Late summer and fall offer excellent topwater largemouth bass fishing. Yet some days nothing goes as planned.
The original idea was to use rubber mice and frogs to draw big bass out from under the moss off a small lake in Kansas. Problem was, this technique didn't draw a strike after two passes-not even from a tiny bluegill. Heavy rains the night before had apparently changed bass patterns on the little lake. Steve Matt and I were both certain this technique would work and only brought a plastic box of the weedless floaters.
I noticed a plastic box stashed under the boat seat and found it was full of panfish lures, like Road Runners, Mepps spinners and Beetle Spins.
“Let's not waste the day,” I suggested. “Maybe a bluegill will bite or even a crappie.
Light breezes drifted the boat toward a shallow eastern shore that was covered with moss. We both threw chartreuse Road Runners and reeled back fast enough to avoid dragging through weeds. Suddenly a sharp strike doubled my medium-action spinning rod and the fight was on.
“Bass,” I guessed.
I soon released my two pounder and Matt hooked another one about the same size. Suddenly we found the bass we came for — and on 1/32-ounce lures.
Later that morning I felt a sharp hit and line started pulling through my reel's drag system. Clearly this was bigger and running away. I hoped the light-weight hook would hold. The bass made several sharp runs and I could only hang on.
Soon I reach down and lip landed a five-pound largemouth, probably weighing closer to seven pounds just before the spawn as was evidenced by her big head.
Would they have hit on bigger lures if not for heavy rains pounding the surface just hours before? Possibly, but the smaller lures made less noise when striking the surface and I have found that can make a difference-especially in smaller lakes or ponds.
There is a time and place for using small lures on largemouth bass, a lesson I should have remembered from my youth. My childhood buddy, Bob Guerra and I pounded the shorelines of a lake close to our homes with Mepps and Shyster spinners, Al's Goldfish and Swedish Pimple spoons with Beetle Spins and Road Runners.
We caught scores of largemouth bass and all kinds of panfish too by walking shorelines. We commonly caught bigger bass than fishermen with nice boats and bigger lures. I believe this is due to two reasons: because we were closer to the structure, fishing around a lot of docks with weed and moss beds, and our smaller lures seemed like easier meals to the bass.
Of course, I can second guess every bass in the lake like many so-called experts try to do, but only bass know what is appealing at any given time. Truthfully, the key to bass fishing is trying different techniques and lure sizes, shapes and colors. Let the bass tell you what they want.
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Late summer and fall offer excellent topwater largemouth bass fishing. Yet some days nothing goes as planned.
The original idea was to use rubber mice and frogs to draw big bass out from under the moss off a small lake in Kansas. Problem was, this technique didn't draw a strike after two passes-not even from a tiny bluegill. Heavy rains the night before had apparently changed bass patterns on the little lake. Steve Matt and I were both certain this technique would work and only brought a plastic box of the weedless floaters.
I noticed a plastic box stashed under the boat seat and found it was full of panfish lures, like Road Runners, Mepps spinners and Beetle Spins.
“Let's not waste the day,” I suggested. “Maybe a bluegill will bite or even a crappie.
Light breezes drifted the boat toward a shallow eastern shore that was covered with moss. We both threw chartreuse Road Runners and reeled back fast enough to avoid dragging through weeds. Suddenly a sharp strike doubled my medium-action spinning rod and the fight was on.
“Bass,” I guessed.
I soon released my two pounder and Matt hooked another one about the same size. Suddenly we found the bass we came for — and on 1/32-ounce lures.
Later that morning I felt a sharp hit and line started pulling through my reel's drag system. Clearly this was bigger and running away. I hoped the light-weight hook would hold. The bass made several sharp runs and I could only hang on.
Soon I reach down and lip landed a five-pound largemouth, probably weighing closer to seven pounds just before the spawn as was evidenced by her big head.
Would they have hit on bigger lures if not for heavy rains pounding the surface just hours before? Possibly, but the smaller lures made less noise when striking the surface and I have found that can make a difference-especially in smaller lakes or ponds.
There is a time and place for using small lures on largemouth bass, a lesson I should have remembered from my youth. My childhood buddy, Bob Guerra and I pounded the shorelines of a lake close to our homes with Mepps and Shyster spinners, Al's Goldfish and Swedish Pimple spoons with Beetle Spins and Road Runners.
We caught scores of largemouth bass and all kinds of panfish too by walking shorelines. We commonly caught bigger bass than fishermen with nice boats and bigger lures. I believe this is due to two reasons: because we were closer to the structure, fishing around a lot of docks with weed and moss beds, and our smaller lures seemed like easier meals to the bass.
Of course, I can second guess every bass in the lake like many so-called experts try to do, but only bass know what is appealing at any given time. Truthfully, the key to bass fishing is trying different techniques and lure sizes, shapes and colors. Let the bass tell you what they want.
