Skip to main content

Decembers of the Past

Decembers of the Past

Since 2011, we have published 60,125 words about how, when, and where Midwest finesse anglers catch black bass in December at various kinds of waterways in Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia by employing Midwest finesse tactics.

Ice-covered reservoirs and wintery weather can make it difficult for Midwest finesse anglers to get afloat in northeastern Kansas in December. What's more, it can be a struggle for us to catch largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, and spotted bass. For example, we were afloat four times at our cold-water reservoirs and once at a power-plant reservoir in 2007. In 2008, we were afloat five times at our cold-water reservoirs. In 2009, we were afloat twice at our cold-water reservoirs and twice at one of our two power-plant reservoirs. In 2010, we were afloat six times at our cold-water reservoirs and once at a power-plant reservoir. In 2011, we were afloat eight times at our cold-water reservoirs and three times at a power-plant reservoir. In 2012, I was recovering from a broken wrist and hand, and we were afloat only once at a cold-water reservoir and once at a power-plant reservoir. In 2013, we were afloat at our cold-water reservoirs once, and twice at a power-plant reservoir. In 2014, we were afloat four times on our cold-water reservoirs and once at a power-plant reservoir. In 2015, we fished on Dec. 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11, 18, and 23, and all of those outing were at our cold-water reservoirs. On these nine outings, we struggled to catch 158 largemouth bass and inadvertently tangled with 23 rainbow trout in 28 hours and 45 minutes of fishing.

Of course, the weather and the fishing is different in other locales across the nation.  The many words at the following links will reveal how Midwest finesse anglers in Kansas and elsewhere deal with fishing in December.

Bibliography:

(1) Link to the Dec. 2012 guide: http://www.in-fisherman.com/midwest-finesse/an-addendum-to-the-month-by-month-guide-to-midwest-finesse-december/.

(2) Link to the Dec. 2013 guide: http://www.in-fisherman.com/bass/decaaa/.

(3) Link to the Dec. 2014 guide: http://www.in-fisherman.com/bass/midwest-finesse-fishing-december-2014/.

(4) Link to the Dec. 2015 guide: http://www.in-fisherman.com/bass/midwest-finesse-fishing-december-2015/.

(5) Link to our 2015 "Decembers of the Pasts": http://www.in-fisherman.com/bass/midwest-finesse-fishing-december-2015/.

(6) Link to the month-by-month guide to Midwest finesse fishing:  http://www.in-fisherman.com/midwest-finesse/a-month-by-month-guide-to-midwest-finesse-for-bass/.

(7) We noted that the largemouth bass fishing can be trying in December, but this story about largemouth bass fishing in Decemeber, which we have written about several times, needs to be told again and again. So here it is again:

On Dec. 9, 2010, we helped Stacey King of Reeds Spring, Missouri, create a feature about Midwest finesse fishing for "The Bass Pros" television show.

Recommended


King is a veteran and hall-of-fame angler, who has competed on the Bassmaster, FLW, and scores of other circuits for decades. And after we helped him create a feature for "The Bass Pros" television show, he became a Midwest finesse aficionado.On this December day, King and I were afloat at a suburban community reservoir in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The surface temperature ranged from 38 to 40 degrees, and several acres of ice covered the back end of the reservoir's primary feeder-creek arm.

To King's and the cameraman's delight, they captured enough largemouth-bass-catching footage for the feature in 3 1/2 hours. During that spell we caught 38 largemouth bass, including three lunkers. According to King, it often takes two days of fishing to garner enough footage for a TV show. But for some miraculous reason, we accomplished this feat in record time on a December day in northeastern Kansas by employing Midwest finesse tactics. And it is unlikely that this achievement will ever occur again — especially at this community reservoir, which has been waylaid by the largemouth bass virus, and it is also plagued by heavy predation by anglers.

Photographs from Decembers of the past:

Rick Hebenstreit of Shawnee, Kansas.

