Wed, Feb 1st, 2023 12:00:00 am

During the last days of 2022 and many of the days of January, ice covered many of the community, federal, and state reservoirs in northeastern Kansas.

Jan. 5

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Jan. 5 outing with Norman Brown of Lewisville, Texas.

Here is an edited version of their log.

Norman and I enjoyed a mild winter afternoon by slowly meandering along the shorelines of two community reservoirs with a couple of spinning outfits in our hands. These two impoundments are located in a couple of suburbs north of Dallas. This was our first outing of 2023.

Weather-wise, there was plenty of sunshine, and as the afternoon began to warm up, we had to shed some of our cold-weather jackets and vests. The sky exhibited a powder-blue hue with an occasional wispy cloud or two drifting overhead. The morning low temperature was 34 degrees and the afternoon high peaked at 64 degrees. The barometric pressure measured 30.33 at 11:00 a.m. and 30.23 at 4:00 p.m. The wind was light and variable.

According to In-Fisherman's solunar calendar, the most productive fishing periods would take place from 2:41 a.m. to 4:41 a.m., 8:54 a.m. to 10:54 a.m., and 9:20 p.m. to 11:20 p.m. It also noted that the fishing would be great.

We fished at the first community reservoir from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. We fished at the second one from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

At the first reservoir, the water exhibited about 1 1/2 feet of clarity. The water temperature was 54 degrees. The water level was normal.

We did not fish the north end of the reservoir. It is a protected waterfowl nesting area. It is a large and shallow mud flat.

Along the west side of the impoundment, we slowly and meticulously dissected its steep shoreline that consists of sand and gravel. It is endowed with two minor points that are located on its northern end, a fishing pier that is situated in the midsection of the shoreline, and another tertiary point about 25 yards south of the fishing pier.

We caught one largemouth bass in four feet of water from the end of the tertiary point south of the fishing pier. It was caught on a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick presentation with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man's pumpkin-chartreuse ZinkerZ rigged on a chartreuse 1/20-ounce Z-Man's Finesse ShroomZ jig. We temporarily hooked, then lost, another largemouth bass that was abiding in five feet of water near the steep shoreline on the south side of the fishing pier and just north of the tertiary point where we caught the other largemouth bass. This largemouth bass was tempted on a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick presentation with a Z-Man's Junebug TRD MinnowZ rigged on a 1/16-ounce green-pumpkin-red-flake mushroom-style jig. The remainder of this shoreline was fruitless.

We failed to entice any strikes around the concrete slab dam, which forms the southern perimeter of the reservoir.

Along the east shoreline, we also failed to elicit any strikes from a long clay and gravel point and an adjacent shallow-water ditch on the north end of the shoreline, a broad sand-and-gravel point, a shallow sand-and-gravel ledge adjacent to the point in the middle portion of the shoreline, and another ditch on the lower end of the shoreline.

The water at the second community reservoir exhibited about 14 inches of visibility. The water level appeared to be about a foot low. The water temperature was warmer than we expected, and it measured 58.3 degrees. Its submerged terrain consists of mostly clay and gravel.

A shallow clay-and-gravel flat occupies the reservoir's south end. The north shoreline has a 30-degree slope and is endowed with a small concrete water outlet. The west shoreline is endowed with one broad clay point, a shallow sand-and-gravel ledge, and a small rock pile that lies about 10 yards north of the point. The east shoreline is mostly flat and curved with a shallow gravel-and-clay ledge that runs parallel to this shoreline.

The fishing at this reservoir was a tad bit more productive than it was at the first reservoir, but not by much.

