Hal and I went to Enid today. The day was cold but not too bad as we were able to stay out of the wind, mostly. We were fishing far back in a creek with spinnerbaits and worms. The bass would pick up the worms so lightly it was hard to tell you even had a bite. You would think you hit a bush with your spinnerbait and it would turnout to be a fish. We caught 43, all under 2 pounds. A cold fun day.

The water temp started out this morning at 59 and at 2 when I quit was 63 degrees.  Things looked bleak again early because the only fish I could get to bite were those 8 to 9 inchers, that are there by the thousands, and could not catch any of them. Four foot visibility still and that makes things difficult. Didn’t go to the best spot right off the bat because I was trying to find out what makes the rest of the place tick.  I did manage to catch two or three on Rapala DTFs 3 and 7.  They were in open water and feeding on shad. Lucked up and saw a bass chase a shad, hummed one of thoes DTFs over there and caught one.  After that I fancast around the area and managed to pick up a couple more. When I went to the good spot I caught none on the swimbait that I had good luck with the other day. I tried the DTF 3 and when it ran through some weeds and I snatched it out, one busted it. Caught one more there. I kept seeing some shad activity on the other end of the small channel I was on so I ventured down there.  That hole is 15 feet deep in the middle so I used a DTF7 around the steep edges and caught 4 nice fish in 15 minutes. Went back to the good spot and caught a couple more on a worm, but even the three pounders were biting like tighteyes. Finally I sat right on top of the spot and just shook the worm at them until they would bite. That’s how I caught the rest. I ended up with 16, three over 3 and a FOD of 3 – 10. Since the water is so clear the bass are a pretty dark green color.Not only did they have a beautiful appearance they also had a great flavor. Two fell in my 11 to 13 inch slot for keeping for the table and I have dined sufficiently.

Went today to Lake Monticello and thought I was going to do well. It was going to be cloudy and maybe a sprinkle or two, good weather for water with 5 foot visibility.  There were lots of schooling bass, 2 or 3 ounces from 3 pounds, that were moving fast and hard to catch. A Rapala DTF-3 did a good job of catching the schooling bass. The Robo Worm E Z Shad caught a few too as well as the FOD of 5 – 0. In my recent swimbait post I noted the eyes of the E Z Shad coming off but the fish didn’t seem to mind. It alternated with the 5 1/2 inch Bass Magic which caught nothing today. There have been 6 or 8 fish caught on that same E Z Shad and other than the eyes missing and looking like it got hit with sandpaper, its good to go. The neat little hook hider is a big reason for  that.  Since you don’t have to pull the hook through the plastic, the bait can be made with harder plastic, thus your little screw in spring will hold a lot longer.  A lot of tentative bites today.

EDIT: Hal called to report on Beaverdam. It’s usually not too good when the water cools but he and Richard caught 30. They had none 3 or better but got their line stretched 30 times. Duck season is coming so they are going to have to quit fishing there soon.

Got a text from Taff reporting on the tournament at Wolf  Lake. It’s high and muddy so the winners had around 12 pounds for the 4 fish they are allowed to keep there. Big fish was just over 4 pounds. It took 16 to 18 pounds to win there this summer.

I have been trying to learn about swimbaits for the last year or so and I thought it might be interesting to relay my experiences with them.  This is not intended to be “the everything you need to know about fishing swimbaits” post but just what I have learned or think I have learned. First , a photo of most that I have tried, and a poor one at that.  It’s good enough to show the basics however.The names of the players:

1. Storm wild eye 2. Luck-e strike Bass Magic 3.5 inch (rigged two ways) top, 3/0 weighted hook with screw in keeper, bottom simple jig head 3.Net Bait 4 inch, smelt color, rigged with a 5/0 Gamakatsu hook with no screw in keeper and 1/4 oz weight 4. Bass Magic 4.5 inch, natural shad color, rigged with a 5/0 Gamakatsu hook with no screw in keeper, 1/4 oz weight  5. Robo Worm E Z Shad 5 inch, SXE Shad color rigged with a 5/0 Gamakatsu hook with a screw in keeper, 1/4 oz weight  6. Bass Magic 5.5 inch, natural shad color, rigged with an 8/0 Gamakatsu hook with a screw in keeper, 3/8 oz weight 7. Strike King King Shad, Ghost color, with suspend strips (if you look closely) 8 & 9 are hooks to be detailed later. I have tried two other swimbaits  but have none to photograph. They are a Strike King Shadalicious and a Bass Pro Brand 5 inch swimbait.  You might notice there are none of those $100+ baits on my list.

My observation of swimbaits in general are they are most effective in clearer water, 2 feet of visibility and more. The more vibrations you can feel in your rod tip the better. Since the water is so clear the more the appearance is like a baitfish the better. A swimbait must be rigged perfectly straight for it to have the right action. Hook slots make it much easier to rig it straight. They seem to catch the larger fish but probably not as many numbers as other baits. They work better with a slow retrieve where you can feel the tail thumping. The slow retrieve helps to keep the bait deeper. The soft plastic baits have the tendency to run shallower the faster you crank. A heavier weight, and a pause in the cranking to let it sink, will help this situation.  Some of the best results have been by letting the bait sink all the way to the bottom and then starting to retrieve. A lot of fish have been caught on the fall, so watch your line. I’ve had better luck hesitating before setting the hook except with the King Shad. A 7 foot rod does a good job of setting the hook. The ones with the Texposed hooks or hooks sitting on the top of the bait are  very weedless.

