Didn't get any at the city lake through several lure changes.

 

Did get some at the pond though, all on the H20X flatside.

 

 

 

I managed to get out for an hour and a half or so tonight.  I’m fortunate to have a couple lakes that are ~30 minutes away that are worth fishing so being able to leave home at 2:15 when sunset is about 4:30 means getting some quick fishing in during NJ November. I had low expectations considering the water is about 50 degrees right now, so my plan was to check out a couple rods I had in the basement and see if they were jerkbait appropriate. My plan for next year is to include jerkbaits much more than I do now because I’ve not done that properly yet.

 

First point, the old St Croix Avid 6’6” crankbait rod (3/16-1/2 oz, M, mod) is a pretty good jerkbait rod.  For that 3/8 oz bait range, it throws them well but has a lot of movement in the tip that you can really rip it in hand and not move the bait much.  That’s good because I’m aggressive.  The only downside is that I built it with a short rear butt and I like a LOTTA butt right now.  That’s okay when I’m working it, but I have to watch when I’m casting.  I think with a zillion it should be really good.  It also works with all the weights I want to throw.  

 

Second point, pickerel really like a jerkbait. I knew that, but apparently in a lake that I didn't know had them, they will show up.  I was just graphing around looking for structure or bait and found some cover instead.  I had put a 6-8’ jerkbait on my Cara BFS rod to see if that was a good option (rod and lure combo) and it turns out it’s fine.  With 8# mono it goes down to about 8-9’ (on a 6-8’ jerkbait) but with a 7’2” rod it’s a little long in the front of the boat.  I’ll choose the 6’6” next time, but 22” pickerel on 8lb mono in open water is pretty fun.  

 

 

After deciding that I didn't need a new rod (monkey says BOOOOOOOO!) I started graphing around the lake and found some rock piles that were interesting.  I dropped the trolling motor in and there was bait.  

 

 

Of course seeing the above you can see the fish hassling the bait.  This is the ideal scenario. I had some fish looking at a jerkbait earlier that might or might not have been bass but this was clearly a fish eating bait.  I made a couple casts with a 3’ mooch minnow on a 3/16 head that was already tied on but that wasn’t enough for the 30+’ that the fish was in.  I grabbed a 3/8 oz head with a 5” driftfly previously advertised here and it took 2 casts. The first wasnt’t close enough but the second dropped it into the ball and after letting it drop through the bait ball the fish hit when it cleared the bottom edge of the bait.  There was no question.  This fish was eating which was great.  

 

 

 

About a 3# fish at 17 chunky inches.  Amazing how quickly they can inhale a 5” bait.  I think I have a feel for how this lake will lay out this winter so that’s a good option for future reference.  I know 1 bass isn’t a blockbuster but it is a future pattern for making it work in winter.  A bass here or there when the water is below 50 degree as is winning to me, and I’ll remember that in December and January. 

 

Also, because @Swamp Girl likes scenery, here you go.

 

Yep, I love to see where you guys catch your bass, but I also love to read how you guys catch your bass. Thanks for the detailed trip report. You fish so differently than me, so I really enjoy reading this different way of bringing bass into the boat. 

On 11/16/2025 at 6:30 PM, Pat Brown said:

Hey everyone - last weekend we got out and had some fun on the little grass lake local to us and successfully filmed it and posted it on YouTube!  It’s beautiful down here in NC and I think our video does a nice job showcasing that in addition to a little fall Hybrid Hunter fun.  Our lakes close at 3:30 to boaters so it’s short and sweet but we get our licks in and show a thing or two about fishing the HH!  Enjoy and thanks for watching!

 

 

 

My wife Meagan did the camera work and editing and my dog Stella and son Jake co starred!  We had a lot of fun putting it together and we are going to try to make more!

 

Excellent work on the vid.  Followed!

I haven't had a chance to post pics lately so these are from almost a month ago. Nothing big, but a fair number of short, chunky fish. They were biting lipless, spinnerbaits, trick worms, senkos, inline spinners, etc.

 

 

The only big fish I caught is this 11 lb drum.

