Never Ending Winds

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October 12th 2018

 

After yesterdays difficult day in absolutely miserable weather with Herm, It was nice to get back out for bass with Tino. We met up around 8:00 and were on the water not long after. The strong NW winds were not going to be our friend today but at least they weren’t calling for any rain!

This was the 5th time this season that I had fished with Tino & I hoped it would be as memorable as the previous trips. We were looking for big bass and it wouldn’t be easy in the giant winds, but I would try to make it happen. I realized early that I was going to need the assistance of the small engine along with the electric motor to be able to hold in the current. This little trick has aided me in the past and would definitely help us today! It would also save the batteries from draining quickly!

First spot we fished wasn’t loaded with bass but Tino hooked into a nice one that soon came off due to the heavy current. I managed to bring another to net right after on a demonstration cast, showing him just what he needed to do. Too bad they were the only two fish willing to play, making us change locations quickly.

I decided to do a drift in these strong winds and we both drop shotted another area nearby, looking for more active fish. First pass yielded a decent smallie but it wasn’t easy with the wind & current. I tried several more passes without any luck and eventually made another adjustment.

I idled over to a shallow place and anchored up with both motors. I was going to fish the current break hoping to show Tino a few more bass. As luck would have it, this is where he managed to get into several good ones, finally understanding what he needed to do. A couple of his fish were real footballs and he was amazed at just how fat they actually were!

We had held on this spot for quite a while and had several other boats close in, trying to fish as well. They had a difficult time in the waves and wind and never really dialed in on exactly what they needed to do. All they did was just get in our way as we waited for them to leave! Each time they left, fish were caught!

After camping out for a while in one area, I finally made another move. I also showed Tino another presentation that I knew would work. We were going to cover water with hard baits and it didn’t take long to get bit. This was also the easiest method with the windy conditions we were fishing in. Tino locked up on many other bass while doing this and he was starting to understand just why it was so effective. We stuck with this presentation for quite a while again and managed to land a bunch more fish while doing it.

I had really hoped to get Tino into some bigger bass and decided to make another move back to where we had started the day. Although not easy to hold, I did manage to position the boat for him to get the right bite. He had locked up on a real beauty! Several jumps confirmed its size and I was forced to drift down in order to land the fish. This was by far the biggest bass of the day but unfortunately it wasn’t fat. If it was. it would have been his personal best! It was probably one of the thinnest ones I’ve seen for this time of the year too! Regardless, it was a nice fish and released after a few quick pics.

We spent the remainder of the day just covering water and several more smaller bass were landed before we ran out of time. Tino even had a close encounter with a toothy critter that ended in disappointment and the loss of a lure. He had managed to get into a decent musky and broke the line when it made a leap into the air. After this, we tried a little longer but had nothing to show for our efforts and decided to leave instead.

Although today may have been tough it was still rewarding for Tino to learn a few more techniques and see just what fall fishing is all about. We may not have gotten into the real monsters but there were still some memorable moments that were had. He had landed several fish on different presentations and almost caught his very first lunge! Too bad because he really would have ended on a high! Either way it was still a good day with many fish both lost & landed for what will likely be his last open water trip of the year. Better luck next season!!