Bass Fishing Through the Fall Transition 3: Mid to Late Fall: VFJ27
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- Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
- Video Fishing Journal 27 sees once-again changing water conditions, those that follow the early-Fall vegetation crash. Water temperatures are down, clarity is up, in this contour-less, heavily vegetated public water. Are we nuts? Isn't there easier fishing to be had, as we slide ever closer to Winter? Up for a challenge? We might even learn a few things along the way.
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Oh! Great Journal!!!!
Thanks, Michael. Kind of a rush getting it out. I had to chuckle over the intro. The intro music just didn't match my energy level at the start. But, I had to move on... :)
I want to get my last Fall/first Winter vids out now. Busy week ahead, with the holiday coming. Cheers, Paul
Thank you so much Paul, I'm fairly new to fishing, I started this june and have become obsessed. You are the only person I've found that has the knowledge and passion for bass and it's beautiful, thank you so much for putting your knowledge out there for us to learn
Hi, BK. Thanks. Great to hear. It’ll be some time yet before I can get back to business here. In the meantime there should be plenty to chew on. Cheers, Paul
Thanks for another great video.
Hey, GMF. You bet. Hope it's interesting, and even useful. Paul
To cold for horizontal speed. That makes sense. I should have slowed it down with jigs. I was using a small magic swimmer and I had a big bass follow in like a missile two times but ran out of room. Now I have a skim of ice and have to wait for safe ice to see these bass.
Great informative video Paul. Thank you👍
Yeah... Chuck-n-wind, and speed, sure makes things a lot easier, when the fish are willing. And, I use as much of it as I can get away with. As water gets colder though, speed generally falls off the agenda. Found this out years ago, luckily. I had a few spots that just piled bass up in the spring. And I could catch them pretty regularly, after a certain date. I then decided to try earlier and earlier, and found they arrived in those spots earlier than I'd thought. To catch them I had to s-l-o-w d-o-w-n. I went to lighter flat pill shaped jig heads, started adding bucktail, buoyant trailers, and overhead clip-on spinners. Bang! Back in business, just like that. Catch back up.
Nowadays I'm always willing to experiment, pushing the envelope, to see what I might get away with. But, slow tends to catch em best when it's cold, and for me it seems to be down around the 50F mark. It's why I call 50F the cut-off for winter for bass. This line-in-the-sand relaxes a bit it, seems, in spring, compared to fall. Mid-winter is often the toughest though, so... get busy! :)
Great show great content man!!!👍
Thanks, CgeO.
Your commentary at about 3:40 aptly describes many of the waters bodies I frequent . . shallow, contourless salad bowls. The absence of structure and major depth changes, requires carefully seeking the nuances. Great content here on honing in on and reading those nuances in vegetation, current, available forage, etc! Thank you!
Hi, Duane. Yes, seems there's long been some confusion over "structure" and "cover". "Structure" as per Buck Perry is the topographical layout and features of a water body. And it's critical to how things setup ecologically. But, cover has a structure too, and on a smaller scale, it can be the important "structure" of a water body. That's bc bass not only relate/rely on the large scale ecological layout of a water body, they are also object-oriented, on a smaller more intimate scale. Both are at work. In both a true dishpan water body, and a single piece of structure on a larger more structurally diverse lake, we often end up paying more attention to the structure of the cover as we fish. Along with... all that other stuff. :) Paul
SWEET!!!!
Nice work on the Fall series, Paul! It looks like you may be almost finished. I am encountering 40 to 43 degree water temperatures on my fishing trips here. It is only going to get colder. Still catching fish though the bite is quite subtle most of the time now.
Hi, Ed. Yes, my last trip to this pond saw low 40s water. Almost got that J out...but duty called. I'm away but neighbors tell me we've got nearly 40" of snow now. Got two journals to get out when I return. Then, will have to wait for a thaw. Do you get iced where you are?
@@thenatureoffishing7591 Yes, my lakes freeze including the closest large body of water, Smithville Lake, which is 7190 acres. In milder winters Smithville will only freeze in the shallows but it can be difficult to get through the ice to open water. All of the smaller lakes freeze, though the last couple of winters I have been able to catch some open water on them after a multi day warming spell. During normal to harsh winters everything is iced. I can take a 3 to 3.5 hour drive south and fish Missouri's southern lakes since they typically don't freeze, but that is a long trip which I don't take often in the winter.
Always great to see one of my favorite channels posting! Thanks Professor for the upload! Valuable info as usual!
Hi, Stan. Thanks! Paul
Wow! I'm cold just looking at that float tube!
Hey, super. :) I'm dressed for it, and have good circulation, a genetic gift from my dad. I'm actually cozy out there. Check out VFJ11 for some really cold tubing. The trick is being dressed for it. People pass me hiking in or out (these are public ponds) and say, "You're going out there?" I reply, "Best seat in the house!" Funny thing though, I notice at the end of the day, the second the sun dips over the horizon, I say "My gosh my feet are cold!" So I started to wonder why that was. Turns out, my feet are cold all day long! I just don't notice, until the sun dips. And I mean the second the sun rays aren't touching me! Funny how that is. Paul
Love to see that line tugged. Great info and video.
