Top Four November Baits

Top Four November Baits

Depending on where you are in the country, November is often the month when bass get off of the heavy fall feed and start moving toward their winter holding areas. It’s getting colder, the days are shorter, and they realize that they need to make a change. It’s a great month for fishing. Up north, they’re truly making the transition and down south they’re enjoying the tail end of the fall feed before moving. Let’s examine my two favorite baits for each of those scenarios. In the north, my number one choice is a tight wobbling crankbait. You’ve heard about […]

Blade Baits: The Lure  

Blade Baits: The Lure  

From some time in the late fall through the early prespawn, a blade bait is one of the most effective lures you can throw. There isn’t much to them, just a chunk of metal and a couple of hooks. But don’t let that fool you. They do get the attention of the bass. My first introduction to them was back when I was a kid. We all had a Silver Buddy or two that we fished with, sometimes from shore but sometimes from a small boat. Back in those days we called it metal fishing. A Silver Buddy was a […]

Another Look at Blade Baits

Another Look at Blade Baits

We’ve talked about blade baits in the past but I think we should take another look at them, especially now that we’re heading into fall. A lot of guys fish blade baits only one way. They throw them out, let them sink to the bottom, rip ‘em up as hard as they can and then let them fall back down on a slack line. You can catch a few that way. There’s no doubt about that, but there are other ways that’ll catch more than a few. I go with three basic techniques when I’m fishing a blade bait. The […]

Blade baits aren’t just for deep water

Blade baits aren’t just for deep water

Here’s the deal: We’re fishing the Upper Chesapeake Bay in the early winter. It’s tidal, a cold front has blown through, the water’s cold and it’s more stained than usual. Our mission is to find and catch bass on film. After we tried all the usual baits without success we decided to do something different. We knew the bass were holding tight to hard cover and that they were in shallow water. We used a combination of Silver Buddy and Molix Trago blade baits. They’re pretty much the same except for a few refinements on the Trago. Silver Buddys are […]