My wife was working today and I got up with her at 5:00 a.m. I had made the decision last evening not to fish as a rider with my bass club since I have had some luck the last few weeks in these tough conditions on the Lower Susquehanna. I didn't want to put myself in a weaker position by being a rider. So, I turned down the opportunity to fish with them and chose to fish by myself instead.
After hooking up the boat and putting drinks in a cooler, I headed to the gas station and then to our local restaurant by 7:00 a.m. I needed to stop at the local Weiss Market to pick up lunch.
I eventually got to my fishing destination by 8:40 a.m. and was on the water by 9:00 a.m. I'm never in too big of a hurry to get out on the water in these cold temps. The early morning water is at it's coldest of the day and will warm to it's highest temperature by 3:00 p.m. Today was no exception.
I initially traveled to the east shoreline and found the water temperature to be a chilly 46.8 degrees on my Lowrance. I failed to catch any bass in the two and a half hours I spent there.
I decided to head back to the west shoreline around noon where the water was warming nicely from the morning sun. I found the water temperature to be 50.6 degrees. As the day progressed, the highest temperature reading was 51 degrees at 3:30 p.m.
It was a sunny morning with a slight hazy fog hanging in the air (see pics).
After trying spinnerbaits, tubes, and jerkbaits, I finally connected with a small 14" bass on a 2.5" tube. A few minutes later, this nice 15" bass hit the same exact tube.
So I decided to take a quick pic of it because I wasn't sure if anything bigger would come into the boat today.
As I drifted the shoreline, I saw a bass chasing a shad into the shallows. I tossed my tube at the spot of the commotion without success. I reeled back in as quick as I could and gave it another try. This time, my cast was slightly upriver from the last cast. Wham! This was the result of that cast.
Look at how fat this 17 1/8th in. bass was! I got my scale out and weighed her at 3 lbs. 4 oz. What a chunk!
Okay, it was time to try the CWSD that I had tied on a baitcaster. I was sitting in about 9-10 feet of water and casting into 6 feet. After several casts, this Hawg nailed it and dug for the bottom.
She was 19.25" in length and weighed in at 3 lbs 12 oz.
The day was certainly warming up nicely and turning into a great outing.
I ended this autumn day with 11 bass in the boat with the that 19" momma being the largest.
I was a bit concerned with the slow start this morning, but that's so typical of these fall days that start out so cold and warm up nicely as the day wears on.
dad
