20 inches gained, 20(+) inches lost

Although it is unseasonably warm right now, it technically is Fall. The leaves are just starting to turn colors and most bass fisherman knows with that change in season comes the fall feeding period. I have found the best opportunity to catch trophy river smallmouth bass comes early spring and mid-fall. I'm sure some people might disagree, but that's just what my experience has taught me. With that being said, we have had a really messed up year when it comes to traditional weather patterns. A very mild winter led to an earlier spring than normal, which led to a longer summer, and now is leading to a late fall. Although I do think water temperatures have a lot to do with telling the fish when to shift into their seasonal feeding habits, I also believe the fish have some sort of circadian clock. I've found that feeding and spawning habits seem to be less weather dependent than people give it credit for. To give an example, this year we are currently experiencing 90 degree days the last week of September. Theoretically the fall feed should still be on hold due to water temps resembling more traditionally what would be found in mid-August. Yet, over the last 2 weeks, I've seen the size of my catches increase substantially. I have also noticed fish gorging on shad, which again, typically takes place while water temps are 10-15 degrees cooler than what they are right now. I would be interested to hear what other fishermen think about this.

Now, to the juicy stuff.

About 2 weeks ago, I loaded up with an old friend of mine who I went fishing with earlier in the year. We did a float on a river that runs through a more urban area. This is one of the larger rivers in the area and has produced many trophy smallmouth over the years. It can be boom or bust, but has been more boom for me lately. We paddled to a dam upstream of the put-in. After catching a handful of smaller fish in one corner we paddled over to the other corner where a bank fisherman had been earlier. As I'm concentrating on anchoring my kayak into some moving water my buddy, who had been religiously throwing his Loon 130 Whopper Plopper yells out something (This dude is addicted to Whopper Ploppers btw). I turn around and he's got that look in his eyes. The kind of look where you're excited and scared at the same time. Excited hes got a monster fish on, and scared the thing might come off. I couldn't tell how big it was, but I asked him if he wanted a net since I was close. I paddled over and luckily was able to get the thing in my Frabill before the bait came off. Man, this thing was a toad!

At 18.5 inches, this it was pushing 4-4.5 lbs! As I said earlier, these fish are stuffing themselves full of shad as you can clearly see. He was shaking trying to take a picture of the fish, as this was his personal best smallmouth. I was super excited for him!

After fishing the dam for awhile longer we moved downstream. The topwater bite was okay, but I felt like I could do more damage with a different presentation. Earlier in the week I had purchased a couple S-wavers made by River2Sea. I had seen a Youtube video of one in the water, and knew it had to be a great fall bait. I have never fished a glide bait before, but I was feeling pretty good about it's chances. If you haven't considered throwing one, I definitely recommend checking them out. As we worked our way through some faster water, I commented to my friend that this particular area has always looked dynamite, but hasn't really produced much in quanity or quality over the years. It is a section of the river that narrows up and has a line of chunk boulder along a steep bank. A small stream also flows into the river right before the fast water starts. Although it historically hasn't produced, I always give it a decent shot and spend time dissecting the area. We were getting towards the end of the spot when I pitched my lure next to a downed tree along the bank. Two cranks of the reel and something absolutely destroyed it. I didn't get a look at the fish, but I could immediately tell it was big. It was churning down into the deeper water and spinning my kayak around in the process. My friend was close and I commented to him that it might be a catfish because it wasn't coming up. As it stripped drag a couple times making runs this thing flashed and my heart dropped....definitely a smallmouth. I reached for my net and was able to scoop it up right before my lure popped out of her mouth. I immediately knew it was a 20-incher. After measurements confirmed, just at 20, I was elated. This was my first 20 of the year! I dreamt about that fish for at least the next 2 nights. Those are the experiences that really make it worthwhile.

Judging from the title of this post, this is where the "lost" portion comes in. Fast foward to the weekend and we had rented a cabin with some friends close to a really nice smallmouth stream (like so close I couldn't resist). I wasn't going to be able to get away fishing for very long, but I had about 1.5 hours each morning to get out while everyone was still snoozing. I got on the water first thing Saturday, before it was light enough to see and started wading a stretch of stream I was unfamiliar with. I only brought a handful of lures, and really was committed to throwing topwater the entire time. As the sun came up I could see that I was in really shallow water. The flow is really low around here right now and most of the water around me was less than a foot deep. I knew if I could find a deeper hole, that I would likely find some fish. After catching a couple of roaming dinks, I could see that the river narrowed up and there was a nice pool up ahead. I was running out of time, so I identified a spot that was going to be my turn around point. It was at the end of the pool and you could just barely get a cast into the head of the riffle. As I was working my casts up to the moving water about halfway back to me I had a very large boil behind my bait. It immediately raised my Spidey senses and I very carefully continued the retrieve of my Whopper Plopper 90.

Now, I know that fishermen like to exaggerate and it's cliche to describe these sorts of things, but God's honest truth: This was the most explosive topwater strike I have ever personally witnessed by a bass. It was so devastating that it kind of scared me to be honest. This fish immediately starting ripping my drag and it. was. on. I have a history of losing big fish to nervousness, but with this one I was as cool as a cucumber. I let the fish do his thing and tried to tire it out. It made a healthy jump and revealed it's massive frame. As I'm crouching down getting ready to land the fish it makes one last desparation jump right at my feet and my WP goes flying the other direction. I. FREAKING. LOST. IT.

A new stretch of river early in the morning

I stood in disbelief for about 3 or 4 minutes as I contemplated how few chances you get at fish of this size. I have fished for hundreds of hours this season, and this is only the 3rd fish in that size bracket I had a chance at this entire year, and I just let one of them get away. I will never know exactly how big that fish was, but I can safely say it would've been the biggest fish of my year. Yes, bigger than the 20 incher earlier in the week....and by a decent margin. I'm not suggesting this was THE 23 incher, but I wouldn't have been surprised to see it surpass 21. It sucks even thinking about it right now.

Alas, this is the reality of being a fisherman. You win some, you lose some. Every experienced fishermen knows this. It's the chance to catch the fish of a lifetime that really keeps you at it, but losing a trophy fish is equally as depressing. This one is gonna stick with me for awhile. With at least another month left of fall, I just hope I get another chance. Next time the fish might not be so lucky.

Enjoy the release video of my 20!