Last fish

I've always had the worst time catching fish at this time of the year. It seems like once October 1 hits New England the fish shut down. But every time I've gone I've seen the familiar swells of water following moving fish or the occasional jump on the surface. Today was no different. I went to a local pond and started throwing a Carolina rig, thinking they might be in deep water close to the bottom. No luck. I switched to a jig, trying to fish a bit slower. Then I saw a few fish break the surface and thought a popper might get a hit. No luck with that either, but as I was reeling it back in a fish jumped at it about a foot from shore. I was astounded. The air temp got down to 32 degrees last night, so I didn't even imagine the fish could still be that active. But they were, so I decided to try a buzzbait and while I did I remembered something Guy Eaker wrote in his book, Catching Bass Like a Pro. He said it's probably best to retrieve a buzzbait as slowly as possible, especially in the fall, so that's what I did. I even let it sink a little every once in a while and pulled on it, creating a spitting action. No luck with that either, but I thought maybe bulging a spinnerbait might work. I was wrong again, but began varying the retrieve with it and settled on slow rolling it deeper in the water when a fish finally hit it pretty well. After all those decisions I must say it was incredibly satisfying to finally catch a fish during this month that has beaten me until now. It was definitely not my best of the season but it was probably the most gratifying, and if it ends up being my last of the year I'll be happy.