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Finesse Fishing for Bass

Finesse Fishing for Bass: Lighten Up for Bass

Shaw Grigsby on finesse fishing

Legendary bass pro Shaw Grigsby talks the why, how, and when of finesse bass techniques
from The Fishing Wire

Louisville, KY – Bass fishing isn’t always easy. Weather conditions like cold fronts and high-pressure systems, as well as probing the same waters as lots of other anglers can make fishing tough. But there are ways to up your odds in these and other difficult conditions. One of the best? Finesse fishing – fishing smaller baits on lighter line with a more deliberate and slower approach.

When it comes to finesse fishing, one of the greatest finesse bass anglers on the scene – legendary bass pro and tournament angler, Shaw Grigsby – has a wealth of critical information to share that can boost your game on the waters you fish.

“One of my favorite fishing techniques is finesse fishing – smaller baits, lighter line, a lot of fish and loads of fun! Why finesse fishing? There are so many times that big baits are just too big for the fish,” Grigsby says. “Bass see them but they just don’t want them; they see the lure too well or the conditions are difficult, like cold fronts, high blue skies, clear water or a lot of people around you fishing, and you just can’t catch them. So downsizing and going finesse can be the key. Just lay your bait out there and kind of jiggle it and really, what it does is all these smaller baits make it look like what’s natural for the bass to eat in their environment.”

In terms of specific techniques, some of Grigsby’s favorite presentations are drop-shot rigs, shaky head worms, wacky worms, tubes, and the legendary Ned Rig, all of which he typically presents in natural colors like green pumpkin and watermelon red.

“And when you present these techniques to them, it appears so real and it’s so small that they don’t have an issue with it,” Grigsby continues. “A lot of times a big bait may appear too bulky – and maybe you’ll catch a giant fish using a big bait at times – but when you get clear water and difficult conditions, then it’s pretty much time to downsize and go finesse. And I’ve caught giants on finesse tactics. Finesse techniques catch as many big fish as they do small and average-size ones.”

Grigsby keeps a half dozen spinning rods rigged up with finesse presentation in his boat at all times. He’s a fan of medium-light power, fast-action Skeet Reese Signature Series spinning rods, typically in the 7’3” range, and Skeet Reese size-30 Victory Pro Wright McGill spinning reels, which he favors for their large spools.

The linchpin to the system, though, is his choice in line. He spools his with Seaguar FINESSE Fluorocarbon, a line designed specifically for finesse bass fishing applications. “It’s really delicate yet strong stuff that excels for all my finesse fishing,” he offers. “I wouldn’t think of using anything else. And compared to other 8-pound line, Seaguar’s 8.4-pound is remarkably thin, supple, and strong, it’s typically my first choice in every finesse fishing application.”

Seaguar has a host of FINESSE 100% fluorocarbon lines for every finesse-fishing situation including 5.2-pound, 6.2-pound, 7.3-pound, and 8.4-pound sizes. These are double-structure fluorocarbon lines, which is an exclusive and superior Seaguar line technology that combines two different resins into one line. The high-density interior resin improves tensile strength and sensitivity while the softer exterior resin enhances knot strength. That means great sensitivity, knot strength, and the strength to handle any big fish you hook while remaining super supple.

“When you’re dealing with spinning tackle, that’s what counts – having a nice supple line that still has the hook-setting power and the strength to hold them,” Grigsby emphasizes. “Because when you’re finesse fishing you never know when that next hookset could be an 8-, 9-, or 10-pound bass. It could be the biggest fish of your life because they’re suckers for those little baits. So that’s why I always carry specific technique rods and reels and use line designed specifically for finesse fishing.”

One of Grigsby’s favorite finesse techniques is fishing a drop-shot rig, which essentially consists of a small plastic bait suspended above a short length of line terminated at the bottom with a weight. “With the drop-shot, you can literally float your baits above bottom and really catch ‘em,” he says. “For most of my drop-shot set-ups I’m using Seaguar 7.3- or 8.4-pound 100% FINESSE Fluorocarbon, which holds up really well and the fish can’t see, whether I’m fishing in clear, open water or around a lot of cover.”

That brings up another point Grigsby is adamant about, and that’s not limiting finesse fishing tactics to clear waters. “You might find flooded areas with a lot of cover where the instinct is to pound with a jig, but finesse tactics – even in heavy cover – can really produce,” Grigsby advises. “Don’t overlook finesse even though you’ve got a lot of cover. It’s simple – hook ‘em, play ‘em, and get them out. Always concentrate on getting the strike, don’t worry about landing them. Landing them generally happens.”

Grigsby is a big fan of fishing wacky worm rigs in heavy cover, typically a 5-inch Strike King Ocho on a Trokar hook with weed guard on Seaguar 7.3- or 8.4-pound 100% FINESSE Fluorocarbon line. “When you throw something really light like a wacky worm into heavy cover on a finesse rig, it can really produce. A lot of times you can catch ‘em when other methods fail to produce.”

Lastly, Grigsby also carries a rod or two in his boat for Ned Rig fishing, a finesse technique that has earned an almost magical reputation across the country.

“The Ned Rig has really come along to be one of the main finesse baits to just catch ‘em,” says Grigsby. “It’s awesome. I got introduced to it about three or four years ago with its flat head – like you took an Aspirin and put a hook in it – and using something like an Ocho worm that you cut in half. I didn’t have any of the right jigheads so I just took the Ochos I had, cut them in half, and started fishing them on a regular 3/16-oz. shaky head and just caught the fire out of the fish!” he recalls. “But once you get a Ned jighead and it stands up so perfectly it works even better. Something I found out that’s really interesting is that when you discover the bass are eating this little bait, a Ned worm also works wonders on a Trokar nose hook fished as a drop shot. I started fishing it on a drop shot and the fish I caught was ridiculous. So, I now combine the two techniques quite a bit.”

No matter where you fish bass, going finesse can definitely up your odds for more and bigger fish when the going gets tough. Take a few tips from legendary bass pro and finesse expert, Shaw Grigsby, and we promise you’ll put more bass in the boat, too.

For more information, call 502-883-6097, write Kureha America Inc., 4709 Allmond Ave., Suite 4C, Louisville, KY 40209, or visit us on the Web at www.seaguar.com or on Facebook.

About Seaguar Fishing Lines

As the inventor of fluorocarbon fishing lines in 1971, Seaguar has played a prominent role in the advancement of technologies to improve the performance of lines and leader material for both fresh and salt water anglers. Seaguar is the only manufacturer of fluorocarbon fishing lines that produces its own resins and controls the manufacturing process from start to finished product. Today, Seaguar is the #1 brand of fluorocarbon lines and offers a full spectrum of premium products including fluorocarbon mainlines and leader material, fly tippet and leaders, 8-strand and 16-strand braid and monofilament fishing lines.

How and Where To Catch Seminole Bass In November

Seminole Bass In November with Steven Wells

All summer long the hydrilla beds at Seminole have been full of bass, but often the weeds are so thick you can’t fish it very effectively. In November the hydrilla begins to die back and open up, giving you access to those bass. And the cooler temperatures mean they feed even better.

Seminole is a one-of-a-kind lake in Georgia with its huge grass flats and stumpy water. So far south the dam is in Florida, it is like a Florida lake in many ways. The bass grow fat and spawn early in its warm waters. And every bit of the lake looks bassy, like you should be able to cast anywhere and hook a hog.

Unfortunately for the bass fisherman used to other lakes, looking good and being good are not always the same thing. The sheer size of the grass flats often make it difficult to locate bass unless you have an idea what they are doing and where to start. The bass are in the grass but you still have to find patterns within the grass to catch them.

Seminole is right in the corner of Georgia, Alabama and Florida on the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers. It covers 37,500 acres and has been famous for its bass fishing for many years. Jack Wingate and his Lunker Lodge are one of the reasons for that fame and many happy bass fishermen have passed through his restaurant and dock over the years.

Steven Wells grew up right on the lake in Faceville, and is kin to Jack. He loves to fish and was on the lake so much Jack talked him into guiding there. Jack told him “As much as you like to fish you might as well let somebody else pay for your gas.” Steven also manages Outland Plantation, a hunting preserve near the lake, so he gets to spend all his time outside studying nature.

