Kansas B.A.S.S. Federation Nation

At 6 in the morning, most lakes can create a pretty picture, and Harvey Co. East Lake is no exception.

One can use a lot of words to explain the summer weather in Kansas. Two that would rank right up there at the top would be hot, and windy, and at that first tournament, our Jr Bassmasters got both. At the 7am blast off the temperature was 77 with a breeze of 10 mph from the south, but as the day wore on the temperature and the wind just kept increasing. By the 1pm weigh-in we had reached 95 degrees and 25+ mph winds. 

While the main lake water would be called stained, the wind and shallow water combined to create some muddy areas with distinct mud lines. Amazingly the hot, sunny weather resulted in water temperatures of only 80 to 81 degrees.

Prefishing reports were all about shallow fish, and in some cases several fish per angler. One report had eight keepers (over 12 inches for the Jr. Bassmasters) with one fish 19 inches long. Another report had a limit of keepers with some shorts, and let another had "lots" of fish. So much for prefishing, the tournament would prove to be different.

By 10 am on tournament day, most reports were "no fish", not even short fish. Any positive report was one or two. There was a glimmer of hope in that we heard of two anglers with fish in the live well, meaning over 18 inches! Too bad the fish never made it to the weight in; both were Walleye and were headed for the frying pan!

Only 28 fish were scored, with only one five fish limit. That limit was scored by Brady Sherman of the McPherson Jr. Bassmasters fishing in the SR division. His 1515 points were accomplished with fish that were 13,17,18,18, and 19 inches Most of the fish came from the road/tunnel area fishing shallow with a black and blue jig.  Jason Reavis of Blue Valley Bass Busters was second, and Nathan Snyder of McPherson was third.

In the JR division Nick Luna of the Kick Back Jr. Bass Club had two fish scoring  428 points for first. Unfortunately I did not get to ask Nick the what and where about his fish. Second went to Justin Niccum of Kick Back and third  to Riley Brown of KHP Reel Deal.

After a long hot day of fishing the anglers came off the water to lunch prepared by the McPherson Jr Bassmasters. Lyle Starr had offered his club's service to host this event and they did not disappoint. Hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans, potato salad, chips and cookies, along with cold drinks were done and waiting for the youth, the boaters, every one else.. I must apologize as I forgot to thank them during the awards ceremony for the fabulous job they did, not only with the food but also with launching and loading boats. Again, my sincere thanks to Lyle and Lisa Starr, Kelly Reed, Roy Sherman, and Greg and Mary Clements.for preparing the food. Also thanks to Lyle's employer, Nation Pizza Products for picking up the food tab.

A quick thanks to Melvin Smoot for providing the back-up boat. About half way through the tournament one of the boaters had a trolling motor failure and Melvin finished the day as a boater.

Finally thanks to all the boaters who made the tournament possible for the youth. With out you, all this is just not possible.

The second youth qualifier tournament will be September 13^th at Big Hill Reservoir. Entry deadline will be August 30^th.

KBFN Fall 2009 Youth TournamentTrail

Hope to see you there. Thanks, Brad V.