These recommendations are based on survey results from the annual fall surveys that state biologists complete for the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. Especially because it’s done annually, the research gives the KDWP the chance to analyze data based on years of cumulative research, not just one-time or hit-and-miss surveys.

The reservoirs and state lakes mentioned above are those in which biologists are finding good numbers of bass during the annual surveys. Choosing any of them as a destination will improve your odds of enjoying a productive post-spawn outing.

That brings us to the community-managed lakes around Kansas. Several should offer good angling prospects for fairly high number of bass over 12 inches: Gardner Lake, on the fringes of the Kansas City area; Antelope Lake, in Graham County; Banner Creek Lake, near Holton in Jackson County; Madison City Lake; and Bone Creek Lake, just north of Pittsburg in southeast Kansas.

Bone Creek may very well be the best of those, primarily because of its location. Heading down there also gets you close to a multitude of reclaimed strip-mine pits that are part of the multiparcel Mined Land Wildlife Area. If you’ve never fished one of the pits, you just don’t know what you’re missing. They’re exceptional for chunky, admittedly smallish bass that are going to measure 12 to 14 inches and weigh from 1 1/2 to more than 2 pounds. The most productive post-spawn outing I ever had was at a pit.

This month also marks the time that sees Kansas farm ponds really start coming into their own as bass fisheries. And chances are good you might know of at least one that has more bass than it needs. Some landowners welcome anglers interested in thinning out a bass population. Others will provide angling access even if they don’t want you keeping what you catch.

Either way, loads of Sunflower State potholes -- the easiest of all waters to fish now, because they’re small enough to fish completely -- contain solid numbers of bass willing to bite this month.

At larger lakes, you have to add locating bass to your pre-fishing homework. It’s not terribly difficult, but it means you’ll spend a little time checking things out before you start casting and retrieving.

Main-lake points are great places to start, but certain secondary points might just be better. If you’re familiar with the lake(s) you plan to fish during the post-spawn, chances are good you already know the whereabouts of the usual suspects when it comes to spawning areas: shallow flats and the backs of bays and coves.

Think about the points in those areas. Bass are going to move out to them first after the spawn, and some of them likely will move farther out to main-lake points. On the reservoirs mentioned earlier, one of the best approaches you can take is to start out fishing the secondary points and then move out to the main-lake points nearby.

If you can, you also should spend some time looking at a good topographic map of the reservoirs to see if any easily identifiable submerged structures are present (you’ll have to find them using your locator and a map or GPS). Well-known and successful pro angler Penny Berryman introduced me to that concept on a post-spawn outing one May.