bass
Most Featured
I hit the Columbia out of Stevenson Wa on Saturday. I was excited to get out and try my new fishing rod. I told my wife I was going to buy a new rod for my birthday and she said "Oh, is that what I am getting you this year 
". That's a wife who understands you!
I got to the river and since it was cloudy and calm I figured I would get things going with the old topwater. Well, the bass had other ideas. After just one dink I realized topwater was not going to happen. I quickly decided I should put the new rod to the test. I got a rod for fishing wobbledheads (swing heads) and other deep, heavy plastics. The rod I had been using for this for the past year was really just too light for that job.
I also felt like my spinnerbait rod was too light so I got the wobblehead rod, moved the old wobblehead rod to spinnerbait duty and retired the rod I had been using for spinnerbaits. I just want to say that it all worked out perfectly!
Within a few casts I caught my first bass on the new rod, a really chunky 2 and half pounder. Great first test. After that I could not get a second bite so I rotated through all my presentations. I was going to leave that spot when I thought, "Let's try a few more casts with the wobblehead". I am not sure what happened, but those bass woke up.
The next fish on the new rod was a 3lb 3oz bass. It was only 17.25" long. The bass have gone from really skinny to really fat in like a week or two. The shad smolt are out-migrating and the bass must be gorging like crazy on them and the crayfish that must all be out feasting as well.
It took quite a few more casts when I felt another thump and hooked another good bass. This turned out to be a 20.5" 4lb 8oz tank. Those big, fat smallmouth were putting that new rod to the test!
The coolest thing is that I hooked those last two fish on the very end of my cast. With my old rod my chances of landing those fish was probably like 10%. No problem with that stiffer rod.
I picked up a handful more of decent fish off that first spot, including the highest jumping bass I have ever seen, and by 8:30am I already had a 15lb 15oz bag going - all on the new rod! That's how to break in that new rod.
The rest of the day was a mix of fast action and long lulls. At one point I went over 2 hours without a bite, but then I would land on a bunch of them and it would be game on for a while. That feast or famine kind of fishing just screams fall fishing to me.
I did upgrade a few times during the day and by the end I had 16lb 13oz, 93" bag of smallmouth. Most of the fish I were catching were really fat but a few still had that summer gauntness. I caught a 15.75" and an 18.5" that each weighed 2lb 8oz. I think that skinny guy was on GLP1s or something
I have to also say that I was really pleased with using my old St. Croix rod as a spinnerbait rod. That rod performed admirably in its new role as well and got a pretty good workout too.
The funny thing about fall fishing is how all over the place the bass are. I caught probably 70% of my bass in about 25' of water and the other 30% in about 5' of water. The shallow bite was just on fire at the end of the day and they were still chewing when I left. If that last bass had not broken my spinnerbait (again!!) I probably would have stayed even longer
Overall, I would have to say it was a great belated 65th birthday celebration!
Here are some pics and the vide0.
". That's a wife who understands you!I got to the river and since it was cloudy and calm I figured I would get things going with the old topwater. Well, the bass had other ideas. After just one dink I realized topwater was not going to happen. I quickly decided I should put the new rod to the test. I got a rod for fishing wobbledheads (swing heads) and other deep, heavy plastics. The rod I had been using for this for the past year was really just too light for that job.
I also felt like my spinnerbait rod was too light so I got the wobblehead rod, moved the old wobblehead rod to spinnerbait duty and retired the rod I had been using for spinnerbaits. I just want to say that it all worked out perfectly!
Within a few casts I caught my first bass on the new rod, a really chunky 2 and half pounder. Great first test. After that I could not get a second bite so I rotated through all my presentations. I was going to leave that spot when I thought, "Let's try a few more casts with the wobblehead". I am not sure what happened, but those bass woke up.
The next fish on the new rod was a 3lb 3oz bass. It was only 17.25" long. The bass have gone from really skinny to really fat in like a week or two. The shad smolt are out-migrating and the bass must be gorging like crazy on them and the crayfish that must all be out feasting as well.
It took quite a few more casts when I felt another thump and hooked another good bass. This turned out to be a 20.5" 4lb 8oz tank. Those big, fat smallmouth were putting that new rod to the test!
The coolest thing is that I hooked those last two fish on the very end of my cast. With my old rod my chances of landing those fish was probably like 10%. No problem with that stiffer rod.
I picked up a handful more of decent fish off that first spot, including the highest jumping bass I have ever seen, and by 8:30am I already had a 15lb 15oz bag going - all on the new rod! That's how to break in that new rod.
The rest of the day was a mix of fast action and long lulls. At one point I went over 2 hours without a bite, but then I would land on a bunch of them and it would be game on for a while. That feast or famine kind of fishing just screams fall fishing to me.
I did upgrade a few times during the day and by the end I had 16lb 13oz, 93" bag of smallmouth. Most of the fish I were catching were really fat but a few still had that summer gauntness. I caught a 15.75" and an 18.5" that each weighed 2lb 8oz. I think that skinny guy was on GLP1s or something
I have to also say that I was really pleased with using my old St. Croix rod as a spinnerbait rod. That rod performed admirably in its new role as well and got a pretty good workout too.
The funny thing about fall fishing is how all over the place the bass are. I caught probably 70% of my bass in about 25' of water and the other 30% in about 5' of water. The shallow bite was just on fire at the end of the day and they were still chewing when I left. If that last bass had not broken my spinnerbait (again!!) I probably would have stayed even longer
Overall, I would have to say it was a great belated 65th birthday celebration!
Here are some pics and the vide0.
