Fall Bass Fishing - Truman Lake Always Good

Hello, and welcome to "Kenny's Great Outdoors", where bass fishing is the main topic and sometimes the tales are pretty tall, but always true! I just got back from a 2 day trip on Truman lake!

Rather than tell you all the lures we did use, we will tell you the lure of choice, not my choice, but the lure that the bass seemed to choose! This is of course what we are suppose to be doing when we fish, what the fish want seems to pay higher dividends in the long run!

With the days getting shorter and the weather and water cooling down, the bass are going into the transition of getting ready for winter! This in itself can be a challenge, and can be a hit or miss, situation. Friday we spent half the day giving the bass a wide selection and a large variety of lures to choose from. Mid afternoon I stumbled upon the lure of choice, again, the bass chose, and I limited out on large mouth bass in about 3 hours!

The rattle trap, chrome with a black back, 1/2 ounce, turned out to be the ticket for the afternoon limit! I caught 6 bass ranging from 2-4 lbs. Now mind you these fish weren't big, but we cleaned and fried them, along with some potatoes, and lounged around the campfire all evening and turned in early as to rest up for a long day Saturday. We got up at day break and fried some eggs and bacon, and a pot of coffee. We had to fuel up for the big day. I tied on a Zara spook and Steve tied on a chrome wiggle wart.

We fished hard all morning and Steve hammered me pretty hard catching 3 four pound large mouths, with me catching only 1 two pound bass. I was catching some nice hybrids on the spook as we caught them surfacing for about 5 minutes! I caught 3 nice hybrids and Steve caught 2 on his wiggle wart!

I had notice, Steve, was getting a lot of action on the chrome wiggle wart, so I decided to try the black backed chrome rattle trap again, why not, It was a hot lure Friday! I fished it hard for about an hour and was about to change lures when, BAM a big one hit and the fight was on! I thought I had hung a big striper and Steve grabbed the net to help me! Now for you regulars , you know I have had trouble landing stripers (big ones) this year! Not to be the case this time. When I got it up to the boat and we saw that it was not a striper , but a huge large mouth!

Steve netted him for me and he came off as he entered the net! I got lucky this time, we weighed him on my digital scales and he weighed in at 11.50 lbs. Not the biggest bass for me but a lunker never the less! Steve made a cast while I was taking care of jaws and hung a huge striper! He fought him for a while and I netted him. He weighed in at 27.25 lbs.

We both limited out on bass, and had close to 30 whites, 27 to be exact. Turned out to be a rather enjoyable trip. The weather was awesome, in the upper 70's partly sunny and partly cloudy. To top it off, the wind was almost non existent, which made it a beautiful day on Truman Lake! Steve caught an 8 lb walleye trolling back to the truck and he had another big one get off at the boat with me trying to net it! That's OK, you can't catch them all. Better luck next time, Steve!

With winter closing in some of the best bass fishing is just ahead! Bass fishing gets really hot on Truman in October and November! So get your butts out there and make sure to try the rattle trap, You can fish it fast and cover a lot of water quick. Once you find them you can really catch a lot of them old lunker jaws.

So until next time, keep your hooks wet and boat safe! Make sure you enjoy the "Great Outdoors!" See ya out there, I hope! Good luck to you and yours, and practise catch and release, after you keep what you can eat! See ya!

Big Piney Late Summer Fishing!

It's that time of year again, you know, schools are gearing up again, August is drawing to an end and we are getting near the end of summer! Baseball is gearing up for the final pennant races and fishing starts to pick it up once again! We are all doing all the outdoor stuff that we can possibly get into each and every remaining day of summer.

I went fishing today and floated on the river. You could just feel the weather and sense the changes about to come. I caught several goggle eyes and small mouth bass, before noon and I was just enjoying the 82 degree day, kinda over cast and a gentle breeze blowing across the water. Squirrels were jumping from tree to tree, and I saw a few deer getting a drink from the river! They are really beautiful with their velvet attire and all. I lost a couple of good smallies, so I settled in for a noon time sandwich and a soda and of course some chips!