Yeah, it's fun figuring out how they are taking. Not sure which I get a charge out of most: the strike, first contact, first run, jumps, ... Guess I like it all. Paul
I have a suggestion that most anglers may not consider trying. This season I replaced treble hooks on crankbaits to single inline single hooks. Truthfully, they work great and make releasing fish easier. They cause less injury to fish and few to none shake free. I used barbless hooks and barbed hooks with the barbs pushed down. Lures are less prone to hanging up and barbless hooks more often hook fish in the corner of the mouth and penetrate to the bend of the hook. This actually holds better than barbed hooks and still makes removal simple. False hooking fish seldom occurs. No fish I caught died from being hooked in the gills. This often happens fishing with treble hook baits. You can debate that some fish will miss being hooked; I am not so sure this is a valid conclusion. I did not seem to notice that issue. However, there is no debating that less injury occurs to fish intended to being caught and released for sport. If you consider yourself a conservationist and a responsible angler trying this is worth the effort to save any sport fish from an early end. Coming to a conclusion without testing a theory is certainly not proper scientific practice. I didn’t figure out this idea myself, this is commonly used by numerous saltwater anglers, trout anglers, Japanese and Chinese anglers. You have to decide as an angler what is more important catching a few more fish or saving more fish that will live longer and certainly grow bigger. (?)
Hi, Gizmo. I've used barbless hooks quite a lot over the years. Certainly in my fly-fishing. I often use barbless hooks with soft plastics, bc of the risk of deep hooking. I've also spent a few years with barbless hooks on my hardbaits for bass, cranks and topwaters, to good effect.
Where I've run into problems here has been when fish jump. I don't have many smallmouths here, but there are times of year when my largemouths here are apt to jump. The other thing I noticed with barbless hooks on crankbaits was with the use of softer, less powerful rods, allowing less tension on that hook, the fish more easily throwing it with a head shake, even underwater. So, I've simply gone to micro-barbed hooks. Barb sizes in general have gotten smaller in later years, esp on Japanese hooks. Otherwise, I mash larger barbs down about half way. Definitely makes unhooking easier, and potentially less traumatic.
Lastly, I was never able to go barbless with lures that are compact and heavy, such as jigs and lipless cranks. Fish spit these way too easily.
Paul
@@thenatureoffishing7591 That is interesting, I caught numerous Largemouth bass this spring and summer using Rattle-L-Traps using one size 4/0 hook on the back. I also did well using two 1/0 hooks together too. They were Owner inline hooks. I started letting the barbs on and then pushed them down. I did really well using the same hooks only smaller on small ¼ once crankbaits using size 2 hooks. I put them on top water walking baits too. I up size the inline hooks and face the tail hook up and the belly hook point facing rearward. If any bass, trout, pike, musky or salmon bites them, they are hooked. I used them on spoons and inline spinners in Alaska years ago (1999) I used them on ultralight lures as well. Two things cause fish to jump off too much drag and pulling too hard on fish that are still full of fight. Salt-water fish like Tarpon and Sailfish jump and the prominent lures for catching them use single hooks. If the line stays tight, they stay button. I just let you know about something new you might want to experiment using.
@@gizmocarr3093 I've only recently started experimenting with single hooks. And doubles too. Thanks for the advice on hook sizes. "If the line stays tight, they stay button." Agree 100%. I believe that was the problem I had with softer rods and barbless cranks (treble hooks).
@@thenatureoffishing7591 I know how much you enjoy fishing. When you are talking to the fish you catch, makes it obvious you care for them as well. Thank you for making great videos for anglers to learn more about the World of Bass.
They are definitely gaining some lbs! I wonder...could DO content influence feeding activity? My thinking is I'm more active at sea level then 12,000 feet...something I've been considering since last Journal. The thermal cline line appeared early this year on my graph and it's been another record breaking hot summer. Bass weren't very active . Just wondering. Thoughts?
I really don't know. That's a good question. Oxygen levels are lower at higher altitude. My bass waters are at 5300ft. I'd guess that the bass here are acclimated, if not adapted, to this. But I don't know how much of an added factor altitude could play. My water temps are often lower than many places bass live, and more variable on a daily basis, which could compensate.
It appears, from physiology literature, that O2 is less an issue on most waters than is the temperature itself, in terms of bass's activity. The two are related of course. Bass, LM's esp, are well adapted to low O2 levels. But, in very fertile waters, in high temps esp, O2 can become depleted enough to stress them. O2 levels can be a big deal in winter in the north; Some good research has been done on that.
How levels affect fish's response to lures is tough to get at. In our first Fall transition video, O2 was definitely in question. So I consider the possibilities, make my best guesses, and... fish. I'd love to be able to take O2 measurements, in certain circumstances, esp in such fertile waters. Just to rule 02 in, or out. But good O2 meters are expensive, and not in the current budget.
