the success of the Nov. 5 outing by plying the same locales in the lower section of the reservoir. We fished inside two feeder-creek arms, on an offshore main-lake hump, along two main-lake shorelines, and along the boulder-laden shorelines of two bluffs inside one of the two feeder-creek arms, but the fishing was a far cry from what it was on Nov. 5.

This reservoir was unusually busy on Nov. 5, but except for one bank angler, we had this reservoir to ourselves this time.

As I noted in my Nov. 5 log, the fishing at this impoundment has declined dramatically recently, and this outing turned into an arduous chore for us to locate and allure 17 smallmouth bass and one largemouth bass. We also inadvertently inveigled three green sunfish and one freshwater drum during this five-hour endeavor.

We began this excursion inside a minor feeder-creek arm in the lower end of the west tributary arm. About a quarter of the way inside this creek arm, we dissected two rocky secondary points and a clay-and-gravel flat between the two secondary points. We caught three smallmouth bass at one of the secondary points. Two of them were caught simultaneously, and they are in the photograph below.  These three smallmouth bass were caught in less than five feet of water in the vicinity of several large clusters of chunky rocks mixed with large boulders. Two were caught on a moderately-paced swimming retrieve with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ fastened on a white generic 3/32-ounce mushroom-type jig, and one was caught on a slow swimming retrieve with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s bloodworm GrubZ affixed on a chartreuse 1/10-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig.

Next, we moved about a mile down the lake and fished portions of an offshore main-lake hump, and we failed to elicit any strikes there.  

From that main-lake hump, we fished the first of two main-lake shorelines located near the offshore hump. This shoreline is about 50 yards long. It is relatively flat and littered with numerous large rocks, clusters of boulders, decaying tree trunks, and some stumps. It yielded one smallmouth bass. This smallmouth was abiding between two large boulders in five feet of water, and it was allured by a slow swim-and-constant-shake retrieve with a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD BugZ rigged on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.

From this main-lake shoreline, we travelled four miles to the lower end of the east tributary arm, where we focused on two boulder-laden bluffs inside the second major feeder-creek arm. The first bluff is near the entrance and along the north side of the creek arm, and it is about 100 yards in length. The second bluff is several hundred yards long and forms the south shoreline of this creek arm. The depth of the water next to these two bluffs varies from 12 to 81 feet deep. Countless large boulders enhance the submerged foundations of these bluffs.

The north-side bluff relinquished two smallmouth bass. They were abiding in about five feet of water near a group of large boulders. Both were caught on back-to-back casts with the 2 1/2-inch green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ rig and a steady swimming retrieve. The remainder of this bluff was unproductive.

Along the second bluff on the south side of the creek arm, we caught eight smallmouth bass and one largemouth bass. These nine black bass were scattered and were caught many yards apart. They were suspended about 5 to 10 feet from the water’s edge and eight to 12 feet below the surface over 24 to 47 feet of water. All of them were caught on a 3 1/2-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Finesse WormZ matched with a chartreuse 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead that was employed with an extremely slow swim-and-glide presentation. The original length of this Finesse WormZ is 4.75 inches.

We finished the outing at the second main-lake shoreline, which is located about four miles north of the second feeder-creek arm. This shoreline is about 75 yards long. Its submerged terrain is composed of a rock ledge that parallels about 80 percent of this shoreline and is covered with large clusters of chunky rocks and boulders, and several thick patches of cattails that adorn the water’s edge. This shoreline surrendered three smallmouth bass. Two of the three were allured by the 3 1/2-inch green-pumpkin Finesse WormZ combo, and the third one was beguiled by the 2 1/2-inch green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ rig. The 3 1/2-inch green-pumpkin Finesse WormZ rig was employed with a slow swim-and-glide retrieve, and the 2 1/2-inch green-pumpkin Slim SwimZ rig was utilized with a steady swimming retrieve.  

In closing, this outing fell far short of our 40-plus smallmouth bass goal, but it was an improvement over a disheartening Nov. 12 outing at a problematic north-central Texas federal reservoir, when Roger Farish of Highland Village, Texas, and I toiled mightily to inveigle nine largemouth bass in 5 1/2 hours.  

Nov. 15

Ned and Patty Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about their brief outing at an 85-year-old community reservoir in northeastern Kansas on Nov. 15.

