Entry 129-1

Mike Wurm - How I Catch Bass This Month

Buzzing into the Fall

Editor's Note: Mike Wurm, a 51-year-old professional bass fisherman and a member of Strike King's Pro Fishing Team from Hot Springs, Arkansas, ranks No. 21 on the Top 150 Trail. He's had eight top-10 tournament finishes and has competed in five Bassmaster Classics.

Wurm: During November, the bass should be in the creeks because that's where the baitfish that the bass eat will be. If you're fishing in November before the severe cold weather hits while you still have warm days and either cool or chilly nights, the bass should be active. Right now the bass are in a very-comfortable water-temperature zone, they're feeding much more actively, they're hungry, they're comfortable, and they're having fun. So, I don't believe there's a better bait you can fish at this time of year to catch these bass than the Strike King buzzbait, an aggressive bait that bass love to chase.

Remember that the buzzbait is a big-bass bait, and many times this bait will trigger a feeding response from the bigger bass in the lake at this time of the year. Most any creek in a reservoir will have a flat side to it and a deep side during the fall of the year. The bass will chase baitfish in the shallow water on the flat side of the creek. The bass love to attack around stumps, logs and brush on the flat side of the creeks. For this reason, you can cast a buzzbait around any type cover you can see.

Also, remember that cover can be a change in water depth. Many times bass will hold on the lip of the break as you come off a shallow-water flat and drop over into deep water. Don't hesitate to throw the buzzbait in areas where you see the water color change, which oftentimes indicates the break line. I've caught a lot of bass swimming the buzzbait right across a water-color-change line.

Always use the buzzbait in November and early December in an aggressive manner. Cast out the buzzbait, and reel it back. Make a lot ofcasts to keep your buzzbait moving. Remember that bass feel good and want to chase bait at this time of the year. So when you run that buzzbait across the water quickly, you can invoke a chase response from the bass as well as a feeding response.

Later in November and early December, as the weather starts to get colder, you can still fish and catch bass on the buzzbait. However, you do need to change the size of the buzzbait you're using. In the early part of November, I'll throw a 3/8- to a 1/2-ounce buzzbait, but towards the end of November, I want a slower and smaller bait with more chop to it. So I'll downsize to a 1/8-ounce buzzbait.

I like the new Triple Wing buzzbait that Strike King has developed because it makes a much-less-violent splash with its wings and is smaller in size. Because of the smaller chop of the blades and the smaller size of the lure, you'll often get more strikes than you will with the larger buzzbait as the water gets colder. Let the baitfish tell you which size buzzbait to use. If you see large baitfish skipping across the top of the water, use the large buzzbait. But, if you see small baitfish flipping on the surface, then scale down to the smaller 1/8-ounce Tri-Wing buzzbait. Just remember, as the weather gets colder, you don't have to give up fishing the buzzbait. You can fish with a smaller buzzbait that makes less splash.

Mike Wurm - How I Catch Bass This Month

Buzzing into the Fall

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