JustinHoffman Posted September 30, 2008 Report Share Posted September 30, 2008 Hello All, With the weather looking favourable Monday (it turned out not as nice as they said!), I connected with my "farmer friend" and, with the use of his tractor, launched the boat into my favourite bass lake. It was drizzling lightly on the drive up, and a bit of a chill was definitely in the air. I hoped the sun would make an appearance sometime during the day, as this generally turns the fish on. (lets just say I didn't need sunscreen...) Motored my way over to the shoreline that coughed up Andy's 5lb 14oz pig from last week. A very slight ripple on the surface from the north-west winds and nary a boat in sight. It was 9:30am. Tossed out an XCalibur Xw6 Wake Bait over 4 to 12 feet of water. Bottom composition here is mostly rocks and sparse weed and wood. Didn't take long for the action to begin. Three smallies in the boat in the first 10 minutes. Although a cold front had definitely set in, the activity levels in these fish was still high. As I slowly cruised down the shoreline to my most productive spots, I opted to slow things down a bit. Out went a Carolina rig with a Senko, and I worked that through a 10 to 18 foot area. Brought one puny smallie in with that. Next up was a flipping jig. Changed up to a white jig/trailer for this excursion, hoping to give it more of a shad look in the water. Tossed it around the deep wood and rock, but only had a few pike to show for my efforts. On to plan B. Motored over to a large rock shoal that traditionally holds decent fish. This spot is approx. the size of half a football field, and the steep edges (that contain a smattering of weed) often hold the largies. Began throwing the Wake Bait along the edges, on to of the shoal, and over the deep water. I caught fish from all three areas. Put a nice 4lb 1oz largie in the boat, when he sucked in the topwater from right on the edge of the shoal. Bunch of smallies were also caught, and I also missed a 5+ fish on a Spook that missed it's mark twice! Could tell it was a bass, but not sure of what kind. Skooted over to another producted shoreline and worked the jig. Picked up a nice 3lb 10oz fish from a weed/rock transition zone just out from a dock. Here is a picture of the first two decent largies...was fishing solo, so had to rely on a tripod for these shots. Put those two fish back in the locations they were caught, and continued on with the hunt. After working another nice shoreline with a jig, and coming up empty handed, I began to rethink my game plan. Now, I throw a flipping jig a lot - probably 80% of the time. It is pretty much the one bait I rely on come fall time. And with the front that had come through, I figured they would be all over it. Thinking back to the topwater bite I experienced earlier, I began to wonder if they wanted something a little bit quicker. Out came the spinnerbait box.. Tied on a 1/2oz Booyah Blade - silver and gold blades, white/silver skirt. It was the right decision. Fish began pounding this bait! Shorelines that were void of fish when using the jig were suddenly alive... Best fish of the day came from a small area between two docks. It has a rock formation in the centre of it, and usually has a bass nearby. One cast in with the spinnerbait, and a 4lb 6oz largie was being led to the net.. Cool thing was, the next cast to the very same spot coughed up a nice 3+ lb fish.. Spent the rest of the day working the spinnerbait and Wake Bait in conjunction. The smallies were definitely out to play today, and they would smoke the bait most times. Here is a shot of the two better ones caught.. Certainly not huge, but tonnes of fun all the same! Had a cool thing happen late in the day - hooked into a 6" largie on a spinnerbait, and while reeling him in, the water erupts! Decent pike of around 8lbs took a run at him. Reeled the fish in fast to spare his life, and the pike jumps clear out of the water in one last futile effort. Was definitely cool to see! Not a mark on the largie, and after telling him how lucky he was, off he went back into the lake... Although I couldn't crack the 5lb mark on this outing, I definitely learnt a valuable lesson: GO AGAINST YOUR THINKING AND TRY SOMETHING NEW. That motto worked like a charm on this day. Met Jack and his tractor back at the "launch" and dragged the boat out - time was 5:45pm. The season ends two months from today - plenty of time to put a few more porkers in the boat! Outing Synopsis Total Hours Fished - 8 hours, 15 minutes Total Fish Caught - 27 (largies/smallies), 8 pike Largest Fish - 4lb 6oz Largemouth Rods - Kistler Helium 2 LTX 7'6" Flipping Stick, 6'6" Medium Heavy Casting, Magnesium 7'8" All Day Flipping Stick, 6'9" and 6'6" Medium Heavy All Purpose Special Casting Reels - Quantum Accurist Line - 14lb and 20lb BPS Excel Mono Baits - XCalibur Wx6 Wake Bait, Zara Spook, Senko, Booyah Blade 1/2oz, Booyah Jig/Yum Chunk 1/2oz. Until next time... Good Fishing, Justin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kulik Posted September 30, 2008 Report Share Posted September 30, 2008 Nice fish Justin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Governator Posted September 30, 2008 Report Share Posted September 30, 2008 Those are beautiful photos Justin, great job with the tripod indeed. I'm so jeleous, tough finding a great hole like that. How shallow is the shoreline? