In the blink of an eye we’ve gone from slathering our sweaty arms, legs and faces with sun block to sweating profusely under rain gear because the sun is blocked (by another passing downpour).
Tuesday morning saw steady rain falling as I backed the boat into the water at daybreak. Monday had been nearly identical, sending me to the house before lunch hour.
El Niño or La Niña, whatever…when can I go fishing?
“Wait a minute, it’s stopped raining. Guys are swimming. Guys are sailing, playing baseball. Gee, that’s better. Muddah, Faddah kindly disregard this letter.” These sacred words earned Allan Sherman a Grammy Award in 1964, and me a chance to catch some fish.
As I was about to call Tuesday a wash out and head home, sunshine glimmered on the horizon.
Now the liar in me wants to report that the fish became crazed and attacked my boat, that I needed a big stick to defend myself from their aggressiveness. The honest man inside me – who incidentally spoils a lot of my fish stories – says to write that I caught a few bass, saw a really cool rainbow and enjoyed being on the water.
But the part about needing a big stick, that part is accurate. The time has arrived for using your long-range fishing rod. What, you don’t have one? Here’s what you need to do.
The top water activity is on the rebound as the rain and the cooler overnights lower the surface water temperature. But as is always the case, the feeding frenzy is usually fifty feet farther than I can cast, hence the need for a long range addition to your fishing arsenal.
My most effective rod and reel combination from now until Halloween, and again following the spawn in April until the 4th of July holiday, is a combo that allows me to fling a Super Spook or ¾ ounce jigging spoon or giant swim bait a country mile.
I have one setup where I can almost “spool myself”, using nearly all the line on my reel! Well, maybe not exactly…but close. As soon as the big bait plops down on the water it gets hammered. Talk about excitement!
Here’s what you need:
- A 7’6” (or longer if you’re over 6-feet tall) heavy-action bait casting rod with a soft tip. The heavy-action provides the backbone you’ll need to set the hook at 150-plus feet. The soft tip allows you to play the fish without tearing the treble hook from its mouth.
- A high-speed casting reel (7:1 gear ratio or faster) so you can get the lure back to the boat quickly and immediately throw into the second school of fish feeding that just surfaced elsewhere.
- A Zara Super Spook, a Sammy 115, even a 1-oz. Rooster Tail, as your bait. Chrome and/or white seem to be the most effective.
Have the rod at your feet, ready to cast, awaiting the fish to surface. While you wait, probe the depths with a jig or a worm or a drop shot, but be ready, with cat-like reflexes, to grab that big stick and cast as far as possible, when you see the surface erupt.
This excitement will grow in frequency as the winter approaches; it even catches fish during the October turnover when all else fails.
Teddy Roosevelt is famous for quoting a West African proverb: “Speak softly and carry a big stick”; great words for foreign policy and great advice for fall fishing at Lake Lanier.