I spent the rest of the day just relaxing and enjoying the scenery, the sounds, just taking it all in and catching some decent fish. I took out of the river and went home and cleaned all of my fish and while the wife was cooking the fish and fries and hush puppies, I was out side building a fire to enjoy after dark, when the temperatures drop down into the 50s again! We sat around eating fish and chips and drinking cold soda and watching the great fire as the sun went down.

We were enjoying the fish, listening to all the nite creatures, like frogs, crickets, hoot owls, coyotes, and whipper wills. Of course the smell of the fire and listening to the noises a fire puts out like the wood cracking and popping, and the gases hissing as It burns of as the wood is consumed by the blazing blue fire. Was a pretty neat picture and a wonderful evening in the "Great Outdoors!"

Oh, by the way, we ate all the fish but 2 pieces and the fire felt good all evening! Just taking in the outdoors and enjoying the rest of summer! It just seems natural to be in the outdoors and enjoying all it has to offer, see ya out there, I hope!

Norfork Bass - Full Moon Possibilities!

We all know how hot the weather can get, especially in August! It gets down right nasty, in fact! The heat and long days of summer are on us and we resort to the a/c and some TV! I was sitting around the house and wanting to go fishing so bad, but not wanting to endure the heat! I realized the full moon was getting close and knew if the weather stayed the same then the nights would be clear as in "no clouds!"

Now I got on the phone and called a good friend, who happens to live right on "Lake Norfork" at Henderson, Arkansas! He said the night time bite was right on and the stripers were hitting good at night also! That was music to my ears! So off to Norfork Lake we headed and soon met up with my friend Larry, who bought us breakfast and filled us in on the bite. He had to work and wouldn't be able to join us on the first night. We went to a hotel and got some sleep and hit the lake about 5 pm.

It was still pretty hot but we had a pretty good ride to our first fishing spot for the night. Jerry tied on a black jig n pig and I tied on a 10 inch texas rigged black worm. Jerry got bit several times but all came off pretty quick and one was a good one too! He made a good run and let Jerry know real quick that he had a bad place on his line and it broke him off!

We decided to try our luck at some whites when we noticed them surfacing about a hundred yards from us so we tied on some rooster tails and eased in on the school of whites with just the trolling motor on slow. We both made a few casts and both rods were bent and bouncing with a couple of nice hybrids! They were in the 8 pound range! In the next 45 minutes we would limit out on whites and it was getting pretty dark so we rigged up and proceeded to get after "Mr" large mouth.

We got on this fairly shallow flat next to deep water and it was about 3 or 4 hundred yards long, lots of logs and rocks. I tied on a black buzz bait and Jerry tied on a white buzz bait.We both quickly caught 2 bass a piece and they were all 4 bass about 4 1/2 lbs! We really thought we had found the meal ticket when they quit them altogether! I tried something that worked years ago on Norfork, I put on a large black single blade spinner bait, and basically started bouncing the bottom with it and "WHAM" I had a big old large mouth on and she was mad! But she wasn't no match for my ugly stick and ambassador 6000 reel! She finally gave it up, rolled over on her side and we weighed her at 9.50 lbs!

Jerry quickly tied on a spinner bait identical to mine for some reason and we both proceeded to catch the fire out of those Norfork bass! We ended up with 9 bass with the biggest being 9.50 lbs and the smallest weighing in at 4.75 lbs. We had a great night and we even caught 2 keeper walleyes, what a night! Now mind you we started this night time fishing expedition on August 3rd and it was a rock n roll trip start! The 4Th and the 5Th were both good nights, but the quality of fish was down. The last 2 days we caught a lot of whites and bass but they were smaller.

So when it gets too hot for you in the dog days of summer, then try your luck on those full moon nights! It will be quite a bit cooler and sometimes you can really get into those big old bass! But, you need to know the lake that you are fishing because while the full moon is bright, the lake is different to navigate at night, so , be careful out there and boat safe! Watch out for the other guys and yield right of way to other boaters, and enjoy, the "Great Outdoors!"