 

 

Since I included a picture of a drum I thought I should post a nice sunset to make up for it.

 

So, I drove to my pond to cast a few times and was skunked. I knew I was imparting good action to my Ned rig because I could see it twitching atop the ice. Yeah, that's right: ICE!

 

I was surprised. It feels early for hard water.

 

Does anyone else have ice?

 

 

I didn't bring a camera, so I'll substitute this one for my pond:

 

3 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

I was surprised. It feels early for hard water.

 

Does anyone else have ice?

 

 

Not here, other than some frosty mornings and one overnight dusting of snow that was gone by noon.  Open water everywhere still -- I could be fishing I had any spare time. 

14 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

So, I drove to my pond to cast a few times and was skunked. I knew I was imparting good action to my Ned rig because I could see it twitching atop the ice. Yeah, that's right: ICE!

 

I was surprised. It feels early for hard water.

 

Does anyone else have ice?

 

 

I didn't bring a camera, so I'll substitute this one for my pond:

 

I only like ice in my coke.  None in Iowa yet, but it's coming.  Gonna be a nice weekend and then...at least we have memories!

Another productive morning- A 7 1/4 pounder Out of the church pond…

@N Florida Mike, this is a Fall to remember for you. What a beauty!

 

Whatchya fool her with?

45 minutes ago, Jigfishn10 said:

@N Florida Mike, this is a Fall to remember for you. What a beauty!

 

Whatchya fool her with?

A  9 inch shiner.

Woo-hoo, Mike! Are you talking a live shiner beneath one of those balloon bobbers? I used a LOT of leeches in northwestern Ontario for smallies and walleyes. Live bait is fun and I'd fish them right off the side of the canoe. I loved that tiny tap that signaled a fish. I'm guessing with a 9-inch shiner that line would start to move off. Am I right?

 

3 hours ago, Lottabass said:

Gonna be a nice weekend and then...at least we have memories!

 

So many memories, Al! You and Mike scored like the Oklahoma Sooners once scored, again and again and again.

Katie, I use a rather small pencil cork , and run about 2 feet of line down where I tie a gamakatsu shiner hook on, and hook the shiner behind the dorsal fin.
There are two spots I fish in the good pond .  I threw the shiner out once , but he swam away from the best direction. I threw him out again , and in a couple minutes he starts getting real nervous. Then, a huge blowup but a miss. I waited , and in a few seconds, the shiner is jumping out of the water, preceded by  a 2nd huge blowup. She got the shiner that time !😉

Wow, Mike, that sounds thrilling!!!

It is so much fun to see a bass blowing up on a shiner! That one today was my PB in that pond after fishing it for almost 30 years. Edging closer to big mama that I think I’ve hooked a few times and lost.

Somebody will probably judge me for fishing with them but I fished that pond with artificials until kind of giving up 2 years ago. Biggest bass I caught in all those years was 3.5 on artificials. I have tried all kinds of baits with all kinds of presentations, many , many times. 
My opinion on live bait is that it’s completely fine as long as you don’t break the law. It’s harder in some ways than fishing with artificials. I catch my own shiners, and have to keep Them alive. 

39 minutes ago, N Florida Mike said:

Somebody will probably judge me for fishing with them

 

Not me. Live bait is a blast. When I use it, I'm quick to set the hook. Sure, I lose a few, but I've caught so many with live bait that it doesn't matter. 

 

In northwestern Ontario, live bait was perfect for me because I'd simply drag a leech while I paddled the canoe to position it for my lure-casting buddy in the bow. This way, I could keep the paddle in my hand for maximum canoe control, but still catch fish. 

Last night it got down to 31 degrees. But today and tommorow are reaching 56 in the afternoon. Beautiful sunny morning. So I went and tried. Little bit of wind and sunny but 44 degrees. I fished for an hour and got two this size. They were collddddd. I enjoyed the trip though. They bother were caught on a weedless underspin with a 3 inch crush city mayor on a spinning rod. Not a bait or combo I fish much so it made the trip that much more enjoyable. 

