Monday, October 6, 2014

Fall Foliage

I looked into the blog archive for September 2013 and early October blogs and guess what?  Nuthin' to report.  Now, I'm starting to realize why.  That's because the September/early-October timeframe is historically NOT a very productive time of year for me at the Pack.  Sure, I catch a few in September..but not the quantity or size like I do in the Spring.  And, not the size or quantity like mid to late October or early November.

I called my buddy Billy Albright up the othe day and asked him how the Pack was doing and he said they were getting the Largemouth pretty good.  Only a few Smallies but the ones he did catch were big.  There could be a lot of reasons for the fewer number of Smallies: falling water levels pushing the Smallies deeper, docks/boats being removed for the Season (Smallies lose cover), cooler temps (slows bass' metabolism so they don't eat as often), more frequent cold fronts (affects barometer and fishes swim bladder), etc.  

Perhaps, for me, it could be the wrong place at the wrong time.  I know from experience just because it's slow on one section of the Lake doesn't mean it's slow on the other.  But, that's just an excuse...at least for me it is.  What I need to do, is spend more time doing what I'm NOT doing.  For starters, instead of beating the bank, I should move off the bank and fish deeper (in 10-15 ft. of water).  After all, the Smallies will move deeper when they drop the water level.  And, they've dropped the water level dramatically at the Pack in the last 3 weeks.  Also, I need to start watching my fish finder closer for structure (weeds/rocks) and for food (baitfish swarms).  I know I don't do that enough in the Fall.  A lot of times the Smallies will force the baitfish into the coves and go on a feeding frenzy.  Creeks are a good place to fish in the Fall too, because the Fall rains bring a lot of food (like Crawfish) into the Lake.

Anyway, if you're like me, change it up in the Fall..I'm sure you'll get better results.  Fish ON!  Rob