We dissected the most promising features of this impoundment, and it surrendered four largemouth bass. The first two largemouth bass were caught from the deep-water side of the ledge along the east shoreline in three to five feet of water. The third largemouth bass was caught from the deep-water side of the ledge in the midsection of the west shoreline in five feet of water, and the fourth largemouth bass was caught in four feet of water from the deep-water side of the west-side rock pile. Two of them were caught on a Z-Man's Canada-craw TRD BugZ rigged on a red 1/20-ounce Z-Man's Finesse ShroomZ jig. The other two largemouth bass were caught on the Z-Man's Junebug TRD MinnowZ affixed on a 1/16-ounce green-pumpkin-red-flake mushroom-type finesse jig. Both of these rigs were employed with a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick retrieve.

After we finished fishing the second community reservoir, Norman went home and I continued to a third community reservoir. But upon my arrival, I discovered the water conditions were awful. The water exhibited an unusual ugly grey hue, the water clarity was about four inches, and the water temperature was 52 degrees. I made a few half-hearted casts here and there without garnering any strikes, and I called it a day.

In sum, the Florida-strain largemouth-bass fishing in north-central Texas is now in its wintertime funk. It was a grind for us to catch five largemouth bass during this four-hour outing, and we will continue to struggle to catch a significant number of them during the next couple of months.

Jan. 10

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

Here is an edited version of their log.

The weather in north-central Texas has been sunny and unseasonably warm during the past several days. On Jan. 10, the sky was partly cloudy. The morning's low temperature was 47 degrees, and the afternoon's high temperature soared to 84 degrees. The wind quartered out of the south-by-southwest at 15 to 20 mph. The barometric pressure measured 29.92 at 11:00 a.m. and 29.80 at 5:00 p.m.

In-Fisherman's solunar calendar indicated that the best fishing periods would take place from 12:42 a.m. to 2:42 a.m., 6:53 a.m. to 8:53 a.m., and 1:04 p.m. to 3:04 p.m. It also noted that the fishing would be poor.

I fished at two community reservoirs by myself from noon to 3:00 p.m. After that, I joined Bill Kenney at a private impoundment from about 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Occasionally, I like to mix things up and experiment with other finesse tactics that we refer to as our Plan B tactics. These tactics revolve around the use of suspending jerkbaits, drop-shot rigs, and wacky-rigged Z-Man's five-inch ZinkerZs or four-inch Big TRDs. But the fishing was very trying, and these tactics were mostly unproductive.

At the first reservoir, the water exhibited about 1 1/2 feet of clarity. The water temperature was 55 degrees. The water level was normal. This reservoir surrendered two largemouth bass when Norman Brown of Lewisville and I fished it on Jan. 5. But this time, I was unable to generate any strikes at this impoundment with suspending jerkbaits, drop-shot rigs, and wacky-rigged ZinkerZs.

At the second community reservoir, the water exhibited about 14 inches of visibility. I was surprised to discover that the water temperature was 59 degrees. The water level was a foot low.

After failing to elicit any strikes with suspending jerkbaits, wacky-rigs, and drop-shot rigs, I caught two largemouth bass from the deep-water side of a sand-and-gravel ledge along the reservoir's east shoreline in three to five feet of water and about 15 feet from the water's edge. They were allured by a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation with a Z-Man's Canada-craw TRD BugZ rigged on a red 1/32-ounce Z-Man's OG Mushroom Jighead. I failed to cross paths with any largemouth bass along the deep-water side of another sand-and-gravel ledge that parallels the west shoreline, around a rock pile situated near the northwest corner of the impoundment, the steep sand-and-gravel north shoreline that features a concrete water outlet, and a shallow mud flat that occupies the south end of the impoundment.

After I finished fishing at the second community reservoir, I meet Bill at the third impoundment.

The water at this reservoir exhibited 2 1/2 to three feet of visibility. The water temperature was 55 degrees. The water level appeared to be about a foot low.

This reservoir's east and south shorelines are flat. They are adorned with the remnants of patches of American pondweeds and a couple of laydowns. The west shoreline has a shallow ledge that extends about 25 feet from the water's edge and is covered with more winter-dead patches of aquatic vegetation. This ledge descends into 14 feet of water near the middle of the impoundment. The east shoreline is steep with a few thin patches of terrestrial vegetation lining its water's edge. There is a prominent point at its east end. Clumps of green filamentous algae covered the reservoir's bottom.

