Norton, Kansas Fishing Recap
Frank Sebelius Lake bass fishing success!
Located in the northwest part of Kansas, Frank Sebelius Lake features not only some great fishing but also a fun camping experience. The prairie dog town at the entrance to Prairie Dog Campground can be very entertaining to say the least! I stopped for a few minutes to watch these little curious critters as they ran back and forth from hole to hole. They are very wary of your presence and will sound alerts to their friends of your presence. They were fun to watch and observe! It was also fun camping and hanging out with friends at the lake during the evening.
But what about the fishing? At first glance the lake looks very big with lots of shoreline lay downs and some standing timber in various coves. The coves on this lake can be great fishing spots and a relief from the wind if fishing from the kayak. This late in the summer found the lake down a few feet and most of the shoreline lay downs were exposed. What was left in the water held lots of bass, especially in the morning hours. There is very little vegetation but if you found some bass usually inhabited it. There were patches of tall grassy vegetation as well and if there was a foot of water at their base you could also find bass there.
There are two ramps near the dam but also lots of primitive launching spots all around the lake if you have a kayak.
Baitfish abounded like rice in a bowl. These small shad were about 1.5 inches in length and the fish in this lake were literally enjoying a huge buffet. The wind would tell you where to go to find the bait. Much of it was in the coves and west end of the lake. Any creek channels also held tons of bait. The water clarity was less than a foot but these fish had no problem finding lures if you gave them the presentation they wanted.
Anglers were scattered about the lake on tournament day with very few boats present. During practice I think there were only about 4-5 kayakers and I noticed just one boat. There were a few bank anglers going for catfish as well. The entire lake holds bass. Successful presentations included buzzbaits in the early morning, Neko rig, Texas rigged creature baits, chatterbaits, spinner baits, crank baits, and ned rigs. A topwater frog could also produce bites during overcast or high sun conditions.
Order your button head Neko Rig weights here: KJ’s Neko Button Heads
Though there wasn’t a lot of size in the bass caught good numbers were tricked into biting during the tournament. The largest fish was caught by Chris Longshore of Hastings, NE with a 20.75 beast! He also won the derby with —- inches of bass. Second place went to Chung Pham of Omaha with —- inches. I was located somewhere between them on the lake. My total had me finish 12th but only —- inches out of the money. Just one more big fish and I would have finished very high in the standings. I did lose two fish of which one was most likely like the one Chris caught. As for logistics, main points, coves, and shoreline lay downs were your best bet for catching fish. The lake is also loaded with drum and they could occasionally fool you into thinking you had a big bass on.
If you are looking for a nice place to camp and some fishing with not much pressure around you Norton is a great place to hang out and enjoy the outdoors.
Here is a short daily recap of my fishing experience on Norton:
Day 1
On the first day of fishing after arriving the evening before I launched near the dam at the conventional boat ramps. The creek there held a ton of bait so I ventured around in there and caught a couple of bass on timber. I then headed to the dam where there was plenty of rip rap. I caught one spotted bass there and then headed out to the islands in the center of the lake. Found nothing there and then proceeded to fish the main points or any timber in the water. The lake was down a bit but I still found fish on laydowns that were still submerged. The bait was thick in the creeks and coves and on the west end of the lake. I threw the Neko, crankbait, chatterbait, Texas rigged creature bait, and a small white spinnerbait.
Day 2
On the second day of fishing there were a few more kayakers present and a couple boats as well. I mainly fished the west part of the lake hitting the shoreline timber and exploring the coves. The fishing was sporadic for me as I mostly tagged waypoints for the tournament. It was overcast and stormed most of the morning. Lightning kept me off the lake until around 10 am. The overcast conditions offered a topwater bite for quite awhile. I found one cove where the bass were very active chasing bait and I caught a couple of them there.
Also caught a bullhead on a spinnerbait!
Day 3
Tournament day was calm before sunrise and well into the morning. The sun came up quick so the top water bite was minimal. I started in a small cove only to the find little activity. I caught a 15 inch bass on a beaver lodge and then went on to a stretch of lay downs along the shoreline nearby. I sporadically caught bass on the overhangs in 2-3 foot of water. It was slow for me but I kept at it. The Neko rig worked okay but the Strike King Rage Menace seemed to work the best on a 3/0 EWG Gamakatsu hook and a 3/16th ounce tungsten bullet weight pinned just above the hook. I lost a couple of nice bass but would end up catching 18 overall. I landed a 16.25 inch bass with two minutes to go on a lay down near the launch site I used. I caught it on the Neko rig.
Full tournament results: Heartland Kayak Anglers Norton Lake
Hopefully, this report gives you an idea of what Norton Lake in Kansas has to offer. Thanks for supporting this intel site. (Part 2 of this report will focus on the areas that gave the best fishing results) We look forward to providing you with future fishing intel! Subsribe today!