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Submitted by Ned Kehde - June 25, 2001
Weather holds anglers one fish away from
goal
On a cold, blustery day in late May, Terry Bivins
of Lebo and a
friend tried their darndest to tangle with 50 largemouth and
smallmouth
bass.
Only a fisherman of Bivins' immense talents would attempt
such an
improbably feat on any of Kansas' public waterways after the
passage of a
severe cold front.
The reason why it's such a difficult endeavor is that a cold
front for
some unknown reason turns bass sullen and mulish, and since most
public
lakes in Kansas have so few bass, the task of catching 50 of
them becomes
extremely arduous.
What's more, there aren't many places to hide from the wind
on the flat
terrain that dominates the landscape in these parts. And a harsh
wind and
ranks of white caps makes it an exceedingly onerous task to properly
work a
lure that will entice a mopish bass.
So to offset the effects of the wind and cold weather, Bivins
traveled to
Lake Wabaunsee, near Eskridge on the eastern edge of the Flint
Hills.
Wabaunsee can be a bass fisherman's delight. Its 215 acres
are nestled
in a valley surrounded by many hills, providing anglers some
shelter from
winds of all angles.
A respectable population of big largemouth and smallmouth
bass inhabit its
relatively clear waters. For instance, the lake-record largemouth
weighed
8.20 pounds, and the biggest smallmouth weighed 3.91 pounds.
The shorelines are laced with beds of American water willows
and
interspersed with boulders the size of a Volkswagen Bug and docks
that rest
on pilings. All of these objects provide wonderful sanctuaries
for the bass
and dandy spots for anglers to probe. In addition, there are
several long
points that drop-off into deep water and other offshore coverts
that are
graced with rocks and man-made brush piles, where bass also congregate.
So on such inauspicious day, Wabaunsee's waters looked to
be a wise
choice.
During the early morning hours of this adventure, some thermometers
in
northeastern Kansas dipped as low as 41 degrees, and by 1 p.m.
many of them
failed to reach 70 degrees. From daybreak till noon, the sky
was powder
blue, reflecting the aftereffects of the cold front. Then clouds
began to
accumulate, producing periodic spits of drizzle and several squalls
of cold
rain. And a brisk wind swirled out the west and north all day.
Throughout the day, Bivins and his partner primarily wielded
spinning
tackle. One rod sported l/4-ounce jigheads and smoke-colored
three-inch
grub. Tied to another rod was split-shot rig with a four-inch
Berkley Power
Worm. A Norman Deep Tiny N garnished a third rod. And occasionally
Bivins
worked either a 1/2-ounce tandem white spinnerbait or three-inch
Bass
Assassin affixed to a 3/8-ounce jighead on a casting outfit.
Bivins and his friend caught bass on all five lures, but the
grub and
split-shot rig enticed the bulk of the bass in four to eight
feet of water.
When the bright sun reflected hard on the water, the fishing
was so trying
that only three bass an hour were caught and released. The
catch-and-release rate, however, improved measurably once the
clouds covered
the sun.
Also at three offshore coverts, four walleye, two saugeye
and six big
crappie were caught and released.
Late in the afternoon, the wind roared and the clouds unleashed
a
brutally cold downpour and put an end to Bivins' quest for 50
bass. He and
his partner could muster no more than 49, and the biggest weighed
about four
pounds.
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