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17# Lanier Striper                      The line to the scale           National Striped Bass Championship Lake Lanier, Georgia Dec 3-6, 2003 Gina and I have just returned from Lake Lanier and despite the fact we didn't place in the money we are both happy and had a fantastic time. Traveling 1100 miles to the southeast we had expected warm weather but of course we took clothing for any conditions and it is good that we did, the high temperature on the warmest day was only in the 40's, but we still felt lucky with that as a blizzard was rolling to the north of us! The first day prefishing we caught lots of stripers with the biggest weighing 17# we also got into a school of bass that kept us busy for a short time until we moved off of them. Prefish day 2 I woke up to freezing rain and ice covering the boat and all, with the numbers and size of fish we caught on day 1 I decided to stay in where it was warm and rest up for the tournament. Tournament day one, It  was cold and raining headed to the area in the Little River where we caught the 17# , caught a few fish 8# biggest first few hours, moved back towards the main lake, birds and loons working. Stopped and fished this area and boy did we have a blast several fish on at the same time, broke one off, put our big fish for day one in the tube 13.5 #.  Day 2 went back to the area we caught the 13.5 and fished it for several hours, no luck, the weather had change from cloudy to sunny but the temperature were still in the 40's fished hard all morning without a bite. Moved back to the area we caught the 17# lots of fish but no bites, decided to wait them out, finally caught a 7# which was the only fish we put in the boat on day 2. We ended up in 47th place out of 91 teams and 312 of the top striper fisherman in the USA, not as good as I expected but that's fishing for you. If you didn't try and qualify to fish this tournament all I can say is that you are missing out on a class act! National Striped Bass Assoc. President Warren Turner and his crew went the extra mile on every occasion to make sure all was in place for this event. Warren has some great plans for next year for all regions and is giving his all to promote and make region 3 bigger and better. This is my first year fishing this circuit and I have already learned allot and made a bunch of new friends which is what its all about anyway. Even if you don't want to fish tournaments the NSBA magazine is full of info. that even the veteran striper fisherman can use! So join NSBA www.fishnsba.com if you want to know more about striper fishing it is well worth every cent! FISHON, Capt. Madd Jack Hoskinson  Lake Wilson Nov 6 With the cold weather of the last few days the stripers and bait seem to have scattered from there normal fall staging areas! I took me awhile to find where the fish had moved to but managed to pull 2 9# stripers at the same time. We had several other hits but just couldn't seem to get the hook set! We were fishing live bait in 28 feet of water in the Minooka area! One of the stripers had a 7 inch white perch in it's stomach but still took a bait, what a pig! The picture of the large fish small boy was the winning striper at the Lake Quachita Region III National Striped Bass Championship! Sure will be glad when we start to catch them that size at Wilson again. 3 of the 4 Kansas teams that fished the Championship placed in the money, Capt.Jay Rapp Team Solar Flare from Salina lead the Jayhawkers finishing 6th or 7th, Capt. Mike McGrew, team Bushwackers with teammate Roy Posey, tied with me Capt. Jack Hoskinson team Madd Jack for 13th place! Team Bushwackers finished 2nd in the final standings in Region III way to go guys!!!!! I ended up in 6th in the 5 state Region which I didn't think too bad as I only fished 6 tournaments! Those that qualified are on the Nationals at Lake Lanier Georgia, Dec 5, 6 for big money and prizes! NSBA has bigger and better plans for Kansas next year so if your interested in fishing the largest striped bass tournament circuit in the US or just want to learn more about striper fishing  go to www.fishnsba.com or contact me Jack Hoskinson at maddjack@wtciweb.com or 785-658-3811 and I will try and answer your questions. Fish-ON Oct 27, 2003 National Striped Bass Assoc. Region III Championship tournament on Lake Quachita, Arkansas is this week!  www.fishnsba.com The excitement is building for the Lake Quachita Region III championship. I spoke with another team who was ready to go last week, me too! I woke up this morning 2 hours early but I still have one more day before I leave. Lake Quachita is a great lake with great BIG fish. My team partners have been having dreams about catching big fish, Bubba caught one in his dream that he had to swim down and untangle him from the trees, now that's one I want to see in reality!!!  The long range weather forecast is for stable weather with a cool front approaching on Sat. this should fire those fish up! My guess is that it will take fish in the 30 lb. class to win this one. Sure would like a couple of those in my boat. Good Luck to All and Drive Safely, Madd Jack Hoskinson Sure wish more Kansan's would have fished and qualified.  By the way the stripers on Wilson are settling into there fall pattern, we caught 10 the other morning and missed about the many, fishing live shad in 38 feet of water! The bigger fish are starting to show and feed, from the dam to Minooka!   Lake Wilson, Oct 5, 03 After a summer of lots of surfacing fish they are finally starting to hit bait like they should. The stripers are finally slipping into a fall pattern! They are still surfacing at times but not as predictable as before. The next week or so should really turn them on to the bait bite and the Lucas park area should be HOT!! We are catching most of our fish in 40 feet of water on live shad. Lots of nice whites are being caught in the old swim beach area. Don't forget Monday nights at 9 AM Striper fishing USA on the outdoor channel. The first show was last Monday and I thought it was great. There will be 5 more different shows over the next 5 weeks, don't miss it. Go to www.fishnsba.com for more info. Don't forget our last KSA tournament is this weekend Oct. 11-12, by the way our Milford tournament was a great success, Thanks to all that attended and traveled so far!!!   