This is the business end of the season for bass anglers ! Some anglers have already cleaned their gear & put it away for the winter, and whilst that might be the right move in some of the Northern areas of the country (perhaps), as you head further South, if you aren’t thrashing the sea to foam with your lures & baited rigs, you are missing a great opportunity !!
The seasons can be quite different around the country, but for some areas we are only now approaching the ‘peak’ of the season. Now is the time when you perhaps have the greatest opportunity for a new pb … a big female in prime condition.
It’s been an unusual year for weather, with some well-established patterns being disrupted. This has been observed through many migratory species, not just bass, but all being well, it should come good around now. The current weather conditions are typically autumnal which is making life difficult. Lure anglers are trying to track-down some decent water clarity, bait anglers are adding extra layers for warmth, but for those who dare, great things await !!
For the hard-core specimen hunters, this is the time to check hooks, take extra care with knots, set that drag properly and have a designated ‘lunker landing’ area identified on each cast.
It’s a bitter-sweet time of year also. The water temperatures are dropping, and everything is ‘in the zone’ … however, the clock is ticking and it will all be over soon enough. Time lost through bad weather, or the inconvenience of weekend Christmas shopping interferes with the serious job at hand of specimen hunting ! After that we have a winter of regrouping, planning, repairing & renewing, then the painful wait for the first of the Spring run.
So get out there, brave the conditions, be safe, but get a line in there … it’s the time of year where anything can happen. If you find that magical mystical ‘lunker’, please do look after her though, as she’ll be getting ready to create the future of our sport.