November can be the most favorite time of the year for area outdoorsmen in the Shenandoah Valley. If you hunt, fish, hike, or just like being outdoors, it’s just a great time of year. Hunting season is in full swing. Trout have been stocked in some areas. And bass in the Shenandoah River and local lakes will be aggressive and feeding-up for the cold months ahead.
The month of November will transition into the winter season of fishing on the Shenandoah River. November is a great time to catch better than average sized bass. In the next couple of months, the biggest bass will be caught.
The first few weeks of the month is a good time to be on the water. Water temperatures will fall below 60 degrees and fish will continue to feed aggressively at times. So, continue to throw crankbaits, spinnerbaits, or chatter baits. Remember as the water cools, bass will be shallow but close to deeper water. Start your day fishing shallow water and if you have no success move to a little deeper water.
Toward the end of the month bass will transition back to their wintering holes. That’s when a jig with a chunk and suspending jerk baits will come into play. Fishing the jig tight into cover such as wood, laydowns and chunk rock should produce some bites. Start shallow and work the jig into deeper water where there is structure. But be sure to have a few jerk baits tied up and ready.
Using a jerk bait in the late fall is something I look forward to every year. Have a couple different running depths and colors. My favorites are the Rapala Shadow Rap Deep and the KVD Strike King. The jerk bait is best fished on fluorocarbon fishing line. It allows your jerk bait to stay down deeper because this line sinks. Regular mono fishing line floats and doesn’t allow your jerk bait to stay down in the water column.
Good luck this month whether hunting for that big buck or fishing for that lunker of a bass. Be safe and look out for each other.
We’ll be celebrating Thanksgiving this month, and it’s a reminder for so many of us to be thankful. In a world that is full of troubles, struggles, and all that is going on around us, some days it’s just hard to find something to be thankful for. But be assured that there is much to be thankful for.
Psalms 100 tells God’s people to be glad, joyful and thankful, for it is he who made us, and we are his. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture (vs 3), for in the worst of times we can remember Christs love and sacrifice for us. Take time this season to express your gratitude to God.
God bless you all!
Mike
