Austin didn’t say this, but I will: Sebelius will be a good bet early this season, maybe until as late as Memorial Day. But if that part of the state doesn’t start getting some rain, its fishery -- and, as a result, the fishing there -- is going to suffer big-time. If you want to catch a lot of bass at Sebelius, get out there this spring, because now I the time to do it.

Austin also mentioned El Dorado Reservoir, just north of Wichita in Butler County, as one with good numbers of bass. It has rebounded some from the effects of dramatically high fishing pressure, especially during its early days. Plenty of tournaments are still held there annually, and it’s a safe bet that El Dorado’s bass are among the most educated of all Kansas’ game-fish species. They likely see more baits than just about any other bass population in the state.

Enjoy a good day at El Dorado, and you should consider yourself quite adept at fooling pressured fish. Just know that you can, in fact, do that because the numbers are there.

The two other major reservoirs Austin mentioned as having good numbers of catchable bass are in the greater Kansas City area: Hillsdale and La Cygne. Like El Dorado, Hillsdale gets plenty of pressure from tournament anglers. But it’s got a wonderful mix of habitat, and plenty of it. Now into its third decade, this impoundment consistently offers steady, predictable fishing for good numbers of bass.

That leaves La Cygne, a lake that Austin referred to as a "bass factory." He’s only partially right. Actually, it’s a fish factory, because the growing season there never ends.

Tucked into the gently rolling topography of Linn County, which borders Missouri about an hour south of greater Kansas City, La Cygne is a power-plant lake with a hot-water source -- from the power plant -- that offers the right mix of water temperature and dissolved-oxygen content somewhere on the lake every single day. OK-- maybe it does get a little too warm for optimum growth and activity through the hottest months of the summer, but make no mistake: You can show up there with actual temperatures in the single digits and still catch keeper bass on shallow-running crankbaits. I know; I’ve done it.

The KDWP’s Kyle Austin didn’t say this, but I will: Sebelius will be a good bet early this season, maybe until as late as Memorial Day.

And Austin noted that surveys reveal really high numbers of bass on Hillsdale as 2007 unfolds. This could prove to be one of the lake’s best seasons ever, and that’s saying a lot, because it’s generally good every year.

Austin also pointed to a handful of smaller State Fishing Lakes with high numbers of bass in the 12-inch-plus range. They include: Butler SFL, which is not far from El Dorado Reservoir or Wichita; Lyon SFL, which was renovated recently and is now offering some really good bass fishing, according to Austin; Brown SFL; and Clarke SFL, which is one of the prettiest little public lakes in all of the Sunflower State.

I also asked him about some of the non-state-managed community lakes around Kansas with good numbers of bass as 2007 unfolds. There are names here you have heard in previous years. Among them is Gardner Lake, on the southwest edge of the sprawling Kansas City area. "Gardner Lake is a hotspot right now," Austin said.