This impoundment relinquished three largemouth bass and three large bluegill.

The bluegill and one of the largemouth bass were caught along the west end of the south shoreline. They were abiding in three to five feet of water and about 25 to 30 feet from the water's edge. They were caught on a slow swim-glide-and-shake retrieve with a Z-Man's coppertreuse Micro Finesse TRD rigged on a chartreuse 1/32-ounce Z-Man's OG Mushroom Jighead. The other two largemouth bass were caught in about 14 feet of water. They were hooked simultaneously on a four-inch Tennessee-shad hue suspending jerkbait. One was hooked on the front treble hook, and the other bass was hooked on the rear treble hook. This was the first time that I have ever simultaneously caught two largemouth bass.

After this short flurry of action, the bite quickly died out, and we failed to elicit any other strikes for the remainder of this outing.

In closing, it was another lackluster wintertime outing. Though the water temperatures at these three impoundments were in the mid to upper 50s, which is warmer than usual for this time of year, we still struggled to catch five largemouth bass. And as Bill and I were preparing to leave, Bill commented on how he hates wintertime fishing for Florida-strain largemouth bass in north-central Texas, and I had to agree with him.

Jan. 11

Norman Brown of Lewisville, Texas, filed a report on the Finesse News Network about his Jan. 11 outing at a community reservoir in north-central Texas.

Here is an edited version of his brief.

In-Fisherman's solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 2:18 a.m. to 4:18 a.m., 8:28 a.m. to 10:28 a.m., and 2:38 p.m. to 4:38 p.m.

I began fishing at 1:10 p.m. and fished until 3:45 p.m.

The morning's low temperature was 55 degrees, and the afternoon's high temperature was 84 degrees. The wind quartered out of the west-by-northwest at 10 to 22 mph. The sky was fair. The barometric pressure was 29.12 at 1:00 p.m. and 29.04 at 4:00 p.m.

The water exhibited about 14 inches of visibility. The water level was normal. I did not have the means to measure the water temperature.

The reservoir's underwater terrain consists of clay and gravel. Twigs and broken branches litter the floor of the reservoir. The shorelines are endowed with patches of winter-dead cattails, three mats of water lilies, cypress trees, and grass.

I spent most of this outing fishing around a shallow ledge that parallels the west shoreline, a small feeder creek that enters the reservoir on the west end of the north shoreline, and a large clay-and-gravel flat that encompasses the north shoreline.

I caught nine largemouth bass along the outside edge of the shallow ledge along the west shoreline. These largemouth bass were abiding in three to five feet of water and between five and 15 feet from the water's edge.

Two largemouth bass were caught in less than five feet of water and within 10 feet of the water's edge across the clay-and-gravel flat on the north end of the reservoir.

One largemouth bass was extracted from the lower end of the small feeder-creek arm in less than five feet of water.

I was unable to generate any strikes from the area around the decorative rock dam, which forms the impoundment's southern boundary, and I didn't fish the east shoreline.

In conclusion, I caught 12 largemouth bass. They were allured by a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick presentation with a Z-Man's Junebug TRD TicklerZ matched with a chartreuse 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig.

Jan. 12

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Jan. 12 outing with Roger Farish of Highland Village, Texas.

Here is an edited version of their log.

This was Roger's first outing of 2023. And we plied the shorelines at three community reservoirs in north-central Texas.

The streak of unseasonably warm weather that settled over north-central Texas during the past few days has come to an end. A major cold front passed through north-central Texas during the early morning hours of Jan. 12, and it dropped the daytime air temperatures from the middle 80s to the upper 50s. It also brought howling winds.

It was sunny on Jan. 12. The sky varied from partly cloudy to clear. The morning's low temperature was 42 degrees. The afternoon's high temperature was 59 degrees. The blustery wind was troublesome, and it quartered out of the north-by-northwest at 25 to 35 mph. The barometric pressure measured 30.30 at 10:00 a.m. and 30.31 at 5:00 p.m.

