Fall Bass Fishing

Its getting that time of year to start thinking about fall fish patterns. It is hard to believe summer is almost over. Fall fishing include the months of September, October and November. As water temperature begin to drop, bass will be scattered which makes them difficult to pattern. Fall fishing may be labeled early, mid, and late. Bass during the hot summer months have been in deeper water because that is where the baitfish have been. As water temperature begin to drop, the shad begin to follow their food source into mouths of creeks and surrounding bays. During this time, shad lures that cover a lot of water are the best because the bass are more scattered. Look for bass suspended over isolated cover on flats near mouths of creeks. Lipless lures and the white jig are also lures of choice.

As water temperatures continue to fall in the low 60’s and upper 50’s, shad start to move up into the creeks. Here are some hits that may help in determining which creeks may be productive. As you know, zooplankton is the major source of food for shad. Also, the place where the water is richest in nutrients for zooplankton is water run-off (source of fertilizer) from the fields surrounding lakes. Look for “green water”, the sign of zooplankton activity. Creeks that have a good zooplankton bloom will have a rich green color. If there is too much fertilizer being dumped into streams, bacteria can also start reproducing and kill the zooplankton on the bottom, thus decreasing the oxygen content. If you have current flowing from these creaks it is even better. So the best creeks will be creeks with current and with a rich green color. In these creeks bass will be shallow and will travel from the cove channel to creek flats during the day. Here you may see bass pushing shad into tight pods to feed.

During late fall when the water temperature reaches mid 50’s to upper 40’s, bass move to branch and main channels. The best time to fish is when the temperatures of the day are the highest because zooplankton will rise to the surface when the sunlight is the brightest bring with them the shad and the bass will not be far behind. Surface lures and shallow shad cranksbaits work the best at this time. As weather conditions push the shad deeper into the channels, spoons and hair jigs are good baits to use on outside weedbed edges and ledge edges with a slower presentation. As always observe the weather and water conditions as well as graph patterns to target the shad activity on any given day.