Photo by Ron Sinfelt

When it comes to catching Kansas bass on topwater lures, don't think of this month as May. Topwaters will work now, and they'll work as well as -- if not better than -- any other kind of lure you might care to use on Sunflower State largemouths.

There's a lot going on below the surface of your favorite bass waters right now, and from now into the waning days of spring, that activity will catalyze an affinity for topwater lures and techniques among the bass there. Still more significant is the increase in water temperatures, which should be getting near where they need to be for post-spawn bass to start turning really aggressive. Equally important: No matter the size of the fish or the dimensions of the lake they swim, most largemouths in Kansas waters ought to have pretty much totally recovered from the stressful effects of the spawn by this point in the year.

Think about how you feel after the most taxing assignment you perform every year at your job. You need time to recover -- often both physically and mentally. Now think about how you look at life when you get back to feeling like yourself again. Chances are good that you're upbeat, and primed for enjoying all there is around you.

Well, maybe this is a stretch, but bass aren't dissimilar, and for the bucketmouths inhabiting Kansas' lakes and streams, "enjoying all there is" in their environment means going on the prowl for easy, regular meals. Happily, a topwater bait fits the profile of one of those readily-devoured morsels quite well -- as I learned at first hand at a southeast Kansas strip pit one May afternoon.

The bass had been biting all day, hitting early and often as I fished a split-shot enhanced Carolina rig with a straight 4-inch plastic worm. Virtually all of the bites came as the lure began to tumble down the steep banks of the pit at the end of my cast. It quickly became apparent that the largemouths were holding shallow in less than 4 feet of water.

Shadows were just beginning to lengthen when, off to my left, a fish swirled along a weedline against the shore. I remember thinking: Hmm -- I wonder if it's time to try topwater?

Indeed it was. In the time it took for me to switch from that light-line Carolina rig to a popper, the little two-man boat had drifted to within casting range of the bass I'd seen swirl. That fish pounded my bait as soon as it hit the water, and from then until it was too dark to see where I was casting, largemouths hit the popper on practically every cast. To this day, that remains one of the finest topwater outings I've ever enjoyed.

You probably shouldn't expect to get that kind of action out of every bass trip you make this month. But you can reasonably anticipate getting your fair share of fish by taking the topwater tack with your May fishing.

WHERE TO GO
The strip pits in the southeast corner of the state are among the best topwater bass-fishing destinations in all of the Great Plains. Most of the pits are accessible either from shore or by boat. Some even have the kind of launch areas that will permit you to use your big bass rig -- but you won't need it. These are the kinds of waters on which little two-person boats or float tubes really shine.