The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 39 degrees, and the afternoon’s high temperature was 75 degrees. The wind angled out of the northwest and north at 5 to 18 mph.   The sky was fair. The barometric pressure was 29.78 at 12:52 a.m., 29.74 at 5:52 a.m., 29.78 at 11:52 a.m., and 29.77 at 2:52 p.m.

The water level looked to be more than two feet below normal. The water exhibited three to four feet of clarity. The surface temperature was 55 degrees. The patches of American water willows that grace many shorelines are barely in the water, and they are exhibiting their wilting and winter-dead motif.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 6:25 a.m. to 8:25 a.m., 6:45 p.m. to 8:45 p.m., and 12:15 a.m. to 2:15 a.m.

This was one of our conjugal and geriatric outings. On this one, we were searching for places for our grandchildren to fish during their visit during the Thanksgiving weekend.We made our first casts at 12:33 p.m. and our last ones at 2:26 p.m.

In the upper half of this reservoir, we spent about 63 minutes fishing along portions of a 1,300-yard shoreline inside the primary feeder-creek arm of this reservoir. It has a 30- to 50-degree slope. The water’s edge is cluttered with scores of docks, some overhanging trees, many patches of wilting and dead American water willows, and several piles of tree limbs. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are coated with occasional patches of Eurasian milfoil. We struggled to catch four largemouth bass. Two were caught around a small patch of Eurasian milfoil adjacent to a dock; one was caught on a Z-Man’s hot-snakes Finesse TRD affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jighead with a swim-glide-and-shake presentation in about five feet of water; one was caught on the initial drop of a Z-Man’s California-craw Finesse TRD affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jighead in about five feet of water. We caught two largemouth bass around the dock adjacent to the patch of Eurasian milfoil; one was caught on the initial drop of the California-craw Finesse TRD rig inside the boat slip in about six to seven feet of water; the second one was caught along the outside edge of the dock on the initial drop of the hot-snakes Finesse TRD rig in about seven feet of water.  To our surprise and chagrin, we failed to catch another largemouth bass along this massive shoreline.

We spent the next 50 minutes traveling to and fishing inside a large feeder-creek arm adjacent to the dam. We fished along about a 300-yard stretch of the shoreline along the north side of this feeder-creek arm. This shoreline is about 850 yards long.  It possesses a 25- to 45-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are enhanced with some stumps, a few submerged manmade piles of tree limbs and eastern red cedar trees, and several patches of Eurasian milfoil. Silt covers some of the underwater terrain. The water’s edge is endowed with dead patches of American water willows, a few laydowns, two docks, a tad of riprap, and one overhanging tree. This shoreline and its patches of Eurasian milfoil yielded nine largemouth bass. Four were caught on a Z-Man’s purple-death TRD TicklerZ affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jighead; one was caught on the initial drop in about three feet of water; three were allured by a slow swim-and-pause presentation in four to six feet of water. Five were caught on the hot-snakes Finesse TRD rig; one was caught on the initial drop in about four feet of water; the others were caught on a slow swim-glide-and-subtle-shake presentation in four to seven feet of water. They were caught from four feet to more than 15 feet from the water’s edge.

We spent a few of the 50 minutes quickly fishing a short section of the south shoreline and one of its secondary points. This area has a 30- to 40-degree slope. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, boulders, and silt. There are some meager patches of Eurasian milfoil coating bits and pieces of the underwater terrain.  We caught one largemouth bass along the shoreline around a partially submerged pile of tree limbs. It was caught on the initial drop of the purple-death TRD TicklerZ rig in about two to three feet of water.

The hot-snakes Finesse TRD rig is at the top. The purple-death TRD TicklerZ rig is at the bottom.

In sum, we caught an average of seven largemouth bass per hour. We concluded this might be too difficult a venue to entertain several of our grandkids during the Thanksgiving weekend.

Nov. 15

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Nov. 15 outing with Roger Farish of Highland Village, Texas, at a federal hill-land reservoir in north-central Texas.