1. Storm Wild Eye:  This is the first one I tried and the first one I caught a bass on. It has a big chunk of lead in the head and will go deep quickly. Very sharp exposed hook that comes with a cover on it. Not as much vibration as I would like.

2. Bass Magic 3.5 inch: First started using it with the weighted hook but it had to be retrieved too fast to get the right action.  The jig head seems to work better, especially in open water and if the fish are smaller. Even with the jighead, it needs to be retrieved faster to get the right action.

3. Netbait 4 inch: Has a slot for the hook for easier rigging.  I’ve used it with a 5/0 hook but it would have probably had more action with a 3 or 4 /0 hook. The color is good.

4. Bass Magic 4.5 inch Natural Shad color: Has been my mainstay. It’s shown here with a hook that does not have a screw in keeper. I start off with a screw in keeper hook and when the plastic gets torn up ( after catching a few fish ) so the hook will not stay in, I use the hook without the keeper to get some more use out of the bait. This one is shown with the hook Texposed but I’ve started to use the hook just sitting on top of the bait.  It seems to get a higher percentage of hookups that way and is still very weedless. The bait is hollow and I drop some scent in the hole in the tail, because out of the package the baits have a strong chemical scent. This bait has a good vibration at relatively slow retrieve speeds and good tail action on the fall.  I’ve caught more fish on this bait than any other swimbait but I’ve used it more too.

5. Robo Worm E Z Shad 5 inch SXE Shad color: It’s shown here with a 5/0 hook with a screw in keeper and a 1/4 oz weight. Notice you can’t see the hook point. It’s in an indention between the two small dorsal fins. Neat idea. It has a hook slot for easier rigging, The slot is also a good place to apply the scent that is needed to dispel the chemical scent. This bait has a different wiggle than the rest. It has more of a tail “swish”  than the others. It looks just like a fish swimming. Has good tail action on the fall.The others  seem to have more of a body roll. The minus on this bait is the eyes come off and it is slightly more expensive than the others, $6.75 for 3 on the net, the only place I could find them.  A place in TN had the beat deal on the shipping, $3.75 for a $18 or less order.  This one is my new favorite. A detailed photo of the hook hider. Pretty cool.

6. Bass Magic 5.5 inch 8/0 Gamakatsu with a screw in keeper and a 3/8 oz weight: I thought this might have been a little large for around here but the first one I caught was 2 1/2 pounds. Small bass not afraid of it at all. Notice the hook just sitting on top of the bait. Good for hook sets.  This one makes a good “thump” on the retrieve. Caught the FOY (fish of the year), so far, an 8 1/4, the first day I used this one.

Here would be a good place to tell about the ones not pictured. Strike King Shadilicious: Had a good action but the skin was tough. I was Texsposing the hooks then so that was a factor in a reduced hookup percentage. Not good then but if you were just  laying the hook on top it probably would make no difference. Bass Pro Shops brand:  It just did not have an action I liked. The action was “rolly poley”. I could not feel it on the retrieve like the others.

7. Strike King King Shad, ghost color, with stick on suspend strips. This is the second swimbait I tried. The hooks are so sharp I’m afraid of them. With the strips the bait might go as deep as 5 feet.  It makes a good vibration and in clear water the fish will come up a long way to get it. No hesitation with this one, just set the hook.  This one is a great cold water bait.

8 & 9. Gamakatsu 5/0 hooks with 1/4 oz weight. Eight is with the screw in keeper  and nine is without it.

Swimbaits are a “California thing”, relatively new in the South. I’ve been determined to try to learn how to use them effectively. No matter how old you are, if you listen or pay attention you can learn something new every day, or in this case every year.  I certainly do not claim to know it all about swimbaits but my knowlege base is growing. So far this year on swimbaits, I’ve caught 4 bass over 7 pounds, and one of those was over 8. I say this not to brag, but to show how effective a swimbait can be, especially in catching larger fish.  Perhaps sharing this information will help someone make their fishing more enjoyable, as the information that they have shared with me has made mine more enjoyable.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been to the Garhole but I made it back Wednesday. I did not know what to expect so I took a lot of hardware.The water was the clearest I’ve ever seen with a 4 foot visibility. There was something new too, coontail moss. The moss was only around the edges as the banks of the garhole are steep and a boat length from the bank it will be 15 feet deep. In the center it was 36 feet deep. It took over two hours for the first bite to finally arrive and then it was just a bump on the swimbait. When the next one  bit the swimbait, I let it run with it to make sure the fish had it before I set the hook. It did have it and here it is.The swimbait, by the way, is a new one for me, a Robo Worm E Z Shad in the SXE  shad color. I really like the swimming action it has. I m going to have a swimbait post soon give my observations on all the different ones I’ve tried. After this fish came 21 more, most on a worm, however. Four were over 3 with the FOD @ 3 – 10 and a lot between 2 and 3. It’s going to get nothing but better because there is a big crop of small bass. They quit at 2:30 and it was funny that they quit on Hal at Enid at 2:30 too. He caught 42.  Got doe number 2 out of the way this morning so the deck is cleared for more fishing soon.

Edit: Please excuse.  Hal caught 52 at Enid, I have been notified.  Honest mistake.  What’s 10 here or there.