His time fishing paid off in another way this year when he married Pam Martin, a top angler on the Women’s Bass Fishing Association professional trail. She guides on Seminole out of Wingates with Steven when she is not off on the national tournament trail. She and Steven share patterns, tips and fishing spots and help each other out on the lake.

“If you are not fishing the hydrilla you are not fishing where the bass live, they get in the hydrilla,” Steven told me. We were fishing on a hot early October day and he was showing me patterns and places that would be good in November when the water cooled down a little.

In November you should start with topwater, then switch to spinnerbaits and lizards as the sun gets up,” Steven told me. He likes to fish a topwater bait around the hydrilla early in the morning, varying his bait according to the wind. If it is dead calm he throws a Mirror Lure topwater bait but if there is some ripple he switches to a Pop-R.

“Throw the plug within inches of the grass mat,” Steven said. You have to get it close to the edge, especially early in November when the grass is still thick. Work it slowly in place, keeping it as close as possible to the grass while making it act like a hurt baitfish. The longer you can keep it close to the grass the better your chances of getting bit.

Steven chooses a silver plug and throws it using 12 pound Stren line. The lighter line helps the bait work better and will still bet most fish out of the grass if they head back into it after you hook them. You can also make longer casts which are needed if the water is real clear.

Later in the month when the grass mat on top is breaking up, Steven will throw a buzz bait since it can be worked better. He likes a white one and ties it on 14 to 17 pound Stren line. If the grass is thick under the water he uses the heavier line to horse big bass out of the cover. The lighter line allows longer casts.

As the sun gets up Steven will switch to a spinnerbait and work it through openings and channels in the grass. Some of his favorite places will have clumps of grass out from the main mat even early in November and he tries to run it right beside those clumps, too.

Steven always chooses willowleaf blades since they come through the grass better and he varies the color depending on the water color. White with silver blades is better in clear water and gold blades and chartreuse skirts are best in stained water. The spinnerbait is fished on 14 to 17 pound Stren like the buzzbaits and for the same reasons.

“Bring two packs of watermelon seed lizards and leave everything else at home and you won’t go too far wrong,” Steven said. His go-to bait and what he uses most of the day is a Texas rigged Zoom watermelon seed lizard. He uses a 1/8th ounce lead unless the current or wind forces him to go heavier since the slower fall seems more attractive to Seminole bass.

Tie your lizard on 12 or 14 pound Stren since you will be fishing right in the grass. If the water is heavily stained Steven will go to Junebug lizards and sometimes he dies the tails of both colors chartreuse. Lizard fishing is slow so he likes to start with topwater and spinnerbaits, but the lizard will produce all day long.

“Cast the lizard right on top of the hydrilla and slide it to the edge, letting it fall when it hits open water,” Steven said. You must watch your line carefully since bass hitting on the fall often don’t give much indication they have taken the bait. If you see your line tick or move at all, set the hook hard to pull them away from the grass.

Steven shared 8 of his favorite November spots with me and they will all produce fish this month. They are just a few of the hundreds of similar places but there are key things to look for. Most of these are within a few miles of Wingates and Steven says some of the best fishing on the lake is a couple of hundred yards either side of the channel going in there.

1. N 30 47.355 W 84 43.050 – Upriver from Wingates at channel markers 13.8 through 13.3 the Flint River makes a sweeping turn across the lake. Along the downstream edge of the channel the water is shallow and hydrilla grows in a thick mat all along it. People use a cut-through behind a small island to run down to Wingates so sometimes there is a channel in the grass there.

Start at the first red channel marker just downstream of the grass island and work the edge of the hydrilla all the way past the turn back up river to the third red marker. The grass drops off deep here so you must cast topwater baits right to the edge of it. Concentrate on any cuts or holes in the edge and try to work your topwater bait in it as long as possible.

After the sun gets up switch to a lizard. You may need a 3/16 or even a 1/4 ounce lead here if there is any current since you want the lizard to drop straight down the side of the grass. The bass will hold all along the vertical face of the grass and suck in food, and your lizard, as it falls.

Cast your lizard up on top of the grass and pull it off. That insures it is as close to the wall of grass as possible. Watch your line carefully. When it stops falling, make sure it is not a fish then twitch it to make if fall on down. If it is on the bottom twitch it a couple of more times then reel in for another cast.

If you start here early, it is worth a pass with topwater then another pass with the lizard, especially if you catch a few fish on the first pass. The fish may be scattered the whole length of the bed or concentrated in one place, so pay attention to where you get bites.

2. N 30 46.736 W 84 44.381 – Just upstream of the Wingate cut there is a rockpile out on the old river channel where the ferry used to cross. You can see the old road bed on most maps. The grass bed along this edge is another good place to fish. The fish hold in the grass and also hold on the rocks and move into the grass to feed.

Fish the outside edge of the grass here. There is a wide band of grass and there is some open water behind it, but the best fishing in November is usually on the outside edge. Work it with topwater first then come back with a lizard. The water is not as deep on the outside edge of the grass here and a light sinker is usually best.

3. N 30 46.397 W 84 45.351 – The poles marking the Wingate cut have grass around them out where they get to the river channel and this can be an excellent place to fish. If you start upstream of the marker poles you should work the outside edge of the grass. Below the cut there is a bed of grass on a ridge and it has water 9 feet deep on the back side of it. This is a good place to work both sides of the bed.

The outside edge has clumps of grass growing out from the main bed and a spinnerbait or buzz bait is good in that area. The inside edge drops to 9 feet and a lizard falling down that drop is an excellent way to get a bass to bite. You can fish down the outside edge then cut through and fish the inside edge going the other way to cover both sides. If you catch a fish, concentrate on that area since there should be others nearby.

4. N 30 46.143 W 84 45.710 – Further downstream out from a couple of docks and pontoon boats on the bank the grass bed continues in closer to the bank. The river channel is a long way away here and the big flat has some grass on it, but as you get closer to the bank you will find a thick ridge of hydrilla. There is standing timber out toward the channel but it will be well behind you when you are fishing the outside edge of the grass.

On the outside edge clumps grow up well out from the mat. This is a good area for spinnerbaits and buzzbaits. The inside edge has enough water to be worth fishing and the lizard should be better here. Work all around the ridges of grass and fish both sides. Again, if you catch a fish work that area carefully since there should be others nearby.

5. N 30 45.943 W 64 46.122 – Straight downstream from areas #4 you will see a red channel marker where the channel swings back across the lake. Where it turns and runs down the bank is another good ridge of grass to fish. It is right along the channel and drops off fast. Fish the outside edge of it, keeping your boat in the channel and casting to the edge of the hydrilla.

6. N 30 46.036 W 84 48.063 – The Tractor bank is a well known local fishing spot. It is called that because the DNR used to keep a tractor there to use in the management area. You can follow the channel downstream then cut across to the north bank just downstream of a tall dead tree standing in the water. Be careful, there are a lot of stumps in this area and you need to find the clear area before running it if you don’t know it.

You will see a point of land with a cove on the upstream side. In the mouth of the cove is a small grass island and you will see a yellow sign on a pole out in the water upstream of it. There are big grass beds all along this bank. Start fishing near the management area sign and work down the bank. You can fish all along here, concentrating on areas where you catch fish.

Watch here for scattered clumps of grass out from the main bed and fish them with spinnerbait, buzzbait and lizard. It often pays off to drop a lizard down beside one of these clumps after running a buzz bait or spinnerbait through the area to catch a bass that is attracted by the faster bait but will not hit it.

There are also scattered stumps near the bank here so watch for them and cast to them. You also need to keep your boat out in 10 feet of water or more when running this bank because of the stumps in closer to the bank.

7. N 30 45.550 W 84 47.903 – Back across the lake at red channel marker 7.3 a ridge runs out from the bank and hydrilla grows on it. Fish both sides of this grass bed. It runs down to channel marker 6.9 and there are several sand bars in the area.

This is a spawning area for bass and most of these grass beds are good in November because they are near spawning areas. At Seminole bass are often moving near spawning beds to hold until the water warms, which can happen in January here. When looking for similar places to fish keep in mind that you should look for fish near spawning areas.

8. N 30 44.134 W 84 51.837 – Down near the dam where the bank turns south, a huge area of grass runs all the way from the swimming area at Chattahoochee Municipal Park down to the Coast Guard station at the dam. There is an old road bed running parallel to the bank and some real shallow places on it are marked by danger poles. Grass grows all along the ridge the roadbed is on and also behind it.

