September 10, 2013 by RB Bass Fishing

Fall is a continuation of summer. Bass will feed shallow early in the day and move deeper as the sun comes up. On warm days in early fall Bass will still be looking for shade and good oxygen. As the days get shorter and the nights get cooler the water temps will begin to drop quickly. This change brings on the fall bite. In the fall all bass think about is food! The bass are long removed from the spawning season and the cooler water makes the bass more comfortable and they will move shallow and feed heavy before winter. The big key is that the bass will follow the bait. In fall the bait will be where the Bass were in spring. Backs of creeks, bays, coves and protected areas. Minnows will be abundant and Baby Bass will be feeding on them. When you see this use baits that imitate Baby bass.

Flukes in baby bass or green albino, rip baits, spooks in baby bass, and senkos in the 912 color can be effective at this time. Another major food source in fall will be shad. The shad will also be up in the creeks, bays and protected areas in the body of water you are on. Shad feed on small plankton and whatever direction the wind blows you will find shad. Shad have a ton of protein and Bass will take advantage of this and gorge on this bait fish to prepare for winter. Small shad colored crank baits will do well at this time of year like a Luhr Jensen Speed trap in white or other shallow diving crankbaits like a Stike King series 3 crankbait in sexy shad. Shad will feed on algae as well so look for wood in the backs of creeks or ditches since summer algae will still be growing on the wood. White spinner baits like the Persuader Echip spinner bait will do well when you find schools of Bass feeding on shad. If you see the Bass feeding on the shad and pushing them up to the surface try a Heddon super spook in Bone white or throw Zoom flukes with long pauses. In the afternoons when the water warms up a few degrees don't be shy to throw a Persuader inline buzz bait, you won't catch alot of fish on this bait, but you can bet they will be good ones!

A rattle trap can be a key factor at this time of year I recommend Lucky Craft. This bait is so versatile you must expearment with it. Try a lift and pause when around the shad let the rattle trap flutter to the bottom. This dying shad type look will trigger a strike!

Another effective method is to look for shallow weed beds,Bass will look for slightly deeper weeds that are still alive as the cooler weather kills many of the shallower weeds,make sure you cast past the target and try to get your bait hung up in the weeds and rip it out this will trigger strikes on tough days!

My last and one of my favorites is flipping. On the cooler fall days Bass will hold tight to cover such as wood or rocks and they will be shallow. This puts them in the flipping zone! I like to use creature baits that mimic crawfish or bluegill. I will use a 3/8oz tungsten weight with either a sweet beaver in 420 or dirty sanchez, a 5″ Zipper worm in green pumpkin or a Persuader E-chip jig in green pumpkin tipped with a single tail grub.

These are just a few ways to attack fall bass fishing!

Good Luck

Ron Howe