It was sunny and windy on Nov. 15. The morning’s low temperature was 61 degrees, and the afternoon’s high was 85 degrees. The wind quartered out of the south-by-southwest at 10 to 20 mph. The barometric pressure measured 29.94 at 7:00 a.m. and 29.89 at 1:00 p.m.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar table indicated that the most productive fishing periods would occur from 12:22 a.m. to 2:22 a.m., 6:32 a.m. to 8:32 a.m., and 6:52 p.m. to 8:52 p.m. The fishing was predicted to be poor.  

We fished from 7:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The water level was 1.26 feet low. The water exhibited 18 inches of visibility. The surface temperature varied from 63 to 66 degrees.

We spent our time inside a major tributary arm in the lower region of the reservoir. Inside this tributary, we targeted four main-lake points, three main-lake shorelines, the perimeter of a main-lake island, a 50-yard-long bridge embankment covered with riprap, and various areas inside three major feeder-creek arms.

The four main-lake points are spread from the tributary’s lower end to its middle section. Their underwater terrains consist primarily of red clay, small gravel, chunky rocks, and clusters of large boulders. Several segments of their shallow-water areas are embellished with thick patches of buck brush, stickups, a couple of laydowns, and a submerged asphalt roadbed. The first of the four points relinquished two spotted bass, the second point yielded one largemouth bass, and the other two points failed to surrender a strike. These three black bass were caught in less than five feet of water and within 10 feet of the water’s edge, and they were induced by a swimming retrieve with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ rigged on a blue 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.

The three main-lake shorelines that we investigated are flat, and one of them is located under a massive highway overpass bridge in the midsection of the tributary arm. The underwater terrains of these three main-lake shorelines consist of red clay, small gravel, chunky rocks and boulders, and a couple of laydowns.

The first main-lake shoreline, which is situated in the lower end of the tributary arm, yielded two largemouth bass. The second main-lake shoreline, which is located in the midsection of the tributary under a highway overpass bridge, yielded one spotted bass. The third shoreline, which is located about a mile west of the second one, was fruitless. These three black bass were caught in less than five feet of water and within 15 feet of the water’s edge. The two largemouth bass were caught on a swimming retrieve with the 2 1/2-inch pearl Slim SwimZ combo, and the spotted bass was enticed with a steady swimming retrieve with a slightly shortened Z-Man’s pearl Baby Goat affixed on a blue 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.

The perimeter of a main-lake island relinquished four largemouth bass and one spotted bass. This island is at the lower end of the tributary arm. Its submerged terrain is flat and consists mostly of clay and gravel. There are a few patches of flooded stickups. Some remaining rubble of a building’s concrete foundation adorns portions of the island’s south shoreline. We caught these five black bass from two tertiary points on the west side of the island. These five black bass were abiding in three to five feet of water. They were induced by a steady swimming retrieve with the shortened pearl Baby Goat rig.

Inside the three feeder-creek arms, we focused on clay-and-pea-gravel flats cluttered with flooded stickups, a couple of laydowns, shallow patches of buck brush, three steep clay-and-gravel shorelines, four rock-and-boulder-laden secondary points and secondary shorelines, a submerged ridge of boulders, and the areas around two concrete boat ramps. We fished in water as shallow as two feet and as deep as 13 feet. Most of these areas were unproductive, but we managed to scrounge up five largemouth bass and two spotted bass.

In the midsection of the first feeder-creek arm, we caught three largemouth bass and two spotted bass in three to five feet of water around a series of seven rocky secondary points in the upper end of the creek arm. These secondary points varied from being relatively flat to having 30- to 45-degree gradients.  All of them were allured by a steady swimming retrieve with the pearl Baby Goat combo.

In the second feeder-creek arm, which is located about two miles west of the first one, we caught one largemouth bass in five feet of water from the end of a rocky secondary point on the west side and in the upper region of the creek arm. This largemouth bass was enticed by a slow swim-and-constant-shake retrieve with a 2 3/4-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD TubeZ fastened on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. The remainder of this creek arm was unproductive.

The third feeder-creek arm, which is situated about two miles east of the first two creek arms, relinquished one largemouth bass. It was caught in the middle section of the creek arm along a submerged boulder ridge, which is covered with three to seven feet of water. It was allured by a slow swim-and-constant-shake presentation with a shortened Z-Man’s pearl TRD TicklerZ matched with a blue 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig.

We failed to elicit any strikes along a 50-yard-long riprap bridge embankment in the midsection of the tributary arm.

