Top Baits: Plymouth, Indiana "Midwestivus"
- kayakjaknebraska
- May 9
- 9 min read
By Marty Hughes
The Kayak Adventure Series number two stop at Plymouth, Indiana proved to be a very strategic event with several fishing options including multiple lakes and river stretches. Decisions had to be made on whether to fish clear or stained water, current driven rivers, or backwater sloughs. A variety of baits were used by the top ten anglers including both power and finesse. There were many common producers such as spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, Texas rigged baits, topwater baits, and jigs used to produce great results among these kayak anglers. Let’s see what produced the best results below!
James Miller of Indiana finished in first place with a total of 96.75 inches including a 22 inch kicker. He caught four of his five keepers on an Evergreen LB Buzzbait targeting shallow grass near spawning areas where bass were staging and waiting for the water temp to get right. Once the sun came out and water temperatures rose on Saturday, Miller caught a big late day cull dragging a weightless black and red Texas rigged Senko around harder bottom areas where females were starting to move into. While none of Miller’s keepers came on the ZMan Jackhammer with a Hog Farmer Spunk Shad trailer, it did generate quite a few bites during the competition.
The buzzbait was thrown on a St. Croix Tournament Legend Workhorse with a Shimano Curado DC reel spooled with 18 lb fluorocarbon line. The Jackhammer was thrown on a St. Croix Tournament Legend Rip-N-Chatter rod with a Shimano Curado spooled with 18 lb fluoro.
Josiah Bihary of Ohio finished in second place with 91.75 inches. He gives us a very detailed description of every setup he used to catch his bass.
Set-up #1:
Rod - 13 Fishing Fate V-3 Casting Rod, 7'5 MH
Reel - Kastking Speed Demon Elite Casting Reel, 8:3:1
Line - Kastking Superpower Colorshield Braid, 50lb
Bait - Spinnerbait w/ double willow blades, Green Pumpkin, 3/8 oz
Trailer - Z-man Goatz, watermelon
Notes - I caught so many fish on this spinnerbait the skirt is about gone! The heavy set-up with strong line allowed me to get the fish in the boat as quickly as possible. These unpressured fish didn't care about the thick braid.
Set-up #2:
Rod - Kastking Speed Demon Casting Rod, 7'3 M
Reel - 13 Fishing Concept C Gen 2 Casting Reel, 8:3:1
Line - 15lb Kastking fluorocarbon
Bait - Strike King Thunder Cricket, green pumpkin, 3/8 oz
Trailer - Crush City Freeloader, green pumpkin/black n blue, 4.25 in
Notes - Caught my 2 biggest fish during the tournament! Perfect bluegill imitation. Fished this in the slightly deeper water, 2-4ft.
Set-up #3:
Rod - Bull Bay Casting Rod, 7'3 H
Reel - 13 Fishing Concept C Gen 2 Casting Reel, 8:3:1
Line - 50lb Braid
Bait - Spro Flappin frog, brown
Notes - Got on a super fun frog bite on Friday, they were choking it every time! Fished this in shallow 0-2ft of water around lily pads.
Set-up #4:
Rod - Shimano SLX Spinning rod, 6'10 ML
Reel - Kastking Megajaws Spinning Reel, 6:2:1
Line - 8lb braid with a 12lb flourocarbon leader
Bait - weightless weedless wacky rig, #1 size hook, 5in green pumpkin senko
Notes - sight fished my 17 incher with this set-up
Cole Lawrence of Illinois is no stranger to the Kayak Adventure Series and you can bet he will always be in the hunt for a top finish. Lawrence finished in third place with 89.25 inches. He caught all of his keepers on a ZMan Tungsten Evo and used a ZMan Chatterspike and the Rapala Crush City Freeloader for trailers. His rod was a Megabass Destroyer P5 Blade with a Shimano DC 70 reel.
Eric Scrivner of Minnesota put up 87.25 inches to finish fourth in the KAS event held in Indiana. He went out chasing the smallie bite in the flooded rivers of Northern Indiana. Four of his five final limit fish came on flipping a jig, including the only 20 inch smallmouth bass caught in the tournament.
