Worms, spinnerbaits produce bites at Pulaski County hotspot

Joe Volpe of Little Rock caught and released eight bass like this one Thursday on a small lake in Pulaski County.
Joe Volpe of Little Rock caught and released eight bass like this one Thursday on a small lake in Pulaski County.

Largemouth bass are biting.

As waters cool around the state, largemouth bass are feeding voraciously to put on weight for the winter. They will bite almost anything you throw at them, and as the moon enters its first quarter, they are feeding almost nonstop during the daylight hours.

Somewhat by accident, U.S. Magistrate Judge Joe Volpe of Little Rock and I enjoyed several hours of fine fall fishing on Thursday. On Wednesday, a guide cancelled a trip that we had scheduled in western Arkansas because of poor water conditions at the place where he wanted to take us. Volpe was downcast and wondered what to do with a day off work.

"I'm going fishing somewhere," I said. "I don't know where yet, but somewhere. You game?"

Volpe's tone brightened and asked what I had in mind. I suggested the best option I knew, and Volpe endorsed it.

A few minutes later, Volpe called again.

"I know a place we can go that's close," he said. "I caught 1- and 2-pounders with a spinnerbait there the other day until I couldn't stand it anymore, and I don't know why we wouldn't be able to do it again."

"Deal," I said.

The next day found us at a small, beautiful lake in Pulaski County to which Volpe has access. It does not have any exposed cover anywhere, but there is a lot of bankside vegetation above the waterline.

"I bet when the water's about a foot higher, you can smoke them along these banks," I said.

"Absolutely," Volpe said. "You can throw a Whopper Plopper on the edge of that stuff, and they'll come out and maul it."

The only exposed feature is a pipe on the other side of the lake, and that's where Volpe said he caught most of his fish on his previous trip. My first cast backlashed, but Volpe's first cast produced a largemouth that weighed nearly 4 pounds. A similar size fish hit his second cast. He threw a white, 1/2-ounce War Eagle spinnerbait with tandem willowleaf blades.

Bass ignored my Whopper Plopper. After about a dozen casts, I switched to a heavy baitcasting rig that was tipped with a 4-inch, black/blue flake Rage Tail crawdad imitator. Within minutes, I caught a pair of bass that were slightly smaller than Volpe's pair.

Fish quit biting in that spot, so we worked the bank as we drifted down to the far corner. We got no takers.

"We caught all our fish in that one corner back there, so maybe another wad will be in this corner," I said.

They were not. However, the wind was blowing that direction, and there was a conspicuous algae buildup as we neared the windward side. The water was the color of split pea soup, and clarity was only a few inches.

An old fencerow runs the length of the far levee about 5 feet from the bank. Volpe said fish often cruise the gap between the bank and the fence. If they were present, they weren't biting that day.

"Maybe they're all up against that lee shore," Volpe said. "It's calmer there, and the water is a lot clearer."

Up to that point, bites on my Rage Tail craw were sporadic. Volpe caught three on a spinnerbait to every one that I caught on the Rage Tail, and his were bigger. Also, strikes on the Rage Tail were subtle and soft, like a winter bite. The sweet spot, I decided, lay elsewhere.

I found it in a plum-colored, V&M 10-inch Pro Mag Worm. It's the ultimate bassin' bait. Says so right on the package. Pork fat is cooked into the plastic. Yummmmy!

I had never heard of this brand, but I bought a big supply in August from a small retailer's bargain bin at the Forrest Wood Cup Expo at the Hot Springs Convention Center. The Pro Mag is a thin ribbon-tail worm, and plum appeared to be a good color for the quality of water on that end of the lake.

I pitched it toward the bank and got a savage strike.

"That's how an autumn strike is supposed to feel," I shouted.

Bass really liked that bait, and I quickly closed the numbers gap with Volpe, who continued to catch them steadily with his spinnerbait.

When we returned to the pipe corner, bass were chasing bait on the surface. We threw Whopper Ploppers and other topwater lures at them with no effect.

"It looks like the bait they're chasing is really small," Volpe said, "but it looks like small bass, too."

"What we need is some one-and-a-half inch Tennessee shad swimbaits to match the size of that bait," I said.

Since we had nothing of that description, we resumed fishing with the spinnerbait and Pro Mag worm. Apparently bigger fish were congregated under the small surface chasers because they attacked our stuff enthusiastically.

About lunchtime, a fish inhaled my worm, but I must have pressed the spool release bar on the reel. When I set the hook, line boiled up like popping the top on a shaken can of soda. It was a hopeless, hideous backlash. None of my tricks worked to untangle it, and the spool was immobilized.

I cut the line and started pulling it in, hand over hand, to tie into a pigtail for discarding. Astonished, I felt weight on the other end. The fish was still there, and it leaped as I hand-winched it back to the boat. The line broke at the gunnel as I prepared to land the fish.

It was the non-catch of the day. Volpe got the entire incident on video, which you can see online at arkansasonline.com.

These baits and tactics will work anywhere right now.

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The author caught all of his fish Thursday on black/blue Rage Tail craws and 10-inch V&M Pro Mag worms.

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Joe Volpe caught all of his fish Thursday with a ½ -ounce white War Eagle spinnerbait with tandem willowleaf blades.

Sports on 10/14/2018

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