Keep your hooks wet and we will see ya out there, we Hope!

You, Might Be A Fisherman, If...

1) You have a power worm dangling from your rear view mirror because you think it makes a good air freshener.

2) Your wedding party had to tie tin cans to the back of your bass boat.

3) You call your boat "sweetheart" and your wife "skeeter".

4) Your local tackle shop has your credit card number on file.

5) You keep a flippin stick by your favorite chair to change the TV channels with.

6) You name your black lab "Mercury" and your cat "Evinrude".

7) Bass Pro Shop has a private line just for you.

8) You have your name painted on a parking space at the launch ramp.

9) You have a photo of your 10 lb. bass on your desk at work instead of your family.

10) You consider viennies and crackers a complete meal.

11) You think MEGABYTES means a great day fishing.

12) You send your kid off to the first day of school with his shoes tied in a palomar knot.

13) You think there are four seasons--Pre-spawn, Spawn, Post Spawn and Hunting.

14) Your $30,000 bass boat's trailer needs new tires so you just "borrow" the ones off your house.

15) You trade your wife's van for a smaller vehicle so your bass boat will fit in the garage.

16) Your kids know it's Saturday---Because the boats gone!

Summer Time Bass- How Important Is The Thermocline?

As we near the dog days of summer,we all will experience, the lock jaw temperament of the "Large Mouth Bass!" You know those days when they just don't seem to bite anything! I have several articles in my archives on what lures to use during these times!

Today I want to share with you all something that will help you, when you brave the hot sun and tough fishing days that lay just ahead of us. Now a lot of people ask what lures do we use during the dog days of summer, and some ask what color? Now while lure and lure color choice, are important, Depth is probably more important than anything else!

Now you're probably asking, "why depth?" During the hot days of summer the surface temperature gets in the upper 80's and fish go deeper to get to cooler temperatures. Now after they go so deep, and the temperatures drop, so does the oxygen level drop! This is the level just below the "Thermocline" When the surface temps get too warm, fish seek out the thermocline. Cooler temps with lots of oxygen!

Thermocline - a zone of rapid temperature change!

These conditions are also ideal for bait fish, which by the way bass, stripers, walley, etc., love to eat! The best way to find the thermocline is use your graph and graph the fish and bait fish clumps at a certain level, and concentrate your effort with lures that are fished in that depth range, this is why, knowing what depths crankbaits, or spinners or whatever lures you use go down to and use the lures that are fished at that depth.

So, if you keep the thermocline in mind, then the next time you are experiencing hot summertime, slow biting bass, find the thermocline and fish that depth wherever you fish on the lake, this will drastically improve your chances of a successful trip in mid summer time waters!

Just remember, in the hot days of summer, find the thermocline by locating the clumps of bait fish, and bigger fish whatever level they are at and fish this thermocline all over the lake with lures that are running just above or in the thermocline and you will have more success, at catching those hot summertime bass.

I hope this fishing tip gets you better results, and contributes to more catches for you this summer, so , until next time, enjoy the "Great Outdoors!" See Ya all out there, soon, I hope!

Tough Day At Truman Lake - But Still Fun!

Well, last Sunday we had a northern cool front and about a 3 inch rain to boot! I figured it would put a damper on bass fishing, but none the less, had a trip to Truman Lake on the agenda for Tuesday, so we went ahead as planned and went fishing anyways!

We started off fishing with crank baits and spinner baits, and we tried every lure in the tackle boxes! Well, not every lure, but you know how it seems when the bite is not there. We fished hard and managed to catch 3 bass with only one being a keeper but a pretty good one at that! He weighed about 3 1/2 lbs! Not bad quality, but poor on the quantity side! One of those days, which we all experience from time to time, but we still enjoyed the "Great Outdoors" anyway!