In-Fisherman's solunar calendar indicated that the best fishing periods would occur between 2:18 a.m. and 4:18 a.m., 8:28 a.m. and 10:28 a.m., and 2:38 p.m. to 4:38 p.m. It also noted that the fishing would be poor.

We fished from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., and then we took a lunch break. After our lunch break, we fished from 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The underwater terrains of these reservoirs are similar. They are composed of gravel, red clay, and some sand. Numerous tree limbs, bald-cypress trees, knees of bald-cypress trees, and other wood debris litter the shorelines and shallow-water areas. They are embellished with shallow ledges that consist of gravel and red clay, and they are about five feet out from their waters' edges. The slopes of the shorelines vary from 10-degree gradients to 45-degree inclines.

At the first community reservoir that we fished, the water exhibited about 12 inches of clarity. The water temperature was 53 degrees. The water level appeared to be normal. We caught five largemouth bass at this impoundment. Flat and windblown shorelines were more productive than steeper ones.

The water at the second impoundment exhibited about 2 1/2 feet of visibility. The water temperature was surprisingly warm at 58 degrees. The water level appeared to be normal. And though the water temperature was in the upper 50s, we failed to elicit a single strike.

The third reservoir was the most fruitful of the three; it relinquished seven largemouth bass, one bullhead catfish, and one large bluegill. The water temperature was 55 degrees. The water level appeared to be about normal. The water exhibited 14 inches of visibility.

Most of these 12 largemouth bass were caught in three to six feet of water near the deep-water sides of the ledges along windblown sections of shorelines.

Five largemouth bass were enticed by a Z-Man's Junebug TRD TicklerZ rigged on either a chartreuse 1/32- or 1/16-ounce Z-Man's OG Mushroom Jighead. Four largemouth bass were induced by a Z-Man's green-pumpkin TRD BugZ affixed on a chartreuse 1/32-ounce Z-Man's OG Mushroom Jighead. Three more were tempted by a Z-Man's green-pumpkin TRD TubeZ fastened on a chartreuse 1/32-ounce Z-Man's OG Mushroom Jighead. We failed to garner any strikes with nine other Midwest finesse rigs.

We experimented with several of the standard Midwest finesse retrieves and variations of those retrieves. Ultimately, the only effective one was a slow drag-and-deadstick presentation.

Jan. 13

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a note on the Finesse News Network on Jan. 12 about the fishing conditions in north-central Texas this winter.

We have been blessed with warmer than usual weather that has provided us with a few windows of opportunity to get out and catch a few largemouth bass. But other anglers that I've talked to have reported dreadful fishing for Florida-strain largemouth bass (and crappie fishing in one case) at the state and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' reservoirs around here. They were either getting blanked or catching one or two black bass at the most. Now they are chasing white bass, hybrid stripers, and crappie until the water begins to warm up in March.

Those awful fishing reports haven't given us much incentive to get out on the larger reservoirs, so, it looks like we'll be fishing ponds and small community reservoirs for the most part this winter until March arrives. We may get out and try for some white bass if the mood strikes us, but so far, it hasn't.

Jan.16

Daniel Nussbaum of Charleston, South Carolina, emailed a short report to the Finesse News Network on Jan. 17 about his saltwater endeavors this winter with Midwest finesse tactics.

He is a master at employing Midwest finesse tactics in saltwater. For more information about his mastery, please examine this detailed report from Feb. 20 and 21, 2022: https://zmanfishing.com/cms/searchResults.php?q=Midwest+finesse+goes+saltwater+fishing+

In his Jan. 17 email, he reported that it has been a cold winter by South Carolina standards, and our redfish have been very lethargic as a result. The most (and sometimes only) productive bait has been the Z-Man's Finesse TRD dragged slowly along the bottom.

