Tidal Cranking Through Fall
By Tim sherman

Bass pro Randy Yarnell caught this 3 1/2 pound bass on a rattle trap last fall from a submerged rock pile near on the Susquehanna Flats.

Fall is now officially upon us. The days become increasingly shorter; the night air is crisp and cool. Leaves on trees are turning maize, auburn, and burgundy. These are true signs that winter can't be too far away. Many people look at the beauty of autumn as a double-edged sword. The season's charms make for comfortable living, but also make folks think ahead to the harshness that winter often brings.

For the tidal bass fisherman, there is no better season.

Bass realize, too, that fall is a sign of the cold weather to come. They must feed heavily now and store energy because they feed very little through our cold winter months. Randy Yarnall, bass pro from Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania, says their need to feed is the main draw for casting crankbaits in fall. While a largemouth bass rarely passes up a crayfish meal, it is shad, alewives, and perch that will sustain them through the winter months. Since bass are focused on finfish as their main sustenance, the best way to catch them is to mimic what they are eating.

INSTINCTS AND HABITS
Yarnall spends many hours on the water each year, and speaks constantly with marine biologists about the habits of bass and their prey. In conversations with biologists he has found that shad species have two spawning cycles per year. Through his years of fishing professionally, he knows that these species follow specific routes to shallow creeks, coves, and flats. The metabolism of bass rises in fall and they will be in hot pursuit to feed on shad along the migratory thoroughfares. While most of his pro angling is done on reservoirs, Randy spends a lot of his personal fishing time on the upper Chesapeake. The habits and instincts of bass and their prey are the same in tidal water.

The first sign to predatory and prey to start the fall migration is the slow but steady fall in water temperatures. Yarnall says that the decline in water temps starts as early as late summer, so the crankbait pattern often starts earlier than fall. As water temperatures drop, oxygen levels rise through the water column. There will be better water quality in the shallows where baitfish head for fall reproduction. Balls of shad species migrate along channels and deep troughs to shallows with plenty of cover.

In the Susquehanna complex, Randy looks at the north channel and back channel as prime migration routes. Here, shad and bass have plenty of areas with shallow water cover. Both of these channels have wood and rock along the banks and grass beds on the flats. In rivers like the Bush and Gunpowder that are generally shallow
to begin with, Randy focuses on points of land near channels.

CRANKBAIT STRATEGIES
Through fall, an angler has to keep up with the progress of the migration.

The question asked by novice anglers is, "Where do I start to look for bass?" Yarnall's pro experience tells him to start along the deep structure and move in the shallow cover until he finds that zone of activity. He often finds that shad move to grass beds first. Bass will move in with them. As the grass dies off, bass stage along the outside edges of beds for forage to swim out. Randy uses three shad colored lures to tempt them: Mann's 1-Minus, a Bandit 100, and a 1/4-ounce rattle trap. He keeps these baits in contact with the grass, ticking the tops of the vegetation, then pulling it free. He also cranks at a high rate of speed to provoke reaction strikes from aggressive bass lying in wait.

As vegetation becomes depleted, bass and their prey migrate to rock and wood cover with deep-water access. On the Susquehanna, Stump Point and Garrett Island provide good rock cover. There are endless shorelines with fallen timber along the river and flats. In the Gunpowder and Middle Rivers, riprap banks and bulkheads provide the best cover. The Bush River has a mix of riprap, and deadfalls along the shorelines.

Randy choices a Norman Deep Little N for targeting rock cover. It has a bigger profile and larger diving lip than those he casts near vegetation. On light line it will dive to 12 feet, but Yarnall choices heavier line -- 17 to 20 pound test -- to keep the lure tracking at 4 to 8-foot depths. The heavy line also helps with abrasion resistance. He makes an extra effort to bang the plug against as much of the cover as possible to, again, draw a reaction strike.

Working wood cover needs a bit more restraint from the angler. If you rip a crankbait through wood, you are bound to get snagged and ruin that piece of cover when you go in to retrieve the lure. Randy cranks methodically through wood, allowing the lip of a plug to roll over limbs and branches. He lets the lure float up after making contact, just enough so the front treble hook doesn't catch on the wood. It's this erratic swim and float action that draws strikes from bass.

Bass move to river ledges and deep cover in late fall. You need lures that can go down and get them. At this time of year, good electronics are a must. A fish finder needs to show good bottom definition, while revealing how balls of baitfish are relating to the structure and cover. Yarnall casts the Norman DD22 crankbaits and a heavy dose of rattle traps. Bass at this time of year are still aggressive, but their metabolism is such that they are less likely to chase their prey. To slow his retrieve, Randy uses a reel with a 5.1 to 1 gear ratio. He could use his standard high-speed reel, but he finds it much easier to let his equipment slow him down than to have to think about it cast after cast.

Many bass anglers find fall to be their favorite time of year. A crankbait allows them to cover water quickly to find where bass are along migration routes. As Randy Yarnall points out, tidal bass fishing is no different than fishing on lakes and impoundments. In early fall he works from the deeper travel lanes to the shallows. As bass move to wood and rock, he works from shallow to deep. Use his three keys of water temperature, metabolism, and migration routes, and you can catch bass all autumn long.