November 12, 2018
By Ned Kehde
Since 2011, we have published scores of logs and 106,838 words about how, when, and where Midwest finesse anglers fished in November in various waterways across the nation.
Many of these words were graced by the piscatorial insights and endeavors of Rick Allen of Dallas, Texas; Terry Bivins of Lebo, Kansas; Burton Bosley of Sutton, West Virginia; Norman Brown of Lewisville, Texas; Terry Claudell of Overland Park, Kansas; Steve Desch of Topeka, Kansas; Roger Farish of Highland Village, Texas; Brent Frazee of Parkville, Missouri; Merit Goodman of Eudora, Kansas; Bob Gum of Kansas City, Kansas; Paul Hansen of Shawnee, Kansas; Clyde Holscher of Topeka, Kansas; Pat Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas; Casey Kidder of Topeka, Kansas; Pok-Chi Lau of Lawrence, Kansas; Ralph Manns of Rockwall, Texas; Greg Monahan of Lee’s Summit, Missouri; Travis Myers of Paw Paw, West Virginia; Nathan Parker of Tulsa, Oklahoma; Preston Parks of Pittsboro, North Carolina; Mike Poe of Siler City, North Carolina; Marley Price of Ripley, Ohio; Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas; Chris Rohr of Overland Park, Kansas; Jim Stegeman of Olathe, Kansas; Walt Tegtmeier of Leawood, Kansas; John Thomas of Denton, Texas; Brian Waldman of Coatesville, Indiana; Brian Watson of Papillion, Nebraska; Dave Weroha of Kansas City, Kansas; and Josh White of Silk Hope, North Carolina.
Winter is in the offing in northeastern Kansas, and our water temperatures are dropping. What’s more, we will be confounded by spells of freezing rain, sleet and snow, which can make conditions insurmountable even for the most ardent largemouth bass anglers.
In our column entitled “A Month-by-Month Guide to Midwest Finesse for Bass,” we noted that the surface temperature at our northeastern Kansas reservoirs on November 1 is 56 degrees. It drops to about 50 degrees during the middle of the month. It is around 46 degrees at month’s end.
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On average, northeastern Kansas has about an inch of precipitation in November. The average temperature is 43 degrees, but it can be as cold as nine degrees and as warm as 84 degrees.
The average low temperature on Nov. 1 in north-central Texas is 48 degrees, and the average high temperature is 67 degrees. On Nov. 15, the average low temperature is 43 degrees, and the average high temperature is 63 degrees. By Nov. 30, the average low temperature is 38 degrees and the average high temperature is 59 degrees.
In northeastern West Virginia, the average low temperature on Nov. 1 is 38 degrees, and the average high temperature is 60 degrees. The average low temperature is 34 degrees on Nov. 15, and the average high temperature is 55 degrees. On Nov. 30, the average low temperature is 30 degrees, and the average high temperature is 48 degrees.
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At the reservoirs of north-central Texas, Steve Reideler has recorded the surface temperatures in early November hovering around 65 to 68 degrees. By the middle of November, the surface temperatures are in the low 60s and high 50s, and they are in the low 50s at the end of the month.
Burton Bosley notes that the surface temperature at one of the West Virginia reservoirs that he fished was 48 degrees on Nov. 30, 2014. The water temperatures in the rivers that Travis Myers of Paw Paw, West Virginia, fishes are in the low 50s in early November, in the mid-40s around Nov. 15, and in the low 40s on Nov. 30.
Below are 10 Internet links to the many words that we have published. It is a link to our history that will remind us and teach us how, when, and where Midwest finesse anglers caught and failed to catch black bass during Novembers of the past in Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, and West Virginia. These logs should also reveal how things have changed or not changed as time marches on.
Endnotes: Photographs from Novembers of the past:
