Septembers of the Past

September 01, 2018 By Ned Kehde

Since 2011, we have published 111,954 words about how, when, and where Midwest finesse anglers have caught largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, and spotted bass in September.

We wrote in the introduction to our September 2012 guide to Midwest finesse fishing that we began compiling these monthly guides on In-Fisherman's website to create detailed accounts of every outing that I and several Midwest finesse colleagues have enjoyed (or at times endured) in our pursuits of the largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass.

My wife, Patty, spawned my initial interest in writing logs about our piscatorial endeavors years ago when she gave me a copy of "Muriel Foster's Fishing Diary," which was published by Penguin Studio in 1980. Foster penned her first log about her angling adventures in Scotland and England on Sept. 16, 1913 and her final one on June 1, 1949, and she ultimately created a splendid look into the history of angling.

We have modest hopes that the logs that appear in the monthly guides to Midwest finesse fishing will provide piscatorial historians with a few insights to how, when, and where some of us fished during the early years of the 21st century. We also hope that our logs and monthly guides will help scores of recreational anglers to discover how, when, and where they can employ Midwest finesse tactics and inveigle scores of black bass on each outing.

Below are the links to our September monthly guides for the years of 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and four other links to information about September tactics that might enlighten readers about Midwest finesse. And below these links are some photographs of a few of the largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, and spotted bass that Midwest finesse anglers have caught in Septembers of the past.

(1) During September of 2012, I and an occasional colleague fished 14 times, which encompassed a total of 44 3/4 hours of fishing, and we caught a combination of 414 largemouth and smallmouth bass or 9.2 black bass an hour. In addition to those 14 logs, this guide includes the logs and Finesse News Network reports from Bob Gum of Kansas City, Kansas; Brent Frazee of Parkville, Missouri; Brian Waldman of Coatesville, Indiana; Casey Kidder of Topeka, Kansas; Chris Rohr of Overland Park, Kansas; Clyde Holscher of Topeka, Kansas; Darryl Brown of Toronto, Ontario; John Kehde of Sedalia, Missouri; Terry Claudell of Overland Park, Kansas; and Terry Bivins of Lebo, Kansas. Here is the link to this guide: http://www.in-fisherman.com/midwest-finesse/an-addendum-to-the-month-by-month-guide-to-midwest-finesseseptember/. It contains 12,261 words.

(2) I fished 12 times, which encompassed 46 hours of Midwest finesse fishing, in September of 2013. On six of those outings, I was joined by another angler, and on one of the outings, there were three of us fishing. And with the help of those seven anglers, we inveigled 344 largemouth bass, 209 smallmouth bass and two spotted bass. This guide also focuses on how, when, and where these anglers fished: Burton Bosley of Sutton, West Virginia; Terry Claudell of Overland Park, Kansas; Charlie Croom of Fayetteville, Arkansas; Brent Frazee of Parkville, Missouri; Bob Gum of Kansas City, Kansas; Clyde Holscher of Topeka, Kansas; Mike Poe of Siler City, North Carolina; Steve Reideler of Lewisville, Texas; Brian Waldman of Coatesville, Indiana; and Dave Weroha of Kansas City, Kansas. Here is the link to this guide: http://www.in-fisherman.com/midwest-finesse/midwest-finesse-fishing-september-2013/. It contains 17,642 words.

(3) During September of 2014, I fished 11 times. This guide features 11 logs that focus on how, when, and where I and an occasional colleague caught a combination of 286 largemouth bass and smallmouth bass. It also features an array of insights from Rick Allen of Dallas, Texas; Donald Baldridge of Springfield, Missouri; Terry Claudell of Overland Park, Kansas; Charlie Croom of Fayetteville, Arkansas; Ethan Dhuyvetter of Manhattan, Kansas; Brent Frazee of Parkville, Missouri; Bob Gum of Kansas City, Kansas; Rick Hebenstreit of Shawnee, Kansas;Pok-Chi Lau of Lawrence, Kansas; Greg Monahan of Lee's Summit, Missouri; Drew Reese of Rantoul, Kansas, and Sioux Narrows, Ontario; Steve Reideler of Lewisville, Texas; and Dave Weroha of Kansas City, Kansas. Here is the link to this guide http://www.in-fisherman.com/panfish/midwest-finesse-fishing-september-2014/. Here is a link to an update of the September 2014 guide that features Mike Poe of Siler City, North Carolina: http://www.in-fisherman.com/bass/midwest-finesse-fishing-september-2014-update/. This guide contains 19,642 words, and Poe's update contains 412 words.

