Entry 179-5

November Bass Fishing with George Cochran

Editor’s Note: George Cochran has won over $1 million on the B.A.S.S. circuit and is just shy of winning $1 million on the FLW circuit. He’s a quiet, gentle man who doesn’t get too excited. He talks and fishes slowly and isn’t extremely versatile, which he’ll tell you himself. But he catches bass, wins money and wins the big tournaments. Cochran’s primarily a shallow-water fisherman, and this week, we’ve asked Cochran where he’ll fish and how he’ll find bass during the month of November.

Part 5: The Black Buzzbait

Remember, previously I told you that one of the key ingredients to fishing pressured water and to fishing it this time of the year is to fish a lure that no one else is fishing in a way that no one else is fishing it. So, in November, another one of my favorite lures is the buzzbait. Even if the water temperature is 50 degrees, I’ll still fish a buzzbait in November. My favorite color is black. Most people don’t fish a black buzzbait for the same reason they don’t fish a black spinner bait – they haven’t tried it. I prefer to fish a black buzzbait at any time of the year than a white buzzbait, but especially during the month of November.

The best places to fish this lure in November are around riprap, especially on cloudy days when you have a sprinkle of rain. I’ve caught some huge stringers of bass fishing the black buzzbait on the riprap on these kinds of days. I still like the single-prop buzzbait, but I put a lot more cup in the blade to slow it down, so I can reel it really slowly. I’ll be trying the Strike King double-bladed buzzbait this month because with the double-blade, I can slow the buzzbait down even more. I may even begin to like the double-bladed buzzbait better than the single-bladed buzzbait. I’m fishing the buzzbait on 15-pound-test P-Line.

One of the real keys to fishing the buzzbait this month on riprap is to parallel the riprap; don’t throw into the riprap, and come away from it. By paralleling the riprap with the buzzbait, you keep the lure in the strike zone of the bass for a longer time. The buzzbait also leaves a trail in the water that the bass can follow to the lure.

One of the keys to catching bass on the Strike King buzzbait is rod position. When I start reeling the buzzbait back to the boat, I point the tip of my rod right at the lure. When the bass explodes on the lure, all I have to do to set the hook is pull straight back on the rod. Then there’s not a delay from the time the bass strikes until I set the hook. By pointing the rod tip at the lure, when I pull up to set the hook, I’m not pulling the bait away from the bass. When the bass strikes and you pull back on the rod tip, you’ve given the bass enough time to take the bait and get a solid hook set.

November can be a great month for bass fishing. Try these tactics and lures that have been successful for me, and you’ll catch more November bass this year.

Contents:

• Part 1: Crank It Up
• Part 2: Swimming a Jig
• Part 3: Mr. Money
• Part 4: The Wild Shiner
• Part 5: The Black Buzzbait