In conclusion, the black-bass fishing was slow, and by the end of this 6 1/2-hour undertaking, our mechanical counter tallied 18 black bass; 12 were largemouth bass, and six were spotted bass. We also tussled accidentally with 20 white bass and one hybrid-striped bass.

Nov. 17

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted this log on the Finesse News Network about his Nov. 17 outing with John Thomas of Denton at a challenging federal reservoir in north-central Texas.

It was sunny and unusually humid on Nov. 17. The sky was partly cloudy. The morning’s low temperature was 64 degrees, and the afternoon’s high temperature reached 87 degrees.  The wind quartered out of the south-by-southwest at 12 to 15 mph. The barometric pressure measured 29.80 at 7:00 a.m. and 29.78 at noon.

The water level was 1.14 feet below normal pool. The water displayed three feet of visibility. The surface temperature ranged from 62 degrees at the boat ramp to 66 degrees inside a major feeder-creek arm.

We fished in the lower region of the reservoir. This section of the reservoir is endowed with many thick patches of hydrilla and Eurasian milfoil. Many of them are matted on the surface or just under the surface of the water, and most are exhibiting a brownish winter-dead hue. The underwater terrain consists mostly of red clay, some sand, small gravel, chunky rocks, and boulders.

We fished from 7:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., and we caught 30 black bass. Twenty-five of the 30 were largemouth bass, and five were spotted bass. We also unwittingly enticed two large white bass.

We launched our boat in a small feeder-creek arm in the lower end of the reservoir’s east tributary arm. On John’s second cast of the morning at the base of the boat ramp where we launched the boat, he caught a two-pound, eight-ounce spotted bass with a steady retrieve with a Z-Man’s pearl Baby Goat affixed on a chartreuse 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. (A two-pound spotted bass is considered a hefty specimen in north-central Texas.) We also dissected a 15-yard segment of a minor secondary shoreline, which is also covered with riprap and situated next to the boat ramp, but we failed to garner any strikes from this shoreline.

We caught three largemouth bass near another riprap-laden secondary shoreline at the entrance to this small creek arm. They were caught in less than five feet of water around the submerged portions of riprap and in less than five feet of water and within 10 feet of the water’s edge. One of the three was caught on the Z-Man’s pearl Baby Goat rig, and the other two were tempted by a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ affixed on a red 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. These two swim-baits were employed with a steady-swimming retrieve over the top and around the sides of the submerged riprap.

From that small feeder-creek arm, we travelled about a mile southward into a major feeder-creek arm.    

Inside this creek arm, we fished the perimeter of an island and several rocky secondary points and a couple of rock-and-boulder-laden shorelines in the lower and middle sections of this creek arm. There are also numerous thick patches of hydrilla and Eurasian milfoil around the island, shorelines, and points.  These areas yielded 18 largemouth bass, four spotted bass, and two white bass.  

We caught three spotted bass and one white bass from the perimeter of the island, which is situated in the lower end of the creek arm. The three spotted bass were abiding in five to seven feet of water along the shaded west side of the island, where the submerged terrain is flat and rocky. They were allured by a steady swimming retrieve with the pearl Baby Goat rig.

The white bass was caught on the east side of the island near a large patch of brown hydrilla in five feet of water. It was caught on a steady swimming retrieve with the pearl 2 1/2-inch Slim SwimZ combo.    

In the midsection of this creek arm, we caught 11 largemouth bass and one spotted bass in three to five feet of water along a 75-yard-long rocky shoreline endowed with a prominent secondary point that divides this shoreline into two sections. This secondary shoreline and point are located on the north side of the creek arm; they are flat and adorned with small gravel, fist-sized rocks, and medium-sized boulders. These 12 black bass were allured by a steady swimming retrieve with a three-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ rigged on a red 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.

In the lower section and on the south side of this creek arm, we targeted five flat and extrusive secondary points. These points surrendered six largemouth bass, one spotted bass, and one white bass. They were allured by a moderate-paced swimming presentation with our three-inch pearl Slim SwimZ rigs.

We failed to elicit any strikes from one of the entry points to this creek arm. This point is bluff-like and is endowed with numerous large boulders around its base.