You could easily fish this area all day. Work both the inside and outside areas of grass. This is a big spawning area full of sandbars so fish will be positioning themselves here in November. Concentrate on areas where you catch a fish and look for keys. Is the bottom a little deeper, are there cuts in the grass or is it a solid mat? All those keys can point to concentrations of bass in similar areas.

Seminole is a great place for a November trip. It will be much warmer and the bass more cooperative than in more northern lakes if we have a cold month. And just fishing legendary Seminole is a thrill. Check out these patterns and spots and you will be able to find many more like them.

Finesse Fish for Bass

Finesse Fish Your Way to Bassing Success
By Frank Sargeant, Editor
from The Fishing Wire

Finesse Jig catch fish

Elephants eat peanuts, one of my fishing guide buddies likes to say.

That was right on target for two major national tournaments in the last month, as both a B.A.S.S. Elite event and the Major League Fishing Redcrest championship were won by anglers relying heavily on tiny jigs that would appear better suited for crappies or bluegills than bass.

And while elephants also eat hay bales, a switch to finesse-sized lures and tackle can bring a change in luck for Alabama anglers, particularly in the dregs of summer when hot water and months of fishing pressure have slowed the bite to a trickle on many days.

At the St. Lawrence River B.A.S.S. event, winning angler Micah Frazier relied on Z-Man ShroomZ jig heads, tipped with little 2.5 inch YUM Ned Dinger tails that look like a leftover section of the head of a conventional plastic worm. While smallmouths in the clear waters of the St. Lawrence are a long way from largemouths in the murky waters of the South, the lures and tactics work here as well as there.

These jig heads come in a wide variety of sizes, but the ones that won at the St. Lawrence were not what most anglers would think of a “bass-sized”. They weighed just 1/8 ounce, with hooks about size 4. Compare that to the typical jig used for largemouths, with a 1/2 ounce head and a size 5/0 hook, and you get a better understanding of the difference between finesse fishing and standard bass gear.

The ShroomZ heads are made to sit on bottom with the head down, the hook standing up vertically, particularly when rigged with the high-flotation ElaZtech soft plastics. (The whole system is based in part on the Ned rig, devised not by Ned Flanders of The Simpsons but by Ned Kehde of Missouri, who devised the set up, pushed into Z-Man production by Missouri angler Drew Reese.) The look and action is so different from most other bottom-hugging lures that it seems to have an almost magical appeal to bass.

The finesse package includes a whole suite of gear; it’s not just about the lures, though they are key. The little lures might work on conventional bass tackle if you could cast them, but you can’t–a 1/8 ounce lure simply won’t throw on a baitcaster. In fact, it doesn’t cast very well on a full-sized spinning rig with the typical 10 pound test mono many anglers use, either.

The set up that most pro anglers now use is a spinning reel with the spool filled with 10-pound-test braid, running to at least a rod’s length of 6- to 8-pound-test clear mono. This gives them the sensitivity of the braid, but the clear mono is nearly invisible to the fish and also lets the tiny lures work naturally.

The lure may imitate a hellgrammite or a crawfish, or perhaps a small baitfish feeding head down. Whatever it represents to bass, they consider it edible, often when they ignore everything else you throw at them. (Part of it may just be that it’s so different from the hundreds of lures they’ve been seeing all summer–bass definitely get conditioned to avoid lures they’ve been stuck with.) It may just be the potato chip syndrome–while you may only be hungry enough for a steak at dinnertime, you’re likely to eat a chip most anytime someone offers one. Ditto bass.

Bites tend to be light–just a tap on the line sometimes, or unexpected slack or tightening. Hard strikes are rare.

Setting the hook is a bit different with the finesse gear, too–the sharp over-the-head snap that many anglers use for conventional tackle will result in a lot of breakoffs but few hookups. Best way to set the small but very sharp hooks is simply to raise the rod until you feel tension and then start reeling. Most of the time, the hook sets itself.

Anglers used to water-skiing their bass to the boat on heavier tackle may have to re-educate themselves a bit, too–with the ultra-light gear and 6-pound mono leader, even a 2 pounder can present an interesting challenge. But in the open water where the tactic works best, it’s just a matter of keeping the pressure on and pumping and reeling–eventually the fish gives in. (Of course you can’t jerk them into the boat on the light line, either, if they weigh over a pound or so–the lip lock is necessary.)

Finesse fishing is a particularly good tactic when you’re after lots of fish rather than a few giants—that’s why the guys in the MLF circuit like them so much. The made-for-TV competition is all about putting numbers of fish in the boat, not size. But finesse lures are also great for the weekend angler who’s got the kids or grandkids out for the day and wants to make sure they put something in the boat—the little lures will often outfish larger baits by a wide margin.

Frustration with My Minn Kota Ulterra

In April, I decided to celebrate finishing chemo and radiation by buying a new trolling motor. I have wanted the Minn Kota Ulterra for several years. My old one worked fine but was a little hard to turn, and my old back did not like pulling it in by the cord.

The Ulterra self-stows and self deploys. You tap a button on the foot pedal twice and it goes into the water. Tap it once and it comes back in. And it has spot lock, a feature that allows you to tap another button and the motor will keep you within a few feet of the spot where you tapped it.

It also comes with a Bluetooth remote to control the motor. You can sit in the back of the boat and use the trolling motor. A commercial for it shows a man by himself backing his boat in the water and letting it float off. After parking, he goes to the dock, has the remote deploy the motor and drive it to him on the dock. Very convenient.

Striper and hybrid guides especially like this feature. In their center console boat they can stay in the middle of the boat, within easy reach of all the rods out, and control the movement of the boat.

I got the motor, had it installed and took it to

Jackson Lake to test it. The foot pedal was very different, but I thought I would get used to it. I loved the self-stow and spot lock just from playing with them.

The motor worked fine the next weekend in a tournament, but the foot pedal was very frustrating.
For 45 years I have used a cable drive trolling motor. Guiding the boat did not require any thought. It was an automatic act for years, just like driving a car.

The new pedal uses a motor to turn the trolling motor. That is nice in some ways, but the pedal has no “feel” like the old one. I constantly turned the boat in the wrong direction and had to look at it all the time to control it, distracting from my fishing concentration. And the buttons were placed badly, it was way too easy to hit the stow button when trying to turn the motor with my heel.

I started to hate it on that trip and my feelings about it got worse.

The next weekend in a tournament, the spot lock feature and remote would not work. When I got home, I sent an online message to Minn Kota support and they told me to take it to Riverdale Marine, an Authorized Service Center. I did, and the control head was replaced.

Everything worked great for eight trips, and
I was starting to get used to the foot pedal. Then, in the Potato Creek Logan Martin tournament, at my first stop Saturday morning, the motor would not deploy. I sat there not fishing, fooling with the motor, for 30 minutes, missing the best fishing of the day because of the motor.

Then, it finally deployed and I was able to fish for a few hours. But the motor acted crazy, trying to stow when I was not touching the foot pedal or remote and doing other things it was not supposed to do, all on its own. I managed to catch two fish under those frustrating conditions.

Sunday morning in the tournament it worked fine for a couple of hours and I caught three keepers. When I decided to move, the motor would not stow. I was stuck in the down position and I was about four miles from the weigh-in site.

I started idling back to the ramp with my three fish, messing with the foot pedal buttons and remote. It finally stowed, and I ran to the ramp area and fished the last few hours with a crazy motor, doing weird things, but I managed to catch one more keeper.

When I got home I had it taken off my boat, fearing to try to use it again. I sent another message to Minn Kota support on their web form and got no response for three days. I started posting my message to them on social media.

That got attention and I received a call from Minn Kota. I explained all the problems and that I did not trust the motor, even if it was repaired and did not want to use it again, even though I really needed a self-stow motor for my back.

The representative offered to swap the Ulterra for an Ultrex, a non-self-stow motor that cost about $450 less – but with no refund of the difference in cost, not to mention sales tax, shipping and irritation.

The next day I called him back and left a message, asking them to swap the lemon motor I bought for a new one of the same model and cost, since I really needed the self stow. Several people said they had the Ulterra and had no trouble with it, so I thought maybe I had just gotten a lemon, and was willing to try again.

So far, no response.

I am looking at all options. There are a lot of other brands out there.

St.Croix PS60MHF Premier Spinning Rod Review

I like this St Croix spinning rod

Like many fishermen my age, my first rod and reel was a closed face Zebco 202 with a matching rod. It was frustrating to use because the line jammed inside it so much.

