Every Friday after work I back my truck up to my apartment, lower the tailgate and slide my Jackson Coosa into the truck bed. I don’t always have plans to fish on the weekend, but this routine has become a habit. Sometimes my Coosa may sit in the tuck bed all weekend without ever touching the water. But, I know it’s there and ready to go on a river fishing adventure at a moments notice.

This Friday was no different. I arrived home from work sometime after 7, loaded my Coosa and fishing gear, and went inside to wind down. I didn’t necessarily plan on river fishing the next day since the weather had been so hot lately, but I was still ready just in case. I told myself I would wait to see what morning brought.

Although I wasn’t 100 percent sure, I thought it would probably be a good idea to go fishing since the weather finally starting to break free of 100 degrees. The past week brought cool breezes and 60 degree evenings. I call it football weather. It’s the beautiful early fall weather that starts rolling in when college football season kicks into gear. I know it too well. I’ve spent many fall Saturdays tailgating and rooting for the Georgia Bulldogs in Athens, Georgia. The cool football breezes was always in the air when the Dawgs went to battle between the hedges. The air almost has a smell to it and it’s something that you don’t forget easily.

Football weather also means the fishing will start to pick up again as the water temperature cools and bass come out from under their summertime rocks and start feeding heavily again as they start fattening up for winter. It’s a great time to go fishing because chances that your lure gets bit increases as bass devour everything in sight.

This Saturday I woke up after 8 a.m. went downstairs and made a pot of coffee. While I was downstairs I peaked my head outside to get a taste of the weather and I was pleasantly greeted with the smell of football weather. The air had an easy coolness to it and made me smile. I should have seen it coming since the temperature had been dropping for a week. I just didn’t expect the cool weather to stick around. Last weekend I endured a high sun and 95 degree weather as I chased smallies around the river. I expected this weekend to be the same.

Once peaking outside I knew where I was headed after downing a few cups of coffee. I couldn’t pass this weather up without being in a college football stadium or the river!

IN THE TRUCK AND ON THE RIVER

Once I climbed in my truck I couldn’t decide which direction I wanted to go. East or west? I have smallies to the east and shoalies to the west. An active smallmouth bite would be a lot of fun, but so would a shoalie bite. I couldn’t decide so I just started driving. I had to get gas anyways. After gassing up I still couldn’t decide and ended up driving my truck in a 5 mile circle before I finally settled on shoalies.

Once at the river, I unloaded my kayak and fishing gear and blasted off on the river. I had an array of lures tied onto the end of my four fishing rods. A Tru-Tungsten swimbait, Berkley Havoc’s Pit Boss, a 5 inch Senko and a SOB Mini-Me spinnerbait were the lures of choice to start.

The swimbait because I always have one tied on spring through fall. The Pit Boss texas-rigged that I could bounce along the bottom in case the shoalies weren’t in a chasing mood. A Senko to bring down current seams to entice even the most finicky shoalies. Finally, a Mini-Me to throw underneath and near trees, places I can’t always get to with a hard-bodied swimbait.

It was a blue bird sky day, coupled with cool breezes, but it also meant high pressure. While high pressure days are usually great days to spend outside, those days aren’t necessarily the best for fishing. High pressure affects bass and makes them uncomfortable and causes them to hunker down, putting them in a non-aggressive mood. I’m not sure why, but it’s just what I’ve been told.

The high pressure also meant the swimbait and spinnerbait would probably be non-factors. Undeterred, I went with them anyways because they produce big fish and I like big fish.

THE FISHING

The fishing wasn’t great, but it was steady. Early on I lost a nice shoalie that I didn’t get a look at, but I knew it was pretty big since it doubled over my swimbait rod. I didn’t finesse it when I should have and probably pulled the hooks from it’s mouth. The Pit Boss proved to be the ticket as it consistently brought in the bites. Cookie cutter shoalies and spots, but at least I was catching fish. I caught some fish on the other lures I had tied on, but nothing as consistent as the Pit Boss. The fish weren’t in a chasing mood.

After a few hours of pounding fishing hole after fishing hole, I decided it was time to start making my way back to my truck if I wanted to get off the river before dark. Plus, I wanted to fish a few holes again before calling it a day. I got to one particular hole and quickly picked up another small shoalie. Looking down after I released I saw a 5 pound plus shoal bass staring at me.