This is a 30-inch redfish that was caught on Jan. 16 with the Finesse TRD rig.

Jan. 23

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a brief log on the Finesse News Network about his Jan. 23 outing with Bill Kenney of Denton.

Here is an edited version of their log.

The fishing in north-central Texas for Florida-strain largemouth bass and other black bass species has been tough this winter. Therefore, Bill Kenney and I took advantage of a mild-winter day and fished for white bass instead. We plied one of several U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' hill-land reservoirs in north-central Texas from 3:40 p.m. to 5:27 p.m., and the white-bass fishing was as difficult as the black bass fishing has been.

It was a sunny day, and the sky was cloudless. The afternoon's high temperature peaked at 54 degrees. The morning's low temperature was 29 degrees. The barometric pressure was steady at 30.22. The wind quartered out of the east at 5 to 10 mph.

According to In-Fisherman's solunar table, the most productive fishing periods would occur from 5:44 a.m. to 7:44 a.m., 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., and 11:58 p.m. to 1:58 a.m. It also noted that the fishing would be average.

This was a short outing because Bill had to work until 3:00 p.m. Thus, we spent these 107 minutes inside the middle portion of a minor feeder-creek arm on the north end of the reservoir. We had this creek arm to ourselves.

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

The water in the main-lake area was murky with about 12 inches of visibility. The surface temperature was 53 degrees. The water was a couple of feet below its winter-pool level.

In the midsection of this creek arm, the water conditions were a tad better. The water exhibited about 1 1/2 feet of visibility. The water temperature was 59 degrees. But it was a chore for us to catch three white bass.

These white bass were allured by a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man's pearl Slim SwimZ affixed to a chartreuse 1/15-ounce Z-Man's Finesse ShroomZ jig that was employed with a slow and steady swimming retrieve. They were caught in six to eight feet of water from the edge of the main creek channel near submerged laydowns.

Our time ran out before we could fish the upper and lower ends of this creek arm. We also failed to entice a strike with several other Midwest finesse offerings.

And as I was driving home, I spoke with Rick Allen of Dallas by phone. He reported that he and his grandson, Tim Michels of Sulpher Springs, Texas, fished at a private impoundment on a dairy farm that Tim manages in east Texas this same day. They fished from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., and it was a grind for them to catch two largemouth bass.

Jan. 24

Upon reading Daniel Nussbaum's report on Jan. 16 and Steve Reideler's Jan. 23 report about their trying outings in January, Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, submitted his observations to the Finesse News Network about the goings on in northeastern Kansas and northwestern Missouri.

The National Weather Service reported on Dec. 22 that the low temperature was -4 degrees, and the high temperature was 17 degrees. The low temperature was -4 degrees on Dec. 23, and the high temperature was 12 degrees. From those December days until Jan. 24, Midwest finesse anglers had to contend on most outings with ice covering the surface of northeastern Kansas' community and state reservoirs. And according to the National Weather Service, this alternating ice-off and ice-on phenomenon will continue into February.

This is the ice that is partially covering one of northeastern Kansas' community reservoirs on Jan. 24.

On Jan. 6, David Harrison of Lawrence, Kansas, and I attempted to fish for largemouth bass at one of the state reservoirs. But to our chagrin, ice covered about 30 percent of this reservoir. The ice covered all of the shallow-water flats that are embellished with patches of coontail and sago pondweeds, and it is around these patches of aquatic vegetation that the bulk of the catchable largemouth bass abide during the heart of winter. While we were afloat, we unsuccessfully spent some of the time trying to decimate the ice that was covering the submerged aquatic vegetation. After that failure, we quickly fished across two ice-free shallow-water flats, around one main-lake point, and along a main-lake shoreline. The surface temperature was 35 degrees. None of these areas were endowed with patches of coontail or sago pondweeds. And we failed to elicit a strike with our most effective midwinter Midwest finesse rigs.

On Jan. 10, Rick Hebenstriet of Shawnee, Kansas, and I returned to the same state reservoir that David Harrison and I attempted to fish on Jan. 6.