After that, the black-bass bite became almost non-existent. We spent the next couple of hours fishing segments of three rocky main-lake shorelines and two main-lake bluffs, and our best efforts garnered only one strike along one of the main-lake shorelines.

Inside the second feeder-creek arm, which is in the midsection and west side of the east tributary arm, we dissected a long rock ledge and five rocky secondary points in the lower section of the creek arm, and we caught four largemouth bass.

The rock ledge failed to yield a strike.

Three of the four points relinquished four largemouth bass; three of the four bass were abiding in less than five feet of water around the ends of the points. They were allured by a slow swim-and-constant-shake presentation with a 2 3/4-inch Z-Man’s The Deal TRD TubeZ matched with a blue 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. The fourth largemouth bass was caught next to the boat in 13 feet of water as John was completing a retrieve and preparing to lift his three-inch pearl Slim SwimZ rig out of the water.  

In conclusion, the black-bass fishing was decent for November. We caught 26 of the 30 black bass and both white bass during the first two hours of this outing, but only four in the last three hours and 15 minutes. Our overall catch rate was five bass per hour. 

Nov. 18

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a brief on the Finesse News Network about his short and grandfatherly outing on Nov. 18 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 39 degrees. The afternoon’s high temperature was 66 degrees. The wind varied from calm to angling out of the southeast, east, northwest, west, and north at 3 to 14 mph; one gust reached 18 mph. The sky was fair. The barometric pressure was 29.73 at 12:52 a.m., 29.77 at 5:52 a.m., 29.89 at 11:52 a.m., and 29.91 at 2:52 p.m.

The water level looked to be more than three feet below normal. The surface temperature was 53 degrees. The water exhibited three to five feet of clarity.

In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would occur from 8:10 a.m. to 10:10 a.m., 8:32 p.m. to 10:32 p.m., and 1:59 a.m. to 3:59 a.m.

I made my first cast at 12:44 p.m. with hopes of finding several areas where our grandchildren can catch a significant number of largemouth bass during the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend. But when I made my last cast at 2:31 p.m., my fish counter noted that I had caught only 12 largemouth bass and accidentally caught three crappie in 107 minutes, which is far short of enough largemouth bass to entertain our grandkids.

Four of the 12 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. Eight largemouth bass were caught on a Z-Man’s purple-death TRD TicklerZ affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jighead.

I began this outing by fishing around a gigantic shallow-water flat in the back of this reservoir’s primary feeder-creek arm.  To my surprise and dismay, I failed to catch a largemouth bass. This flat is the size of many football fields. Its underwater terrain, which consists of gravel, rocks, and silt, is graced with hundreds of patches of coontail and sago pondweeds. It is also enhanced with numerous manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees. A submerged creek channel twists and turns along portions of the western, southern, and northern edges of this flat. I fished around an area about the size of four football fields. Until 2025, this flat’s patches of coontail and sago pondweeds have yielded vast numbers of largemouth bass. This demise is worrisome.

But I eked out five largemouth bass along about a 75-yard stretch of this flat’s western shoreline.  It has a 45- to 50-degree slope.  The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and silt, which is occasionally decorated with patches of coontail. The water’s edge is lined with winter-dead patches of American water willows, which are completely out of the water, some overhanging trees, several piles of tree limbs, and an array of delipidated laydowns. The first of the five largemouth bass was inveigled on the initial drop of the purple-death TRD TicklerZ rig adjacent to a pile of tree limbs in about three feet of water. The hot-snakes Finesse TRD caught four of the five largemouth bass, and they were caught on a slow swim-glide-and-subtle-shake presentation in four to six feet of water.

I fished along another 300 yards of this shoreline inside this primary feeder-creek arm, and I failed to elicit a strike.

I eked out six largemouth bass on a flat in the back of a small feeder-creek arm. This flat is about the size of two football fields. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and silt, and small portions of it are bestowed with meager patches of coontail and a multitude of manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees.  A small submerged creek channel, which is partially filled with silt, crisscrosses a small section of this flat. Five of the six largemouth bass were caught in the vicinity of the submerged creek channel and around patches of coontail in about three to four feet of water. They were caught on the purple-death TRD TicklerZ rig with an extremely fast-paced swimming presentation. (This was an odd phenomenon: these largemouth bass were caught as I made 12 casts and extremely fast-paced retrieves. And I cannot recall intentionally catching that many largemouth bass on such a fast-paced retrieve with a stick-style rig like the TRD TicklerZ.)  The sixth largemouth bass was caught on the purple-death TRD TicklerZ rig with a swim-and-long-pause presentation in about four feet of water in an area devoid of coontail.