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustinHoffman Posted September 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2008 Shoreline depths vary - most are gradual breaks into deeper water, but there are some fairly significant drops. Most of my fish come from 4 to 12 feet on this lake. If the sun comes out when it is cold, you might luck into a few shallower. All are predominantly rock shorelines...finding some scattered wood on bottom is always a bonus at this time. The first photo showcases a shallow weed shoreline - it is too shallow and large in size to hold any fish during the fall. Did get into some fish along the arrow heads in mid-summer when the water levels were up. I only used this spot to set up a photo, as I thought the fall leaves in the background looked pretty neat... Good Fishing, Justin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinbanger Posted September 30, 2008 Report Share Posted September 30, 2008 Great report Justin . You use more different lures in one days than some guys do all year TB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bucktail Posted September 30, 2008 Report Share Posted September 30, 2008 Great report as ALWAYS!! Funny how the fish move around this time of year. Some largmouth this weekend I found as shallow as 6 inches and in another lake they were all from 10-20 feet down. Guess fall is moving into lakes at a different speed. Wish i had more confidence with a jig and pig like you do. Maybe next year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishnsled Posted September 30, 2008 Report Share Posted September 30, 2008 Great report Justin, as always. Some sweet fish there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustinHoffman Posted September 30, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2008 Bucktail - best way to gain confidence in the flipping jig, or any lure for that matter, is to just take those out in the boat. Leave all your other lures at home. This is how I first learned the ins-and-outs of pitching and flipping close to two decades ago. Without any other lures at your disposal, you are forced to spend a day with a lure you want to learn. Best way in my books in building confidence....far to easy to switch to an "old standby" when the other one isn't working with a whole tackle box at your disposal.. Good Fishing, Justin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jigger Posted September 30, 2008 Report Share Posted September 30, 2008 Great report and sound advice! Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbayboy Posted September 30, 2008 Report Share Posted September 30, 2008 Great report Justin, really appreciate all the details. Been fiddling with wake baits myself a bit lately and after reading this I'm gonna have to spend more time with them. Thanks for the great report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Posted September 30, 2008 Report Share Posted September 30, 2008 another great report Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCTFisher9120 Posted September 30, 2008 Report Share Posted September 30, 2008 It looks's like you are doing pretty good for your self this fall, keep up the great fishing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streamerguy Posted September 30, 2008 Report Share Posted September 30, 2008 (edited) Great detailed report thanks for sharing cheers Streamerguy Edited September 30, 2008 by Streamerguy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mepps Posted October 1, 2008 Report Share Posted October 1, 2008 nice job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tibbs Posted October 1, 2008 Report Share Posted October 1, 2008 Fantastic Report Justin! I always learn something new when i read them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leecher Posted October 1, 2008 Report Share Posted October 1, 2008 Great report and pics Justin Looks like you had a great time out there..... Some real nice looking fatties Thanks for sharing Leechman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b2kptbo Posted October 1, 2008 Report Share Posted October 1, 2008 Good report and advice, thanks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillM Posted October 1, 2008 Report Share Posted October 1, 2008 Who says you can't fish topwater in the fall! Good job man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenhawk Posted October 1, 2008 Report Share Posted October 1, 2008 that looks like a PILE of fun.....i miss bass fishing....didn't do a whole lot of it this year! Hawk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cast Adventures Posted October 1, 2008 Report Share Posted October 1, 2008 Great report! gotta love the fall bite! keep em coming Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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