The National Weather Service reported that the low temperature was 23 degrees, and the high temperature was 58 degrees. The sky was fair. The wind angled out of the southeast at 5 to 8 mph. To our dismay, there was a tad more ice covering the shallow-water flats that are embellished with coontail and sago pondweeds than there was on Jan. 6. We spent slightly more than an hour fishing along the outside edges of the sheets of ice, along portions of the riprap shoreline of the dam, and along one main-lake shoreline. We failed to elicit a shoreline.

One northeastern Kansas' and one northwestern Missouri community reservoirs were entirely ice-free on Jan. 5.

Brent Frazee of Parkville, Missouri, and Jim Schroer of Overland Park, Kansas, fished at the Missouri one. This reservoir was once embellished with manifold patches of coontail. Winter after winter, these patches yielded untold numbers of largemouth bass. But since the patches of coontail have disappeared, the wintertime catches of largemouth bass have declined dramatically. In fact, Brent and Jim failed to catch one.

Aaron Suess of Gardner, Kansas, fished at the Kansas one. This reservoir was stocked with grass carp a few years ago, and aquatic herbicides have been applied a number of times during the past 10 years. Consequently, its once glorious patches of coontail have been eradicated, and its once bountiful wintertime largemouth bass fishing has become quite trying. Thus, Arron was unable to catch a largemouth bass.

This is the second January in a row that the largemouth bass fishing in northeastern Kansas has been horrendous, and it parallels the decline of the significant patches of coontail and other varieties of submerged aquatic vegetation in our community and state reservoirs.

Thus, we continue to hope that Kansas' fisheries biologists and reservoir managers will discover the importance of creating, cultivating, and manually maintaining patches of aquatic vegetation in our community, federal, and state reservoirs. And we also hope they will forgo the use of herbicides and grass carp.

This is the ice and snow that is partially covering a northeastern Kansas' community reservoir on Jan. 25

Jan. 27

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a brief log on the Finesse News Network about his Jan. 27 outing.

Here is an edited version of his log.

It snowed for the first time this winter in north-central Texas during the evening hours of Jan. 24, and it has been slowly warming up since then.

It was sunny on Jan. 27, and there was not a cloud in sight. The morning's low temperature was 35 degrees. The afternoon's high temperature was a pleasant 63 degrees. The wind quartered out of the south-by-southwest at 10 to 20 mph. The barometric pressure measured 30.30 at 11:00 a.m. and 30.13 at 3:00 p.m.

In-Fisherman's solunar calendar indicated that the best fishing periods would occur from 3:15 a.m. to 5:15 a.m., 9:26 a.m. to 11:26 a.m., and 3:38 p.m. to 5:38 p.m. It also noted that the fishing would be poor.

The fishing for Florida-strain largemouth bass at the federal and state reservoirs in north-central Texas has been horrid this winter. Therefore, I opted to conduct a solo bank-walking outing at a community reservoir in north-central Texas from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

The underwater terrain of this reservoir is composed of gravel, red clay, and some sand. Numerous tree limbs, bald-cypress trees, exposed bald-cypress roots, and other wood debris litter the shorelines and shallow-water areas. There is also a shallow ledge that parallels the shorelines, and it is situated from three to 10 feet from the water's edge. The slopes of the shorelines vary from 10 to 45 degrees. The north and east shorelines are the steepest of the four.

The water exhibited about 12 inches of clarity. The water temperature was 47 degrees. The water level appeared to be normal.

The fishing was slow, and my best efforts garnered five largemouth bass.

These five largemouth bass were caught in four to six feet of water near the deep-water side of the shallow ledge along the windblown northern shoreline. The other three shorelines were fruitless.

Three largemouth bass were enticed by a Z-Man's hot-craw TRD BugZ rigged on a blue 1/20-ounce Z-Man's Finesse ShroomZ jig. The other two largemouth bass were caught on a Z-Man's green-pumpkin TRD TubeZ affixed on a chartreuse 1/20-ounce Z-Man's Finesse ShroomZ jig. I failed to garner any strikes with several other Midwest finesse rigs.

