November Surprise: Adapting Tactics for Unseasonable Bass Fishing

The air was thick and muggy, a stark contrast to the usual crisp November chill. A persistent drizzle hung in the air, and there weren't any other human beings outside at the neighborhood pond. With the temperature hovering around a balmy 70 degrees I tried to take advantage of the day if the bass were active. My thoughts were to start with moving baits and then move onto finesse if they aren't aggressive.

I started off with a Square Bill Crankbait in a sexy shad pattern. I really did not have luck here.  I only caught one bass after fan casting for some time. So I think the bass were not "lit up" and aggressive.  I then moved onto throwing a jig. I learning a little trick for November from Randy Blaukat that you can find here.  The key here is he reduces the profile of the jig by trimming the skirt and also the trailer length.  He said this might work for those tough fall fishing days and he was right!  Thank you for the tip Randy. I was able to catch a few bass on this modified jig set up.

I also picked up a Zoom Fluke in the Houdini pattern. The Fluke definitely proved to be the day's hero. I caught most of my fish on this bait. I cast it into the wind and let it float towards the bank with a couple of twitches from time to time. The occasional twitching in my mind mimics a wounded baitfish. The strikes were NOT ferocious on this day. The bass were more subtle in terms of picking up the bait. I would feel a small tug or see the line tighten.

As the day drew to a close, I couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction. The overcast skies, the persistent drizzle, and the unseasonably warm temperatures had presented a unique challenge. But by understanding the fish's behavior and adapting my tactics accordingly, I had managed to catch 5-6 bass on this day. It felt good to find the pattern, as it always does!  Tight lines to you all!

"The Mayor's" Masterclass: Hot, Humid, Two Ponds, Same Result!

 

We are in the last weekend of September in the Heartland USA and the weather in the last week has been very hot. It has been a typical September for us where it is above 90 degrees between 12pm-3pm but can still plummet to 65 degrees at night. The one thing that I noticed this last week is the 100%+ humidity, even at night when the sun is down. We went to my son's football game against Edwardsville High School last Friday and it was miserable because of the humidity.

As for the fishing, it was great yesterday! Two different ponds same results. The bass are definitely chasing the minnows right now. The movement baits are working very well. I started out with four poles in the truck but decided to take one ultra lite pole with a Mepps #2 Aglia dressed spinner attached, and a spinning combo with a Rapala Crush City "The Mayor" 3-inch swimbait in the Albino Shad color. I figured I would focus on moving baits first as it is that time of year. See if I can make something happen with the moving baits before I spend time doing anything else.

I have not used this type of swimbait with much luck in the past. Some of my past experiences with this type of swimbait are not very productive because I am not using it in the right conditions. On this day, the bass were definitely aggressive and were in the mode of "fattening up" for the winter. I started out catching bass and even a nice green sunfish on the Mepps, take a look:

I was out at this neighborhood pond for about 1 hour and 20 minutes. I was then soaked with sweat from head to toe. Like I said before, the humidity and heat felt more like a July day than the end of September. Any time you can catch 7-8 fish is a nice outing! I went home and went into the AC in the house.  

Later that day I dropped off my daughter at her tennis practice...I still had my fishing gear in the truck so on the way back, I stopped at another pond on the same route. I went to the dock at this location and did a couple casts with the Crush City smiwbait. I see in research of these Crush City baits that they are marketed with using a jighead. I was using this swimbait in a bit different way with a 3/0 heavier gauge gamakatsu hook. So the presentation was weedless and perfect for the heavy grass in this second pond of the day. The first picture in this blog post is what I caught out of the second pond using the Crush City swimbait by walking the dog in top water retrieve. Bang! Bass came up and it was truly "Crush City"! :)

Overall, it was a great day of bass fishing with aggressive fall bass patterns in full effect from the banks of two different Heartland USA ponds. I hope you are all staying committed and driven in your lives. Happy tight lines to you all.

Cold Front, Hot Fish: Midwest September Slam 2024

 

The conditions

It's only a week after my last post...but the conditions have changed!

-My last post was less than a week ago, end of August 2024

-The air temps went from 95 degrees to a very nice September cold front of 70 degrees

-The water temps have gone from hot bath water to lukewarm and colder temperatures

-I've noticed that the little minnows from the spawn are not on the banks any longer

So What's Next?

Well, from the review of my fishing logs...we see if moving baits will work. Sure enough, on this pond where there is a lot of pressure, I pulled out the Mepps Agila Dressed #2 Gold Color inline spinner on my ultra lite and I was catching fish almost immediately. I was burning the spinner bait back to the bank way quicker than I normally retrieve my baits and the bass were smacking it!

I caught ten total fish, 9 bass and 1 green sunfish. The other lure that was getting it done was the Strike King Mini Jig Bitsy Bug with a Zoom Speed Craw trailer in the black and red glitter color. I was bring the bait back quickly but also varying the pops and retrieval. A couple of different retrieves worked on this day.

Conclusion:

Sometimes you can draw upon what you've done in the past when you can line up the same conditions at the same time of year.  Last year I wrote about these conditions and these baits and how I had success. I really just matched the same baits and retrievals to the time of year and it worked out!  I hope all of you are having a great fishing season.

Hellish Heat, Heartless Bass, and the Mojo Rig

 

I got done with work, and popped over to the neighborhood pond. It was about 4:45pm, the sun was high and the temperature was 96 degrees. Not a cloud in the sky and a tiny breeze was taking the current to the east banks of the pond.

I'll tell you right now the first 30 minutes wasn't going good. I was recently at this pond over the weekend and had a little success on a plastic worm. But the pattern had changed. The worm wasn't doing it. I tried some moving bait stuff...no dice.

A spawn definitely occurred again and there continue to be many minnows on the banks. I could still see some bass striking the banks for the minnows, but I also understood that the bass were finicky. I had a couple "play" with the bait instead of violently attacking it which I so love. The bass on this day were heartless, LOL.

In times like these...I might pull out the Mojo Rig. I am glad I did. One of my "Go To's" in situations where bass are really, really finicky. The Mojo Rig is nothing more than a sinker up the line, kind of like a Carolina Rig. You use bobber stoppers to keep the sinker in place so it is adjustable to where you would like the sinker to be.

Sure enough...as soon as I slowed down and dragged my fluke on the bottom with a few twitches here and there, the bass started to gulp my Houdini Zoom Super Fluke. I caught 5 in in a matter of 20 minutes. I love when a plan comes together! Once I caught 5, I had enough. I got into the truck and cranked up the AC! Stay Committed, Stay Driven.  Until next time.

End of August Fishing Log 2024

 

Today was a fun little session before I needed to pick up my dude from football practice. They had their Blue and Gold game last night and this morning was just film sessions. So I dropped him off and headed over to Da Neighborhood Pond. 

I haven't been to this pond in about a month. Conditions had definitely changed! In this pond there is definitely a species of fish that are doing a later summer spawn. There are an abundance of minnows on the banks right now. There are two things I see the bass doing:

1. Chasing the minnows in the middle of the pond. I see the swirls. When I am able to cast my lure into the swirls, I get the bass bite.

2. Bass are come up to the bank and crushing the minnows. I witnessed the violent water splashes at the bank.

So what about the lures on this day?

What got it done was a good ol' Zoom Junebug Trick Worm. I caught all my fish on this. I did try to use a little swim bait, but really no takers on the moving baits. Caught 5 in an hour. Then off to pick my guy! Stay committed, Stay Driven.