Great question. Wish I knew the answer to that one.
Paul
Paul, yeah, I priced DO meters myself. Not in my budget either! Haha. Couple years ago you spoke about temps and I purchased one i could lower to where fish to depth i get bites at. That made an improvement in my catches. When you share info with us, me, I then can look for these indicators. I know what I'm looking at or what to look for. This year we had no rain and no real winds for near 2 months so I figured the oxygen wasnt being replenished and affected my catching. So I went trout catching up in mountains....hehehehe...then that water level got so low....sigh...thank for your time and imput!!!!
@@michaeltichonuk2176 It's great to hear the feedback. Thanks for that. There are a lot of variables out there, so it helps to know what they are, before we start our guesswork.
Are you able to share which brand twitchbait you used?
Hi, wa. Sure! I'm not... exclusive. The one I used in this video was a Rapala X-Rap Twitchin Mullet. Pricey, but they make a good super-shallow jerkbait.
Thx for the vid Paul! I watch every one of em
Hi, Wes. Great to hear. Fall's pretty much over here now. So... on to Winter. Paul
@@thenatureoffishing7591 yea ive basically been on the winter pattern here in Southwest Virginia, i actually really enjoy bass fishin in the winter, i caught an 8.5lb largemouth back in January and plan to do it again this winter. Hopin to get a 10+ pounder this winter
@@weswarden2216 Yeah, I love the winter fishing too, when the water isn't hard! Luckily we only tend to ice-up for a couple months. And wow, congrats on your 8.5. Precious few fish like that here in CO. Good luck this winter. Paul
@@thenatureoffishing7591 thx man, i appreciate it
Good video buddy, how many jerkbaits have you lost there? I always cut the leading hook point off of them to reduce snags. This is the time of year for the Ned rig w/3" TRD worm. Boring, boring fishing .
Hey, Bruce. None! In weeds anyway. Wood is riskier. I carry a plug knocker though. I hate losing my old, or new, friends. How does that work out for you, cutting a hook tine off? I've just started to experiment with double hooks, spending so much time in extra-weedy waters this year. But, now that it's Winter here, the Ned has been doing the damage. I don't mind the Ned fishing. I actually cut my bass fishing teeth a long time back fishing UL grubs and worms, inspired by Charlie Brewer. As I figure Winter out in these weedy ponds though, I'd like to catch some on double hooked hard baits to see how they do. Could add some fun options to my Jungle fishing. Paul
@@thenatureoffishing7591 I noticed I'm able to keep my jerk baits, crankbaits alot longer by cutting the leading hook point. I doubt I've missed fish cuz of it. I've been experimenting with the "donkey rig" or " double fluke rig" in high snag percentage areas. Having sum good luck using 3" baby bass zoom split tail flukes. I just use small j hooks & nose hook them so they barely poke out keeps them weedless for the most part. Plus it looks so realistic makes it more fun to fish. Good luck to you sir. I look forward to your next installment.
@@H8er-Maker Thanks, Bruce. Curious how my double hooks will pan out. Still have smaller soft plastic jerks tied on too.
@@thenatureoffishing7591 Curious what do you use for a lure retriever? I have this orange 1 shaped like a little dog but I'm 0/5 using it. Just can't seem to get it down to the lure.
@@H8er-Maker I've made a few different ones to test, always looking for something smaller and lighter for my float tube and yak. But I've only used one. There's pic of it in VFJ17. It's a 4oz bead-chain trolling weight with some short 3" lengths of chain. I clip it to my anchor line, taking the anchor off of course, then to the fishing line. Then drop it down, while directly over the hung lure.
I've also made some lighter weight ones I've yet to test. One is a YT idea of just using a carabiner. Would have to be pretty shallow I'd suspect. I also made one with a heavier carabiner-like Snap Link from a hardware store, to which I added some chain links.
I also have the orange dog one too, attached to a retractable dog leash (Brett Hite, I believe). I have that one for full boat use. But, I've yet to use it. I would guess water depth, and line diameter, would matter. The dog leash I got has a thin (Dacron, Kevlar?) cord so that it doesn't affect the sink rate as much as those cheaper ribbon shaped lines would.
Hope this helps.
Are you able to identify bass sex when they are around 5 inches?
Hi, BT. No. Not aware that anyone can. Would have to dissect I'd guess. Even adults are tough to tell, or be sure of, unless they are egg-swollen. Paul
@@thenatureoffishing7591 appreciate the feedback! Raising a small one now and hoping it grows to be a female giant :)
@@44bthoj44 That's fun. Growing big is a matter of species (N vs FL), population, gender, temperature, and sheer amount of food. It has one thing going for it, it's not having to contend with the vagaries of the wild. Good luck with your new pal. Paul
Hey Paul can I send you some photos of my bass on your Instagram account? Big Northern strain from South Dakota.
Hi, Paul. Sure. That might get me to use IG some. Send away! It's: the_nature_of_fishing