A main-lake point and a 100-yard stretch of the riprap shoreline of the dam failed to yield a strike. These areas were devoid of patches of coontail.

On a flat in the back of another small feeder-creek arm, I caught one largemouth bass. Its underwater terrain is comprised of silt, gravel, and rocks. Most of it is devoid of submerged aquatic vegetation, but it is decorated with many manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees. A small and silt-laden submerged creek channel across it. The initial drop of the purple-death TRD TicklerZ in about four feet of water next to one of the eastern red cedar trees allured the largemouth bass.

I opted not to fish inside this reservoir’s three other feeder-creek arms, which are devoid of substantial patches of coontail and other varieties of submerged cold-water aquatic vegetation.

Instead, I went home. At the boat ramp, I talked with Richard Mygatt of Independence, Missouri, who had been fishing since daybreak and found the largemouth bass fishing to be trying, too.

During my 107 minutes of fishing, it was a struggle to catch 12 largemouth bass, which was an average of about six per hour.

To have fruitful largemouth bass fishing at the community and state reservoirs in northeastern Kansas in late fall and throughout the winter, we have found it is essential to have aquatic vegetation that flourishes in cold water, such as coontail.

Nov. 18

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Nov. 18 outing with Roger Farish of Highland Village, Texas, at a scenic federal reservoir in south-central Oklahoma.

Fall has remained unseasonably warm this year. The morning’s low temperature on Nov. 18 was 68 degrees, and the afternoon’s high reached 88 degrees. The wind quartered out of the southeast, southwest, and northwest at 5 to 10 mph. The sky was partly cloudy. The barometric pressure measured 29.98 at 9:00 a.m. and 29.87 at 3:00 p.m. Severe thunderstorms are forecasted to begin during the evening hours of Nov. 19 and continue off and on into the morning hours of Nov. 21.

This was Roger’s first outing at this reservoir, and we were hoping to tangle with at least 30 smallmouth bass. We were surprised to find the boat ramp’s parking lot empty, and we had this reservoir to ourselves.

According to In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar, the best fishing would most likely occur between 2:10 a.m. and 4:10 a.m., 8:21 a.m. and 10:21 a.m., and 8:43 p.m. to 10:43 p.m. It also predicted good fishing on Nov. 18.  

We fished from 9:15 a.m. to 3:15 p.m.

The water level was at its normal level. The water exhibited five feet of clarity. The surface temperature ranged from 62 to 64 degrees.

We spent the first 3 1/2 hours searching for smallmouth bass in the middle and upper end of the reservoir’s west tributary arm, and the last 2 1/2 hours inside a major feeder-creek arm in the lower end of the reservoir’s east tributary arm. We focused on several rocky secondary points, secondary flats, and two bluff shorelines inside two feeder-creek arms. In the main-lake basin, we targeted an offshore main-lake hump, two major main-lake shorelines, and three major main-lake points.

As I noted in my Nov. 5 and 13 logs, the smallmouth bass fishing at this reservoir has become much more trying in recent days although the water temperature has remained stable in the low to mid-60s. The fishing was a tad slower than it was on Nov. 13; it was a grind to catch 15 smallmouth bass and two largemouth bass during these six hours.  

About a quarter of the way back inside a major feeder-creek arm in the midsection and west side of the west tributary arm, we probed a clay-and-gravel flat, two rocky secondary points, and a rocky secondary shoreline. Almost all of these areas were devoid of black bass, but we did catch two smallmouth bass from one of the secondary points. These two smallmouth bass were caught near a large cluster of chunky rocks mixed with large boulders in less than five feet of water.  Both were caught on a moderately-paced swimming retrieve with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s bloodworm GrubZ fastened on a red 1/10-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig.

From that creek arm, we moved eastward across the west tributary arm and fished along two main-lake shorelines.

