Another Tough One

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October 16th 2018

 

Today was a difficult one to say the least! Mike & Corey joined me but we had to relocate to a different body of water due to the giant winds. Fishing anything else would have been next to impossible!

We arrived around 8:30 and headed out in 2 to 3 footers hoping it would be better where we wanted to fish. Fortunately the wind direction did reduce the size of the waves somewhat but it was still gusting at over 25 knots. This was going to be a challenge!

I Thought that a troll might make things easier but soon found out that we were unable to go very far without gathering floating weeds on the lures. After close to an hour of this torture, I decided to try something else. I had been marking fish throughout and thought we’d try casting some of the same areas that we had gone over, but the results were still the same. Plenty of floating weeds due to the strong winds! We eventually slid into one deeper hole and I switched them up to the bottom to try a little drop shotting.

I had wanted to anchor up with the electric motor but found this to be difficult as well. In the end, I had to use the small engine along with the electric motor just to hold in these winds and current. Not the first time and probably not the last! This would at least allow us to remain where we wanted and focus on the fishing!

Both Mike & Corey were slowly fishing the bottom now and at one point Corey got snagged. While trying to free his line, something hit the bait and he was immediately locked up. Although strange, it did show just how inactive the fish really were. This thing was a tank and remained on the bottom almost to the end. When he finally brought it up for me to net, I could see why. Definitely a good fish to get on a day like this!

After a few pics, we resumed fishing, but they unfortunately never had another bite. I was forced to pull out of this area and try something else. We were going to try drifting a little deeper with the drop shot and see if this would be any better. After a few tough passes, I realized that this wasn’t the way to go as I couldn’t reduce the speed enough to get a proper drift. Time for another plan and off to a heavy current break!

I had been getting big fish from an area lately and although difficult to fish, thought I’d give it a try. I would have to use the two motor approach again as the wind was not going to make it easy to hold! I did manage to position the boat properly but they only had a couple of missed strikes in the time we held and I was forced to move once again.

This time I went shallow and had them cover water with some faster moving baits, looking for any active fish. I even switched one of them to soft plastics when I sighted a few big bass just cruising the area. Nothing seemed to change though and the results remained the same!

We had fished through the morning and into the afternoon and finally took a short break to eat. While anchored up with the electric, I decided to make one cast and slammed an absolute giant! Apparently they do occasionally eat too!

After lunch I switched them up to slower presentations and covered the water that I had hooked the fish. They worked it for almost an hour without any success however and I eventually pulled the plug. Another relocation was made!

While drop shotting a bunch of deeper places, Mike finally hooked into a small bass and brought it in the boat. I thought we were going to get into several others as well as I was seeing many on the screen. Too bad this was the only one that wanted to open its mouth!

With time winding down, I decided to go back to where Corey had landed his big fish earlier and apparently it was the right decision. It was here that Mike hooked up almost immediately and it was another giant. After several jumps and powerful runs, I netted his best fish of the day. It was an absolute beast! I only wish that there had of been more just like this one but all we could manage were a couple of decent ones afterwards.

This was definitely not the typical day that I am use to seeing at this time of year and although tough, it was still rewarding. Big fish were landed but no quantity! I only hope that the winds diminish some or at least change direction so that I can get back into the great fall bite again. Definitely better days ahead!!