Couldn't ask for a better day, weather wise, 78 degrees and pretty much sunny all day, even though we did endure a 5 minute shower early on in the morning. We saw a few eagles, deer, and a half dozen or so big gobbler turkeys! There weren't many other fishermen and we didn't take long to figure out why!

After lunch, we decided to try a different approach, Tom tied on a jig n pig and I tied on a 10 inch Texas rigged worm. You know, the old reliable stand bye lures! Now most of you that follow me, regularly, know that I always manage a limit by days end on Truman, but it wasn't to be the case this day! I did manage to catch 3 bass, all about the 3 or 4 lb range, and all of them big chunky fat ones!

We called it quits about 4 pm and put the old Blazer into the wind and headed home. Sometimes you just have to be grateful just to spend the day on the water, just enjoying the "Great Outdoors" and good old fishing buddy fellowship. We had a blast, and both commented about not remembering the last time we was on Truman in July, with 70 degree sunny weather, and almost no wind, to speak of. At times the lake was like a mirror, and that is truly beautiful and fun to cruise the lake when it is smooth!

If you all enjoyed this post, be sure to leave a comment and check out the archives for a whole lot more of the great adventures in the great outdoors, and loads of tips and articles to make your next trip, hopefully, more productive and fun! I hope you all like the new look of the site and Please, give me some feedback, good or bad it all helps me to make things more exciting and more enjoyable for you all, here, at "Kenny's Great Outdoors!"

See Ya out there, and good luck with your next outdoor adventure!

ProperBoat Ramp Etiquitte- Helps To Avoid Ramp Rage!

Just recently, I witnessed a terrible scene at a local lake boat ramp, boaters getting into a fist fight and cussing each other because of impatience and inexperience at the ramp! While entertaining to some, ramp rage is aggravating, dangerous, and time consuming, and can easily be avoided!

While this can be a sensitive and delicate subject, especially at the ramp, on the lake, it needs to be addressed in a way that makes sense to all boaters. It is a matter that we all deal with every time we access the lakes and streams where we fish or boat.

We get up early in the morning and drive to our favorite lakes and streams and anticipate a wonderful day on the water. By the time we get to the boat ramp we are wired for sound and the Adrenalin is flowing good. When we pull into the ramp access parking lot, we immediately see that there are 10 or 15 rigs waiting for their turn to untrailer and go fishing, or boating which ever the case might be!

Now while there are no set rules for unloading your boat, everyone has their own routine they go through to get from point A, boat on trailer to point B, boat in water! Some people are very quick and some are very slow. Some are slow deliberately, while some just don't have the experience yet, usually a new boat owner!

Here are a few pointers to make your trailering and untrailering experience go a little smoother at the ramp.

Pull into the parking lot and get your boat ready to launch BEFORE backing down to the ramp! This is the best procedure even for the most experienced boater and down to the least experienced boater! This is where you tie on lures, put in drain plugs, organize your gear, and transfer gear from truck to boat.I know while this is going, on a few boats might get in front of you and cause you to get a later start, but in the long run , avoids hassles, and ramp rage, which can quickly ruin the atmosphere of the day, making an unpleasant experience!

If you are a new boat owner go to a large parking lot and practice backing up your rig, as this is tricky, for new boat owners, and can cause you a lot of anguish at the ramp with other boaters waiting their turn. If you have a new boater in front of you , remember, you were inexperienced and slow when you first started out with your new rig. Practice being patient and offer the newbie, assistance with untrailering his new rig. Offer practical advice in a friendly tone of voice, so that his next experience along with the present experience , can be more pleasant and enjoyable.

It is hard enough to untrailer and trailer your boat, without someone chewing on your keister, and arguing, and quite possible even fist fighting! I have witnessed these very unpleasant situations and I am sure you all have witnessed them too!