I woke up at 6:00 am and tried to decide where to fish. I was going to go to one of two different ponds, but after a long, busy week, I didn’t feel like doing the longer drive and longer portage to launch the boat, so I went to my normal pond that’s 1/4 mile away. 
 

Took my time and was fishing by 8:00 am. I started with a 6th Sense jerkbait as that caught my only fish last weekend. Didn’t take long and I caught a bass. Only a 12”, but that beats the skunk. A short time later I switched to a blue/black jig with a blue craw trailer and got a strike, but it slipped the hook. Later tried a chartreuse/white Siebert Fogy bladed jig with a green pumpkin Rage Menace trailer and a A-Jay Special, but no bites. Even tried a weightless TR with a 5” watermelon/cream laminate Senko and no bites. 
 

I sighed and figured that was probably it, and then I looked around and thought, “Dude! It’s the Saturday before Thanksgiving, it’s 75° and partly sunny, and you’re fishing! How many others wish they still had decent weather to chase bass in?” 
 

So I decided to simply enjoy the weather and being out on the water, and began tossing that bladed jig again. I think I was on my third cast and “wham!”, it got hit hard. When it jumped I figured it was a decent bass. It was a nice 4 lb. bass. Later caught two more on the jerkbait. 
 

Pleasent day, air warmed to 60, water was still 49 (warmer than I thought it would be).

Caught 9 on a squarebill, 14 on a Wiggle Wart.  Couldn't find a big 'un, but pretty good for Nov. 22! 

Should have spent time chasing crappies, as they were bunched up big time!

 

I thought about you fishing today, Al, and smiled. I'm glad one of us is still dancing with bass, whatever their size.  

2 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

I thought about you fishing today, Al, and smiled. I'm glad one of us is still dancing with bass, whatever their size.  

Then we were both smiling!  You were fishing in spirit!  I thought about you every time that Wiggle Wart stopped wiggling!😁

8 hours ago, N Florida Mike said:

It is so much fun to see a bass blowing up on a shiner! That one today was my PB in that pond after fishing it for almost 30 years. Edging closer to big mama that I think I’ve hooked a few times and lost.

Somebody will probably judge me for fishing with them but I fished that pond with artificials until kind of giving up 2 years ago. Biggest bass I caught in all those years was 3.5 on artificials. I have tried all kinds of baits with all kinds of presentations, many , many times. 
My opinion on live bait is that it’s completely fine as long as you don’t break the law. It’s harder in some ways than fishing with artificials. I catch my own shiners, and have to keep Them alive. 

For what it’s worth I for one will not not judge you even though I at this stage in the game enjoy casting whenever I get the chance to fish, I have fond memories of catching smaller perch in Minnesota as a kid and using them to try to lure a northern pike to grab one under the biggest red and white round plastic bobber that was in my tackle box. Heck if I could find the time I know if I picked up a dozen or two fathead minnows I could catch a fish pretty much every time I threw one out as I’ve watched more than a handful of folks do it on my favorite retention ponds. As long as it’s legal you do you and I can’t wait to see Big Momma when you finally catch her and share the photo with all of us. Keep on keeping on my man👊🏻

14 hours ago, N Florida Mike said:

My opinion on live bait is that it’s completely fine as long as you don’t break the law. It’s harder in some ways than fishing with artificials. I catch my own shiners, and have to keep Them alive. 

I agree. There are many ways to fish. We can all fish however we like, as long as it’s legal. I prefer artificial because I like to cast, but I fish live bait sometimes. It is still fun, just different.
 

If you’re not fishing where the fish are it doesn’t matter whether you fish with live, or artificial bait…you aren’t catching anything.

 

Great fish, Mike!

@Fishlegs I’m not giving up on artificials though…. I work security at my church and do the overnight shift on Friday night/Saturday morning. It puts me in a position to fish the ponds right at daybreak . I have been dialing into shiner fishing there and I do it occasionally at my home lake . It’s a fun change of pace.  
 

 

Fishing was slow, weather was amazing. Float planes, loons, bald eagles, and beavers were all out enjoying it