Antelope Lake in Graham County is another good bet this season, as is Madison City Lake. And then, there are two relatively new lakes you also ought to consider.

"Banner Creek Lake is near Holton, in Jackson County," Austin said, "and it’s got some good numbers of good-sized bass. So does Bone Creek Lake, which is just north of Pittsburg. A lot of structure was left when that lake was built, so it’s got the potential to be a really, really good bass lake for some time."

After talking about all the lakes with good numbers, I asked Austin to switch gears and talk about those lakes with real lunkers. If you’re determined to catch the biggest bass of your career this season, here are the lakes you should consider visiting.

Oh, wait: dang -- these are some of the same places we just talked about! All three of the SFLs Austin mentioned are on the list -- Butler, Lyon and Clarke -- which in my view means that they might be among the very best bets for a pre-spawn visit this season, because that’s when the heaviest bass of the year can be taken.

He also mentioned Big Hills Reservoir in southeast Kansas. "Big Hill has a 21-inch minimum length for keepers," Austin said, "so it’s going to have higher numbers of larger bass. It’s a little low for that part of the world, but it’s not quite as bad as out west."

The other reservoir he mentioned is that Linn County bass factory. "Day in and day out, I believe La Cygne just might be the best bass fishery in the state," he explained. "You talked about how the growing season basically never ends there. As a result, it had good numbers of bass, and more than a few big bass. It really is a bass factory."

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.

Austin also took note of three community lakes with the potential to give up some truly large bass. They include Pony Creek Lake in Sabetha; Lone Star Lake, near Lawrence; and 135-acre Eureka City Lake.

"Our biologist whose area includes Eureka City Lake is Carson Cox," Austin noted. "He tells me that it has some beautiful fish, and it’s just not getting a lot of pressure."

It didn’t surprise me to hear that. For the nine years I lived in Olathe, I chose to fish Lake Olathe more than anywhere else because it hardly got any pressure either, certainly not from anglers in boats. And there was an easy-to-understand reason for that: I had to buy extra tags.

Olathe, like many other municipalities around the state, required a city fishing license and boat tag. Back then they cost me $15 a year over and above my state license and boat numbers. But I spent more than that on gasoline for just a few trips to La Cygne. It made sense to me, especially when Lake Olathe had some pretty doggoned good fishing.