At the first of the two main-lake shorelines, we struggled to catch one smallmouth bass and one largemouth bass. This shoreline is about 50 yards long. It possesses a shallow rock ledge that parallels the shoreline. The top of the ledge is covered with a couple of feet of water, large rocks, and scattered boulders. The ledge drops off radically into 20-plus feet of water. These two black bass were caught from the deep-water side of the ledge in five to seven feet of water on a slow swim-and-constant-shake retrieve with a slightly shortened 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s hot-snakes TRD TicklerZ affixed on a red 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.

The second main-lake shoreline is located about 1 1/2 miles north of the first one. It is relatively flat and cluttered with large rocks and boulders, a couple of thick patches of cattails, and a few decaying tree trunks. We employed several of our Midwest finesse offerings along this shoreline and failed to elicit any strikes.

We also failed to locate any black bass or garner a strike at a nearby offshore main-lake hump and three main-lake points.

From the main-lake hump and three main-lake points near the hump, we travelled about four miles to the lower end of the east tributary arm, where we slowly made our way inside the second major feeder-creek arm. Inside this creek arm, we concentrated our efforts at two boulder-laden bluffs. The first bluff is located near the entrance and along the north side of the creek arm, and it is about 100 yards in length. The second one is several hundred yards long and forms the south shoreline of this creek arm. The depth of the water next to these two bluffs ranges from 12 to 81 feet deep. Both are endowed with a whole slew of large boulders that embellish the foundations of these bluffs.

The first bluff relinquished only one smallmouth bass. It was abiding in five feet of water near two large boulders at the base of the bluff. It was tempted by a four-inch and wacky-rigged Z-Man’s watermelon Finesse WormZ on a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead with a slow twitch-and-pause presentation.  

Along the second bluff on the south side of the creek arm, we worked hard to catch 11 smallmouth bass and one largemouth bass. These 12 black bass were extracted from the sides of the large boulders adorning the base of the bluff in six to 10 feet of water and about 5 to 10 feet from the water’s edge. Eight smallmouth bass and one largemouth bass were allured by a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD HogZ matched with a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead with a slow swim-and-constant-shake retrieve. The other three smallmouth bass were enticed by a moderate-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.

In closing, I am scheduled for heart surgery on Nov. 21; thus, this is my final outing of 2025. I reviewed my fishing records for 2025, and here are my final totals:

My cohorts and I conducted 88 outings for a total of 433.5 hours of fishing.

During these 88 outings and 433.5 hours of fishing, we inveigled 2,087 black bass; 1,207 were largemouth bass, 565 were smallmouth bass, 311 were spotted bass, and four were hybrid-spotted bass.

This tallies to an average of 23 black bass per outing and four bass per hour.

Nov. 30

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a brief on the Finesse News Network about why he fished only five times this November.

Between Nov. 21 and 25, my 85-year-old body was afflicted with an annoying spell of vertigo or loss of balance issues, which inhibited my ability to drive.

I cured them by doing the balance exercises that Travis Perret enlightened me about many years ago when he was the director of Exercise Therapy of Kansas City. In addition, I performed the Mayo Clinic’s Canalith Repositioning Procedure after completing Travis’ alignment exercises.

Then from Nov. 26 to Nov. 30, Mother Nature’s windy, wintry, and wet ways confounded our family’s traditional angling endeavors during our Thanksgiving get-together.

Moreover, I did not fish too intensively from Nov. 1 to Nov. 18 because I did not want to overfish our local waterways before the Thanksgiving holiday.

Therefore, I fished only for 14 hours and 16 minutes. During these 856 minutes, my angling partners and I caught 168 largemouth bass, which was an average of slightly more than 11 largemouth bass per hour. (I did spend slightly more than an hour on April 19 and about two hours on Nov. 20 fishing at a federal reservoir for temperate bass rather than black bass, and it was an unenjoyable task to tangle with 31 temperate bass. And I did not bother to compose a log for the Finesse News Network about these two non-black-bass endeavors.)

November’s most effective Midwest finesse rig was a Z-Man’s hot-snakes Finesse TRD affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jighead, which inveigled 109 of the 168 largemouth bass.

To our chagrin, the National Weather Service’s seven-day forecast notes that Mother Nature’s wintery ways might keep many of us old codgers at bay in northeastern Kansas during the first week of December.