Cut Bait

Fishing this morning in the cold windy conditions of Lake Lanier. Wind was at about 14 mph and the air temp was in the 40s.

Using trout on free lines first, meaning I just rigged up the trout on the hook and let it swim, well it tuckered out and died. So, I decided to cut it up into sections and use it for cut bait on the bottom.

For this I used my 1/2 oz Carolina rig setup for bass that I bought from Cabelas a while back. Thought this would be ok for weighting purposes. I tied that into the main line and then a 2 ft leader of my main line along with a 4/0 circle hook on the end with a sliced section of trout.

Let the bait sit after casting it a long distance and letting it fall a good 15 to 20 feet.

Well it wasn't a striper that picked it up and made my line strip off my reel it was this big catfish! Enjoy the pictures.

Getting Cold Outside

Well, it's December and the bass are getting ready to hit the Winter patterns. Right now they are still chasing baitfish but seem to be holding very shallow on rock. 

Today was a rainy day with winds from the West and dropping barometer. Great conditions for feeding bass. Didn't much like getting wet but I had on my insulated goretex Team Triton jacket so no problem with that.

Using a Rapala Husky Jerk 10 in a Tennessee shad color. It has 3 quality mustad number 4 treble hooks to help it suspend right where it needs to for the kill. I casted this one out on my 7' Berkley Lightning Rod on 8 lb test Berkley Solutions monofilament spooled on a Shimano 2500 spinning reel. 

I casted out around a rip rap wall where the park had built for people to walk next to the lake and view the scenery. I reeled it in causing it to dive down and let it sit for a few seconds. Then, I jerked it to make it rip through the water column and let it sit again while I reeled in the slack.

After my lure hit the rock and bounced off I felt a huge thump on my line and then it seemed like the fish took off with it! I thought i had hooked a baby striper the way the spotted bass attached this thing. I reeled him in but lot without a strong fight! Check him out and go get a Rapala Husky Jerk in your favorite baitfish color and get ready to reel, jerk, twitch, pause, and BOOM, catch that fish of a lifetime.

Jigs for Fall and Winter

Nothing tastes better to a bass than a crayfish and nothing emulates that than a jig! Jigs can be fished all year long with success. Above is a Bass Patrol 3/8 oz green pumpkin jig with a trimmed Creme black and blue craw trailer.

Other trailers that are natural and can be used include paca craws like the ones below along with worms and senkos.

The weight of jigs that I typically use is 1/4 to 1/2 oz. I also use a lot of football style jigs because there is a lot of rock around the places I fish. There is also clear water year around mostly so the other colors I use is green pumpkin blue like below in a 1/2 oz and a green pumpkin red in a 3/8 oz secondly.

More spinnerbaits

Went fishing again this morning in the cold Fall air. This time the water temps are at 70 and the water is turning over.

The transition is great no matter what the barometric pressure is reading. High pressure systems with wind out of the East doesn't deter the spinnerbait bite in the Fall! 

War Eagle spinnerbait in sexy shad with a double willow leaf blade setup is best around the mouths of creeks and around emergent and submergent vegetation. Try one burning it around this cover and see what happens!

Spinnerbaits in the Fall

So, it's finally cooled off and the fish are moving up more shallow now. This morning was a cool windy overcast morning, the perfect time for spinnerbaits!

I like using a double willow leaf War Eagle spinnerbait in a white color for Fall bass and there is a good reason, it works!

I use a 1/2 oz spinnerbait but in a 3/8 oz size frame....this is how War Eagle makes their screaming eagle spinnerbaits and it helps for longer and more accurate casts into the wind and for better control and feel of the blades coming through the water.

Caught 2 bass this morning from the banks. Enjoy the photos!

The 2nd bass really tore up my spinnerbait and it was a reaction strike as the spinnerbait was falling!

Zara Puppy Spot Remover

Went fishing again yesterday around the mouth of a creek. The bass were busting the top eating shad and other things.

Casted my clear zara puppy, a smaller version of a spook that resembles a gizzard shad. I walked the zara puppy in right where they were hitting the top and BOOM, he got it and I hooked him and got him in. He was about 2.5 lbs. Check him out below!

Hula Popper Bass

Went fishing yesterday. The weather was great!

It's beginning to be Fall and the air temperature is cooling off. It was a windy day with speeds reaching around 16 mph and the bass are starting to move more shallow.

Used a green frog Hula Popper and casted it parallel to the bank between the bank and submerged weeds and small trees in around 3-4 feet of water.

I popped it back in and it bumped the small tree. I let it sit for a few seconds and popped it in a few more times until it was about 2 ft away from me. Then SPLASH!! The bass grabbed it. Here are the after pictures.