His setup included for this area included:
-Jig: Beast Coast Tungsten Lil’ Magnum compact flipping jig, 1/2 oz
-Trailer: Rapala Crush City Cleanup Craw
-Rod: Shimano Expride 7'2" Heavy Fast
-Reel: Shimano Bantam 151HG A
-Line: Seaguar Tatsu 20 lb Fluorocarbon
-Tactic: flipping hard cover—trees, docks, flooded stairs and porches, flooded sheds, moored jet skis, retaining walls, and vertical banks.
He caught his other limit of fish grinding a football jig down the river channel under a bridge.
-Jig: Beast Coast Tungsten Compound Baby Dozer Football Jig, 5/8 oz
-Trailer: Berkley Maxscent Meaty Chunk
-Rod: Daiwa Zillion 7’3” Medium Heavy Fast
-Reel: Daiwa Zillion SV TW G 100HL
-Line: Sufix 131 30 lb braid mainline to a 15 lb fluorocarbon leader
-Tactic: dragging on mid-river gravel substrate
Justin Kivett of Indianapolis, Indiana used a variety of baits to take 5th place with 87 inches at the KAS Midwestivus II in the Plymouth, IN event. He used a Rapala DT-6 on the Friday evening session to locate bass along the shoreline of the St. Joe River and caught 71 inches in the last 30 minutes of the day.
After locating a hot spot in a shallow area with submerged grass directly off the main current flow, he returned to the same area Saturday to begin his morning with the DT-6 and quickly upgraded into the Top 10 early. He then cycled through the area with a Rapala Crush City Hedgehog in green pumpkin for a few more upgrades.
Before noon, Kivett decided to move in hopes of locating bigger fish. After searching on Google Maps, he pedaled his Oldtown PDL 120 Pro about ¾ of a mile to a backwater pocket. The decision to move on a flooded river with a CFS was difficult, but it paid off. Within ten minutes he caught a 19” and 18.5” bass on a green pumpkin Yamamoto 5” Senko that was Wacky rigged just off the current break in the pocket. While navigating the pocket he realized that bass were spawning but it was mostly males setting up and never found another fish to upgrade his smallest fish of 15.75 inches.
With two hours remaining he pedaled against the current while returning to his beginning spot. With only one hour left in the event he grinded out the area with a rotation with the DT-6, Wacky Senko, a creature bait, and culled up another .25” using a dropshot with a Roboworm 5.5” Curly Tail in orion color to catch his 87 inches before lines out was established. Kivett mentioned, “Man, what an amazing event! Just like the last year’s events there is nothing better than the KAS and community of kayak anglers that these events draw. Thank you KAS and team!”
Kivet’s setups included a Bass Pro Carbonlite 7’2” Wacky Rig rod, 10 lb Sunline Sniper leader with a Daiwa Kage 2500 spinning reel.
He also used a Yakrods 7’ Crank in medium heavy/moderate with 12 lb Sunline FC Sniper and a Shimano DC Curado reel.
Yakrod X-Chatter 7’2” medium heavy/fast rod with 17 lb McCoy copolymer, and a Shimano SLX XT reel.
For the drop shot bait he used the 6’10” medium extra fast, with 10 lb Sunline FC Sniper leader and a Daiwa Excelor 2500 reel.
Kivet wanted to give a big shout out to Yakrods as well with their amazing fishing rods that they produce.
Jami Young of Indiana finished with a 6th-place finish (86.75”) at Midwestivus II. She fished Lake of the Woods, focusing on 4-6' water with grass and specific docks.
Her successful setups included:
Senko: 5” Yamamoto watermelon red or Red Beard Plastics stick bait on a St Croix Victory 7 '1” rod with a Shimano Sustain FK 2500 reel.
Crankbait: Bill Lewis MR-6 in Lavender Shad on a St Croix Legend Glass 6'10” rod with a Daiwa CT reel.
Flipping: D&L Baby Advantage Jig (3/8 or 5/8 oz) in Oops color with a Netbaits Tiny Paca Chunk trailer.
Michael Lautzenheiser of Indiana representing “Dad Life Fishing Adventures” used a Zoom Bait Company Horny Toad soft plastic for working shallow water near lily pads and submerged vegetation for a seventh place finish with 86.25 inches. He also followed up with a Bluegill ZMan Tungsten EVO Elite bladed jig to work weed edges and an X-Zone Lures green pumpkin Adrenalin Craw Jr. on a Jades Jigs EWG Ned head to work laydowns and docks.
