Conjuring Up a Successful Fishing Trip

As I was going to bed last night, it suddenly occurred to me that an unusual number of days had passed since I last had had one of my cluster headaches. About four-and-a-half hours later, I awoke with a real head-splitter and had to take one of the caffeine-laced prescription pills that I carry with me everywhere I go--have had to for a lot of years now.

During the next couple of hours, as I lay awake, wrestling with the normal accompanying side-effects of the pill, I couldn't help thinking how I wished I could create an unbelievably successful fishing day for myself just by thinking about it.

This day would have to be one like I heard a kayaker had on West Neck Creek a couple of days ago. According to an unsubstantiated report from one of my friends, this kayaker (and no, it wasn't Charlie) had caught a whole slug of bass throughout this particular day, among them two 4-pounders and one that weighed 5. My friend said the kayaker had referred to it as "the best day I've ever had." He even was considering calling his wife just to find out if she minded his staying out for a couple more hours.

Who could blame this fella for being so hyped up? I can't speak for anyone else, but 13 pounds of bass in only three fish would put a smile on my face that would last a while--no question about it. Supposedly, the kayaker had caught all of his fish on crankbaits. And, friends, when the "fall feed" or "fall frenzy," as some like to refer to it, is on, that's a hard bait to beat.

Here are some places to fish your crankbaits:

     * Where deeper water is located near shallow areas, such as flats.

     * Where there is any remaining vegetation.

     * Where you find schooling bass.

     * Where you find "solitary" stick-ups and trees--forget the clusters. Make repeated casts to anything solitary that you find.

The "fall feed" or "fall frenzy" simply means that bass are feeding shallow, deep, and all points in between. It also means the best locations will depend on temperature trends, time of day, and types of cover available. Last, it means that bass will be moving, and to be successful, you have to be moving, too.