Decision time is here, do I go hunting or do I go fishing? I have always loved fishing in the fall. There is always less traffic on the water and the majority of bass have moved in shallow to feed. There are so many patterns that work and that is one of the excitements of fall fishing.

There are fish to be caught deep and that creates a question of where do I start and what do I do. I find as a rule, the fish on the lower ends of lakes are deeper and the upper ends produce better shallow. One of the main reasons for this is the water is almost always clearer near the dam on most lakes and stained as you get to the upper ends. One thing to remember is that there are bass shallow and deep. If you can get the pattern going on the clearer end of the lake you will have less company to contend with.

I will start out in the morning looking for birds working. This lets you know bait is in the area, and therefore bass are also there. A good early morning pattern is to run shallow points with topwater lures. My favorite is the Bass Pro Shops’ Slim Dog and Bagley’s Bango-Lure. The Slim Dog is a walking bait and the Bango-Lure a prop bait. One of these two will almost always produce. I’m going to throw a white or black Bass Pro Shops’ XPS Tungsten buzzbait with a trailer hook. I like to fish these lures on a 6’6” Woo Daves’ Extreme Medium action rod and an EXT10SH baitcast reel. This is the new Extreme reel with a 7.1.1 gear ratio that takes up a lot of line fast. I spool this reel with 17 lbs. Bass Pro Shops’ Excel line.

Next I’m going to fish a Carolina rigged Zoom Centipede worm or a Zoom trickworm and almost always in green/pink or watermelon colors; plus I always spray my plastics with crawfish scented Jack’s Juice. I rig this with a ¾ oz. Lindy No-Snagg-Rattlin’ weight, three foot leader, 2/0 Mustad wide/gap J-bend hook. I will also add a Parasite Keeper to keep the worm on the hook better. Now after top water fishing, I will run back over the same areas with the Carolina rig fishing in 5 to 15 ft. of water. I’m trying to catch fish and also learn about the bottom. I’m using the rig to find stumps, brush, rocks or anything different. If I find something I will make a mental note and get a line-up on the object, so I can come back and fish it slower.

It is always important to keep your eyes on your depth finder. I feel like I’m going cross- eyed sometimes because I concentrate so hard on my Raymarine 500DX. As a rule the water is down on most lakes in the fall and you can find a lot of offshore structure that will hold fish. When you make contact with something, make a mental note or hit your GPS. Now is when I will get a Bagley’s deep running Killer B11 or B111 and try to hit the structures I have found. This is where you are going to find your bigger bass. The two colors I like are chartreuse or shad pattern. I use shad in clearer conditions and chartreuse in off-colored water.

Another lure I always keep tied on in the fall is an XPS Rattlin’ shad in blue/chrome. Bass will run baitfish up on points and in the back of pockets and this is when the Rattlin’ shad is deadly. I have found by just running your Motorguide trolling motor down the middle of coves, it will run the bait fish to the shallows and the bass will be right behind them.

Another technique to use this time of year is the shaky head worm. I use a Bass Pro Shops’ Woo Daves Extreme 6’8” spinning rod with 6 to 8 lbs. XPS Fluorocarbon line, a 1/16 to a 1/8 oz. Bagley’s shaky head, and a Zoom finesse or trick worm. I fish this around any wood, rock or docks I can find. Bass seem to love the shaky head in the fall. It’s a simple technique to fish, just cast out, let it drop to the bottom, shake and retrieve.

The last technique I use is the jig-n-spoon. Here I’m looking for baitfish wadded on the bottom, paying close attention to my Raymarine unit. When I spot the baitfish, I simply drop my ¾ oz. XPS spoon on 17 lbs. XPS fluorocarbon line to the bottom and jig.

Another neat product I use is the Go To Tackle System. It mounts under your lid tops and holds your crankbaits, spinnerbaits,and worms that you are presently using, so you can get to them fast. Call Cook’s Tackle 1-870-974-0078 or go to their web site.

FISHING THE UPPER ENDS OF LAKES
We have discussed the methods of fishing the lower ends of lakes. Now let’s go into techniques that work on the upper ends. First we are looking basically at shallower water probably 10’or less. Usually the lakes are down the later part of the year.

Three areas I’m looking at when I go up river, flats, creeks, and river ledges. One of these areas will usually produce bass. Let’s start with flats and what we are looking for. First would be wood in the form of lay downs, brush piles, and stumps. Usually these structures are isolated so that gives the bass an ambush point. Keep your Motorguide on a low setting, approaching the structure with the thought of how can I present my lure the best way on the first cast. I almost always throw a Bagley’s shallow B or an XPS Nitro super shallow crankbait. I’ll follow this with a Bagley’s spinnerbait in shad color and then a Zoom Mag11 or finesse worm. The main key to fishing isolated structure on flats is to enter with extreme caution, make repeated casts, and offer a variety of lure techniques. A lot of times I will make 30 to 40 casts at one target. I see so many fishermen make one or two casts and move on. You can usually, come right in behind them and catch fish. You usually have to make these fish bite by getting a reaction strike and can get two or three bass off of one structure. I always think, this is the only structure around and the bass has to be there, so make him bite. Another thing about flats in late fall is they will warm up later in the day. The shad will move up shallow, creating a late day bite. So make sure and give the area a chance in the afternoon. A Bass Pro Shops’ Lazer buzzmaster will also produce well on the flats.

Up river creeks are also a good place to look as shad will migrate back in these areas. I’ll first go as far back as possible and work out. Look at your map and if it’s a long creek and you run into shallow water get out and wade. See if you can get across some way into deeper water as this can be a dynamic area, you might have to yourself. When I start at the back I look for the channel bends. I fish these with a medium running Bagley’s Killer B11 or Bagley’s lipless crankbait. Now if you come to a lay down or bank change (rock to dirt) I’ll flip a jig or spinnerbait in the structure. Remembering, the water is usually down and there will be isolated structures and they need to be thoroughly soused with baits. Many times you can find one or two creeks that have a lot more bait in them and the bass will also be there. I think the bass are running shad and they chase them into a creek. So I will move or try to go into as many creeks as possible, trying to find the best and then spend quality time there.

Next I’m looking at river ledges and creek mouths up the river. Look for birds as you go up rivers, as this is the best sign that there are baitfish in the area. Pay close attention to your Raymarine unit to see if the baitfish are balled up in the channel bends. This is a good place to use a Carolina rigged Zoom lizard or trick worm. I never pass up a creek mouth, as this is always a great place to start. Throw a Bagley’s deep diving Killer B11 or DB111, especially if there is current because this is a prime spot for shad to gather. You’ve got milk (shad) and you have bass. If you catch bass in a creek mouth and they stop biting, then it’s time to offer a variety of techniques, to see if you can turn them on.

If you get a pattern going up a river it can usually be duplicated in look-a-like areas. One thing about fishing up river in a tournament is there are usually a lot of boats. Once the tournament starts you almost always have less pressure. I think this is because everybody thinks everybody else is going up there and there is not enough fish to go around, so very few will go, leaving the easy picking to a few.

As you have seen from the past two articles, late fall fishing can be good anywhere on the lake so take your Nitro out and enjoy the sights, sounds and great fishing.

I’ll leave you with this. Give a pair of Woo shoes to someone for Christmas and create a friend for life. Good luck and may God bless!