Fall is here! For most that means the summer yard decorations are put away and frost is covering the early morning ground. For us fishing lovers it means time to hit the water! Those fat bass are stocking up for winter time and looking to put away worms, shad and whatever else they can gulf down before the big freeze comes.
Before last Saturday it had been nearly a month since I had the opportunity to fish. As the temperature dropped, my planning changed too. Choosing what setups to go with is critical when you know you'll be out in 20 or 30 degree temps. Water tends to be darker and can be muddy especially after a recent rain storm.
So for Saturday's outing I tied on a orange and black lipless crankbait, a green and yellow jerkbait and Dave set me up with a chicken rig equipped with a brown worm. All good fall baits. Tying new knots and changing baits isn't as nice with freezing fingers!
We hit a neighborhood retention pond that was extremely grassy and had quite a few rock beds on the parts where you can walk out. Didn't have much luck the first hour. After switching to a smaller pond they started biting almost immediately. I moved to the back portion of the pond and had about 6 bites one after the other. While I caught three good bass, the other three (and probably bigger of the group) spit my hook and got away.
Jason and Dave were catching like crazy. Dave had around 15 on the day and Jason was pulling chunks like he normally does. I was just pumped to get some fish on the scoreboard for our three month Facebook tournament. I culled my first two entries at 1.80 and 2.09 pounds.
Colder weather doesn't always mean slower fishing. In fact, the opposite is true. Those bass know winter is coming and want to get fat and full. Dave told me he's had days with snow on the ground where he landed 15 to 20 fish. So if you don't mind breaking out the coveralls and thermal underwear, stopping by the store for some hand warmers and layering up to brave the weather, it could just be that record setting day you expected during the summer. Or you can stand outside for five hours and shiver while the fish watch your bait swim bye time after time. You just never know.