When I was 16 I got a new-fangled Mitchell 300 spinning reel with a Garcia rod. It was a heavy outfit, and had problems all it own, but it was a big step up. I used it even after I got into a bass club in 1974, it was one of my two rods and reels back then .

Over the years I replaced it with better spinning rods and reels. But I almost stopped using spinning equipment years ago when I got baitcasting outfits that would handle light baits.

For the past couple of years I have been using one of my old spinning outfit to skip weightless Senkos under docks, but the old rods just were not right. I like a short rod for skipping baits and these were less than six feet long, but the action was too light to wrestle bass past dock posts.

A few weeks ago I got a St.Croix PS60MHF Premier six foot medium heavy fast action spinning rod. It is just what I wanted. The fast action tip skips a light bait easily, but the medium heavy weight gives me the control I need to keep bass from hanging me up.

To clarify some terms:

Rod length is pretty obvious. But the other terms can be confusing.

Rod action is how fast a rod bends from the tip. A fast action rod has a light tip that bends easily. A medium action bends less, and a heavy action bends little. Lighter actions are best for lighter baits. For heavier baits, heavier action is needed.

Rod weight is how stiff the rod is. A light weight rod is usually lighter in heaviness, but mainly it bends a lot, often from the tip to the butt, in a parabolic arch. A heavy weight rod will bend little even at the tip. Again, a lighter weight rod is better for lighter baits but the heavier the weight is, the more “backbone” you have to control the fish.

The six foot length is short compared to the seven foot rods many use, but I like shorter rods for skipping. They have a little less leverage, but many of my cast are sidearm with rod tip point toward the water, and the shorter length helps me avoid hitting the boat and the water on my casts.

I have used this rod in several tournaments and caught enough fish on it to know it is just what I wanted. It helped me catch fish at Sinclair and place 4th in the Flint River Bass Club tournament.

The Premier Family of rods come in both spinning and casting, with various lengths, actions and weights to meet most needs, and sell for about $140.00

Disclaimer – I got a discount when I bought this rod. But no discount is big enough to make me say something good about a product I don’t use or like, and I would never reccomend something I do not use with success to anyone else.

Trying To Catch Bass at Clarks Hill

August 10 and 11th, nine members and guests of the Flint River Bass Club fish a miserably hot two-day tournament at Clarks Hill. At least the fishing was tough. In 18 hours of casting we landed 41 12-inch keeper bass weighing about 65 pounds.

There were three limits and one fisherman didn’t catch a keeper in two days. But there were some good fish, five weighed more than three pounds each.

Raymond English, fishing as Niles Murray’ guest, won with ten weighing 17.11 pounds. Niles placed second with nine keepers weighing 14.51 pounds, Travis Weatherly was third with seven at 10.24 pounds and Chuck Croft came in fourth with six weighing 6.66 pounds. Jerry Ragen had big fish with a 4.39 pound largemouth.

I thought I had found some fish on deep rock piles and caught two Saturday, including one close to three pounds, and lost another one that felt as big as the three pounder. But that was it, two fish all day. And Sunday I missed one bite and had another good fish pull off the dropshot worm. No fish for me after eight hot hours of trying Sunday.

How Good Is Summer Smallmouth Bass Fishing in Virginia?

Summer Smallmouth Bass Fishing in Virginia
By Alex McCrickard, Virginia DGIF Aquatic Education Coordinator
from The Fishing Wire

Summer Smallmouth

During the dog days of summer, many anglers put their rods and reels down and are content to wait until later in the fall for cooler weather. Unfortunately, these anglers end up missing some of the most exciting warm water fishing conditions of the year. During this time frame, I tend to focus my efforts on one species of fish in Virginia, smallmouth bass. Pound for pound and inch for inch, these fish fight harder than most other freshwater fish in the state.

Smallmouth Bass in Virginia

Smallmouth bass, frequently referred to as smallies or bronzebacks, are a freshwater member of the sunfish family: Centrarchidae. Their green and brown sides are often marked with vertical black bars. Some of these fish have war paint like markings extending horizontally and diagonally behind their eyes and across their gill plates. Smallmouth bass are native to the Great Lakes system and the Mississippi River Basin including the Tennessee and Big Sandy River Drainages of Southwest Virginia. However, these game fish have been introduced all across the Piedmont of Virginia and are truly a worthy opponent on rod and reel. Because of the smallmouth’s widespread range in Virginia, they are readily available to anglers fishing west of the coastal plains above the fall lines of our major river systems. This allows anglers who reside in cities and large metropolitan areas to fish local as smallmouth opportunities are plentiful. The James River in Lynchburg and Richmond, Rappahannock Riverin Fredericksburg, Rivanna River in Charlottesville, Maury River near Lexington, and the New River in Blacksburg are fine examples of local opportunities.

The mainstem and larger tributaries of these rivers are full of smallmouth. Anglers in Northern Virginia can focus efforts on the Upper Potomac River as well as the Shenandoah mainstem, North Fork, and South Fork. The North Fork of the Holston River and the Clinch River provide excellent smallmouth opportunities in Southwest Virginia. Floating these larger rivers in a canoe or raft can be a great way to cover water, just remember to wear your life jacket. You can also wade fish these rivers and their tributaries, especially in the lower flows of late summer.

Summer Conditions

My favorite conditions to fish for smallmouth are from mid-summer into early fall. During this time of the year our rivers and streams are typically at lower flows with fantastic water clarity. These conditions provide for some incredible sight fishing opportunities for smallmouth bass. Look for fish to be holding against steep banks with overhanging trees and vegetation. During the middle of hot summer days it can pay off huge when you find a shady bank with depth and current. It can also be productive to target riffles and pocket water during this time of the year. Smallmouth will often be in the faster and more oxygenated water when river temperatures get hot.

It’s important to think about structure when locating summer smallmouth. These fish will often be found along a rock ledge or drop off. Log jams, underwater grass beds, and emergent water willow also provide structure that these fish can use for cover. Smallmouth can be found along current seams where fast water meets slow water. Fishing a quiet pocket behind a mid-river boulder or targeting the tailout of an island where two current seams come together is a good idea.

During hot, bright, summer days the fishing can be most productive early in the morning and again in the evening. I try to fish during these times as smallmouth will often be active during low light conditions and can get sluggish during the middle of a hot bright afternoon. That being said, these fish can be caught in the middle of bright sunny days as well. Also, afternoon cloud cover and a light shower can turn the fishing on in a matter of moments.

Summer Feeding Habits

Smallmouth bass are piscivores, they feed primarily on other fish. Various species of shiners, darters, dace, and sunfish are bass favorites. These fish also prefer large aquatic insects like hellgrammite nymphs and crayfish. However, the abundance of other aquatic and terrestrial insects allow smallmouth to diversify their menu in the summertime. It is not uncommon for these fish to target damselflies and dragonflies during summer hatches. I’ve seen summer smallmouth feeding on the surface with reckless abandon as damselflies hovered along a water willow island on the James River. These fish are happy to eat large cicadas, grasshoppers, or crickets that find their way into the water. These seasonal food sources allow for exciting topwater action.

One time during a mid-August float on the James River I found a long bank with overhanging sycamore trees providing shade along the edge of the river. I had been fishing a subsurface Clouser Minnow without a strike for nearly an hour. Because it was a windy afternoon I figured I would try my luck with a small green Boogle Bug popper on my 6 wt fly rod. A few casts later I had a fine smallmouth explode on the popper underneath the overhanging tree limbs. I landed the fish and held it up for a photo just in time to see it regurgitate a half dozen large Japanese beetles. The fish had been utilizing the windy conditions to snack on beetles as they got blown into the water. It can really pay off to change patterns based on water and weather conditions.

Medium to medium light spinning and baitcasting rods in the 7 foot range are great for late summer smallmouth. It can pay off to scale down in low clear water. You may want to consider fishing 6-8 lb test instead of 10-12 lb. Soft plastics work well for smallmouth and favorites include swim baits and tubes. Various spinnerbaits can be a great way to cover water in the larger rivers during this time of the year. Sometimes you can be surprised at how well a simple Mepps spinner or Rooster tail will produce. Topwater baits are a late summer “go to” with low and clear water. Try fishing buzzbaits, the smaller Whopper Plopper 90, Zara Spooks, and Heddon Tiny Torpedos. Buzzbaits and Whopper Ploppers can be retrieved quickly across the surface enticing explosive takes. The rotating tail of the Whopper Plopper acts like a propeller and creates lots of noise and attention.

