There isn't a month that passes by that you can't catch a bass, and especially if you're near source water of a spring-fed, artesian river (I'm looking at you guys near the Comal and San Marcos Rivers), the water stays warm enough to keep the fish fairly active, if you know how to tempt them. Cue up the winter tactics folks, as October leads into November and we see the cooler nights and less available sunlight (less hours per day and a lower angle during the winter, means cooler water temps) we notice the bassin' tactics have to change. This leads me to my first suggestion... pay attention.
As some friends and I hit the San Marcos River this past weekend we quickly noticed the bass bite was slow. We hit the water at 7:15am on a clear Saturday morning, just as the sun peaked pink and orange above the horizon. Mid-October cooling kept us at an enjoyable 62˚F, and the water in the high 60˚s. As the 3 of us pressed on we hadn't caught more than 1 fish between us in the first 30 minutes, and that just being a small Largemouth. So we quickly regrouped and discussed the details determined to dial them in quickly. The facts:
1. The water temp was cooler than it had been, as was the air temp. Days are getting shorter. Water is colder.
2. They hadn't nibbled on a worm, a craw or top-water popping flies. The one dink caught was near vegetation and struck a shallow crank in sun drenched shallow water.
But knowing why the problem exists is only half the battle. Figuring out how to make the bass bite is the other half. So, we changed it up. We resolved to dive deep, play it slow, give the bass something to play with to test their prey. In short- we tapped into wintertime tactics...
I threw on a Zoom Baby Brush Hog in watermelon/red flake. Another friend rigged up a watermelon flake lizard. I pulled in the first keeper fish of the day, a Smallmouth, caught off the bottom, in current. All it took was casting the lure back upstream and allowing it to sink in the water column until it reached the bottom. Then a pop or two and the bass took the lure while the line was slack. My line started to move. I reeled in the slack enough to feel action through the 20# braid and 20# fluorocarbon leader. I could feel her working the lure in her mouth and after a few seconds I set the hook and made a clean lip hook.
Notice how torn up her tail was... seeing this a lot on all species of bass (for the past 2 months, indicative of spawning aggression, like our constant flooding and then lack of rain for 3.5 months has them confused).
It wasn't long before we were each catching them off the bottom, every bass before lunchtime (sans the first one) was caught off the bottom. We started catching big ones too... near 20". They all fought with vigor also... we each thought our bass was going to be bigger than it was, but that makes it more fun.
My biggest of the day came on a BBH, a Largie at 18".
As the day warmed up so did the water and consequently so did the fish. After lunchtime and with direct sunlight the bass started moving higher in the water column and moving over shallow rocks in calmer water to warm up. We started catching them on worms and craws again in the afternoon.
Lastly, I got to paddle my buddies Diablo Adios for awhile and fell in love with it. I've had my eye on these boats for awhile, notice they're made in Martindale, Texas, and also see they're perfect for the waters of Central Texas. It also didn't hurt that I caught a Guadalupe bass while on this kayak for less than 10 minutes.
So remember folks, as the mornings remain cool bust out your winter tactics and as the day warms up dig the summer tactics out again. But keep in mind... winter is coming.
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