Toad Setup
-Bait: Zoom Horny Toad in a "Bullfrog" color on a weightless Owner 4/0 Twist Lock Hook.
-Reel: Pflueger Supreme XT 30
-Rod: Falcon Coastal Clearwater 7'6" ML Power Moderate Fast Action
-Line: Power Pro 10lb Moss Green Braid
Bladed Bait Setup
-Bait: Z-Man Tungsten EVO Elite bladed jig in a "Bluegill" color with a Z-Man Chattershad trailer in a "Green Pumpkin" color.
-Reel: Pflueger Supreme XT 35
-Rod: KCustom 7'6" MH Power Moderate Fast Action
-Line: Power Pro 20lb Moss Green Braid
Ned Setup
-Bait: X-Zone Baits Adrenaline Craw Jr in a "Green Pumpkin" color on a Jades Jigs EWG Ned Head
-Reel: Piscifun Carbon X II 2000
-Rod: KCustom 7' ML Power Fast Action
-Line: Power Pro 10lb Moss Green Braid with a Seaguar 10lb Abrazx Leader
Merlin Hammer III of Indiana had a great time fishing the Kayak Adventure Series locally in Plymouth, Indiana. Over the day and a half of competition he put together 86.25 inches which put him 8th out of 73 great anglers from 13 states.
On Day 1, Hammer went to the St. Joseph River and caught all of his fish on a D&L Tackle Baby Advantage Jig with a Berkley Maxscent Lil Super Trooper trailer. After day one he was sitting in 10th place with just over 76 inches.
With how the KAS format works it’s your best 5 fish over both days of competition so Hammer knew he had a good chance to move up on day two. On the second day he went to Worster Lake. He had never been there but has hear of a lot of good fish coming from that fishery. Hammer said, “Things started out cold and slow but as I moved to get away from the cold wind I ended up in a pocket where I culled up twice with two 16.5 inch fish on a Z-Man Baby Jack with an X-Zone Adrenaline Craw Jr trailer.” Then his biggest fish came late in the day and he caught a 21.25” bass to cull up nearly 6 inches. Hammer caught this one on a Texas rigged X-Zone True Center Stick on a 4/0 Gamakatsu Superline EWG hook.
Hammer caught all of his fish using Denali Fishing Rods and mentioned he couldn’t have got it done without his Hobie kayak. He was very happy how things went and the time he got to spend with some good friends.
Larry Reyes of Indiana finished in 9th place with 85.25 inches and caught all of his fish around submerged grass around bedding areas. He caught them on a frog and a senko.
His Frog setup was a tournament legend 7’4” slop-n-frog paired up with a Shimano Curado line spooled with 50 lb pro power braid. The bait he used was a Spro Leopard frog.
Reyes used a Tournament Legend 7’3” Workhorse rod for his Yamamoto Senko setup and a Shimano Metanium reel spooled with 15 lb fluorocarbon PLine. The terminal tackle he used for his Senko was a VMC Drop Dead weighted 3/32 oz hook.
Scott Case of Indiana rounded out the top ten in the KAS Midwestivus recently with 85.25 inches. His presentations included a ½ oz green pumpkin ZMan Jackhammer with a Yamamoto Zako trailer. The setup for this presentation included a 7’ medium heavy Lews David Fritts Perfect Crankin’ rod paired with a Shimano Curado 7:1.1 reel and spooled with 17 lb fluorocarbon line.
His other presentation included a 5 inch Senko in watermelon/red flake. Case used a 3/0 Gamakatsu offset round bend worm hook with it. The setup included a St. Croix Premier 7’ medium/fast spinning rod with a Daiwa Freams reel spooled with 10 lb braid and a 10 lb fluorocarbon leader.
Case started with the chatterbait but was only catching fish in the 16 inch range and under. On Day 2 he found bigger fish relating to wood in the shallow water and on beds in less than two feet. All of those fish fell to the Senko. He Texas rigged it instead of the Wacky style because of the thick grass in the area.
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