For fly fishing, 9 to 10 foot rods in the 6 to 8 wt range are best. A 9ft 5wt may work well on the smaller rivers across Virginia but you will want a heavier rod on our larger rivers. Heavier rods in the 7 to 8 wt range will also turn over some of the bigger bugs we tend to throw this time of year on floating fly lines. A 9ft tapered leader in the 0x to 3x range will work well depending on water clarity and flows. Fishing large poppers like Boogle Bugs or Walt Cary’s “Walt’s Bass Popper” will get the smallmouth going. The Surface Seducer Double Barrel popper by Martin Bawden pushes lots of water. Large foam cicada patterns, Japanese beetle patterns, and western style Chernoyble Ants are fun when fished tight to the bank. Don’t forget to include a few damselfly and dragonfly patterns in your summer smallmouth fly box.

Don’t let the dog days of summer keep you from missing some of the most exciting warm water fishing conditions of the year!
When fishing these surface flies and lures, the takes can be very visual. Sometimes during a strip and pause retrieve, the smallmouth will slowly approach the fly from 5 feet away to gently sip it like a trout. Other times a fast strip retrieve will generate explosive takes. These visual late summer takes are hard to beat!

If the fish aren’t looking up you can do well stripping streamers. Bob Clouser’s Clouser Minnow was developed for smallmouth bass and a variety of colors can be productive this time of the year. My favorite color combinations for this fly are chartreuse and white, olive and white, as well as a more natural brown and white. The dumbbell eyes on this fly make it swim up and down through the water column as you retrieve. Lefty Kreh’s Deceiver is another fine smallmouth fly along with the famous Half & Half which is a combination of the Clouser Minnow and Deceiver. Chuck Kraft’s Kreelex has become a favorite amongst fly anglers in Virginia and the smallmouth can’t seem to ignore it. The flashy profile of this fly attracts fish in clear and stained water. Another popular smallmouth streamer is the Gamechanger developed by Blane Chocklett. The Gamechanger is multi-sectioned allowing it to swim naturally through the water column. Most other articulated streamers developed for trout fishing will also be productive on smallmouth bass as well. All of these streamers come in a variety of sizes. When choosing fly size, it’s essential to match the size of the forage fish the smallmouth are keying in on. This can vary from larger rivers to smaller tributaries but typically sizes 2-6 will work well with larger patterns being in the 1, 1/0, and 2/0 sizes.

Crayfish and Hellgrammite patterns can be productive during the heat of the day in late summer. Harry Murray’s Hellgrammite and Strymph can be fished with success lower in the water column closer to the bottom of the river. Chuck Kraft’s Clawdad and Crittermite are two other go to patterns. Its best to try numerous different approaches and techniques until you can find out what the fish are keyed in on each day.

In all, late summer smallmouth should be on your angling to do list. The conditions during this time of the year are excellent for sight fishing and cater to a topwater approach. From the smaller tributaries to the larger rivers, smallmouth opportunities are diverse across the state. Make time to get out this summer and fish local in Virginia.

October Bass at High Falls Lake

October Bass at High Falls
with Wayne Glaze

Georgia has an abundance of smaller public lakes that bass fishermen often overlook. Many of them have excellent populations of keeper bass, and some harbor good numbers of big bass. High Falls Lake is one of them that has both.

Located just off I-75 north of Forsyth, High Falls is a 660 acre Georgia Power Lake and Georgia State Park. It is a very old lake, ringed by cabins and docks. Boat motors are limited to 10 horsepower, eliminating skiers and jet skis. All boats must be off the lake at night, so you can not launch until just before sunrise. And you must come in at sunset.

The lake is on the Towaliga River and has three main creeks entering it. Buck and Brushy Creek enter close together on the west side about half way up the lake and Watkins Bottom enters from the east across from them. Two ramps serve the lake, both State Park ramps so you will need a parking permit. One is right at the dam and the other is just off High Falls Road where it crosses Buck Creek.

High Falls is a fertile lake and the water is usually tinted green. Bass grow fast and fat there, and eight pounders are caught regularly. The lake gets a fair amount of fishing pressure on weekends, but on many week days, especially this time of year, you can go hours without seeing another fisherman on the water.

Wayne Glaze lives less than an hour from High Falls and likes to fish it. He fishes with four different jon boat trails and some of them fish tournaments there regularly. He has studied the lake and learned where and how to catch bass on it from his hours tournament fishing there and practicing for tournaments.

Wayne really likes the jon boat trails and fishes one just about every weekend. The first week of September he told me he had already competed in 32 tournaments during 2004, and was planning on fishing many more. He qualified for the end of the year Top Ten Tournament in three of the four trails. He also fished the BFL as a co-angler for three years, but prefers the smaller waters.

The four jon boat trails are the Southern Jon Boat Anglers, headquartered in Walton County, a group Wayne has fished with for 10 years, the Jon Boat Association (JBA), out of Logansville, the Hi Voltage Anglers, from Athens and Lil Waters Anglers out of Griffin. These four trails are each sending their top 10 teams to an end of the year classic this year.

Boats for these trails are specially set up for fishing smaller lakes. Some lakes like High Falls allow small gas motors, others are electric only. So it is not unusual to see a 16 foot jon boat with three to five electric motors on the back and another one up front. The day we fished High Falls Wayne had replaced his back middle electric motor with a small gas motor for a little more speed.

High Falls is so old most of the old channels are nothing but depressions now. Silt has filled them in and covered most of the deep wood and rock that bass like. The shoreline is full of wood cover, though, and the docks offer even more. Grass has grown thick in many areas of the lake, filling the shallows out to five feet deep in some places.

Wayne likes to fish the bank and works a variety of lures along them, probing all the cover. The bass hold and feed in the shoreline cover all day and can be found there in October. Some schooling activity on open water is worth checking out, but many big hybrids are in High Falls and you are more likely to catch them out away from the bank.

Wayne starts each morning with topwater and will fish a Lucky Craft buzzbait or a Pop-R. The Lucky Craft buzzbait does not have a skirt, just a minnow shaped body, and Wayne likes a gold blade. A silver Pop-R is good here. Fish both baits around all wood cover and over the grass and you should draw some early strikes.

If the water is open enough, usually out past 5 feet deep or so, Wayne will throw a big crankbait to attract bass. A Mann’s 20+ or a DD22N by Norman is his choice and he makes long casts with both. He wants to get the crankbait down to the bottom where there are rocks or a clean bottom.

For pitching docks and fishing the grass beds, Wayne will Texas rig a Zoom Old Monster or Mag 2 worm with a 3/16 ounce weight. This can be fished under docks and around the post, worked through blowdowns, on rocks, and also dropped into pockets in the grass. When he fishes green pumpkin or watermelon colors he dips the tails in chartreuse JJs Magic and when using black or other colors he dips them in the clear JJs Magic to give them the garlic scent.

A spinnerbait is good around the grassbeds, too. Wayne likes a half ounce white spinnerbait with double silver blades and a split tail trailer. He will cast it over the grass and run it along the surface, then drop it into holes in the grass.

In early September Wayne took me to High Falls to show me some of his spots and explain how to fish there. We spent almost eight hours fishing the lake and looking at spots to fish, and saw only three other boats. One was a DNR employee taking inventory of shoreline structures, and he told us if we would be out on the big water where Buck Creek joins the river at 6:30 PM hybrids and largemouth would school up there.

Although we had seen fish schooling there that morning and tried to get on them, they went down before we got to them and did not come back up. Unfortunately we had to leave in mid-afternoon and did not get to try for the schooling fish, but keep that in mind if you go to High Falls this month.

The following ten spots will give you an idea of what Wayne fishes and a variety of places to try. Check them out and then try other places on the lake that are similar.

1. N 33 11.820 – W 84 01.871 – Going up the Towaliga River past where Buck and Brushy Creek enter, the lake will narrow down then widen back out. Watch on your left as you go upstream and you will see a point just as that bank drops back to widen the lake. It is a round point and if you are there right at sunrise you will see two lights burning on it.

