This time of year across much of the country, lakes and rivers are in a state of constant change. Fish are spread out not just from one end to the other but also shallow and deep. Instead of covering acres like you might do during the summer months, you’re covering miles to find a few good bites.
Here in Oklahoma, we’ve had probably the driest weather I’ve seen in the last 10 or 15 years. Water levels are still up, and a lot of fish haven’t transitioned to their fall patterns yet. That means the bass I’m fishing for are everywhere right now – shallow, deep, midlake, upriver, in creeks and everywhere in between.
What does that mean for you when it comes to finding and catching bass this time of year?
In June and July, you’ll have a thermocline on most fisheries that concentrates fish in the upper part of the water column. You may find some fish really deep and others really shallow, but most of the bass are going to be in the upper-third of the water column.
This time of year, you might find bass in 50 foot or dirt shallow, and that can make fishing really tough. To make it easier, my approach is always to eliminate water. Instead of fishing the lower end of a lake where bass could be in 1 foot or 100, I like to compress the playing field and put those fish in a smaller barrel.
The best way to do that is to find a creek or river off the main water body with a shallower average depth – that might be 20 or 15 or 10 feet, but it’s probably shallower than the deeper parts of the lake it’s connected to. If the bass are going to be using the full available water column, I want that water column to be as small as possible. It’s all about locating the bass, especially when there’s bait everywhere and those baitfish aren’t as concentrated as they will be in a month or two.
Once you’ve condensed that water column, start looking for birds, start looking for water color changes and maybe even temperature changes. Try to find something else within that area of the fishery. It could be an area that’s got more shad, an area where the water’s a little dirtier or maybe the temperature has changed and cooled off by two or three degrees.
The main thing is to just pay close attention to your electronics and your surroundings. When fish are spread out all over the place, sometimes subtle differences can lead to some really good fishing. It’s looking for the needle in a haystack. You could spend all day looking for that magic area and not find it. It’s not every day and it’s not every body of water, but there are certain times that you get a little inflow of water or the wind’s been blowing from a different direction for a couple days, and it’s got the shad all hemmed up and you have more bass there than you’d usually have. It can be special, but it’s not something you’ll find very often.
Still, it’s not always about finding “special” places. Sometimes you need to just catch five good fish, and the best way to do that is to shrink the playing field.
Big and loud or small and stealthy: Those are the only two options, in my mind, when it comes to bait selection for this time of year.
A lot of that comes down to water clarity. In stained or dirty water, I’m always throwing something big that makes a lot of commotion. In clearer water, I like to downsize and fish more subtle presentations. But the bottom line is, this isn’t the time of year to use middle-of-the-road baits.
For me, it’s also about fishing really, really fast. That means covering a ton of water – not picking apart every little piece of cover – and also reeling extremely fast. I want to get reaction bites. Bass have seen every bait all year long. You don’t want to give them time to stop and look at what you’re throwing at them. I want those fish to react, and the best way to do that is to use a high gear ratio and a fast retrieve and making them either get out of the way or attack.
There’s a handful of confidence baits that seem to always shine for me this time of year, and they’re all similar in that they all stay high up in the water column.
First, a topwater. I’ll always have a Berkley J-Walker 120 or a Berkley Choppo 105 tied on. Topwaters can really catch fish in October, and not just in low-light conditions like a lot of people use them for in the summer months. In fact, sometimes the fall topwater bite gets better as the day goes on and the sun gets higher. If I’m on the water in October, I’m going to have a topwater ready to go.
Sometimes you might not be able to get bass to commit to a topwater, though, and that’s when I’ll turn to something like a Berkley Power Blade spinnerbait that stays a foot or two beneath the surface – a double willow in chartreuse, white and blue for stained water and a compact double willow in silver bullet for clearer water.
I’ll also always have a Berkley SquareBull Crankbait ready to go for fishing just a little deeper (but still staying higher in the water column). The SquareBull can really shine for picking off fish suspended off the front of boat docks or the edge of laydowns. I like to start with the 5.5 size and if I’m in an area where there’s bigger fish, or I’m getting a lot of small fish, I’ll tie on the 7.5 size. If I get in the area where it’s a little clearer, I’ll go to the 3.5 size.
Fall fishing can be really hard. There’s no two ways about it. In October on a lot of fisheries, you’re not going to get a ton of bites every day. Knowing that is half the battle.
What that means is that covering water is key. Just keep covering water. Don’t soak your baits and try to hit every inch of cover you see. It’s one cast and go. My mindset is that I’m going to get more bites than everybody else because I’m going to cover more water than everybody else.
I’m also not going to be making many bait changes this time of year. I know what works and what I like to throw. Instead of cycling through a dozen different baits, I’m taking that topwater and crankbait and spinnerbait and maybe a vibrating jig and I’m just moving, moving, moving.
While fall fishing can be tough, it’s still fishing. There’s still bass swimming around and they still want to eat. You just need to have a game plan and stick to it. Eliminate some water, cover lots of water and stick with it.