If you have properly readied your boat and trailer, all you have to do is back it into the water, unhook the bow hook from your boat, and pull your vehicle out of the lake and up to the parking lot. With 2 people this is rather simple, and if you fish alone, there is always someone who will pull your rig up to the parking lot for you. After you dock your boat, you can always go get your keys and lock up your rig or reposition your rig where you want it. Drop your access fee in the box, and off you go fishing!

Now I haven't given you a check list , on what all needs to be done, because to me, this is just common sense. Before you go to the lake get a routine that works down, and practice it till you are quick and efficient with this procedure, and when you get to the access you will appear to have experience, and will not slow down anyone waiting behind you! No one will ever no you are a newbie!

While we wait our turn, be patient, and offer assistance, nicely, and make this part of boating as pleasant and enjoyable for all involved.Another thing, if you are easily agitated, and don't like to wait, then leave earlier and arrive at the ramp before all the other boaters, this will help to insure, you don't have to wait.Remember, one day you will be in front of an impatient boater and what you have put out in the past will in fact come back to haunt you.

While there really is no set rules or secrets on launching your boat, a little common sense goes along way. So until next time, boat safely, and enjoy the "Great Outdoors!" See ya Out there!

How To Remove A Fish Hook, Painlessly

On my last post I talked about a neat little trick of removing a fish hook from your body! It is a really painless way to remove a hook, I know from first hand experience, this technique works!
Watch this video which last about 2 minutes and remember that this really does work and I didn't feel a thing when it popped out!

Who Is Catching Who?

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First off today, I want to apologize to my readers, and visitors, for my inactivity of posting! It is not like I don't take my readers seriously, because I value each and everyone of you as loyal readers and good friends! Things have been hectic and in the fast lane for me here lately and I haven't had the time to post. It appears to be slowing down to normal again and I am able to catch up on duties again. Honey do list about normal, so things are looking up and time to get to work again!

This past Monday evening it was threatening rain and I decided to take another round of wade fishing to the "Big Piney" once again! It is rather refreshing and relaxing, belly deep in the river and catching them fiesty goggle eyes and small mouth bass! Drizzling rain doesn't really matter and in the heat of the summer months a front coming thru definitely can cause a feeding frenzy especially just as it starts to rain a good shower, the cooler water usually adds oxygen to the water as it spatters and makes the fishing absolutely red hot!

I waded into my favorite wading water on the Big Piney and the rain was just drizzling and the water surface was rough, making the fish unable to see me as equally as me not being able to see them! I caught so many small mouth that it was impossible to catch anything else. Not that I am complaining but You can only keep one small mouth!

After about an hour it quit raining and I hung into a good smallmouth and tired him out and was about to grab him when he flipped real hard and buried the treble hook past the barb into the side of my right hand! Ouch! It hurt super bad and I grabbed the small mouth with my left hand and hang on for dear life. Now mind you this small mouth is still flopping and such that it was inflicting intense pain on my hand, I am trying to figure out how to get my hemostats out of my back pocket and my side cutters.

After about 20 minutes of struggling with this situation, I some how managed to grab the treble hook that by this time was buried deep and hurting intensely! I had just, believe it or not the nite before watched a video on u tube about a doctor who was giving a demonstration on how to remove a hook without the pain and damaging the penetrations area too badly. A pretty nifty trick, I might add, but never realized I would use his method so soon and on myself at that.

I grabbed the hook firmly, twisted, and yanked, It hurt for just a second but not nearly badly as I had imagined, and it never got sore, Like I have experienced before. After my mishap was over it was a relief to go back to fishing, It took me 10 or 15 minutes to recover from the experience, I really freaked out for a little while.

I managed a good keeper small mouth bass and 15 nice keeper goggle eyes! I know that the evening turned out great and fun, but it was quite an ordeal, for anyone especially if you are by yourself and about a half mile from the truck and besides with a hook and a pole in one hand and a floppy old small mouth int the other, well, I think you might be able to imagine trying to wade the river a half mile and then driving down the rode about 20 miles down a crooked road and rough at that!