The first light is on a dock and you want to start fishing just before you get to it. It is the last dock before the point drops back. Start here with topwater, casting close to the bank and working your bait back to the boat. You should be sitting a long cast out and you want to cover all the water between you and the bank.

Fish the dock when you get to it, working around the light. Some bass might still be holding here from feeding during the dark around the light. Just past the dock is a big blowdown in the water. Fish it with topwater and a spinnerbait, then work your worm through it.

Continue up the bank and right where it drops back there will be another light sticking out over the water on a pole with no dock. At that light the bottom drops off some and there are rocks along the bank as it dips back. This is really the outside bend of the old river channel.

Fish all along this bank, too. This is a good place to run a crankbait as well as topwater. If you don’t get bit on the active baits, try a worm moved slowly down the slope. There is some wood trash here as well as the rocks to hold bass.

2. N 33 11.937 W – 84 01.881 – From where you are sitting near the point in hole #1, look out toward the middle of the lake and upstream. You will see a stump and a white jug on an iron rod sticking up. Ease out to this stump and stop a long cast back from it. If you watch your depthfinder you will see the bottom rise up to a hump with the stump on top of it. A few feet upstream of the big stump you will see another iron rod sticking out of the water.

Stay back and fish all the way around this hump. Keep your boat in 11 or 12 feet of water and cast up into five feet. There is a little brush on it, and a few stumps under the water. Cast a crankbait and work it from shallow to deep, then fish a worm down that same slope. Wayne has had better luck on Texas rigged worms, but this area might also be good for Carolina rigging.

3. N 33 12.259 – W 84 02.086 – As you head upstream it looks like the lake ends, but the river swings to the left. The bank you will be facing has docks lining it and there is a small cut to the far right in the corner. The docks along this bank have 4 to 5 feet of water out on their ends, and this is a good place to pitch worms to them.

Start at the docks on the right where the small cut is, and work toward the point to your left. Stay back from the dock and pitch a worm under it. Try to drop your bait beside each post as you work the dock. Watch for cross bars supporting the dock and fish them, too.

Between the docks along here is some grass and you can fish topwater over it early then drop your worm in holes in the grass. You can also run a spinnerbait through this grass and fish the docks with it, too. Go slowly along this bank and fish all the cover carefully.

4. N 33 12.260 – W 84 02.263 – The point out past the last dock is good. There is grass up shallow on it and it has a drop to the old river channel out on its end. Stay way back and make long casts across the point with a top water bait, then try your worm. Out on the very end fan cast a crankbait across it where it runs out to the old channel, and then work a worm across it.
5. N 33 12.383 – W 84 02.300 – As you round the point the water gets shallow and there are docks on the bank past the point. The grass has grown thick all along here and you should fish topwater and spinnerbaits over it, then fish the grass with worm. Swim the worm over the grass then let it drop into holes in the grass. Wayne caught a solid 2 pound bass here by dropping his worm into a hole in the grass the day we fished.

This bank stays shady a good while in the mornings and you can fish the grass as well as the dock post. Grass is thick around all these docks. Wayne fishes all the way up to a red tin boathouse with a rusty front.

6. N 33 11.447 – W 84 01.697 – Back down the lake the upstream point between the river and Watkins Bottom is good. It runs way out shallow and the old channel from Watkins Bottom swings in near it on the downstream side. Start fishing upstream of the point, working crankbaits, spinnerbaits and worms along the bank. When you get to the point make fan casts across it with crankbaits and then rake it with worms.

7. N 33 11.353 – W 84 01.806 – Across the lake the upstream point between Brushy Creek and the river is also good. This is the area where fish were schooling in early September, and they school here often. It is a big round clay point and it runs out toward the river There is some grass and a few stick-ups on it.

Stay way off the bank and fish a spinnerbait around it, the follow up with a worm. Wayne says this is a good Carolina rig point. When you hit grass with either worm rig, pull it through the grass and let it fall.

8. 33 11.324 – W 84 01.779 – Straight across from the point in #7 is the last point in Buck Creek. There is a sand pile out on it and a mercury vapor light on a pole right on the water. This can be a good place to start in the morning while the light is still on, and bass feed here during the day, too.

There are a lot of old dock post in the water off the point. Fish them all. Then fish all the way around this point with a crankbait. The bottom is sandy and there is some brush up shallow. Fish the crankbait along this point and then follow up with a worm.

9. N 33 11.344 – W 84 02.053 – Go into Brushy Creek past the first bend and you will see power lines crossing the creek. Where they cross on the left going upstream is a small point with rocks and stumps on it. Sit well off the bank and cast up shallow, fishing crankbaits as well as Texas and Carolina rigged worms. Probe for the rocks and stumps and hit them hard with both baits.

10. N 33 11.079 – W 84 02.016 – A short distance up Buck Creek, just before you get to the boat ramp, High Falls Road crosses the creek. The bridge riprap on the downstream side is good, according to Wayne. He will sit back off it and cast his crankbait up to the rocks and fish it back to the boat. Work both ends of this side of the bridge.

Although High Falls is a small lake, these spots cover only about half of it – there are others toward the dam and up in Buck and Brushy Creek that are good. And Wayne says other spots around these also produce good bass this month. You can’t run around fast on High Falls, so spend some time fishing these and other nearby spots until you learn them. They will produce bass for you.

Find Fish

Beginner’s Guide to Finding Fish
By M.L. Anderson
from The Fishing Wire

Found Fishi

The first step to catching fish is to find them, and this isn’t always easy. Some people just get out there and start throwing various lures in random spots until they get lucky. Some seem to keep going back to the same spots over and over. If they get skunked, they say that the fishing is bad that day. Still others simply watch what other people are doing and try to copy that, whether they actually see the other guy catch a fish or not. Apparently, they assume that EVERYONE on the water is smarter than they are. There are some who spend hours on the phone, pumping their buddies for information and trying to duplicate their results. And then there are the pros.

The real pros know that you have to find your own fish. “It’s really hard to catch someone else’s fish,” insists Gary Dobyns. “If you weren’t there to find them and figure out what it took to catch them, it’s almost impossible for someone else to send you to that spot and have you catch fish.” A pro like Dobyns, who is able to find and catch bass consistently, has learned the secrets to patterning bass. Bass are animals with certain needs and instincts. They all respond alike to biological stimulus. This is certainly to the advantage of a bass fisherman: learn how bass behave under certain conditions, and you’ll know where to look for them. Years ago, legendary bass angler Rick Clunn told me his three-step process for patterning bass, and since then many other excellent fishermen have told me how they do it.

RICK CLUNN STEP ONE: SEASONAL PATTERNS

Even before you get to the lake you should be able to eliminate quite a bit of water. Take a map of the lake and divide it into sections. The deepest, clearest parts can be section one, midrange depths are section two, and shallow coves and river inlets are section three. Clunn also divides coves into those same sections – deep, such as a channel, midrange like humps between feeder channels, and shallow – backs of coves, flats, etc. You can add a section four if there is a river or a creek you can run the boat up.

Where do you start? You can make general assumptions based on the time of year. Generally speaking, bass will be deeper in winter and summer, shallower in spring and fall. Not all the bass in the lake will deep at one time, of course, but seasonal patterns give you a general idea of where to start.

CURRENT PATTERN

Once you have a seasonal pattern established, pick an area to fish. You may want to focus on a single large cove, especially if it has a lot of different depths and structures. Fish that cove as though it were a pond. Identify what kinds of objects are in the area: channels, humps, vegetation, rock piles, rip rap, man-made structures like bridges, etc., and work every kind of object until you feel like you’ve really checked it out thoroughly. Use a couple of different baits. It will soon become clear which kinds of objects are holding fish, and you can stop wasting time on the stuff that isn’t holding fish right now.

There are actually two kinds of patterns you can find this way. An individual pattern is when a certain kind of object is holding bass – say you’ve fished everything in your cove and have only caught fish on submerged logs in five feet of water. Now you can leave and visit other areas of the lake and fish other submerged logs at around the same depth with a pretty good chance of catching more fish. A concentration pattern is usually something like an expanse of submerged brush or vegetation that has a whole school in it. If you find one of these, stay there. The individual pattern is the most common, and if you put a bunch of those similar spots together, it’s usually referred to as a “milk run”. Fishing stuff between the pattern is a waste of time, says Clunn. Just go from object to object as quickly as possible. One of these patterns can last days or just minutes. If it fails, start over and figure out what the new pattern is.