Lake Wilson, Sept 16, 2003 With the rains of last week and the cooler temperatures the fishing should be picking up faster than it has but those fish do what they want and patience has never been one of my virtues. We are still catching 4 to 6 lb. stripers while surfacing early and late in the day on bucktails and topwater plugs. The down rigger people are doing fair in the lucas park area running bucktails also. This coming weekend will be the first National Striped Bass Assoc.& Kansas Striper Assoc. tournament on Lake Milford. with Thunderbird Marina as our host, we are hoping for a great turnout and have several teams coming from as far away as the Carolinas, and Virginia. This will be a hybrid/wiper event and a qualification tournament for NSBA for more info. go to www.fishnsba.com  or for Milford info. go to    http://www.maddjackstriperguide.com/nsba.html    I have been getting good reports from Milford on the Wiper fishing with Wipers up to 14# being taken and lots of 4 to 7# wipers also being caught. I for one am looking forward to this tournament as it will finish out the year for us Kansas qualifiers. Some good ole boys from back east beat me on my own lake last May and I am hoping I can return the favor!  No matter what I plan on having a great time. When you get that many good fisherman on one lake you wouldn't believe the fish stories, It's a blast.  Lake Wilson Aug, 1, 2003, Water temp. 80 fishing hit and miss! With the rains of late constantly going around us and the temperatures soaring into the 100's we are slowly slippy into the dog days of summer. I have watched the thunder storms in the distance, hoping for a little relief, a little fresh water coming down the Saline to spark the stripers into a different pattern, I even drove thru a hail storm yesterday between here and Hays but Wilson didn't get a drop. According to the river flow charts which are a 50 year record the Smokey Hill River just west of here set a record low flow yesterday! Not what I wanted to hear! But really  we should count our blessings as Wilson is only 2 feet low which is nothing compared to some of the lakes west of here. The stripers are still surfacing early and late in the day with a report of the bigger stripers surfacing at night! Now night fishing surfacing fish is a tough situation but can be done if you are careful. Just stop look and listen especially listen, on a calm night you can hear them for miles. I heard a report of 4 stripers up to 13# being taken at night. The stripers just surfaced where they were fishing for catfish and of course they changed to striper fishing real quickly. Good Luck    LakeWilson July 21, 2003 I have been getting requests for fishing reports but just haven't had the time. I provide this board as a service to my fishing friends in hopes that they someday will return the favor. As a guide it is my FIRST priority to my clients and if I can pass along a little info. to others so much the better. As the President of the Kansas Striper Asssociation It's my hope to promote and preserve striper fishing in the state of Kansas and I feel that thru the years I have done my best to do so. The stripers are surfacing early and late from the dam to lucas with mostly smaller fish being caught. This will probably be my last report until Sept. but will continue to do my radio spot !   Get Madd Jacks reports every Friday 3:30 to 5:00 PM on Great American Outdoor Trails Radio Magazine On KXXX 790 AM and KQLS 100.3 FM Colby, Kansas click for more information. Lake Wilson June 15, 2003 The last two weeks the bigger fish have been hitting good if you are there at the right time. Last week evenings were best and this week the mornings have been better with a 16 and 15 pounder caught one morning. I had thought that the spawn was over but then more spawning fish start showing up. Just shows that those stripers are very unpredictable just when you think you have them figured out they change. We are catching most fish in 28 to 42 feet of water with live bait from the dam to minooka. Good Luck     June 1, 2003 The last two weeks the striper fishing has been real hit and miss but on the days they hit we have caught Stripers in the 16 and 15 lb. class several 8 to 11 lb. fish and of course our common 4-7 lb. I am still catching lots of fish in shallow on planer boards but also catching them on downrods in 28 to 32 feet of water using live shad. The stripers are in there spawning pattern and scattered from the dam to the river so you have to do allot of looking but that's fishing for you. With the water starting to warm the stripers should start moving into the lucas park area soon. Good Luck Ronnies 16# and Lois's 15# Nice stringer with 11# as biggest The May 17-18 tournament winning fish ended up being a 20 plus pound striper which was weighed and released to fight another day. Almost all in attendance caught fish with the average size being 5-6 lbs. Planer boards and down rods caught most of the fish with shad being the preferred bait. The fish are still scattered but when you find them they are pretty hungry and in my opinion right on the verge of the spawn which means more big fish will be caught. Madd Jacks team finished first on the first day, fourth on the second day and second and third overall. Not bad considering that the team that beat us out of first were last years National champions. So sharpen your hooks, change your line, the big ones are on the tear! Madd Jack                                                      April 26, 03  This week the stripers have hit real good at times with numbers of fish in the 5 to 7 lb. range. We also caught a 21 lb. striper on May 25 pulling live shad on a planer board in 2 feet of water. This fish hit 4 or 5 times before taking the bait which in that shallow of water was a great show. Stripers are still being taken lake wide by the bank fisherman with stripers in the 10 lb. range being quite common. With the water temp. warming and hopefully the weather settling down a little the fish should really break loose soon. Good Luck April 16-03  Due to the wind and other obligations I haven't been on the water since Friday but I have been in contact with other fisherman. We had a Kansas Striper Association tournament this weekend. 