The Turnaround Month

This year long experiment of anchoring in one spot for the duration of my trip had gone much better than I could have ever anticipated the first few months of the year. Up until July, I was just about convinced I had been doing things wrong all these years. The months of July, August, and September had me rethinking things though. The post spawn period is a time where I usually catch good numbers of fish as well as some decent size fish too. This year it was pretty much a bust for me. Yes, I had some good days of fishing but overall the results were terrible compared to recent years in which I spent the bulk of my time drifting and trolling.

October was the month that turned things around though. The number of bites picked back up and the big fish reappeared as well. My biggest fish of the month and quite possibly the biggest blue I have ever caught is pictured above. It was caught on a white bass body chunk suspended just off the bottom at the end of a point in 50 feet of water. Several more good size fish were caught on that trip too.

While the trip mentioned in the previous paragraph was certainly the most memorable of the month, there were several other trips that provided quality and quantity. As to why the previous three months were so bad, that will remain a mystery. It could have been a variety of factors. Poor timing, wrong locations, wrong bait, wrong depth, bad juju from switching kayaks, etc. All of those things could have played a role.

Ultimately, that is why I wanted to run this experiment for a full year. Trying something for an extended period of time allows me to be able to learn when and where it will work best in the future. This will lead to me becoming a better fisherman in the end and hopefully help some of you along the way too.