It’s sunrise on a Minnesota lake. In back bays, waterfowlers unleash their
barrages on mallards, widgeon and Canada geese. The teal and most of the
woodies have already high-tailed it for warmer climes to the south, and the
big flights of divers are still bottled up in Canada.
I’m on the lake too, although not wrapped in camo and concealed in the rushes. Nope, I’m on open water, off the tip of a submerged point that was teeming with bright green cabbage just a few weeks back. Now, sparse patches are all that remain, along with some spindly lily pad stems wafting in the gentle waves.
Taking a moment to look around, I revel in what I see: Nothing. No jet skis, no pleasure boats, no water skiers, nothing. Most of the docks have been pulled in preparation for winter ice. Except for the gunners, I have the whole lake to myself. Life couldn’t be any better.
Reaching into the rod locker of my Crestliner, I draw three rods. One has a big, tandem, willow-blade spinnerbait — perfect for bulging at a slow pace just below the surface. I’ll fire that weapon after the morning sun has had a chance to raise the water temperature a few degrees. The second rod, another baitcaster, has a shallow-diving crankbait – an ideal “search bait” for covering a lot of water if I need to. The third stick is a 7-foot spinning rod with 8-pound mono and a weighted worm hook. But a worm is not what I’ll use. Instead, I’ll “match the hatch” with new soft plastic I recently discovered and have fallen in love with. It’s called a Live Magic Shad from Lake Fork Tackle. Into the tackle box I go and come out with a big 5.5-inch model in pearl white.
Why big? Because the cooling water has slowed down the bass’ metabolism. It doesn’t mean they’re not eating. They are. But they’re more interested in inhaling a big, slow-moving meal than chasing quick little baitfish. It’s like diving right into the 24-ounce Porterhouse steak instead of wasting your time on appetizers.
Why pearl white? Because I know these bass love to eat ciscos, and the white Live Magic Shad is a dead-ringer for a high-protein cisco. This is especially true in the way the lure moves. Its body has a series of segments molded into its form that create a hinge effect. When you swim the bait on a steady retrieve, the lure slithers with a tail-stroke action that looks just like the real thing. When you twitch it, the broad tail and hinged body impart a kind of underwater “walk-the-dog” action that’s dynamite. You can do anything with this soft plastic that you can do with a worm: Texas rig, Carolina rig, drop-shot, jigworm (shaky worm), etc. For slow presentations, the weighted worm hook works really well and creates a nice, slow descent for fall bass fishing.
The presentation I’ll select on this brisk autumn morning will be subtle. It’s post turnover, so the water temperatures have stabilized. The water is extremely clear, which is another byproduct of the turnover. As I mentioned, the lush summer weeds have withered to the last holdouts of dying growth. This is great news to the bass fishermen, because those fish still want to relate to the remaining cover. Since weeds are at a premium, the bass will congregate on the most attractive cover available. I remember a few years back taking three 6-pound largemouth on three consecutive casts from am 3-stem cluster of lily pads. Don’t know about you, but I dig that kind of concentrated action!
So, it’s time to fish. I’m on the tip of the point, like I said. My first cast sails well beyond a patch of brown pads. Perfect. I twitch-swim the Magic Shad to a couple of feet shy of the cover and then let it fall – knowing the nose-heavy worm hook will glide the bait down and toward the roots of the pads. It doesn’t make it that far when my line “jumps” and begins going sideways. Since the Magic Shad is heavily impregnated with garlic, I’m confident that the bass will hold on long enough for a good…
HOOKSET! There she is! Coming up immediately for one of those slow-motion, head-shaking jumps that only big largemouth bass can muster. I love it when they do that.
I proceed to pick the point apart with surgical precision and pluck every active bass from the spot. It takes patience and adherence to a game plan. It takes boat control, to make sure the boat is perfectly positioned for each ambush point without being too close to spook the bass in clear water. It takes focus, since finesse fishing with soft plastics means watching your line and being in-tune to the lightest bites.
But when the smoke clears, 22 bass have been boated and released from one spot on the lake. Whew! And it’s not even noon yet.
The next structure I target is a long, skinny rock reef with sharp drop-offs to deep water. This is classic structure, especially after the turnover because it is a magnet for baitfish. The sun has warmed the water since morning, so I know I can be more aggressive on this spot. Time for the big tandem spinnerbait, beginning with white. I add a stinger hook and a red Lindy Thumpin’ Grub. The grub increases the visual profile of the bait and adds a splash of color, while the stinger hook gives me an insurance policy for short-strikes.
I position the boat parallel to the line of the structure, so I can make casts that cut diagonally across the reef. This effectively puts my bait beyond the shallowest portion of the structure and allows me to swim it up from deep water; over the top; and let it fall down the break at the end of the retrieve. With this method, I can intercept fish moving up or down from the top of the reef while keeping the bait in the primary strike zone (right up on top) for a good spell on each cast.
My approach pays off. Big bass are scattered all over these rocks and taking the spinnerbait with such gusto that I remove the stinger hook. My arms are getting tired. Hallelujah.
Good Fishing!By: Babe Winkelman / Babe Winkelman Productions