Bob Gum of Kansas City, Kansas.

Greg Monahan of Lee's Summit, Missouri

Bob Gum of Kansas City, Kansas

Rick Allen of Dallas, Texas, with an Oklahoma smallmouth bass

Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, with an Oklahoma smallmouth bass.

Rick Hebenstreit of Shawnee, Kansas.




GET THE NEWSLETTER Join the List and Never Miss a Thing.

Recommended Articles

Recent Videos

Join Doug Stange and friends as they target large and aggressive striped bass, considered by most anglers as the pinnacl...
Learn

Summer Walleye Fishing Tips with Captain Ross Robertson

Join Doug Stange and friends as they target large and aggressive striped bass, considered by most anglers as the pinnacl...
Fishing

Steve Jonesi – Muskie Legends Never Die

Join Doug Stange and friends as they target large and aggressive striped bass, considered by most anglers as the pinnacl...
Fishing

The Minnesota Bait Crisis - with Jason and Tyler Bahr

Join Doug Stange and friends as they target large and aggressive striped bass, considered by most anglers as the pinnacl...
Fishing

The Greatest Fishing Story Ever Told, Part 7 with Mark Fisher – The Rapala Impact

Join Doug Stange and friends as they target large and aggressive striped bass, considered by most anglers as the pinnacl...
Learn

After Hours with Mark Courts and Tommy Allen

Join Doug Stange and friends as they target large and aggressive striped bass, considered by most anglers as the pinnacl...
Learn

An Ode to Larry Tople

Join Doug Stange and friends as they target large and aggressive striped bass, considered by most anglers as the pinnacl...
Gear

Humminbird's NEW Mega Live 2 HOT TAKE

Join Doug Stange and friends as they target large and aggressive striped bass, considered by most anglers as the pinnacl...
Gear

Humminbird's Brand New Xplore is Crystal Clear

Join Doug Stange and friends as they target large and aggressive striped bass, considered by most anglers as the pinnacl...
Destinations

In-Fisherman Classics: Ice Fishing for Bass

Join Doug Stange and friends as they target large and aggressive striped bass, considered by most anglers as the pinnacl...
Destinations

In-Fisherman Classics: White Bass Simplicity

Join Doug Stange and friends as they target large and aggressive striped bass, considered by most anglers as the pinnacl...
Learn

In-Fisherman Classics: Cold Water Bass Fishing at Lake Fork

Join Doug Stange and friends as they target large and aggressive striped bass, considered by most anglers as the pinnacl...
Learn

In-Fisherman Classics: Striped Bass are America's Most Aggressive Gamefish

In-Fisherman Magazine Covers Print and Tablet Versions

GET THE MAGAZINE Subscribe & Save

Digital Now Included!

SUBSCRIBE NOW

Give a Gift   |   Subscriber Services

PREVIEW THIS MONTH'S ISSUE

Buy Digital Single Issues

Magazine App Logo

Don't miss an issue.
Buy single digital issue for your phone or tablet.

Get the In-Fisherman App apple store google play store

Other Magazines

See All Other Magazines

Special Interest Magazines

See All Special Interest Magazines

GET THE NEWSLETTER Join the List and Never Miss a Thing.

Get the top In-Fisherman stories delivered right to your inbox.

Phone Icon

Get Digital Access.

All In-Fisherman subscribers now have digital access to their magazine content. This means you have the option to read your magazine on most popular phones and tablets.

To get started, click the link below to visit mymagnow.com and learn how to access your digital magazine.

Get Digital Access

Not a Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Enjoying What You're Reading?

Get a Full Year
of Guns & Ammo
& Digital Access.

Offer only for new subscribers.

Subscribe Now

Never Miss a Thing.

Get the Newsletter

Get the top In-Fisherman stories delivered right to your inbox.

By signing up, I acknowledge that my email address is valid, and have read and accept the Terms of Use