I experimented with several of the six standard Midwest finesse retrieves and variations of those retrieves. Ultimately, the only effective one was a slow drag-and-deadstick presentation. The deadstick portion of the retrieve lasted from 10 to 15 seconds.

Local TV meteorologists are forecasting a cold and wet ending for January and the first week of February. Therefore, this was my last outing in January. And it appears that we'll be off the water for the first part of February, too.

Jan. 31

Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a few observations on the Finesse News Network about how Old Man Winter waylaid northeastern Kansas' Midwest finesse anglers on Jan. 29, 30, and 31'

In short, it has been a frustrating month.

Area thermometers registered a low of 13 degrees and a high of 25 degrees on Jan. 29, a low of 13 degrees and a high of 23 degrees on Jan. 30, and a low of 5 degrees and a high of 27 degrees on Jan. 31. During the night of Jan. 31 and early morning hours of Feb. 1, area thermometers registered a low of 5 degrees.

As of Jan. 31, our reservoirs are mostly covered with ice again, which has been an off-and-on phenomenon since Old Man Winter began his series of frigid waylays on Dec. 22, which was when area thermometers plummeted to 4 degrees below zero.

The National Weather Service is predicting that the high temperature on Feb. 1 will be 37, and the low temperature on Feb. 2 will be 20 degrees and the high temperature will be 46 degrees. It is interesting to note that the normal low temperature is 18 degrees and the average high temperature is 42 degrees for Jan. 31.

To our delight and great hopes, the NWS is predicting that Old Man Winter's frigid ways will begin to wane on Feb 4 and 5, when area thermometers are predicted to reach a high temperature of 52 degrees. And thermometers might climb to 56 degrees on Feb. 6. Thus, we are hoping that we will be afloat by Feb. 10 and probing a multitude of shallow-water flats that are adorned with significant patches of submerged aquatic vegetation.

Old Man Winter also kept us at bay in January of 2022. And in February of 2022, the old man allowed us to get afloat only on Feb. 14. On that outing Pat Kehde and I fished from 1:35 p.m. to 2:55 p.m. at one of northeastern Kansas' many state reservoirs, where we fished across and around patches of coontail and sago pondweed in 4 ½ to six feet of water on a massive shallow-water flat inside a large feeder-creek arm. The surface temperature was 38 to 39 degrees. These patches of vegetation yielded 22 largemouth bass.

One largemouth bass was caught on a Z-Man's Canada-craw HogZ. One was caught on a Z-Man's bubble-gut Finesse TRD. Four were caught on a Z-Man's PB&J Finesse TRD. Seven were caught on a Z-Man's green-pumpkin-goby Finesse TRD. And nine were caught on a Z-Man's green-pumpkin Finesse TRD. All of the ElaZtech baits were affixed to a 1/16-ounce baby-blue Z-Man's OG Mushroom Jighead.

This outing proved once again how essential submerged aquatic vegetation is to creating bountiful largemouth bass fishing throughout the calendar year. Here is hoping that the logs that describe our outings in the coming days of February and March will prove many times over the importance of the cultivation of aquatic vegetation in our reservoirs.

For more information about catching largemouth bass on and across shallow-water flats that are embellished with swaths of submerged aquatic vegetation examine our short log about the outing that Rick Hebenstreit of Shawnee, Kansas, and I enjoyed on Feb. 9, 2012. In two hours and five minutes, we caught and released 101 largemouth and nine crappie on a massive mud and silt flat, which was enhanced some emerging curly-leaf pondweed. The bass were caught in three to six feet of water, milling about in an area that was the size of two basketball courts. Here is the link to this log: https://www.in-fisherman.com/editorial/an-addendum-to-the-month-by-month-guide-to-midwest-finesse-part-2/156440.