By: John Martin – Owner and Operator of True South Custom Lures
704-577-8707 www.truesouthcustomlures.com
November is a fantastic time to get out on the Yadkin chain of lakes. Enjoy cooler weather, less boat traffic and awesome fall colors. There’s also another good reason to be on the Yadkin and that’s great fishing. We have had a long hot and dry summer and it’s left our lakes low and warmer than usual. Low water and warmer water temps should be to an anglers advantage in the Fall. Low water will concentrate the bass and baitfish and the warmer water will extend the great fall action through November and early December. The baitfish should be in the back of creeks especially in the afternoons and the bass will be close by. Watch closely for surface activity to help locate schools of bass. Always be ready with a topwater if a school erupts on a pod of bait close by.
There are a number of ways you can catch bass this time of year but I like to keep 5 key baits rigged in November. Let’s take a look.
Number 1: A walking topwater like a IMA Little Stik 135 or a Zara Spook in chrome or clear colors for schooling fish.
Number 2: A TrueSouth 1/2 ounce LiveWire 3.0 spinnerbait in the Dirty Dinero color. This is a light wire compact 3 blade spinnerbait that matches the baitfish perfectly this time of year. I like to fish this bait fast over shallow flats and cover in the back of creeks especially on windy days.
Number 3: A TrueSouth 3/8 ounce V-Twin Buzzbait in black or the Merlin color. The buzzbait works really well fished around sea walls, docks, lay downs and grass edges. Try to parallel the cover and keep the buzzbait in the strike zone longer.
Number 4: A TrueSouth 9/16 ounce Fathead Jig in any craw color or white. This is an extremely versatile jig that can be pitched, skipped and swam around any cover. I like the 9/16 size so I can keep in contact with the bait and the bottom better. The jig bite really heats up as the water temps cool to the lower 60s and big bass start to feed up on crawfish.
Number 5: Swimbaits, I will either rig up a 3 1/2 to 4 inch swimbait on a TrueSouth 3/8 ounce K-Pro Spin jighead or I will rig up a TrueSouth V-8 umbrella rig with 5 3.3 Fat Impact Keitech swimbaits. I use these for bass that are more suspended in the creek channels and ditches usually in late November as the water cools below 60.
Take advantage of the great fall fishing on the Yadkin chain this fall and enjoy some fun bass action. Be safe and remember to “Take a Kid Fishing”