If you have never seen any films on people removing hooks you should watch a few and remember, you might not have a friend with you and you have to figure out a way to do it alone. It would be tough with a friend to help you, but it is really, really tough for you to do it solo!

So until next time practice fishing and boating safely, and see ya out there, I hope!

Small Mouth Bass - Big Piney River

Yesterday evening, I was bored, it was looking like it was going to settle in and start raining. About 4pm,I loaded up my ultra light, a stringer, and a small box of my river lures. Now my lure selection for the piney , during the heat of the summer, is pretty basic, and fits in a small fly box, at least, that's what I call it! Several small spinners with different colored twisters or rubber minnows. About 6 or 7 small ultra light crank baits , like the rebel craw dad, bass magnets, to name a few, you should notice that I really down size my lures.

The river is only about a mile from my house, so it makes a short trip and a fast start at fishing. I had on some old sneakers, shorts, tee shirt and a hat! Into the river I waded. I had tied on a black and red crawdad crank bait, and about the 3rd cast, I snagged a nice goggle eye! Maybe I should say he snagged me! He was about a 10 inch goggle eye, and between the current and his pulling power, getting him on the stringer, was quite the challenge! Nevertheless, the fisherman , wins this battle!

This was a good beginning to start the evening, and I anticipated a successful event. It was still early, like 4:30 or so, as I didn't have my watch with me, I always seem to forget something! But, time really doesn't matter, when you're having fun in the outdoors, and especially when I am fishing! Time just seems to stand still.

It didn't seem to be a hot day,even though it was 85 degrees. There was a nice breeze a blowing , and the birds and frogs, where singing their songs, and it was just a down right , quiet, beautiful evening to be wade fishing and soaking it all in including the nice cool water, which is probably why I wasn't noticing how hot it was!

I waded on down a few shallow riffles and got into the little eddie, I call "goggle eye eddie!" The name I call it should be obvious as to the story fixing to unfold! I love to wade this quarter mile eddie as it has good current, lots of huge boulders and logs, it makes great cover for fish and the small mouth bass just love it! Maybe 5 or 6 ft deep at the most!

I had been just goofing off and killing time, trying to fish, this excellent water, the last 2 hours of sun light. Prime time for some nice small mouth and goggle eyes! But now the time has come to get serious, and I tied on a natural colored rebel craw dad, and proceeded to catch some nice goggle eyes and several small, small mouth bass! I had managed to keep 8 keeper goggle eyes and truly enjoying the fight on the ultra light. It really gives the fish the upper hand, but is a blast as these goggle eyes bend the ultra light rod double, wow, too much fun! Is it really possible to have too much fun? Not really!

I had waded back up to the upper end of the eddie and threw that crawdad crank bait into the back up swirl over by the bank and started the retrieval when , "wham" a nice small mouth had struck and was running all over the river at will! He wanted to go up over the riffle, but some how I managed to stop him and again ran, at will, wherever he wanted. He finally tired out and he was a 20 inch small mouth, not bad for the piney river and an ultra light battle!

The very next cast, another bigger, a lot bigger small mouth slammed me hard, and we fought for 5 or 6 minutes as he was not about to give up so quick and then he ran straight at me , and came off! In the next 30 minutes I would hook 3 more big small mouth bass, that came off! And a huge small mouth, did some tail walking and threw my lure back at me and slipped back into the river as if nothing had happened and left me standing there looking stupid!

I waded up on a raccoon, who was fishing for crawdads, in the riffle and he didn't even notice me for about 15 minutes. He was so busy catching, crawdads and eating them that I was able to sneak with 10 feet from him and observed him up and close, I guess you could say up close and personal! Very interesting, as I had never witnessed this in the wild before.

So to sum up the evening, man won a few, beast won a few, but all was enjoyed to the fullest! It is simply put, amazing what nature and the outdoors, has to offer! We have to help her maintain herself, and we have to do our part, and watch over her and manage her. In the end, we all, win!

So until next time, enjoy the "Great Outdoors!" See ya out there, I hope!