The same can be said for farm ponds, which might be a better choice if you live more than a couple of hours' drive time from the strip pits. Think of your local potholes as similar to the strip pits. None of them will likely be as deep as the ponds reclaimed from coal companies' strip-mining operations, nor will many of them be as clear, but farm ponds are wonderful places to fish topwater baits this month because they, too, are easily accessible -- and because the bass in them seem always ready to smack topwater lures with reckless abandon.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that the preceding three paragraphs are meant to suggest that small waters are the only waters holding promise for topwater fishing -- that's not the case at all. Give me any major Kansas impoundment with (1.) largemouth bass, (2.) shallow coves and bays through which feeder creeks meander, and (3.) fairly clear water, and I'll be there this month, and armed with little else besides topwater gear.

Cedar Bluff is a good bet for that reason, as is La Cygne in Linn County. Indeed, La Cygne's status as a power-plant lake with a year-round growing season might be a reason to regard it as the place for connecting with a truly large bass. This is the month for throwing topwaters in the coves up near the La Cygne dam, and also up the major feeder creek arm.

Other big lakes to consider around the state include Fall River, Hillsdale, Clinton, Melvern and even Wilson. You might disagree with some of those selections, but the fact remains that the Sunflower State's largest impoundments generally will offer you decent topwater bass action right now.

Just below them in size are the myriad state fishing lakes scattered around Kansas, some known for years for their better-than-average bass fishing -- places like Leavenworth State Fishing Lake, and my personal favorite, Osage SFL. The many locally managed community impoundments -- spots like Shawnee Mission Park Lake in Johnson County, for example -- merit consideration also.

Basically, just about any lake that you know of whose bass fishing can be good ought to be great for trying your hand with topwater baits from now all the way into early June.

WHERE TO FISH
Here's a rule of thumb to guide you in selecting locations appropriate for throwing your favorite topwaters at this time of year: If you're going in the morning, concentrate on the east sides of the lakes you're visiting; in the afternoons and evenings, start out on the west sides.

The reasons for this rule are pretty simple. Eastside banks are the last to get direct sunlight in the morning, while westside banks are the first to get shade in the late afternoon. Experience over the years has pretty much convinced me that bass will stay more active in the morning shade, and start getting more active first in those areas in which the shadows first start to lengthen.

Main-lake points are tough to beat as specific targets for your topwater lures, especially early in the morning. As spring slowly begins warming up into summer, bass begin moving up and down those main-lake points throughout the day. They'll be up shallow early in the morning, and often will stay within the strike zone of a topwater bait until midmorning.

If you're headed out in the afternoon or evening, my experience has been that you won't get lots of action around main-lake points on topwater baits until just about dark. You'll be able to catch fish around them all day, sure -- just not on topwaters.

For me, the best afternoon/evening locations will lie along weedy west-side shorelines and in those shallow coves and bays with some decent structure like blowdowns, stumps and rocks. And the best of the best are those spots that allow me to make long casts that will cover lots of the structure during one retrieve.