Nov. 15 - Water temps are starting to inch down and the big bass are beginning to move deep and congregate. We have been catching them, of lately, on the 17 - 22 ft break lines which are attached to deep secondary points in the large creek arms. The key to finding these fish rests solely on the shoulders, or wings, of the birds. Gulls, loons and cormorants will show you where the the bass are feeding as they drive the shad to the surface. My best presentation for these fish has been a weightless fluke. The fish are suspended over these break lines and in the mouths of the creeks feeding up for the encroaching winter. Find a ball of shad with hooks surrounding them and it's game on. The drop shot also continues to work well and I have also landed some fish on the 10XD. Find the shad, you'll find the fish.

The shallow grass bite has not truly materialized to date. Kind of strange. They should be jumping all over the chatterbait and spinnerbaits but it's just no happening, for me at least. Most of the shallow fish have been coming off no nothing banks that have mixed scattered grass or no grass at all. Hmmm! Maybe these fish are smarter than we think. As the water temps slip to the mid fifties, I will continue to check the grass on the warm sunny days. Traps should start to factor in to the equation and I expect this to be a solid pattern through January. Time will tell.

I plan to spent a lot of time in December -January on Lakes Monticello and Welsh. These are power plant lakes with warm waters year round. The spawn will take place on these ponds much earlier than traditional lakes and the shallow bite will be awesome. If anyone would be interested in fishing these lakes or Fork for that matter, call me at 409 782-4269 or e-mail me at skeet21c@aol.com.