Sure Thing Winners: The new Star Wars Movie or Fall Fishing patterns guaranteed to catch more and bigger bass. The Fishing Pro Staff at bigbassbaits.net have developed a couple of tricks that will turn your fall fishing into fun fishing. When the air and water temperature begin dropping below 50 degrees, in most lakes across the country, largemouth bass fishing can be very hard to figure out and catch. Nobody knows everything about catching Mr. Bigmouth Bass (except maybe K.V.D) but it can be as basic as knowing what to do and when. Bigbassbaits.net Trick #1: Shallow bass tactics As we discussed in last month’s article, bass fishing in the fall on all lakes is Shad orientated. It’s called chasing the food chain. The most important tool in finding and catching fall bass is knowing how to find the lake’s food chain. When the lakes are cooling down, it is time to stop fishing far off shore and start fishing close to shore. Remember when the food chain is shallow the bass are shallow. How Shallow? Well, many years , while I was fishing a BASS tournament I heard a story that helped me understand how shallow is shallow! A veteran Pro-fisherman drew a co-angler partner and immediately thought this guy was nuts, crazy, etc. The co-angler wanted to fish in a creek that was so shallow there were cows walking in it. The Pro said “There can’t be any fish here” and his partner just laughed and taught that pro a lesson I will never forget. That shallow section of the creek was loaded with giant largemouth bass! Most important, it was loaded with the lake’s food chain – big shad and baitfish which those big bass followed all the way back to the cow’s feet. Needless to say, both fishermen ended up cashing big checks after winning the tournament. That story changed the way I fish in the fall. FOREVER! Don’t get discouraged if it doesn’t work in all areas of your lake. Eventually you will learn to pattern the food chain transition. Once you do, it’s time to discuss what to fish with. These are the fishing lures we have had the most success with over the past 15 years. The key is Match the Hatch. If there is threadfin shad, throw baits that look like that type of shad.
Square bill crank baits
Spinner Baits and Lipless crankbaits.
Match the Bait Jerkbaits.
Try and fish as fast as you can, covering lots of water. Once you find them, then pattern them. Example: You fished the shallow part of 4 creeks and only 1 had Shad and Bass. Why? It was the only creek that faced North and had wind blowing in. Now, go to every northern facing creek pocket with wind blowing in and you will discover 90% of the time they have Shad & Bass! WOW, now the fishing gets fun! Bigbassbaits.net Trick#2: Lake turnover and jig fishing The truth about cold water turnover. Have you ever gone fishing and just about every creek that you go into, there are bubbles coming up from the bottom and the top of the water has a brown film and stinks? Get out of there as soon as possible. It means the lake has turned over. What is turnover? By definition, it is when the lower layer of water mixes with the upper layer in a short time span. We at bigbassbaits.net believe in most cases, turnover only lasts a few days, but if it’s the day you go fishing……how do you adjust? Basically, there are 3 area types to find bass:
Ones that live deep all year 25%
Ones that live shallow all year 25%
Ones that live day to day. 50% - They just follow the baitfish from deep to shallow and vice versa
In other words, half the fish population is affected by turnover. How do you adjust? First thing, slow down! Then use your electronics and start hunting for schools or balls of shad. From the area you discover the turnover, starting working out of the creek toward the main lake. Concentrate on visible structure and only work areas that have shad. It is important to find the largest concentration of shad because that is where most of the bass will be. Once again, Pro Staff at bigbassbaits.net recommend the following:
ALWAYS Match the Hatch!!!! Type and size are very important. The shad are the biggest in late fall.
Swimbaits, chatter baits, crawdad & shad colored swim jigs
Flipping jigs and jigging spoons when fishing balls of shad.
Remember, these bass aren’t going anywhere until turnover is complete. When turnover is complete, all the warm water is now on the bottom and the coldest water is on the top. Once everything stabilizes, you can go back to Trick #1(Shallow Bass Tactics), up until winter when all the shad have returned to their winter homes in deep water, and then we will go to game plan 3 & 4.