(4) Our September of 2015 guide features 30 logs and 26,545 words that feature the Midwest finesse endeavors and observations of Rick Allen of Dallas, Texas; Norman Brown of Lewisville, Texas; Steve Desch of Topeka, Kansas; Brent Frazee of Parkville, Missouri; Bob Gum of Kansas City, Kansas; Travis Myers of Paw Paw, West Virginia; Mike Poe of Siler City, North Carolina; Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas; John Thomas of Denton, Texas; and Andrew Trembath of Kansas City, Kansas. It also includes my outings in northeastern Kansas, where I and an occasional colleague fished 10 times, encompassing 29 hours, and we caught 155 largemouth bass and 64 smallmouth bass. In 2015, several Midwest finesse anglers who reside in northeastern Kansas began to notice that the largemouth bass fishing was not as fruitful as it was in years past, and it was especially evident in September of 2015. What's more, I began to suspect that the combination of my old age of 75 years and increased angler predation at the flatland reservoirs that I ply seems to have adversely affected my abilities to catch largemouth bass at several of these waterways. Here is a link to this guide: http://www.in-fisherman.com/bass/midwest-finesse-fishing-september-2015/.

(5) Our September of 2016 guide to Midwest finesse fishing contains 34 logs and 26,505 words that describe how, when, and where Midwest finesse anglers fished. It features the endeavors of Rick Allen of Dallas; Burton Bosley of Sutton, West Virginia; Norman Brown of Lewisville, Texas; Steve Desch of Topeka, Kansas; Bob Gum of Kansas City, Kansas; Rick Hebenstreit of Shawnee, Kansas; Clyde Holscher of Topeka, Kansas; Pok-Chi Lau of Lawrence, Kansas; Travis Myers of Paw Paw, West Virginia; Preston Parks of Pittsboro, North Carolina; Dave Petro of Lecompton, Kansas; Mike Poe of Siler City, North Carolina; John Reese of Lawrence, Kansas; Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas; Walt Tegtmeier of Leawood, Kansas; Ving Thao of Turner, Kansas; John Thomas of Denton, Texas; and Andrew Trembath of Kansas City, Missouri. It also contains eight of my logs that describe how, when, and where 309 largemouth bass and 76 smallmouth bass were caught during 31 hours of fishing in northeastern Kansas. Here is the link to this guide: http://www.in-fisherman.com/bass/midwest-finesse-fishing-september-2016/.

(6) Our September of 2017 guide to Midwest finesse fishing contains 27 logs and 24,567 words that explain how, when, and where Midwest finesse anglers fished. It features the angling efforts of Rick Allen of Dallas; Norman Brown of Lewisville, Texas; Terry Claudell of Overland Park, Kansas; Roger Farish of Highland Village, Texas; Paul Finn of Olathe, Kansas; Merit Goodman of Eudora, Kansas; Bob Gum of Kansas City, Kansas; David Harrison of Lawrence, Kansas; Rick Hebenstreit of Shawnee, Kansas; Travis Myers of Paw Paw, West Virginia; Dave Petro of Lecompton, Kansas; Mike Poe of Siler City, North Carolina; Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas; Robert Shue of Waynesboro, West Virginia; John Thomas of Denton, Texas; and Andrew Trembath of Parkville, Missouri. It also contains my outings in northeastern Kansas, where I and an occasional colleague or two fished 10 times, encompassing 31 1/2 hours, and we caught 384 largemouth bass and 21 smallmouth bass. Here is the link to this guide: http://www.in-fisherman.com/midwest-finesse/midwest-finesse-fishing-september-2017.

(7) Here is the link to "A Month-by-Month Guide to Midwest Finesse for Bass: http://www.in-fisherman.com/midwest-finesse/a-month-by-month-guide-to-midwest-finesse-for-bass/. It contains 730 words about how and where we fished before 2012.