Let's Keep Fishing Practical!
Every so often, someone asks me a seemingly simple question… What is your (my) favorite or fall-back bass lure? Recently the question came up again but this time asking specifically about favorite baits for the fall season… Watch the video and you’ll quickly learn why the question isn’t so simple to me 🙂
Regretfully, the opening part of the title is true for may bass anglers!
Even so, the waning part of the fall season can be one of the best big bass periods of any given year…
When the late fall period starts, the migration patterns of the early and mid fall periods are reversed as both baitfish and bass move back out from the creek arms and bays into the main lake area.
Bass will still be actively feeding;
Fall arrives with both the air and water temperatures starting to cool. Not only do we get the benefit of more comfortable conditions but so will all fish species in bass reservoirs across the land!
Changing environments cause bass to alter their behavior as well. Knowing how these changes impact your favorite reservoir’s bass locations and actions can definitely help improve your bass fishing success.
One of the best things about bass fishing in the fall..
When they refer to fall bass fishing the “Mid-Fall” period is the one they are talking about. By this time, water temperatures have fallen to the low sixties/upper fifties and the bass have really strapped on the old feed bags. The techniques will be similar in nature to the early fall period but the location of your quest shifts further into the back of creek arms and bays.
The reason for this is the fact that the bass are following the schools of baitfish which are searching out their primary forage plankton. Plankton tend to thrive
During the summer, baitfish such as shad and herring reside in deepwater, main lake areas just as many bass do. Once the water temperatures start to slowly decrease, baitfish start to migrate to the shallower bays and flats in the lower portions of creek arms in search of forage (plankton) as they prepare for the coming winter period.
It should be of little surprise that the bass will be “hot on their tails” as the bass also start to strap on the proverbial “feed-bag” to prepare for the winter doldrums.
Both the baitfish and bass tend to remain near sections of major creek arms and bays closest to the main lake during this early fall period. As a result, bass are somewhat scattered and are sometimes hard to pinpoint while in a pseudo-transition state. Structure and weed beds located near the entrance to creek arms and bays as well as deep weed-laden flats are typical haunts used by early fall bass and baitfish.