Phenomenal End To My Bass Season

[BooyahMan]

As anyone who has seen my posts probably can tell, I have been extremely into frog fishing after finding out how much fun it was last year. I literally could not put the frogs down, even on days when it would have been much smarter to use something else . Granted, I got skunked quite a few times but catching a few fish here and there always seemed to make up for. However, going into October this year I noticed the fish were still not actively taking frogs like they were a year before. It took until a couple weeks ago before I finally put the frog down long enough to really get my confidence up in a couple of other lures. I can't explain exactly why, but I just had that urge that told me it was time to make a change.

 

The first lure I switched to was a cheap buzzbait from Cabelas that I forgot I had. On the first cast with it EVER, a small 1lber broke the surface and choked on it. I set the hook and was ecstatic to hook my first fish on a buzzbait. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be as a terrible knot job on the buzzbait came undone as I was lifting the fish over a branch that was in my way. Went home with a hard lesson learned, but the next day I was armed with another (cheap) buzzbait and a secure palomar knot. This time, I nailed my second largest fish of the year:

 

^ Neat story with this fish. It was getting dark and I wasn't having any luck with frogs or the buzzbait. Before I decided to leave I thought to myself, "maybe I'll give the shallows one more quick toss". Bam! It took me by surprise and when I got her head out of the water she spit the hook. I immediately put in another cast and she swirled on it again but missed. After a few more casts with no more hits I tried a frog to see if it wanted a slower presentation but proceeded to get no action. I was about to give up when I thought, "it went after the buzzbait twice and it's obviously still there, so maybe it will go after it one more time." On the very next cast, I landed her. 

 

The trip after I got a much smaller but still decent (for this lake) fish on the good ol' buzzer:

 

 

The trips after that I had some more blow ups on the the buzzbait but they either spit before I set the hook or they missed completely. Then this past Sunday morning I got the smallest bass I've ever caught on a buzzbait:

 

^Never thought such a small fish would hit such a large lure.

 

After fishing a bit more with no luck on the buzzbait, I figured they didn't really want to come to the surface and opted for a Cabela's brand spinnerbait and added a 4 inch twin tail grub trailer. This proved to be a great decision and it was the key to the majority of my success over the last couple of trips. On the first cast a respectable bass slammed it just before I ran the spinnerbait over a log:

 

Then five minutes later, a bigger one gobbled it up:

 

 

Then finished up Sunday's trip with a few more fish, these being the more respectable ones to come on the buzzbait and the spinnerbait respectively:

 

With Sunday morning being so productive and having my confidence level in the spinnerbait and buzzbait soaring through the roof, I decided to hit the lake again Monday night. Sure enough both lures did not disappoint, and I landed the most decent fish ("decent" being the keyword) I've ever landed in one day.

 

They wanted to demolish the spinnerbait:

 

Third biggest of the year and fourth biggest ever. The buzzbait has a VERY good track record right now barring the tiny guy posted earlier.

[BooyahMan]

 

More spinnerbait action:

The bass fishing has been hot but unfortunately due to time constraints I don't think I'll be able to squeeze out more than one or two more short trips. However, this year has been incredibly enlightening and I feel quite a bit more confident going into the 2016 season and this time I won't just be armed with a tacklebox full of frogs.

[A-Jay]

Several "Decent" ones right there ~

 

Looks like you were on them good.

 

Congrats

 

A-Jay

[Darren.]

Wow! Great "end" to your season.

 

Some beautiful, healthy looking bass!

[WIGuide]

Some nice fish you've got there!

[Felix77]

Nice ... congrats ...

 

I am holding off from "ending" my season for as long as I can.  Been beating the banks and they are still biting on moving stuff where I am.

[desmobob]

Nice fish and nice photos!  Congratulations on a successful outing.  I'd have a hard time making it my last time out if I had luck like that...  :-)

 

Tight lines,

Bob

[jbw252]

Nice catches there.  Congrats.

[Dwight Hottle]

Great end to your season. 

[Siebert Outdoors]

That is an awesome ending!

[deep]

Phenomenal indeed. Congrats!

[BooyahMan]

Thanks everyone; it certainly has gone with more of a bang than I thought it would. 

 

Now please don't feel deceived, but I did manage to sneak out again today. Was not nearly as good as it was last week but I managed one good fish to the beach:

 

I also had a bigger bass on which spit the spinnerbait halfway through the battle.  

[Bankbeater]

Good way to close out the season!

[DogBone_384]

Some great fish! Don't let your season end yet. Keep fishing until your baits start bouncing off the water!

[jignfule]

Yah, froggin and buzzbaits are fine,but have you ever tried senkos.

[Retired@176]

Congrats, thanks for sharing