Crazy fall bass fishing?

[Slyster]

So.. I haven't been out now in a few weeks.. has the 'crazy bass fishing' started yet? I've always heard that fall bass fishing is amazing since they are fattening up.. but never really got out before to prove it... is it true? How's october?

[Griggs]

I'll let you know when its October. When it was cold last week I actually did pretty good for size, it seemed like the fish were shallow and feeding. The weather has warmed up a bit and I haven't been able to get out very much, so maybe someone else can chime in. I would say we are still waiting for the real fall fishing.

[Fever]

Was out on a small but very good bass lake on sat from 7am till around noon. I got skunked but my brother caught 5 bass ranging from 16 to 18 inches. We started shallow with spinnerbaits, frogs, buzzbaits, cranks, worms, jigs, and jig-worms. Brother got first one (18)on a big double colorado bladed spinnerbait. Real slow fishing though... We've nailed them on this lake in the past both shallow and deep so we decided to go out to our honey hole... a dredged out area that comes to a rocky point in the 20 - 14 fow range. Fishing shaky head jig worms & 3/8 - 3/4 oz bass jigs with trailers (xjigs) they were called I think. No luck what so ever. Weren't even marking fish. Fished the deep for about 2 hours with nothing. Went back shallow and I missed a couple subtle blow ups on a frog (didn't seem like they really wanted it) Brother caught a couple on his mouse and one more on a spinner bait... All in all I don't think the good fall fishing is quite here yet, but the daily weather can sometimes trumph the seasonal trends, and I think that the front that came though thurs, friday really messed up my sat morning fishing. Was nice to get out though. With school back in session, I'm finding less and less time to get out. Weekends seem to be packed with chores now. Better fishing to come I hope.

[HellaBass]

I fished an 8 boat club tournament on Coon Lake yesterday, my boat won with 5 fish for 19.3 and a 4.4 big bass. So that is some decent fall fishing in my mind....

[TurnUpTheFishing]

My take on fall bass fishing is its great for catching big bass but not necesarily numbers. In the fall I think the fish spread out more so you dont run into the big concentrations of fish like you may in the spring and summer. There are always those days that will be the exception though.

Some techniques I use to get the most out of a fall day is to cover water with cranks, spinnerbaits, lipless cranks anything that can be fish somewhat fast for a reaction bite. Once you locate fish you can try to slow down and see if their are a few more fish in the area. Look for patches of green healthy weeds or remember the location if you snag some up from deep these areas tend to hold more fish. Topwaters and frog imitations can be a good options in the fall, too. When the water starts getting below 50s, if your still fishing, going slow with jig/pigs or hair jigs around shallow structure in the warmest water you can find.

This past weekend I had success covering water looking for schools of baitfish. The big bass didnt seem to be to far from the bigger schools.

[Ole the Guide]

I was out last Thursday just before the big storm hit and caught 6 over 18" with the biggest at 21.25".. What a blast.

I'm sure happy to see bow hunting season come, then I know the lakes are wide open, the jet skis are gone and the bass are fattening up for the winter.

Ole

[RK]

Hiya -

It CAN be amazing. It can also be pretty hit or miss, especially as it gets colder. Right now I don't really think it's too far into fall yet. Water temps are still relatively warm.

I fished bass one afternoon this weekend, and it was pretty good. Fish were very bunched up - catch one, and you could catch 5-6 without moving the boat. Fishing wind blown points, and it was pretty windy so was sort of limited to crankbaits (I should say....limited by my own ambition because they were hitting cranks, and I didn't feel like working hard enough to fish plastics in that wind - it was huffing pretty good. No doubt you could have fished jigs and caught some more after the cranks stopped getting bit but it was easier to just move on and find another group of fish.) Came back to a couple of the schools I found 2 - 3 times throughout the afternoon and caught 5 or 6 each time. Fish were around the thicker clumps of green coontail in 12-14 feet. Caught most of them on a DT-10, a few on a Poes 300. Fished rattle baits some but didn't do much. No real big ones - biggest was probably 17" - but lots of decent fish. Bet I ended up with 25 or so for the day.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm