I caught five this morning, two each on a popper and walking dog bait and one on a fluke. I was expecting to catch many more as I went to the stream that was a bog and pond, but when I arrived, I could see the bog and pond had returned. So, instead of the dam leaking, I learned that they drew down the pond/bog to inspect the dam and were refilling it using a larger dam and lake upstream. So, in two weeks, those bass went from a pond/bog to a stream where birds feasted on them and back to a pond/bog. No wonder I couldn't find a way to catch them: They must have been so confused!

 

Here's a pic of what was a mud flat last week:

 

 

The water hadn't fully returned:

 

 

However, the water was back to being pretty:

 

 

And here's the first of five bass I caught:

 

 

I spent much of the morning paddling and exploring to see how much it had changed, in case you're thinking, "Ol Crick forgot how to fish."

All my recent catches that were not BFS rats. Minus the senko fish every one came on a flashy swimmer + xzone swammer.

Last day of my PTO before back to work and then driving to Fort Myers for a week for work, got out for a few hours to make the best of it. 3/4 oz gold lipless was the ticket, got 9 and culled 2 tilapia. Biggest was a pretty decent one, went 4.61 lb and had someone else's EWG hook cutting her mouth up pretty bad so it felt good to pull that out before releasing her. Little bit of line attached looked like 6lb mono, no wonder they broke off. I did slip on some wet clay and fall hard on my shoulder landing her, but sometimes you gotta make sacrifices in this sport.

 

I'm so glad you yanked that hook, Aaron. Congrats on your seven-pounder! You catch big fish for a shore angler. Heck, you catch big fish for any angler.

Nothing big, but trolled up a limit of greenies and a few shorts on cranks this afternoon. Water temps still fluctuating, back up to 67-68 with our warming temps. 
 

 

 

I fished my final trip this morning. I know I can fish deep into November and catch bass, but I also know I can die doing so. The water is cold. Deep fall here. You can see it in the larches with their wispy, dirty golden leaves, which are the last to change.

 

 

Even the oaks have lost most of their leaves. You can see some of their leaves in my canoe below.

 

I saw three big deer drinking from the pond then bounding through the marsh and a V of geese circled and skidded to a stop, also enjoying my pond before fleeing winter, much like me.

 

The season might be wheezing, but my pond is always in her come-hither youth:

 

 

I pulled my canoe out of the water and brought my paddles and net home.  I also caught a dozen bass in a little more than two hours. One of the BR gang said that color matters with soft plastics. So, I remembered that and applied it with good effect. All my bass came on an underspin with a paddletail. My first paddletail had a green top and white belly and caught my first two fish. Then I went to a green pumpkin paddletail and caught nothing. In the water, it disappeared.

 

"Color matters with soft plastics," I was told and I listened.

 

So, I switched to a white and chartreuse paddletail and caught another ten. This was the best, nearly 18 inches and bulky:

 

 

The second best, 18 inches, but thinner:

 

 

A couple other solid fish:

 

 

One thing I loved about this morning was that I ended the year as I'd begun it, casting underspins with paddletails into the boggy edge of my pond. I cast well too, hitting the tight spots.

 

I so envy you Southern anglers, who have endured your merciless heat and now have the sweet late fall and mild winter ahead of you. Enjoy it! You've earned it.

 

 

Being a shore angler has some advantages. I can fish until the shoreline gets ice covered and dangerous to walk on.  And even if I should fall in, I can walk out of the water pretty easily, and my nice warm truck is now never far away (see my old post about falling into cold water when salmon fishing as to why the truck MUST be nearby). When the water drops into the 40F range, I am very cautious about being in a boat or canoe. Falling out of one of those into cold water, and not being right next to shore is a pretty scary (for me) idea. 

3 minutes ago, Kirtley Howe said:

Being a shore angler has some advantages. I can fish until the shoreline gets ice covered and dangerous to walk on.  And even if I should fall in, I can walk out of the water pretty easily, and my nice warm truck is now never far away (see my old post about falling into cold water when salmon fishing as to why the truck MUST be nearby). When the water drops into the 40F range, I am very cautious about being in a boat or canoe. Falling out of one of those into cold water, and not being right next to shore is a pretty scary (for me) idea. 

 

All true, Kirtley. Plus, on shore, you can walk here and there and stretch. In a canoe, I get so stiff. 

I had not thought about getting stiff from sitting in a canoe in cold weather, but yeah....I can understand that. Must be tough to get out of the canoe at the end of the day sometimes. With my physical limitations, I would need a crane or at least a Hoyer lift to get out of it. Heck, after a day of fishing now I need liberal applications of Voltaren and Lidacane patches to be able to move without significant pain and stiffness. But it is still worth it, and I have no intention of stopping fishing until I just cannot move. Sometimes it may hurt my body, but it soothes my mind and soul.

4 minutes ago, Kirtley Howe said:

Sometimes it may hurt my body, but it soothes my mind and soul.

 

Amen, brother.

16 minutes ago, Kirtley Howe said:

When the water drops into the 40F range

 

Anything below about 60 is arguably downright dangerous to be in.

 

Regardless of whether you fall in from boat, canoe, whatever, its not gonna matter if the water is 40 or 50.  You better be wearing a PFD because you aren't going to react positively and clearly in that situation.

 

 

36 minutes ago, gimruis said:

You better be wearing a PFD because you aren't going to react positively and clearly in that situation.

 

I always wear a PFD and I appreciate the times when you've urged other BR members to wear theirs. I once got some great overhead shots of a kayaker surfing waves, but my editor said he couldn't use them because the guy wasn't wearing a PFD. I admired his position. 

I fell in 47 degree water and luckily I reacted extremely quickly and positively, I was back in a 14’ V - bottom boat before I even knew it. Looking back I should have just went to the bank 12 feet away but instinct took over and I shot out of the water like a dolphin in boots jeans and a heavy hoodie

45 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

I fell in 47 degree water and luckily I reacted extremely quickly and positively, I was back in a 14’ V - bottom boat before I even knew it. Looking back I should have just went to the bank 12 feet away but instinct took over and I shot out of the water like a dolphin in boots jeans and a heavy hoodie

Thankfully you were fit enough to pull it off.

 I didn't used to sweat it. I'm a good swimmer, but it's concerned me more in recent years. I'm not getting any younger and I'm not nearly as athletic as I once was, so I broke down last year and bought a Striker ice fishing bibs and coat set. They're very warm, yet light weight, and not bulky. Most importantly, they'll keep me afloat should I fall in cold water and cramp up. Considering the amount of cold season muskie fishing I do these days, I think they're a wise investment. 

@T-Billy

I was floating with my life jacket on but amazed at how quickly I ended up back in the boat. I think it was adrenaline because I have a hard time getting back in there when I’m swimming in the summer haha

@TnRiver46, pucker factor directly correlates to a sudden increase in athletic ability!!! 😂 

32 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

I'm a good swimmer, but it's concerned me more in recent years.

 

Same.  I used to competitively swim but cold water wearing clothes is just not the same as a pool with warm water.  I used to be a little lax on it myself.  My wife demands that I use one now.  She would prefer I wear it 100% of the time too.  I've just made it routine now wearing it while I'm on plane and hook up my kill switch to the strap.

@T-Billy does the striker suit count as a PFD or do you have to wear an additional PFD too?
 

Those suits are very popular here for ice anglers.

@gimruis, they don't count as a PFD, but the insulation will keep you afloat for a couple hours. I got the least insulated series and they're PLENTY warm for the coldest weather I fish in. Air in the 20's some mornings. Windproof and water resistant also. Excellent product for the cold weather fisherman.

 

That's a bass-catching sky, Russ. 

Got this long skinny fish on a hollow body bream .  I don’t remember the name of it Ive had it so long. Noticed a bass crashing bream at my dock, so I thought of the bait. Tied it on and in less than 5 minutes , had the fish. He hit it like a bream hitting a bug on the surface- just pecked it and it was gone!

First fish I ever caught on it.

3 hours ago, N Florida Mike said:

Got this long skinny fish on a hollow body bream .  I don’t remember the name of it Ive had it so long. Noticed a bass crashing bream at my dock, so I thought of the bait. Tied it on and in less than 5 minutes , had the fish. He hit it like a bream hitting a bug on the surface- just pecked it and it was gone!

First fish I ever caught on it.

 

That's a nice one, Mike!

48 minutes ago, Aaron_H said:

 

That's a nice one, Mike!

Thanks, but he was one step from malnourished!

This Saturday was a far cry from last weekend. Today was 100% cloudy with intermittent showers (raining steady now-thank God as we need it bad). High of 80°. Last week they were smashing baitfish in the shallows everywhere. Today, I saw that twice and very late in the morning. Only caught two and two hours apart, so slow, slow, slow. But many are getting ready to call it quits until spring, so no complaints! 
 

First bass was on an A-Jay Special (1/4 oz. pegged bullet weight; Dirty Jigs 60 strand skirt in Dirty 420 on a Boss punch hub in green pumpkin; 5/0 Gamakutsu EWG; Rage Craw in green pumpkin) and the second on a dark pumpkin w/black flake Fat IKA. That one was nice. I saw a swirl deep inside a blowdown and hit the spot dead nuts from about 90’. It got smashed immediately. Both were 17”.