SPECIFIC PATTERN

According to Clunn, a small percentage of elite anglers will be able to get to step three, which is identifying a specific pattern. It is something that very good fishermen do subconsciously for the most part. For instance, say our submerged logs are the current pattern. You go from log to log and fish them all. An elite angler will soon know an even more specific pattern — he will know exactly where on the log the fish will be.

LURES FOR ESTABLISHING A PATTERN

The only reason to pick a lure is confidence. A lure is first of all for finding fish. Clunn’s top three lures for finding fish are spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and plastic worms or jigs. He usually starts with a spinnerbait or a crankbait – choose whichever one you can keep in the strike zone for longer. In warmer water the strike zone is bigger. In colder water it is smaller. He doesn’t worry too much about color. Fishermen think about color more than they do about sex, he says. Your confidence in your fishing is in total control of your success, so pick a lure you feel confident that you can fish well. Pick any color you want as long as you believe in it. He usually picks natural colors. If you don’t feel good about it, you won’t fish it well.

OVERNIGHT CHANGES

Things like a cold front, a storm, a rising barometer, or weekend pressure and traffic can change things overnight. Let the fish tell you what’s going on. Try the pattern you established the day before, and if it isn’t working, you have to change. Cold fronts will move the fish either deeper or tighter to cover. The strike zone shrinks. Maybe you need to flip those logs today instead of running a spinnerbait past them. Maybe you need to go just a little deeper to the next structure. Clunn says that if you’re a beginner you shouldn’t worry that you don’t have a lot of years in the boat. Some anglers pay more attention and get more out of a year than others do in a lifetime. The biggest thing is to pay attention. Keep a log that you can refer back to.

JOHN MURRAY’S METHOD

John Murray started out bass fishing as a kid in Arizona, and is still considered to be one of the best bass fishermen Arizona has ever produced. His advice? “Don’t discount any part of the lake” is Murray’s first rule. “Fish all over, starting shallow.” Narrow your focus to your strengths at first–use lures you are proficient with and have confidence in. When you first start fishing and don’t really have a lot of confidence in any one lure yet, Murray says to try fishing just one lure all day until you know how it reacts to different retrieves and speeds, and you are confident of at least your ability to cast the lure accurately and fish it properly. Every angler should be able to fish spinnerbaits, crankbaits, plastic worms, and jigs with confidence.

“First of all, look for how deep the shad are,” says Murray. “Wherever the shad are, that’s where the bass are.” He uses his electronics to find balls of shad and pinpoint their depth. (The first time I ever fished with Murray, he was using a flasher and a paper graph, and he was kicking butt back then.)

MURRAY’S FIVE KEY AREAS

Once he has determined the depth of the bait fish, choosing which of the five key areas to try first is easier. Points are first on the list, and can hold bass at any depth. Murray will make several different presentations on a point using different lures, favoring spinnerbaits and crankbaits. The key to fishing a spinnerbait is the retrieve, says Murray. He usually keeps the lure one or two feet off the bottom and works it slowly, concentrating on the feel of the blades turning. If the “thumping” stops, he sets the hook.

Second on the location list is backs of coves. Topwater lures and spinnerbaits are prime choices here, and Murray likes Ricos, Zara Spooks, buzzbaits, and jerkbaits for shallow fish. For fish with lockjaw, flipping a plastic worm or lizard can be a better method. For shallow fishing (less than ten feet), Murray says to use a couple of baits and keep casting. Cover lots of water and look for bites, especially if you’re pre-fishing. If you know the fish are shallow but you can’t get them to take a fast-moving lure, make sure you flip into a few bushes or rockpiles before you move on.

If the fish aren’t in the backs of the coves, the next area Murray will try is a windy bank. He’ll throw crankbaits and spinnerbaits up into the brush, or pitch a lizard or jig to shore, looking for active bass that are foraging for shad and crawdads whipped up by wind and waves.

Steep banks, walls, and cliffs are fourth on our list of bass holding locations. These structures hold fish at different depths at different times. A worm or a tube bait is usually Murray’s first lure choice for steep shorelines like this. Getting the boat close to the bank, he casts the lure parallel to the cliffs and bounces it down the wall, feeling and watching the line to see if it moves differently than it should or stops where it shouldn’t.

If he still hasn’t found fish, Murray moves out to location five: outside structure. These submerged islands, rockpiles, underwater ridges, etc., often hold large concentrations of quality fish, especially in heavily fished lakes. Many anglers ignore this structure either because they don’t know it’s there or they don’t know how to fish it. The best structure is the stuff that isn’t marked – no buoy on it, in other words.

The key to fishing deeper water, says Murray, is learning to use your electronics. Murray makes sure he has good depthfinders on the console as well as the bow. The depthfinder on the console is the one to watch while you’re idling around inspecting structure, and the one on the bow is the one you keep your eyes on while you fish. If you know how to interpret what you see, you can position yourself right over deep fish and present your lure to them effectively.

A good depthfinder is invaluable for locating and fishing these underwater treasure troves. In the old days, fishermen would take years to study a lake, actually using a weighted string to map underwater depths, but with modern graphs you can do it in a day, especially if you have a topo map of the lake to get you started. Again, Murray says to look for the depth of the baitfish, then look for submerged structure that intersects this depth. Any lure that you have confidence in and can fish at the proper depth can be used to probe this structure: Ned rigs, split-shot rigs, drop shots, jigs, spinnerbaits, or crankbaits can all be effective.

Even on a strange lake or in unusual conditions, thoroughly fishing the five key holding areas with a combination of baits chosen from the top basic lures will help you find fish. Once you’ve determined where the active bass are, concentrate on that type of location only–don’t waste time fishing backs of coves after you’ve already discovered that the fish are on points. Cover the area thoroughly with a variety of lures. You have to find fish to catch them, and following this system is a proven way to begin.

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO

Pick a process: Clunn or Murray. Fish methodically and eliminate areas and structure until you start catching fish. Then pass over everything but the stuff you have determined to be productive. Sounds too easy to be true, doesn’t it? The old adage says that doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. Next time you’re at a loss, don’t keep going around and around doing the same thing. Remember Clunn and Murray. Find the fish.

How and Where to Catch September Lake Eufaula Bass

September Bass at Eufaula
with Dwayne Smith

September is one of the worst months for bass fishing in many of our Georgia lakes. The water is at its hottest and bass are deep and hard to find. But at Lake Eufaula the numerous ledges are full of bass and the grassbeds all over the lake entice some bass to feed shallow. You can take advantage of both patterns and catch bass there this month.

With 45,180 acres of water, there are lots of places to fish at Eufaula. Stretching 85 miles from the dam to Columbus, this long lake is mostly river bottom with lots of shallow areas and good drops into channels. Those are perfect places for bass to hold and feed this month.

Eufaula is a shallow lake with big flats everywhere. Grass grows on many of these flats and points leading to the channels, and willow bushes grow all over the lake, even on some mid-lake ledges. Bass like to feed around this shallow cover and can be found there all year long, but this pattern gets even better in late September when the water begins go cool.

Dwayne Smith won the Georgia Bass Chapter Federation Top Six tournament at Eufaula last April. He won it early, catching a limit of bass on spinnerbaits first thing each morning. Fishing with the Blackshear Bass Club for the past six years has taught Dwayne a lot about the lake since they fish it about four times a year, and he put his knowledge to good use in the Top Six.

Making the Top Six team each year that he has been in the club is something Dwayne is proud of doing, and he likes fishing the Top Six. He also likes Eufaula and can catch fish there most of the year. He says September can be a good month if you know were to fish.

“Start early in the grassbeds, then move to the drops as the sun gets on the water,” Dwayne said. That is a simple pattern but it works well for him most of the year, and September is no exception.

Dwayne will start each morning throwing a half-ounce white Terminator spinnerbait with a gold willowleaf and a silver Colorado blade. He likes a split tail white trailer and says the bait looks so good in the water sometimes he wants to eat it himself! The spinnerbait is fished in the shallows all over the lake, anywhere there is grass or willows.

Dwayne may start out on the main lake on humps but the sun hits those areas early. As the sun comes over the trees he will often move to the shady bank to get some more time with his spinnerbait. But when the sun gets bright, it is time to move to deeper water.

“Look for shallow water near deep water,” Dwayne said. A drop from the shallows to the channel is going to hold bass, and the steeper the drop the better it usually will be. Dwayne will fish a Carolina rig on these places, casting up shallow and working his bait down to deeper water.