6' 3" won the tournament with several smaller stripers caught. I was on the water Friday afternoon and evening and the stripers hit good before sunset but according to the guys in the tournament the fishing got tough on Saturday and of course the good old Kansas wind messed up most of the days fishing on Sunday. This time of year with the wind and the cold fronts it sure can make the fishing tough. Almost all of the stripers caught this weekend were taken in 20 feet or less fishing from the dam to the river using live bait and trolling. I know that covers allot of territory but with the lake warming the fish are scattered lake wide and feeding shallow. With the water warming quickly the whites and the stripers are going to be in there pre-spawn pattern soon and that means they will be hungry. This is a great time to catch a lots of fish and those big females will hit bait like a freight train. KSA will host another tournament in May 17-18 which will be santioned by the National Striped Bass association for more info. go to http://www.maddjackstriperguide.com/nsba.html  Good Luck  April 4, 03 I finally got on the water yesterday after a week of being away. I caught 7 stripers up to 7# pulling live bait on planer boards, missed at least that many more as the were short hitting allot. With the fronts coming thru like they always do in April and the constant wind shifts it can make the fishing pretty tough. I'm having no problem finding fish but finding the ones that want to bite is another story. My opinion is that the fish will usually fire back up about 48 hours after a front has passed, sometimes a little sooner. Last week I had found lots of stripers in the Minooka area which had moved and scattered. It seems the stripers are scattered lake wide and have heard reports of a few being caught on the wind blown points by wader fishermen at all over the lake. Good Luck Lake Wilson March 24, 03  Well we finally got some much needed rain which raised Wilson about 3 inches. With the new water coming in it has scattered the stripers from where I was catching them last week but it has moved the bigger fish up the lake. Saturday I found stripers from Minooka point to the river but had a hard time finding any active fish. I did manage to catch 3 up to about 5#. I have gotten reports from the bank fisherman catching good numbers on the West end and a few in Hell Creek. The white bass are also moving towards the river with a few nice ones being caught trolling. I heard a report of a 5 walleye stringer which weighed over 21# taken on the dam trolling. With the water temp.on the rise the action will just keep getting better, spring is here and it's time to catch some biggun's. Good Luck March 13, 03 The ice is mostly off with a few of the southern coves still holding some broken ice but the boat ramps are open and ready to fish. The last 3 days Hell Creek has been producing stripers, whites, and white perch with lots of large shad being snagged while fishing. Evenings have been best with wader fisherpeople and boats both catching fish! Hell Creek is a ''NO WAKE'' area so let be respectful of the bank fisherman and give them room to fish without spooking there fish. Years ago I was wader fishing and a boat came in on me with such a large wake I had to run towards the bank to keep the water out of my waders. Not to mention the boat spooked the fish so neither of us caught anymore. So please be respectful of others!! GOOD LUCK Feb 27,03 Well the COLD weather of the last few days has put the ice back on! I went to gravel hill yesterday and there were a few brave souls venturing out. I watched them fish for about 30 minutes and didn't see a fish caught. I didn't go out on the ice but it is just a little over 2'' thick. Not thick enough in my books. Ice fishing is fun, but after about a week of it I am ready for open water, especially after the good luck I had fishing out of my boat last week. Think SPRING!!   Feb 22,03 The stripers have been hitting decent all week with lots of stripers in the 4# to 7# range being caught. We fished Saturday morning it was very cold and windy. The fish were hitting short most of the time but caught enough to keep your blood flowing. Notice the 17# Kansas Salmon on the right, nice fish wrong species! Hell Creek and the River have been the best. Thursday at noon I watched 2 guys catch at least 10 stripers in 30 minutes, they were really in them! The cold and snow will certainly put a dampener on it for awhile but spring is just around the corner!!! Fish-ON  Feb 19, 03  The ice is finally all gone and the fishing is starting to fire up. White bass, White perch and Stripers are all starting to feed in the backs of cove where there has been a little surface temperature warming. The warmest I have found has been almost 39 degrees but with the next few days of sunshine and 50 degree day time highs the bite should really start to pick up. Wader fisherman are also picking up a few wading wind blown points throwing white and chartreuse bucktails. Hell Creek has been the best but I fished the river yesterday and caught 1/2 dozen stripers up to 9#. I haven't heard of any walleye yet but the windblown points near the dam should be holding some big sows early and late in the day. Good Luck Madd Jack   Click here to E-Mail me your fishing reports Jack Hoskinson  POB 134 Wilson, Kansas 67490 Cell Phone# 620-727-3383 Home Phone# 785-658-3811  Click here for email form to request available date