“Are you kidding me,” I said out loud. Here I am making cast after cast and it’s just sitting right next to me, staring right at me. Like we all would, I lowered my lure into the river and it came to rest right in front of the sugar shoalie. It just sat there. It didn’t budge, but it wasn’t interested in my lure either. I made a couple of twitches and the shoalie finally had enough so it swam off. I knew it would return so I eased away and pulled my Coosa up on a rock about 30 feet away that was at a good angle to cast back to the spot where the shoalie was. I got out and sat on the rock for 10-15 minutes, changing to all soft plastics in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors.

After the minutes passed, I unloaded my arsenal of soft plastics, hopping, dragging, crawling and finally dead-sticking them for minutes at a time. Nothing. Befuddled, I just decided it wasn’t a big fish day. I paddled back over to where the shoalie was just to make sure it was there, and it was.

I switched out my lures, this time adding a Strike King Sexy Swimmer to my arsenal. I decided to tie on the Sexy Swimmer for two reasons. One, it was a smaller swimbait and similar in profile to the bait fish that I had seen. Two, I had never used it and wanted to get an idea of what it could do.

I didn’t expect to catch anything on the Sexy Swimmer, but was pleasantly surprised when a small spotted bass hit it as I was waking it across the surface. Hmmm, I thought. Maybe there’s going to be an evening topwater bite. That idea was quickly put to rest when I replayed the conditions and events of the day through my head. Bass won’t be chasing with this high pressure. I didn’t switch to a topwater lure, but I didn’t forget about that spotted bass either.

6-3

I came across a spot where one rock emerged from the river’s surface. It was in deeper water and there wasn’t much current around the rock. I casually made a cast towards the rock with the Sexy Swimmer and waked it across the surface of the river. That’s when the water exploded as a HUGE fish rolled on the lure and took it under. Shocked, I didn’t know what to do at first. It literally scared me as I was paying half attention. I shook my head, quickly came to and set the hook. I stood up in my Coosa and engaged myself in battle. I didn’t know what I had on, but I knew it was BIG. What could it be? Surely it couldn’t be a shoalie, especially after being shut down from a big shoalie earlier.

It was a big fish, so I didn’t care if it wasn’t a shoalie. I was in open water and the fish was made runs to the river bottom. Classic shoalie behavior, I thought. It was too big to horse up and I didn’t want to risk horsing it either since I know treble hooks can pull easily from a fish’s mouth if they aren’t hooked good. This was too big of a fish. I didn’t want to lose it. I had to play it in. It took me for a ride and I did one or two complete 360′s while standing. I had to keep taking it, or it was taking me, around and around the boat.

I then jabbed the butt of my rod into my stomach and I slowly worked it towards the surface. That’s when I saw it for the first time. A MONSTER shoalie! But, it wasn’t done yet. Once it saw me the shoaliemonster started running back down into the river. I didn’t have much line out so I pressed down on the reel release button to give the monster some line. It wasn’t giving in, but I wasn’t giving in either. It was like two college football powerhouses going head to head into the 4th quarter. I knew I was going to have to wear her down a little more if I wanted a chance to lip this beast. Seconds felt like minutes and the fish was finally brought up next to the kayak, subdued. I switched my rod over to my right hand, reached down with my left and lipped the prized fighter. I was lucky to avoid being stuck with a treble hook myself, but it didn’t matter. I won the battle.

I sat there, heart racing, for a minute with the beast in hand as I regained my composure. What a ride! I had to put her on the scale and she it confirmed the monstrosity of the shoalie. My scale topped out at 6-3lbs. 6-3lbs! People always say that a 6lb plus shoalie is a lifetime fish. I hope there’s more 6lbers to come again in the future. They are that much fun! I snapped a few pictures and then slide her back into the river to grow larger. Maybe I’ll catch her again when she eclipses 8-3lbs, the current Georgia record.

After loading my kayak on the truck I turned on the radio to the Georgia – South Carolina game as I drove home. It was the fourth quarter and I listened as they went back and forth, punch after punch. One of the most exciting games that I have listened to on the radio. With the windows down and wind blowing through my hair, I thought to myself, I love football weather. The feel, the sounds and the smell in the air can’t be beat. I especially love the fishing this time of year, too. Georgia didn’t win the game, but they didn’t have to. Not on a day like that.

I’m glad I peeked out the door.