A black Trick worm rigged behind a one ounce sinker on a 24 to 30 inch leader is Dwayne’s standard Carolina rig. He likes heavy line on both spinnerbait and Carolina rig, and uses 15 pound Trilene Big Game line on everything, including his leader.

You will often see bass busting shad on top during September, so Dwayne also keeps a chrome half-ounce Rat-L-Trap rigged and ready to cast toward them. And he will have a big Fat Free Shad on another rod to run across shallow drops in case the bass want something moving a little faster than a Carolina rig. He likes shad colored crankbaits if the water is clear and something with some chartruese in it if the water is stained.

I fished with Dwayne in early August to get a look at the way he fishes Eufaula. He showed me ten of his favorite places to fish in September to share here, and he explained how he fishes each. The following ten spots will give you some grassbeds and shallows to fish this month as well as drops to move to when the sun gets bright.

1. N 32 03.171 – W 85 03.321 – The bank straight across from the mouth of Little Barbour Creek has a good grassbed and is on the east side of the lake, so it stays shady for a good while each morning. Dwayne will start right across from the mouth of the creek and fish upstream all the way to the small creek.

Keep your boat out and easy cast from the bank and throw your spinnerbait back into the edge of the grass. Fish it back out, running it by any clumps of grass or any wood cover out from the bank. Dwayne fishes the spinnerbait fast, keeping is down under the water but running it back quickly at a steady speed. Making a lot of cast as fast as possible is important since this pattern does not last long.

2. N 32 01.997 – W 85 03.413 – Head downstream and the channel will make a sharp bend to the Georgia bank, then swing out toward the Alabama side. Right where the channel leaves the east bank there is a small island. A point runs off this island and follows the edge of the channel as it cuts across the lake. There is a red channel marker just off the island.

Dwayne likes to keep his boat upstream of the drop running off the island and casts up onto the flat formed by the point. He will work his Carolina rig or crankbait back to the boat, fishing some of the top of the flat and then covering the edge of the drop.

If there is current moving the lip of the drop is probalby the best spot. If the current is not moving Dwayne will work the Carolina rig down the drop and probe for any wood stuck there. He will work from the island out to the channel marker, fishing the edge all along there.

3. N 32 01.546 – W 85 02.876 – Head on downstream and the channel goes to the Alabama bank then makes a sharp turn back to the Georgia side. The mouth of Rood Creek is where the channel hits the Georgia bank, but just upstream is a small creek with a split near the mouth. The river channel runs near the mouth of it and the double opening has deep water in it.

The point on the split in the mouth of this creek has a hump off it that has stumps on it. It is only four feet deep on top and drops off to 25 feet or deeper all around. Keep your boat out in the deeper water and fish around the hump, making casts up on top of it and fishing down the slope.

This is a good place to run a crankbait across the top of the hump, then fish a Carolina rig on it. You will get hung up on the stumps but there will often be bass holding by them, too. Fish this spot carefully, taking time to cover it from all angles.

4. N 32 00.670 – W 85 03.605 – Downstream of Rood Creek the channel swings toward the Alabama bank and then right back to the Georgia side. A little further downstream it angles across the lake to the Alabama side, and just upstream of where it hits the bank is an opening to a big flat split by an island. This big area is actually the ends of two old oxbow river runs cut off from the lake by an island. Dwayne calls the big flat grassy area behind the island “The Barn.”

This very shallow water has lilly pads and other grass along the bank. Out in the middle you will see clumps of hydrilla. Bass will feed here year round, but move in more as the water starts to cool near the end of September.

Start fishing near the mouth and cast to every cut and hole in the grass and pads. Watch for dark clumps out in the middle of the open water and fish them with your spinnerbait, too. Run your spinnerbait along and through every fishy looking spot.

5. N 31 59.003 – W 85 04.129 – Head downstream past the mouth of the Witch’s Ditch and the lake will open up. The island that runs parallel to the river on the Georgia side, the one that cuts off the Witch’s Ditch, ends and the lake will open up. Just downstream of the end of this island is a red channel marker and there is a good river ledge here where the channel makes a small turn toward the Alabama bank.

Position your boat just downstream of the marker and you will be in about 40 feet of water. You can cast up onto the top of the ledge to 12 feet of water and fish the stumps on it. Fish all long this ledge, trying a crankbait and then the Carolina rig. When you hit a stump, pause your bait and let the bass have a good look at it. If you don’t get bit, cast right back to the same place to fish that stump again.

6. N 31 58.304 – W 85 03.888 – As you go downstream the channel will swing all the way to the Georgia side just below the mouth of Bustahatchee Creek. The red channel marker 103.1 will be near the bank and just upstream of it you will see some small willows sticking up out of the water about 200 feet off the mouth of a small creek called “The Watermelon Hole.” There is a big irrigation pump in this small creek and you can usually hear it running.

This hump was the site of a house before the lake was backed up, and the old brick foundation is still there. Fish all around this hump and the willows with your spinnerbait then back off a little and fish it with your Carolina rig. The river channel is just off the outside of it and the creek channel runs by it, too. Fish the drops into each with your Carolina rig and feel for the bricks. When you hit them fish them slowly.

Watch for schooling fish here. While we were fishing it some big shad scooted out of the water and Dwayne threw his Rat-L-Trap to it. He hooked a stong fish that fought more like a bass than a hybrid, and I was ready with the net when it got close to the boat. Unfortunately, the bass made a strong run and pulled loose before we saw it.

7. N 31 58.221 – W 85 03.924 – Just downstream of this hump, right at channel marker 103.1, the channel makes a sharp bend back toward Alabama and the mouth of Cowikee Creek. The water in the channel is 58 feet deep and it comes up to a shallow flat with a small point running out on it. You can see the small point as a buldge on the bank in the grassline.

Keep your boat out in the channel and cast up onto the flat. Some wood cover sticks here at times but the main feature is the drop. Fish the lip of the drop with crankbait and Carolina rig.

Dwayne told me this was a good spot hole as we pulled up on it, and he caught a small keeper spot here on his Carolina rig. Fish all long the lip of this drop as the channel swings away from the bank.

8. N 31 58.103 – W 85 05.776 – Run into the mouth of Cowikee Creek and head upstream until you get to the island on your right just outside the channel. The channel will make a wide sweeping bend all the way across the creek from the far bank to the end of this island and then back to the far bank. Stop just outside of the red pole channel marker that has a small number 271 on it that is standing off the end of the island. Keep your boat in the channel.

The outside bend here has brushpiles and stumps all along it. Dwayne will fish from this pole all along the outside bend all the way to the next red pole marker downstream. Near the channel marker at the end of the island Dwayne hung a strong fish on his Carolina rig but it got him down in the brush. He sawed it back and forth for a short time before it broke off.

9. N 31 54.845 – W 85 07.082 – Dwayne runs the Alabama side from the mouth of Cowikee Creek all the way to Old Town Creek Park. This is very shallow water and is dangerous if the lake is down any at all, which it may be in September. You are much safer following the channel.

When you get to Old Town Creek Park swimming area, just downstream of the fishing pier, a ledge runs way out from the swimming area toward the Georgia bank. It is called the “Closeline” because it runs so straight and far. Dwayne will keep his boat on the upstream side of this drop and fish all along it, casting up onto the top of the flat and working his Carolina rig down the drop.

There is some brush on this drop and the drop runs about even with the bank at the swimming area. If you look at the bank you can tell how it continues on out in the lake. If there is any current this is an excellent place and you can fish it out 100 yards or more. Current helps here just like on all other holes where there is a drop.

10. N 31 53.025 – W 85 07.843 – The last hole Dwayne showed me is a long point with rocks on it running out from the Alabama side. It is easy to find because there is a railroad on top of this point. The point he likes to fish is the railroad causeway on the Alabama side.

Dwayne will start on the upstream side of the causeway and work around the point with a crankbait or spinnerbait, casting up near the rocks and fishing back out. If there is current running around this point the bass will stack up on the rocks to feed on shad moving downstream. It is a good place all day long and is easy to find.

Give these spots a try and then use what you see on them to find others. There are acres of grassbeds on Eufaula and many of them hold bass. And the miles of river and creek ledges hold bass this time of year. Eufaula is one of our best lakes in September. Spend some time there.

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