Everything but the Kitchen Sink

by Kevin Patton

Most fishermen realize that there are no magic baits, no sure-fire lure colors, and no single fishing tactic that catches finicky bass all the time. Sometimes you just have to throw everything but the kitchen sink.

Normal late summer to early fall patterns call for worming, deep cranking, carolina-rigging, and similar techniques. Fishing early and late may produce a topwater bite.

However, sometimes you need to stray from the stereotypical tried and true techniques, especially when weather and water conditions throw you a curve.

The summer of 2009 in Illinois was a record mild one and also wetter than normal. Water temperatures at Banner Marsh in late August were in the mid-to-upper 70's, a rarity for this time of year.

Baitfish were everywhere some days. They were on shallow flats and also suspended in deep water.

This particular day the skies were sunny and there was a light easterly wind, not necessarily the ideal summer fishing day.

The shad had spawned and tons of small minnows were flitting about the shallows and pods of baitfish were suspending 8 to 14 feet deep over 12 to 18-foot depths.

So where do you fish when water temperatures are on the cool side (74-79 degrees), when you have cover and bait in the shallows, and when deeper bait and bright sun may cause fish to leave the shallows?

Water temperature, weed and wood cover, and shallow baitfish mean that bass don't have to be in deep water. There should be some shallow feeding fish, even if they are small ones.

Dee Dee Kumpf and I started with our usual summer tactics of topwaters and spinnerbaits early and then switched to crankbaits and bottom-bouncing plastics and jigs.

Some of our unsuccessful offerings included: Strike King Spit n' Image topwater; several small crankbaits; blue/silver Mann's Minus One; topwater Mann's Ghost in blue sparkle; green pumpkin/chartreuse, Texas-rigged crawdad and other plastic worms; and a sapphire blue jig and trailer.

We caught fish on several baits, including: a small, white crankbait; small, silver crankbait; chartreuse/blue Rattletrap; and a topwater yellow Horny Toad.

Our largest fish were caught on a black/blue Senko rigged wacky style, fished over shallow weeds, and a Carolina-rigged, black/blue, Berkley Crazy Legs Chigger Craw, fished on a point near deep water.

I surely can't explain those factors that make a given bait successful on a given day or I would have my own fishing show and be strutting around with a jacket-full of sponsor patches. I just try to keep an open mind and be versatile enough to explore different possibilities.

On this day, the bass didn't bite the traditional summertime staple of a bottom-bouncing, Texas-rigged plastic baits fished in deep water. It took a potpourri of lures to scratch out a decent catch. It took everything but the kitchen sink.