I haven't posted a report in a very long time so I figured I would post one to close off the 2012 Bass Season for me.

I have caught smallies the past 3 weekends. Most of them were in the 1.5 lb range with a few in the 1 lb range and 1 just under 2 lbs. I caught 1 on 10/21, 5 on 10/27, and 3 on 11/3. I don't believe I have ever caught a bass in November so I was pretty excited about that.

With the rapidly cooling water temps, I wasn't sure what to expect but I knew that I had to slow down and fish finesse to entice them into biting. Out of curiosity, I tried throwing crankbaits, jigs, texas rigged craws, but I couldn't buy a bite with them. I caught all of my fish by working a drop shot rig.

You can talk to 20 different people and you might get 20 different answers on "how to properly work a drop shot rig". Some people will be ignorant enough to tell you that you can only catch them on a drop shot one way and say you have to do this or that. My advice to you is to ignore them. Experiment with different methods and see what produces. Whether it's constantly twitching your rod tip to make your bait dance or semi dead sticking for a dying action, let the bass tell you what they want.

Since it's fall and the water is getting a lot colder, these smallies are a little bit lethargic. They aren't really striking the baits but are more of less just sucking them in. The way that you can tell that you have one on is to pay attention to your line tension. Having a sensitive rod definitely helps as well. If you feel any difference in line tension or can feel the weight of the fish, lower your rod, reel down, and set the hook!

Also, don't be afraid of the rain or wind! The weather was nasty on 10/27 which was when I took a buddy fishing with me. I put him on 3 smallies and I ended up catching 5. We even had a double header! His first fish of the day was a nice 2 lb 3 oz smallie which was the biggest of the day.

The fishing on 11/3 was a bit slow. There were monster craws coming in and out of the rocks so I caught a few just for fun. They were big and pushing 8-9" from the tip of the claw to the tip of the tail.

I don't know if we have many more days or weekend left to catch bass from shore but I will be trying until I can't buy a bite. Then I will be switching over to chasing those Green Lake German Browns again!

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